By Janine Voigt, CEO, PowerOneForOne Foundation gGmbH
Even at our partner schools in Uganda, which we were able to equip with solar cells in 2020 and are therefore now independent of the local power supply, living conditions have been greatly exacerbated by Corona.
At Rwera Mixed Primary School and St. Bruno Training Vocational School, students had to be sent home as early as the middle of last year due to the lockdown. Only a few children were allowed to stay in school and could be cared for there. In order to make the local population aware of the difficulties of the deaf children and adolescents, the principal Sr. Josephine was frequently present on radio and television in the following weeks and months and asked to support the children in their daily lives. She visited many of her students at home, provided them with school materials, taught their parents the most important signs and gave food to the poorest families.
In the villages, the students do not live in the same protected environment as in the schools. Violence and sexual assault increased during the pandemic: A 17-year-old student was raped and became pregnant, a 26-year-old trainee was unintentionally expecting a child, and a student had died of Covid-19 at her grandmother's home in November. It is therefore all the more important that the students are able to return to their schools as soon as possible, so that they are also - as the school administration suspects - better protected against a Corona infection.
The graduating classes have already been back in schools since the end of 2020. In the coming weeks, the other students will also be allowed to return one by one. We hope that the schools will be able to fully resume their regular operations soon in order to provide a protected environment for the children and trainees.
More information about our work in Uganda: