It has been 7 months since the Ugandan Government announced a nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19. Overnight all schools within The Molly and Paul Child Care Foundation (MPCCF) closed and staff and students at Kamunzinda Childrens Village quickly returned to their villages before transport was stopped.

For most children attending Molly and Paul Foundation schools when they don't arent in class it also means they aren't guaranteed a daily meal, they may not have access to clean water, and it is highly likely they do not have access to adequate health care.

Auntie Annet, Head of Kamunzinda Children's Village recently shared "Life in towns has become very hard, during lockdown many people needed to move into the rural areas and walked over 125 miles, from Kampala to Masaka, then deep into the villages. Lockdown has been hard for the children since many come from poor families where feeding among other things is a big challenge. Some districts where our children come from have a high rate of child labour, and you see streets having many children selling items for an income. The boys are in sambas and factories and many sorts of business. Domestic violence was at a high at the start of the lockdown and child neglect has been greatly affected especially for the girl child. Teenage pregnancy has increased to above 5%. Just as other countries, the economy has been greatly affected with many jobs reducing and employees thus becoming jobless."

In early October 2020, the Ugandan government announced that schools can reopen to candidate year students (exam years) in both Primary and Secondary education. While this news brought great joy, the 27-point list of requirements has brought much stress to head teachers across Uganda. Auntie Annet shared "We appreciate and understand why these measures are in place as they give assurance of the safety of all our pupils and staff, but they are very costly for us to implement.

We are committed to supporting the reopening of Molly and Paul Foundation Schools, and with your donations we can help Auntie Molly, Uncle Paul, Auntie Annet, Auntie Catherine and Uncle Benson prepare the schools, and ensure they achieve all the necessary requirements in order to pass the inspection. Some requirements include;

Daily screening of everyone daily, thus need for temperature guns.

Foot operated hand washing facilities.

Waste soak pits

Classroom and bed spacing 2 meters, using singles.

10 pupils and 15 students per standard classroom,

Light and aeration issues of classrooms.

Restrict access to schools, thus schools being totally fenced.

Daily disinfection of toilets, door handles, window seals, tables and black boards.

Social distancing at all times.

Hand washing before entering gates, classrooms and bed.

Individual sports.

Constant water supply

Isolation room with a qualified health worker.

Face shields for laboratories.

Funds raised through this campaign will support the initial back to school phase. Once the initial stage has been funded, any additional funds left will to meet future requirements prior to all students returning. For more information, or to make your donation in a different way please email hello@pearlofafrica.org.uk