A
young girl, Teddy Ndagaano, who lives with her mother in kabaale A village,
Rakai district will have another chance at education. The ………….year old (indicate age of the girl) Ndagaano sat for her Primary
Leaving Examination at Kabaale primary school but with no hope of furthering
her education. Because of the several house hold and her mother’s ignorance
about her daughter’s right to education, Teddy was about to leave school as she
couldn’t balance the twin tasks of house work and school work. In her words,
(quote teddy instead of writing in reported speech) “we had to weave mats with
my mother even at night in order to get some money to cater for our needs.”
Teddy retorted. Teddy had to help her mother so that they are able to raise
funds that would help them meet her educational as well as other needs. (Mention
examples of other needs that teddy and
her mother could be having).
It
was amid this predicament that Mr. Mpesebwa, a counselor from Children of
Uganda, went to the home of Teddy and her mother. In an hour’s dialogue, the
counselor and teddy’s mother discussed issues like……………… (Mention some of the issues that were discuss). After speaking with the mother, Mr.
Mpesebwa spoke to Teddy, emphasizing and highlighting the importance of
education, but also advised that doing house work is equally important so
should be balanced with school work.
It
is no doubt that Mr. Mpesebwa’s visit was fruitful and had quite an impact on Teddy’s
mother’s perception of the right to education and Teddy’s educational needs as
according to teddy, her mother changed for the better. (Quote Teddy: “Two days later, my mother told me
that I would start using evening time for revising my books and work on mats
during weekends.” This is a clear indication that Teddy’s mother
understood the value of education; much as weaving mats was crucial for the
family’s income, she realized that education was equally important. She hence
gave her daughter a chance to balance the two tasks.
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| Teacher's flower |
Therefore
the above story indicates that IDF funded COU has played a major role of
promoting children’s rights and ensuring that children are not turned into
labourers in the name of income creation. Teddy has obviously benefited from
this project as she is very optimistic that she will pass her PLE and no doubt
have a chance at higher education.
