This September 2024, Dear Future completed a successful mission to East Africa. Our goal was to reconnect with our beneficiaries and partners, assess the impact of our ongoing support, and most importantly, kick off preparations for the 2025 School Giveaway in Uganda.
While the groundwork for this campaign—such as fundraising, inventory assessment, and cost analysis—begins much earlier, by September, we were able to finalize 80% of our plans. This early preparation allows us to make the majority of our purchases before inflation spikes due to school-year demand. By doing this, we ensure we can provide school materials at optimal prices, communicate with school leadership about what to expect, and notify parents and students in advance.
Addressing Absenteeism: A Persistent Challenge
One of the challenges we've identified in the communities we serve is heavy absenteeism during the first few weeks of school. Families and even students themselves often don’t see the importance of attending immediately, assuming there isn’t a pressing reason to be there. Additionally, many families try to avoid the customary task of helping clean the school before classes begin.
In some cases, we suspect that the lack of school materials at the start of the term contributes to this issue. To counter this, we’re making it clear that school supplies will be available to students during the first week. By ensuring children have access to their supplies early, we hope to encourage more students to attend on time. We’re also considering other incentives, like gifts of soccer balls and other useful items, to further motivate attendance.
While we still have some purchases to make and more fundraising ahead, we are confident that we’ll be able to support 4,000 children in Uganda for the 2025 school year.
Visits to Our Orphan Support Programs
During our mission, we also visited our orphan children in both the Wakiso and Mayuge regions. Though we didn’t bring gifts this trip, we were able to reassure them that their school supplies are secured for the upcoming year. We also donated a Chromebook to our friends at the Namugga Mable Foundation, a home for orphans.
Expanding Our Support: Hygienic Pads and Infrastructure Development
While in the eastern region of Uganda, we provided hygienic pads to three schools, continuing our mission to address menstrual health and absenteeism among girls. We also took the opportunity to check on the progress of our high school construction project in Mayuge. We were thrilled to see the foundation completed and look forward to the walls going up next month.
In Kampala, we established a new partnership program with the Namugga Mable Foundation, to expand our reach for giving reusable pads and we met with the leadership team at AFRIpads, our reusable hygienic pad supplier. This meeting was an important step in refining our approach and learning from their expertise as we continue to provide girls with the support they need to manage menstruation with dignity and without missing school.
Thank you for following our journey! As we continue our work in Uganda, we’re also preparing for our next steps in Peru. Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the 2025 school year. Your support is what makes all of this possible!
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