The Ugandan government has taken measures to prevent the spread of the virus. These include the closure of all schools and universities for 32 days from March 23rd. There are five weeks of the first term remaining for which fees have been paid.
The government has talked about re-opening the schools after 32 days and then compensating for the lost time by opening schools in the holiday scheduled for 21 days in May. Given the measures taken in other countries, this seems unlikely to happen.
What the government has not done is offer support for the poorest families whose children are now at home and reliant on their families to feed them. Schools have not offered any help either, despite sitting on the money paid in the fees for this term for food.
As an interim measure, we have sent money to buy food items for the families of our sponsored children. We have made a calculation to cover 32 days based on the money we normally send for food in each holiday period.
We will review the situation as the Ugandan government updates the measures it is taking.
Liz Walton
Chair of Trustees