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In this World - poem by Aniemo Loyce in S4 in Soroti
In this world there are two things
You are either born a girl
Or you are born a boy
If you are born a boy, that is okay
But if you are born a girl
There are only two things
You either stay in school
Or you drop out of school
If you stay in school, that is okay
But if you drop out there are two things
You either join a vocational school
Or you marry or get an early pregnancy
If you join a vocational school, then that is okay
But if you get married early, or get an early pregnancy
Then
That is the end of you ……… !
Aniemo Loyce, who wrote this poem in December 2007 for her sponsor, comes from Anyara sub-county in Kaberamaido, Teso. Her father died in 2001. She missed taking her PLE (Primary Leaving Exams) in 2003 because the family fled when the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) rebels invaded Teso. However, her mother took the family to Masindi, where a number of Iteso live, where she was able to repeat P7 in 2004 and got an excellent score of 11. They returned to Teso in 2005. Her mother managed to raise 10,000/- (£3) and her grandfather sold his plough for 10,000/- in order to send her to Kaberamaido Secondary School in Otuboi, a long way from her home. We found her and her cousin-brother (an older boy, in S4 at the same school) in 2005 living in an IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp in two huts which had been abandoned by IDPs who had returned home. Her cousin was an orphan and had paid no fees so far. Loyce was doing everything for him (cooking, fetching water etc) while he studied. She was being 'disturbed' by men and was very vulnerable, although she said she had managed to refuse so far. We found a sponsor for her and were able to move her to a boarding school in Soroti in 2006 since when she has flourished.
Aniemo Loyce
more poems
Girls sing a welcoming song at the Retreat
About the Retreat
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The Teso Educational Sponsorship Scheme (TESS), which enables very needy children to benefit from post-primary education,was set up by the Teso Development Trust (TDT) in 2004 at the request of church leaders in Teso who see the education of bright children, especially girls, as being the key to all long term development and the future hope of Teso.
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At an Oxfam lecture in 2006, it was stated that "girls education is paramount and more productive in the long term than any other development project".
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The scheme is administered through TDT and the Education Offices of Soroti and Kumi Dioceses in North Eastern Uganda.
Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world - and Teso is one of the poorest areas of Uganda. The only hope the Church can see of permanently improving life in Teso is through education at various levels, especially of the brightest children.
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Children in Oditel camp
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Typical camp huts
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If a family can only manage to send one child to secondary school, then most will, inevitably, send one of their own boys. Girls and orphans don't stand a chance. At the moment, many girls who can't go to school become pregnant and are married off as young teenagers and then all hope of school and a better future is lost. Most of the children we help have lost one or both parents or live in camps.
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Although primary education in Uganda is free, parents still have to pay for uniforms, stationery and lunches, which is often beyond the means of many families. They start to learn English from the beginning and are taught in English from about the third year.
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At the end of 7 years, all children take the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) which enables them to qualify to go on to a secondary school.
Desperately needy girls have few, if any, choices in life. Teenage girls not at school have little alternative but to be married off too young and become pregnant early. Then all hope of a brighter future is lost. There are also some very bright boys who, because of extreme poverty, have no hope of continuing in education and face a wasted future, with low self-esteem and little motivation.
Primary education throughout Uganda (known as Universal Primary Education or UPE) is free. Although in 2007 the Ugandan government started making some provision for post-primary education, it will be a long time before there is completely free Universal Secondary Education for all children.
This very successful sponsorship programme is now in its fourth year, there are 205 children (including 20 boys) in secondary and technical schools. We normally aim to take children onto the scheme when they complete primary school. But we sometimes also take on children who have started in secondary school but have then had to drop out because of changes in family circumstances, usually the death of the person who has been paying their fees.
We therefore have children aged between about 13-23, at all stages of secondary and further education, made possible by the generous help and commitment of sponsors in the UK, USA, Germany and Ireland
More about the programme
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