Tony

One of my goals for the trip was to identify a child to sponsor. The younger children at MYDEL attend a makeshift school that the center setup. It is a single room, holding about 100 children at a time from ages 4-14. There are usually no more than 3 teachers available to instruct, but the pupils usually all stay the same material at the same time. This benefits the younger children as some of them are reading beyond their age level. But the older children are severely lagging behind. Twelve and thirteen year olds struggle to comprehend The Cat inn the Hat. I realize a read need for these kids to immediately enroll in a school with small classes and where they’d be separated by age group. Unfortunately, I’m able to sponsor only one child, so I faced a lot of challenges in deciding who I would choose
1. Therfe were hundresds of students to choose from. Besides theyounger children, there are youth enrolled in high school are also struggling to pay their school fees. There are also university students who volunteer at the center and have also approached me to help them find a sponsor to complete their degree. The need in the community is extremely high.
2. I wanted to identify a child who would benefit the most from a sponsorship. Many of the children have been out of school for years and re-entering into a formal education setting would not be beneficial. For example, a 13 year old who hadn’t been in school since the 3rd grade would find it extremely difficult to re-enter school and would most likely be unable to succeed in the 7th or 8th grade and would most definitely feel uncomfortable and perhaps a bit discouraged schooling with an 8 year old.
3. I needed to identify a child who was actually excited about learning and wanted to go to school. Sadly, some of the children only came to the center because it was something to do, they are fed breakfast, and their friends would be there. But while they were in class, they were extremely disruptive, uninterested in class material and clearly had no desire to be there.
I felt that the best way for me to identify the best pupil was to have impromptu interviews and perform assessments. I did all of this without the students being aware of my intentions because I wanted to get as accurate an understanding of them as possible.
I sat in on class one day and watched the children at work. Immediately, five stood out to me. They were extremely eager to learn and understand. They encouraged their classmates and even explained material to them that they couldn’t understand. After observing them for a few hours, I took time to speak to them individually about their lives, when they were last in school, etc. I also wrote a couple of stories and had them read and write to me in order to gauge their reading levels. Disappointedly, I realized that a couple of the students had the desire to learn, but were extremely far behind their age group because they hadn’t been in school for years.
Ultimately, I identified one young boy, Tony. He is nine, but hasn’t been in school since 2005. However, because of his tenacity to learn he has been able to stay on track in terms of reading and doesn’t seem to be far behind. Both of his parents are dead and he lives with his grandmother. The rest of his brothers and sisters are living with other family members. Besides his intellectual capacity, Tony stood out to me because of his discipline and overwhelming respect for authority and elders. Even when school is not in session and the children are enjoying their free time, Tony is extremely focused and holds himselfin an extremely esteemed manner. My next task is to find a school that is close to his home, but will offer quality education. Uganda has Universal Primary Education, however the quality of some government schools is not all that good. If I find a private boarding school that I can afford, that would be my best option.