The World’s Broken Economy

By Mike Warneke

This recent trip to Uganda has humbled me on more than one occasion. There has been joy, where I did not think joy could exist, there has been hope, where I thought hope had long been buried deep beneath wounds, and there has been sorrow where there should be none that exists. Our team of Fields of Dreams Uganda representatives had the honor of visiting three campuses today in the Gulu region in Northern Uganda. All three of these were primary schools on the outskirts of Gulu, all serving around 1,000 children, and all doing great things with limited resources and staff.

The first campus we visited was Koro Primary School which currently serves 926 students with just 17 teachers. The crazy thing is that they are just over what the government of Uganda suggests as a proper ratio of 1 teacher to 50 students. There were other schools we visited that had small classrooms packed with over 100 children and one teacher leading the way. All of the schools that we came in contact with today are filled with hero’s that are teaching out of love, as there average monthly salary is around 200,000 Ugandan shillings which is equivalent to $80 a month in U.S. currency.   But here is the staggering fact: the largest issue for all of these schools is the dropout rate, because families, and often the orphans themselves cannot afford the school fees.

The schools in Uganda, all work on a three term system, and each child is required to pay his school fees for each term, often in addition to some small fees for programs. On average the three schools we visited today were only charging the vulnerable children in their care 11,000 Uganda shillings per term. Let me convert that for you, that is equal to $4.40 for a term, and yet countless orphaned and vulnerable children could not afford these school fees. The Gulu Region of Northern Uganda was horribly impacted by the 21 year civil war at the hands of Joseph Kony and the LRA. They are still rebuilding, and there have been countless orphaned and vulnerable children left behind to pick up the pieces themselves. The math is humbling; you could help send a child to school in Uganda for the same cost as a value meal at McDonalds.  

Please keep us in your prayers as we humbly decide which of the 8 schools in Gulu that we have visited will join the ranks of our partners in the North during the 2014 calendar year. The needs are great, but together with our donors, advocates, and board members back home a lot can be accomplished. Join in the story and help us provide hope for these children that are not giving up on their future!