Irene from Jepnar Nursery School in Omanye Village, Busia, Eastern Uganda, has written to thank Afrinspire for financial support which has enabled them to complete the construction of school latrines to the standard required by the government of Uganda, and so get the school officially registered. The school's 63 children and teachers will benefit greatly from the latrines and newly constructed classrooms.
The neighbourhood of Omanye village is one of simple mud and grass huts, in one of the poorest districts of Uganda. A women's literacy group started by Afrinspire partner Rose Ekitwi led the women to the idea of running a nursery school. They were four kilometres from any other school, much too far for children under 5 to walk. The women did not want their children to grow up illiterate, but many primary school children in Omanye were not attending school.
The school started outdoors, under the trees. In 2017, Afrinspire was given a legacy to use for 'disadvantaged children in Africa'. It used some of this to build a first classroom block for Jepnar School, and eventually the school had enough classrooms and the latrine block which was needed to get the school registered and licensed to operate.
The classroom building now has windows, doors, a concrete floor and paint! There is still a need for basic school materials, fees and food for the children who come from homes which are too poor to feed them.
The school's population was expected to be 75. In fact, there are currently 86 children with 30 in the top class, 36 in the middle class and 20 in the baby class. 50 of these children are unable to pay school fees. The overall number is expected to grow to 100.