In Muhokya sub-county and Muhokya Town council, located in south-western Uganda, children have to walk long distances through bushy areas to get to school, leading to an increase in cases of rape, early pregnancy among girls, and a drop in school enrolment rates. Children who drop out of school face the challenges of early marriage, unplanned pregnancy and unemployment, among others. These children, especially boys, are also at risk of becoming involved in poaching, an activity that has been practiced by most of the men in the communities in this region. Furthermore, the majority of people living in this area have low incomes, which affects the children’s health and education, and in addition, climate change has had a negative impact on this region whose main economic activity is farming.

In this context, it is difficult to offer quality education to the people living in this region due to several challenges. The number of classrooms can be insufficient to accommodate all the pupils, school grounds are not always safe, and pupils may lack the play materials they need to stay motivated. Existing toilets are often not up to standard, can be shared by children and staff, and remain insufficient in number. Access to water can be remote, which means paying for the services of a motorcycle every day in order to have water on site, making this access uncertain. Finally, the distances to be covered are considerable, which means transport difficulties for educational staff possibly influenced by rainfall due to climate change.

Goals

The goal of this project is, through education, agriculture, conservation, and hosting volunteers, to bring socio-economic change among marginalized, low-income communities that have been afflicted by human rights violations and adverse climate impacts, living in Muhokya sub-county, Muhokya Town Council and in neighbouring communities in Kasese district.

In particular, the project aims to improve the livelihoods of these communities, reduce gender-based violence and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Activities

Project activities may include:

• The construction of more classrooms, staff rooms, toilets, and a large multi-purpose hall;
• Supporting school staff to achieve quality results, in terms of transport, accommodation and other basic needs such as food, and by providing craft materials, stationery and play materials;
• Supporting young mothers, school dropout children, disabled people and women-led initiatives with vocational and entrepreneurial skills ;
• Implementing agriculture, fruit and indigenous tree planting activities and proper disposal of plastic materials;
• Conduct anti-poaching campaigns by organizing community dialogues involving men in conservation activities, supporting income-generating projects, and establishing community and school anti-poaching clubs ;
• Setting up radio talk shows to raise awareness and communicate massively about these activities ;
• Hosting volunteers to exchange knowledge and skills.

Myriad Canada is working with Citizens Dream Care Initiative on this project, a community-based organisation whose mission is to “set up a changed Ugandan citizen through the power of education, innovative skills conservation and promotion of income generation activities in the Rwenzori region and Uganda at large”. To achieve this mission, Dreamers Legacy Care School was established in 2019 to support the education of residents of Muhokya Sub-county, Muhokya Town Council and other neighbouring communities in Kasese district. The school currently has 230 pupils in nursery and primary school, with more girls than boys.