Former Miss Tourism Karamoja is set to launch different incoming generating clubs in schools across Karamoja in a bid to help learners in the region become self-reliant.
Challa Elma Kapel made the revelation at the weekend during a ceremony in which she handed over scholastic material to over 200 pupils in Nakapiririt District, Karamoja region.
“I got a feedback of the high number of pupils who reported quickly to school which isn’t the usual case,” Challa told Watchdog. “I hope to keep doing this every term and eventually introduce a few clubs in schools to help the students generate some income to buy some more items in future.”
According to Challa, the Miss Tourism Karamoja 2017 winner, she decided to hold the back to school campaign because most of the students in Nakapiripirit have difficulty in accessing school requirements like books, pens, pencils, sets and school fees.
“Some of them drop out of school due to lack of funds and I thought of it since it’s my home town, I can create a change. So together with Ateker International Development Organisation, Karamoja Community UK Organization as well as Hon Esther Anyakun, the Woman MP of Nakapiripirit District we managed to procure some of these essential needs and distributed them,” Challa said.
According to United Nations’ Girls Education Initiative statistics, literacy rates for young females still lag behind that of young boys by five percent, and nearly half of all girls in Uganda are married before the age of 18. In Northern Uganda – Karamoja region, girls take on women roles faster because they cannot afford to go to or stay in school due to economic challenges.
All photos by METMedia
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