Report on March 2020 trip to Kobulubulu

Anna Akado, KRMA daughter, graduate of Uganda Christian University, Kampala

Our pre-pandemic 2020 trip to Uganda accomplished so much! Since our return, the lockdown throughout Uganda has triggered profound set-backs. We want you, our donors, to know about both.

In late February through March 11, krma-USPartners’ co-founders Lois Stovall and Lindsey Holaday returned to celebrate the conclusion of the Cassava Project collaboration we had launched back in 2013 with KRMA. It was a joyful and tearful occasion with these 22 women who are now totally responsible for managing their 44 acres of cassava. We shared what we had learned, and what we would always cherish. We will share more about these moments in our Moments Posts on Facebook: www.facebook.com/krmauspartners

We joined with our KRMA friends and the larger community of Kobulubulu in an all day event honoring the graduation of our first sponsored university student, Anna Akado, hosted by her extended family. Anna is the first university graduate in their community for many years. Our friend MP Veronica Eragu, who has inspired so many in Kobulubulu, was on hand to speak and recognize the importance of Anna’s accomplishments, as well as our partnership. Having Anna’s success celebrated as a major achievement for not only her, but also her family, has a multiplier effect on other boys and girls in the larger community. They begin to believe their educational dreams are possible to fulfill.

Veronica also traveled with us to nearby Soroti to meet with the Rotary Club which has been so supportive of our expanding work in education. When we returned to Kobulubulu, we visited and delivered text books and supplies to the three elementary and one secondary public schools we support. We had meetings with teachers and students to hear their aspirations and concerns.

An activity that produced lots of of energy was our organizational meeting to set up a new sewing project to produce sanitary pads to be piloted by two of the schools. The two women teachers and one community leader who are piloting the sanitary pad program are SO excited about the prospect of not only being able to provide all the female students and teachers with pads, but also the entrepreneurial potential of selling them at an affordable price within their region. This will be a major accomplishment if we can successfully launch this program over the next two years.

Next we traveled to one of the boarding schools where our 2020 scholarship recipients are completing their last two years of high school which is not available in Kobulubulu. Our four boarding school students are doing well and are hoping to go to University. In addition to our university graduate Anna, we had visits with both Sarah and Patricia, our other two university scholarship recipients who we have supported in pursuing their education in the capital city of Kampala. All 7 of these young women are very grateful for the opportunity to get additional educations.

Lastly, we touched base with the new interim District Education Officer (DEO) and his assistant to discuss how to maintain continuity during our planned 4 years of involvement with the Kobulubulu schools. The DEO has been so impressed with the improvement in student and teacher attitudes and academic performance, which he attributes to our involvement, that he would like our help in expanding aid to other schools in the district.

We flew back to the U.S. in mid-March wearing masks, and were confronted with the need to quarantine before we began seeing friends.  Everything stopped. Not just here, but in Uganda everything shut down, and is still shut down.

Pandemic sludge filled my veins after the high sense of accomplishment I felt while in Uganda. But you know, we will persist. And we will continue. And we want you, our donors, to know and understand that we used your donations well, that children and teachers were so very excited to have adequate books for the grade levels that were our 2020 focus. The backpacks that were awarded to the 5 girls and 5 boys at each school with highest attendance records triggered an immediate spike in attendance at all the schools. We are in agreement with our partners in Uganda on the next steps of our journey with the schools and community of Kobulubulu. 

Please know that each and every one of you has made a difference. To symbolize our now completed transition from a focus on agriculture to a focus on education, we are now KUSP (Kobulubulu USPartners), rather than Krma-USPartners. The giant leap from 22 women and their families to over 2500 children and their teachers has been made. These last 5 months have been a set back, but our vision and commitment to improve the lives in this under-resourced community have not wavered.

Please follow up at www.facebook.com/krmauspartners for more frequent updates about current situation in Uganda. We will keep you up to date as we receive information from our partners who have internet access.

 Thank you!

Five girls and five boys with top attendance rates with new backpacks at Kobulubulu high school, with Lois Stovall, President, KUSP.