The main aim of ACE is to assist rural primary schools in southwest Uganda. However, we have come across another need which we are trying to address.

When the pupils leave the primary schools they are often unable to proceed to secondary education because of their family circumstances. Many of them are orphans or come from very poor families. There are a small number of these pupils who are very gifted and could potentially go on to be the doctors and teachers of the next generation.

So ACE started a sponsorship scheme to assist these children in secondary education. We started with six students being sponsored by ACE supporters in schools in Kisoro and Kabale. Some were day-pupils and some were boarders.

It soon became obvious that the boarders were doing much better. The day-pupils had to walk such long distances each day, and carry out household tasks when they got home. This made it impossible to keep up with their homework. So the trustees decided that all our sponsored pupils should board at school.

The cost of this is currently £30 per pupil per month. This pays for them to be at a boarding school due to the remoteness of their homes.

We are asking you to help us by sponsoring a child. If £30 per month is too much, we invite you to donate £20, £15 or £10 per month and share the sponsorship with another supporter.

Generally, students begin secondary education at the end of January each year, and it is at that time that sponsors are allocated to students. However we welcome new sponsors at any time of year. We have to build up funds in the ACE Sponsorship bank account because a student's expenses are not spread evenly through the year. When new students initially join the school they each require equipment costing about £150 (see below) plus the cost of their transport to Kisoro. If you opt to become a sponsor, your monthly contributions will go into the ringfenced sponsorship account to help with these initial costs and you will be allocated a student next January.

For the first time this year we are asking the headteachers to identify qualifying potential students in August/September, after they take their mock primary school leaving examinations. This may enable us to give sponsors the name of a student earlier, but it cannot be confirmed until we get the exam results in mid-January next year.

You can obtain a sponsor form by clicking here. Instructions are on the form.

 

We have also been able to assess the different schools. We have decided that the best school in Kisoro for our pupils is Kisoro Vision Secondary School so this term we moved our sponsored pupils who were at other schools to this school. Although the school buildings at Kisoro Vision are not as good as some other schools, the academic standard is the highest in the area. ACE representatives who have visited the school said that the pupils are very happy there and particularly commented that there is no bullying at the school.

In mid-January 2010 we received the primary school examination results which told us which of the pupils at the ACE schools achieved Grade 1 or a high Grade 2, making them eligible for secondary school sponsorship.

We also liased with David Epidu, ACE's Ugandan representative, and Mr. William, the local school inspector. They helped us to decide which of the high-scoring pupils had the greatest need and would benefit most from support from our sponsors.

On Sunday 24th January the ACE trustees, together with Sponsorship Coordinator, Janet Pye, met and discussed the allocation of sponsorship. It was decided to offer ACE sponsorship to 10 pupils this year. At the time we had 8 sponsors waiting to be allocated a child. We initially supported the other two, using a grant of £500 which we received from the Cumber Family Charitable Trust. Subsequently new sponsors came forward for them.

The 10 pupils chosen for sponsorship have come from a good spread of ACE schools. There were 3 from Bukazi, 2 from Rurembwe, 2 from Nyarusunzu, and 1 each from Rukongi, Mukibugu and Kabami. Unfortunately, they were not so evenly distributed between the sexes - there were 8 boys and 2 girls.

David then had about a week to get all the shopping required for our students to begin at the school when term commenced in the last week of January. You may be interested to see what a student requires. If so click here. You can use the currency converter on the latest news page to work out how much things cost in British pounds.

David then met up with the new intake of students joining the ACE Sponsorship Scheme and did their shopping with them. He sent us these pictures -

We have sent information packs for each student to their sponsors. It contained a brief resumé and photographs and a letter from the student.

If you would like to sponsor a pupil please get in touch as soon as possible. Also, please send this information on to anyone else who you think might help.