Omucungwa Day
On 29th November several schools will be taking part in Omucungwa Day.
In Luganda (the major language in Uganda) Omucungwa is the word for orange. Our centre at Malangata is called Ensigo Y'Omucungwa (The Orange Seed). The Facility is a very exciting development for Possibilities and we believe will be a very important facility for the future of Uganda as it makes huge and sweeping changes to its childcare provision.
We are hoping that the day will raise awareness and instruct many new people about our work. We are on the final push to see this project finished and are anticipating opening (Feb 2014) a centre specifically designed for school dropouts in a place called Malangata. It is in the jungle/outback some 26 miles north of Kampala City in Rural Uganda. This is a very poor area and for several reasons the children are dropping out of school without qualifications and therefore in turn becoming unemployable.
Schooling is very expensive and therefore cost prohibitive for many families. The school day is 10 hours long, the nearest school to the village is 7KM walk away (1 hour and a half?) meaning that every day the children have to leave for school in the dark at 5:00am and return home from school in the dark at 7:00pm (Remember this is where there are no street lights and no light pollution it is equatorial so this is the same, every day of the year) Many children are dropping out of school as it is economically unviable and they are not seeing a future - 62% of youth in Uganda are unemployed and this area is quite possibly even higher. The girls are naturally fearful of the journey with rape, molestation, serious attacks and even worse being frequent in rural Africa.
The Centre at Malangata is called ‘Ensigo Y’Omucungwa’ (The Orange Seed). Our tag line for the centre is that it will be ‘creating job creators’. It will be painted orange and we see the 'drop-outs' like seeds. An orange seed falls into the ground and gives life to a sizeable tree that then produces many fruits, which gives strength and nourishment, and then that fruit falls into the ground repeating the cycle many times over.
The centre will give real skills to enable the dropouts to make a future for themselves. It will give them a chance that otherwise they would never have.
We will be offering courses in Motor mechanics, hairdressing, tailoring, farming, welding, goat-keeping, pig rearing and management, solar panel installation etc. All very valuable and commutable skills in Africa
We are working towards Ensigo Y’Omucungwa being a centre that is ‘Creating Job Creators’ and in turn making the lives of the villagers that little bit more comfortable and giving hope for a future.
Our final aim for this development, is to create a new centre for the children and youth of Malangata and for displaced and very vulnerable children from across the various districts surrounding it. The centre will be a village hub and will make available a variety of supports and aids for development of its service.
Omucungwa Day (For Schools) – November 29th
We are hoping to encourage each child that wants to be involved to raise just £10 in 1 month (4 weeks), by doing work or by sponsorship (walks, silences, washing up, car washing, hoovering and dusting - whatever raises money). Any child that takes a sponsor form and makes an attempt to raise anything above £1 will receive an ‘Ensigo Y’Omucungwa silicone wristband. Additional bands can be bought for £1.
Our goal, however, is to get each child raising £10. There wouldn't be a limit on £10 raised and we would encourage as much to be raised as possible. For the child in each school that raises the most there will be an additional prize of a limited edition 'Omucungwa' personalised t-shirt, a personalised mug, an Omucungwa wristband, possibly some other goodies and a gift voucher also.
We currently have 5 schools signed up to take part in some way.
On the return from Half-term we’ll start the four weeks of fundraising activity. Omucungwa Day is Friday 29th November where we'll have a ‘fined’ uniform supplemented day. The children will be encouraged to wear 1 item only, of orange clothing to complement their school uniform (a trainer, a shirt, a sock, a jumper?? Maybe just their wristband?).
If you'd like to be involved in some way and would like some help in organising this event at your school please let me know.
Businesses
It is quite possible that you, like us, are way past school age and therefore might seem too old to participate in Omucungwa Day but your business could enter into the spirit of the day and wear something orange to work. We appreciate all helps and all donations. Please contact us for further ideas on how you could help.
It may not be possible for you to participate at this time. Any donations and/or help at any time is always appreciated. You could run the same day or ‘event’ or an adaption of it at any time of the year or simply help in another way as you are able.
Further possible uses for the Centre
We anticipate its use to include some of the following - Counselling, medical, psychosocial, Family respite, Child resettlement support, training for dropouts and a provision for the village. This may include a computer suite, a cinema and community centre.
We hope also that Ensigo Y'Omucungwa will also become some kind of transit home for children being enabled to return to a safe and permanent environment with extended family members. We also want the centre to be active in providing apprenticeships and training for the next generation as they grapple for their place in the world without any role models or mentors. It needs to be a place that can show them how to establish a future and equip them to be able to fend for themselves as individuals and for their own children.
The opening of Ensigo Y'Omucungwa will be in February 2014
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