TESS v2

TESS is run in the UK by the project co-ordinator Mrs Margaret Stevens. In Teso, it is run by Rev Sam Ediau, visit contact page, assisted by Harriet Amoding and Samuel Ocen the driver. They are based in the Church of Uganda Soroti Diocesan Education Office although Sam's salary is funded by a grant from the Barbara Ward Children's Foundation whilst Harriet's and Samuel's salaries are paid by a donor.

Rev. Sam Ediau has been running TESS full time since March 2007. He has done so much over the past three years he has worked for TESS to sort out the administration.
Sam was a teacher before ordination and is very competent and reliable as well as being young and having a compassionate heart for the children and their problems. He will be able to develop the programme in other ways, including working with the schools to encourage changes and developments. He will now have the time to deal with problems as they arise. We have money to pay for his salary and expenses for this year, but need to secure this for future years. He is married to Olivia. They have three little girls.

Children are selected by Sam by using a questionnaire and objective scoring system agreed by TESS, which takes into account their performance in the primary leaving exams, family circumstances and level of poverty indicated by such things as number of meals a day, how many children have already dropped out of school, number of huts and gardens, whether they are living in a camp. It is weighted in favour of younger orphan girls, but does not exclude bright boys from desperate backgrounds or older girls who have dropped out of school. All children who complete a form go onto a waiting list and are allocated sponsors as they become available, strictly in order of their selection score.

The cost of fees vary enormously from one school to another, whether they are government or private. We are trying to move all sponsored students into the 6 best schools in Teso (five boarding and one day school, using the Diocesan Girls Hostel) to give them all the best chance in a safe and caring environment. It also makes the administration and caring for the students much easier as the numbers increase each year.

Margaret Stevens tries to visit as many of the students as possible with Sam once a year, to talk to the children, their families and their Head Teachers in order to identify any problems.

This is an opportunity to assess their needs and place them accordingly within the tight budget restraints, also to take pictures of them and explain the scheme and what will be expected of them.

Margaret likes to take a few sponsors with her to meet their own students and help with the program visit The Sponsors Pages to read their reports

Would you like to help? It is a wonderful gift as well as an investment in the future, not only for the individuals sponsored, but also for their families, their schools (which desperately need the fees), for Teso and even for Uganda.

We need the following:-

£275 / $450 / €325 Euros a year for at least six years (or £215 p.a. for UK tax payers who can Gift Aid donations ) will help sponsor a child through secondary education. At least 40 new sponsors are needed each year, most of whom are allocated to students in further education who now need two sponsors each to meet the higher costs. In return, you will receive letters, reports and photos from your child every year. Sponsors are asked to write to their child at least once a year, which means so much to them and enables a relationship to develop.

We are aware that some potential sponsors may feel apprehensive of the financial commitment for 6 years. If this is the case then why not start a group of friends or family or workmates and spread the cost? We have sponsors of groups from clubs, churches and work places, who organise events to raise money for students and the general fund.

If you do not want to sponsor a child, but would still like to help, please consider a single donation to the general sponsorship fund, this helps to pay for medical treatment, transport to and from school or buy basic essentials needed for boarding school :-

£60 / $100 / €70 will buy a basic boarding school kit which includes essential items such as:- uniform, shoes, mattress, bedding, stationery, toiletries, small tin trunk.
£40 / $65 / €50 enables one student in S1, S3, S4 and S6 to attend the annual Retreat
£20 / $35/ €25 enables us to buy replacement uniform, shoes, exercise books etc during the six years at school
£15 / $25 / €17 is enough to test for and treat malaria. More will pay for more serious sickness.
£8 / $14 / €10 will buy a mosquito net
£7 / $12 / €8 is enough to buy one text book in Uganda or a prize for good performance
£5 / $8 / €6 will buy basic stationery for one child for one term

(US Dollars and Euros are for guidance only and subject to the exchange rate at time of donation)

These extras are not included in the sponsorship fee, although you might want to add it on to your first donation if you wish to sponsor a student.

Future challenges

We need to start raising money and finding sponsors for higher education such as diploma and degree courses.

With more money, we could help develop and equip some of the schools our sponsored children attend, as well as provide some in-service training for teachers.

There are plans for building an income-generating Centre which would provide some facilities, training and employment for some of the sponsored students.

Now you can earn money for TESS every time you search the internet or shop online.
Just register free with tess.easysearch.org.uk to raise funds every time you make a successful search. To raise funds when shopping online, click on easyfundraising.org.uk to register and nominate TESS as your charity to shop online via the link. With over 500+ stores - including Debenhams,Currys,Comet, John Lewis and other major shops and TESS receives commission / donations on your purchases at no cost to you. 41 of you have registered and between us, we have made over 8,000 searches, bought many items online and raised £215 in 18 months. "Every little helps".