Friends of Humanity Uganda (FOHU) is making a sincere appeal for a compassionate support, and intervention following the way human life has been devastated and interfered with by the Corona pandemic. Due to the corona preventative measures put in place including lockdown, most people lost their businesses and other sources of livelihood.

The poor have been thrown far below the poverty line, reduced to destitution and thus pushing people into abject poverty. Many Families, individuals and business communities have fallen off the social- economic ladder, tumbling to regrettable low levels of economic life.

It is obvious that a number of children will not be able to go back to school when these institutions re-open. For-instance when the first lockdown in Uganda was imposed in March to October 2020 there was a decline in the number of students who returned to school as exemplified by the classes of S4 and S6 alone who failed to sit for their national exams as revealed by UNEB and the ministry of Education. (See the attached article extracted from the website of the ministry of Education).

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda National Examinations Board is investigating the decrease in the number of candidates in the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Examinations (UACE) cycles. The examinations body says it has recorded a significant decline in the number of candidates who registered for UCE and UACE while there was a huge increase in the number of Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) candidates.

At UCE, a decline of 3,808 candidates was reported while at UACE the figure stood at 4,907, for only two classes of S4 and S6 respectively. However, at PLE, a 7.8 percent increase was recorded bringing the number of candidates to 749,811 this year compared to 695,700 in 2019. Jennifer Kalule Musamba, the UNEB Senior Public Relations Officer, says that they are worried about the decline in the number of registered candidates.

Annually, UNEB estimates an increase of 2 percent in the number of PLE candidates. The 7.8 increase is abnormal; according to Kasule. “We were shocked by this increase. It’s not something we were expecting. If anything we thought we would register a decline due to the COVID-19 effect,” Kasule says.
Education officials that we spoke to however attributed the decline in the numbers of candidates to failure by many students to return to school. Fredrick Kiyingi, the Wakiso District Education Officer who doubles as the chairperson of the DEOs Association, says that many learners failed to resume studies after the COVID-19 lockdown.
“Some of the students failed to go back due to money challenges but others just decided to make money. They now want to sell facial masks and other things instead of going back to school,” Muyingo said. At the primary level, Kiyingi attributed the increase in numbers to the registration of learners in Primary 6 to sit for PLE.
“Some parents decided to push their children in P.6 to sit PLE. This is why the number of registered candidates is above the normal,” Nsubuga explained.

In the FOHU affiliate school of Kisoro Vision SS alone, a total of 83 students of this school failed to return to school after the first lockdown was lifted in October 2020 as the first phase and the second phase of Feb 2021 for other classes of S2, S3 and S5. This was mainly due to failure to raise school fees and other related life challenging situations. Now another prolonged Lockdown was imposed again in June 2021. It is very uncertain when it will be lifted. Its effects will be more devastating than the first one. Everyone is extremely worried.

Looking at this pathetic background and the continued negative effects of Corona on mainly the already financially injured local communities, more and more children will not return to school. Then those meant to cross to another level; say from P7 to Senior one or from S4 to S5 or those to move to the next class, will see the majority totally failing to return to school and then become village Vagabonds; probably about 15 % of the children that were already in school may not return. Very probable especially in our very rural areas.

It is against this background that Friends of Humanity Uganda (FOHU) makes this humble and Humanitarian appeal to whoever can passionately step in and save one or two lives of young African children and enable them continue with school education. FOHU has so many children knocking at its doors appealing for the said support, in addition to those the charity staff and directors pathetically meet when they are in an extremely wanting situation.

We look forward to receiving your support and then help FOHU to rebuild lives of the young generation.
For anyone who wishes to kindly step-in and give this needed support, please contact any of the following:
(a) Register yourself with Stewardship, a UK based charity through its Give-net. FOHU is registered under Stewardship and its Registration number is 20281126 (get details from Stewardship-Give net account. https://www.stewardship.org.uk/sign-in
Or directly link with the FOHU charity administration on;
(b) FOHU Charity Email. Fohukisoro@gmail.com
(c) Program coordinator’s Email dan.mbabazi@gmail.com
(d) Friends Of Humanity Uganda (FOHU) P.O.BOX 302 Kisoro- Uganda
(e) +256772690233.

Looking forward to your blessed and kind support.
Dan Deric Munyambabazi
Program Coordinator – FOHU
+256772690233.