The closure of schools due to Covid-19 created a long-time holiday that made less privileged children redundant. Many children joined commercial activities like hawking foodstuffs, working as porters on construction sites, and also working as housemaids. Others have been spending their time in cinema halls and sports betting all these activities have exposed children to peer groups that force them in committing anti-social behaviors. On the side of girls, some have involved themselves in commercials sex and the end result is unwanted pregnancies and some have been infected by STDs. This situation has made some children unfit to be in school again. most of the less privileged children stay with their elderly parents who cannot afford to force them to go to school and also monitor their attendance at school. all these explains the reason why the enrollment of students in school is still very low after the re-opening of schools for some classes.
Bukirwa Josephine is among the children who are missing out on school.
Josephine is a 15 years old girl who was staying with her elderly grandmother, during the covid-19 period, she disappeared from home and went to look for a job according to her grandmother.
Bukirwa was in Primary seven and she has missed her final Primary Leaving Examination. Right now her Grandmother has no idea of her exact location.
As Youth With A Vision, we are trying our best to work hand in hand with some of the government organs to see that children like Josephine come back to school and access education again to safeguard their future.
During March 2021 - this is what your support enabled us to achieve for children and youth.
We supported 7 of the children on our program to write their Primary Leaving Examinations.
We are glad to inform you that 7 of the children on our program - 4 girls and 3 boys have accomplished their Primary Leaving examination. These children include Mwanje innocent at Bright generation primary school, Nassamula Jovia, Nantambi Sharon and Tamale Regan at Kyassuma Primary School, Nakabiito Aisha and Nantongo Janat at Gayaza Primary school and Lastly Kangave Amiri at Kako Junior school. We wish them all the best out of their examination and looking forward to supporting them in their next level of education.
It is good news! Isn't it? And we would like to thank you for your generous support. Without you, wouldn't have been possible for these less privileged children to move a step towards their dreams.
Due to Covid-19, schools here opened up in phases to allow adequate spacing of children. Students in the first phase reported to their schools, institutions and Universities in January. For the second phase which opened on 01 March 2021, we had 16 students whom we supported to go back to school. For the third phase which commences on 12th April 2021 we have over 28 students whom we are looking forward to support.
For the second phase children in second phase reported in March 2021. Other children will stay at home until it is safe for them to go back to school. In the category of those who are still at home, we have 29 students
Students who are already at school and those going back soon, need facilitation to stay at school while those who are still at home need our support to learn from home. This is why we need your continued support to provide the children we work with pathways out of poverty.
You have provide food including lunch meals to children at school and in foster care.
When lockdowns were lessened, most people believed that there were no longer need to donate food. This is not right because so many people are lost their incomes and can't provide food for their children and families. When funding for charities declined as a result of charity sponsors losing incomes, many children and families were affected and are still struggling to put food on the table. Here at Youth With A Vision, because we see children, youth and families starving everyday, we are still collecting food relief and channel it through our feeding program to keep populations hopeful for good times in the future.
In March 2021, we provided lunch meals for 10 children across Kako Junior School, Ssunga Primary school, Kyassuma primary school and Gayaza primary school. These children were in semi-candidate and some in candidate classes and were preparing to write their Primary Leaving Examinations. If we had not intervened, they were likely to perform poorly in all aspects of life. However, due to your generosity, we were able to provide food to these deserving children, and they are grateful to the food support given to them and which enabled them to concentrate on their studies for a better future.
Here is a story from one of the children that benefited.
" I used to stay a full day at school without eating anything. in after lunch lessons I was always dozing because I was hungry. My performance was not good and I repeated a class. But when I was enrolled by Youth With A Vision and Started receiving porridge at lunch, I no longer doze in class and my performance has improved.
I am studying hard to be a teacher.
Thank you for supporting me to get education". Amuleni Diana - Ssunga Primary school.
There are many less privileged children who stay at school for a full day without eating anything. Such children cannot concentrate at school due to hunger. This affects their performances in both academics and co-curricular activities at school and it also limits their moral towards education. And as a result, many less privileged children end up dropping out of school.
Please read more and support our Feeding Program. https://www.youthwithavision.info/feeding-programme-1
We enrolled one new participant on the Youth Finance Scheme
In our February 2021 update, we informed you that due to resources limitation, out of the six (6) youth who had applied for support to kickstart their own enterprises to become financially sustainable, we had deferred and placed five (5) on a waiting list, selected and appraised one (1) - Emmanuel Kwagala of ''Bakwagalana Cattle Rearing Project'' located at Kayonza, Kacheera, Buyamba in Rakai District of Uganda.
At the beginning of March 2021, we provided a start-up loan of £223 ($286) (€278) (1,000,000) for Emmanuel, and he has already started his dream business.
On top of the already deferred five (5) youth, in March alone we received 30 new applications from desperate youth needing support of our Youth Finance Scheme to kickstart their enterprises. Given our meagre resources, this is an overwhelming number! We can't serve them all. So we need your support. What we are doing now is; selecting qualifying business ideas and keep them on a waiting list so that when resources become available, we then work on them one at ago.
While working with young people, we have learnt some lessons. We have learnt that young people don't hold on for so long. So when their desires are not dealt within the fastest time possible, they tend to withdrawal and take shortcuts which sometimes result into committing crime at the expense of the entire community.
Building Capacity of youth to manage their enterprises.
One of our strategies to support beneficiaries of the Youth Finance Scheme along and through their self sustainability journey, are routine meetings. Every after three months, we organize a meeting which last for three hours. These meetings help to provide a platform for beneficiaries to support each other, by sharing; experiences, knowledge, skills and possible solutions for challenges encountered by a particular enterprise. All for managing a successful enterprise.
On 24 March 2021, we held the beginning of the year quarterly meeting which brought together beneficiaries and their mentors. The meeting was held at Kayirikiti, Nyendo, Masaka. In this meeting, all our participants asked for more support in form of recapitalization loan so that they can boost their businesses that collapsed due to the pandemic so that they can come back to their feet and earning an income to buy their basic needs and also paying school tuition for those with school-going children who had started reporting back to school. In this meeting, it was reported that a few businesses remained operating during the lockdown and earned very little than they used to earn before COVID 19.
We have tried to help some of these beneficiaries by extending to them a stimulus-free interest loan to boost their enterprise but we can not reach all without your support. Currently, there is over 51 youth whose enterprises collapsed and are in need of our support to get back on their feet but we lack enough funds to support all of them. Therefore, we are kindly requesting your help to support these youth to come back to normal.
We visited Namuli Sylvia Nassaazi who runs a Stationery Kiosk under the name - God Cares Stationers located at the School of Comprehensive Nursing at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital at Katwe. Given the fact that Sylvia's customers are mainly students, and schools had been closed for close to a year, her hopes for a secure future had weathered since she had no any source of income.
At the beginning of March 2021, we visited Sylvia again for our routine business supervision and mentorship.
She was so stressed and complained a lot that things were so strange for her, that 90% of her stationery stock was spoilt by mice, cockroaches, and mist, that she had remained with just a photocopier but with no consumables to operate it, and there were no any customers coming to her, that even in the situation where students had not yet reported for their studies, the Hospital administration had blocked patients needing stationery from crossing over to the area where her business is located. She had no money to provide for food for her children and at the same time pay up her loan balances. She almost gave up but her mentor continued to reach out to her over the phone, one-on-one and encouraged her to stay optimistic. The mentor also guided Sylvia on how to use a few stationery that had not been spoiled to make a new beginning.
Towards the end of March 2021 we visited Sylvia again, and this time we found her very busy, serving her customers, and she smiled on seeing us and narrated how things had started changing to good.
'' During and through the lockdown, I faced a lot of challenges including having no single coin for a period of 6 months. I depended on the support of friends. But now I am happy - students who are my main customers are back and supporting my business. I have now started earning some money like I used to do, and I am hopeful that I will fully get back on my feet and pay up my loan so that other youth can also benefit from the scheme.
Thank you for all your support. Says Sylvia''.
Without the support of friends, generous sponsors, and donors it wouldn't have been possible for Youth With A Vision to make all this difference.
For more information about the Youth Finance Scheme please go to
https://www.youthwithavision.info/youth-finance-scheme
Our Shop - Supplements our income
In March 2021 we sold out 4 scarves, 4 hats made from Uganda Flag colors, and 1 YWAV branded cap. We learned that some of you experienced shipment delays for your orders. This was as a result of disorientation from the post office. We regret any inconveniences caused by the delays. And we would like to inform you that we are working on the best shipment alternative, and we are yet to reach an agreement with a courier company. So we want to assure you that very soon there will be no more unnecessary delays and your orders will arrive on time.
As you might have been aware that some merchandise including Uganda Flag Colors hats and scarves have been on sale, we would like to inform you that the sale is ending on 12 April 2021. So grab yours before the sale ends. We are also glad to inform you that in stock we have; All Surface Mats in various colors, YWAV branded Shirts, T-shirts and African
Textile shirts, tops, skirts, dresses, and Poncho for women, and much other stuff worth buying while making a difference!
These merchandise are made by children and youth on our program, and money from the sale of these merchandise adds up and helps to provide for their basics. Huge thanks to everyone who has ever bought merchandise from our shop. Please come back, and also refer your networks to buy from our shop and help fund our programs with the less fortunate children and youth here in Uganda. And we can’t wait to serve you and your networks. Visit our shop for the Easter Season Sale. www.youthwithavision.info/shop
A breakfast that started from Isle and renewed hope for Masaka!
On 27 March 2021, we participated in a virtual breakfast for Uganda which was organized by our sponsor - Andrew Hince. We shared many issues including how differently the Coronavirus has affected the health and education of children, and employment of youth here in Uganda and in the UK – Scotland in particular. We shared experiences on child protection strategies and opportunities that have been rolled out to safeguard and secure the future of children and youth in Uganda and in the UK. We appreciated a young Artist’s expression of unaddressed injustices taking place in our community. We were also shocked to learn about how a section of Ugandans carelessly lives with the Covid-19 pandemic.
We got the opportunity to learn about the Scottish breakfast, while friends from Isle learned about the Uganda breakfast. Some children on the program had the opportunity to come to the meeting and showcased their knitting skills. Our Isle friends expressed their continued support for our programs. It was such a life-changing breakfast which and it gave us the opportunity to see each other for the first time for some, and after a long while for many! Thanks to Andrew Hince for organizing such a historic breakfast! Thank you to everyone from Isle and Uganda for sharing your experiences and for all your continued support! We are looking forward to many more virtual events.
Our Wish
We have a number items on our wish list. And we appreciate you if you are able to offer us a breakthrough with any of the items.
A printer - £ 345 ($450) (€378)
Since the lockdown due to Covid-19, here at Youth With A Vision, we have been supporting the education of less privileged children by downloading, printing out, and distributing study materials for less fortunate children to study at home. However, all the two printers we have been using to produce the study materials broke down and we cannot make any pr
intouts which children need for their learning, and for all our other secretarial needs. The children who are affected by the breakdown of our printers are in pre-primary, Primary One, Primary Two, Primary Three, and Senior One who are yet to go back to school and need to keep learning from home.
Please help us to raise funds to buy a standard new and strong printer which can handle all these secretarial needs. We welcome and appreciate any contribution you are able to offer us towards buying a printer so that we continue providing study materials to children who are still learning from home, and also effectively carry out secretarial needs that benefit children and youth.
Thanks to donations from our friends - Clare and Hilary, we are now £275 ($352) (€309) away. Please make a donation for a printer at www.youthwithavision.info/donate
A motorcycle - £1,100 (€1,320) ($1,400) UGX: (4,950,000)
We are experiencing huge costs for transport and we urgently need a breakthrough with the acquisition of a motorcycle to offset these escalating transport costs, for effective distribution of study materials for children who are still learning from home, regular appraisal, on-going mentorship and supervision of youth enterprises and other programs. We need a motorcycle to supply essentials and conduct regular checks on the welfare of children in foster care, carry them to hospital in situations of them falling sick, and to pick and distribute medicines for those children that are living with HIV/AIDS. Contributions and in-kind donations are welcome. If you are able please donate at www.youthwithavision.info/donate
Other Ways You Can Get Involved
Here at Youth With A Vision, we are committed to the provision of opportunities for prosperity to all children and youth. And we believe that child sponsorship is an effective way to contribute your help to individuals and communities in need, without ever leaving your home.
Your sponsorship every month will help provide a child in desperate need with the basic necessities that can help them reach their God-given potential, including access to resources like clean water, better nutrition, basic healthcare, education, spiritual nurture, and economic opportunities for his or her.
Here are some of the children whose hope has been deferred and are in desperate need of a sponsor. Perhaps you could be the one to sponsor one or all of them.
Participate in our fundraiser - Dine So They Can Day
It is an annual fundraising day where friends and supporters around the world help to host a meal or do something in their community or donate or ask their networks to donate to raise funds for the work of Youth With A Vision. All funds raised on this day add up and supplement our budget and also help to fund our non-sponsored projects targeting disadvantaged children and youth we work with. This year 2021 Dine So They Can will be held on 1st and 2nd October.
Buy from our Online Shop and Gift catalog
Our Online Shop youthwithavision.info/shop and Gift Catalog https://www.youthwithavision.info/gift-catalog are great places to pick up lots of great gift merchandise for you, your friends, and family, all of which is just another way that you can make our vital work with the vulnerable children, youth, and families possible.
Here is some of the new arrivals in our shop. Most of these merchandises are made by children and youth on the program!
May God shower you with blessings, love, and peace this Easter Season.
We wish you and yours a joyful Easter.
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