It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness

My name is called Silveria Atim, I am a Ugandan and I live in Uganda. I’m the chairperson Rural Women’s Initiative for Peace and Development. It was formed with the sole aim to equip the needy women and young girls in Kole District, with the skills, knowledge and resources that they need to lift themselves out of poverty.

Well, we know that we don’t live in a perfect world. To take just one example, all children wherever they live, and no matter how poor their families, deserve a high quality education. Yet in many developing countries governments just can’t or won’t cover the cost of providing this. “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”.

There is an alternative. A school that can generate its own income can provide education to even the poorest students without relying on government support or charging student’s fees. Establishing such a school in our community is the chance to light a candle.

As such, we thought it wise to establish a model pre-primary, primary and girls secondary school which arises the need to provide quality educational opportunities in Kole district, Northern Uganda which has lagged behind in overall development largely as a result of the war situation which the area got plunged into for well over twenty two years. The social conflict culminated in massive upheavals that have greatly devastated Northern Uganda.

We have been mailing all possible efforts to seek funding for our proposed project but we could not make it because the National and International funding agencies present here in our region are pretending that they are doing every thing but they are not. Some 80% of our population is subsistence farmers who live beneath the poverty line. Having seen the inhuman suffering the community of Northern Uganda underwent in the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army (the rebel group) led by Joseph Kony. The people of Northern Uganda are much deeper in poverty than other regions in Uganda.

I’m therefore, writing to ask your organization and generous people out there to extend a helping hands to our organization so that we can provide quality education and at the same time, to provide support women who are caring for orphaned children in our community.

With much thanks,

Best