The end of the first term arrived at the end of April with relief and excitement. The first two pupils with the highest academic scores in each of the seven school years pay no school fees the following term. Four of the 14 places this term went to 1moreChild children of which two were 1st in their class. The overall standard is low so there is still a long way to go to get to a good enough level for University, but it is encouraging.

During the holidays we ran an inter-1moreChild football tournament with 7 teams of 10 boys in each. After a mini league, semi-finals and a tense final which ended 4-3, the winners were Lotimong Philip’s team who beat Korobe Moses’ team. The winners won $2 each and a night out to see the European Cup Final on 28th May.

In February we took on our first group of 10 street girls! We also hired an amazing Girls’ Manager/Social Worker called Rose. Rose has worked in the slum village of Masese, where the girls come from, for 10 years and has both social work and medical training.

The girls were part of a larger group who roamed the streets collecting scraps from the dumps and trying to get casual jobs sifting beans and sweeping up charcoal. Two weeks ago we decided to take the remaining girls in their group and now have 35! We are really excited to be able to help these vulnerable and vibrant girls and to have Rose on board to oversee the work. We are in the process of hiring a Girls’ House Manager and renting a home for them.

All these girls need sponsors so if you or anyone you know might be interested please send them our way. Thank you for your support.

“Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world,” Lawrence Summers – ex chief economist of the World Bank

At the end of January 1moreChild took on 29 new boys. All of these boys had been coming to our Tuesday football evenings and then back to the 1moreChild boys’ home for supper. A few are related to our original boys and they have all settled in very well.

The ‘old’ boys have moved to a new house just up the road and our girls (full details to follow) are occupying a small house in their garden. The new boys are in the original First Lane home. Moving day was great fun – new furniture arrived and everyone moved to somewhere different!

Most of the houses in the local slum village of Masese are built of sticks and mud. These need constant repairing to protect them from termites and from generally falling apart.

Last week the 1moreChild boys got to work on a few houses. They repaired two of their friends’ houses and also a building where an old lady provides food for many of the boys.

Here is a video to show you the process…

Some amazing school children from Somerset, England sent out Christmas boxes for all the 1moreChild children.  The Ugandan postal service did an amazing job of getting them all here before Christmas!  Thank you so much for all the effort that went into each box.  Here is a short video of the excitement…

Every Tuesday we play a game of football with the boys in 1moreChild and any boys still on the street.  After the game all the boys have supper back at the 1moreChild home.  Part of our reason for doing this has been to get to know, and to assess the needs of boys still on the street or in the slum village of Masese.  A core group of vulnerable boys have been attending Tuesday football for over a year now.

Last week we had the thrilling opportunity of inviting 28 of them to join 1moreChild. It has been an exciting time of getting them settled and ready for school with uniforms, shoes and stationery. Many have never attended school before and will be heading to nursery school on the 7^th February.

In December we hired a fantastic house manager for these boys called Benson. We have lined up a second house which will become the centre for these boys and accommodation for those that need it.  At the moment the house has squatters in it and a number of unpaid bills, but we hope to be able to move in very soon.

Every year we give a bike to the most outstanding child – this year the bike was won by Angaro Moses.  Angaro joined 1moreChild two years ago.  He had been abandoned by his parents and left in the slum village to fend for himself. Not naturally aggressive, Angaro had struggled to survive on the streets and was painfully thin and malnourished when he joined 1moreChild.  This year he has blossomed to become a great leader who is honest, warm-hearted and confident.

Winning the bike is like most westerners winning a car on a TV show.  We give one away for a number of reasons.  Firstly, as a way of honouring the child with the best overall attitude.  Secondly, as an incentive to motivate and encourage all the children to aim for the bike and achieve their best.  Finally, to inspire the children to think big – to dream of owning a bike, which is a symbol of something totally out of their reach, of working hard every day so that their future includes things of which they can only currently dream.

A number of the 1moreChild boys have been near the top of their class in recent terms and as the end of year reports came out there was great anticipation and excitement.  This was heightened by the fact that the boys who come 1^st and 2^nd in their year do not have to pay school fees the following term which is also a huge honour.

Three hard-working, 1moreChild boys ended up achieving this amazing success.  Lotudu Paul was 1^st out of 70,  Ether Samuel was 2^nd out of 59 and Aliat Philip was 2^nd out of 224.  For the Karamojong tribe, this is unheard of and is a great source of pride and encouragement to the other boys.

2 weeks ago there was an announcement on the national radio about 3 murders in Karamoja. Armed robbers had attacked a family home one night, but the father of the home had managed to kill one of the robbers with a spear. A revenge attack followed soon after and an elderly lady and two young men were murdered. These were Anyakun’s brothers and grandmother. Anyakun is 12 years old. Karamoja is the region from which most of the children in 1moreChild have fled. Karamoja is arid and hostile and a life on the streets of Jinja is a step up for them. Thankfully Anyakun lives in the 1moreChild boys’ home otherwise he would no longer be alive.

Anyakun Simon

Thank you so much for all those who gave towards all the specially designed 1moreChild t-shirts.

The boys were absolutely thrilled when they received them on Saturday. Most haven’t taken theirs off since and many asked if they could wear them to school as their uniform!