In October, 2018, KEC-AVOH was asked to fund the Kaguma Education Center graduation ceremony in December. We prudently asked for a breakdown of costs and were given a detailed list that amounted to $344. Our Board of Directors voted to approve the expenditure.In December, 2018, my husband (who was my fiancé at the time and a member of the Board) and I went to Uganda for a site visit to verify and validate the KEC needs. We were fortunate to be able to attend the graduation. First, the graduation was not a ceremony, it was an EVENT. They rented two large shelters/tents, one for the children and one for the adults to enjoy the day and to protect us from the sun. They rented graduation gowns for the nursery school (like Kindergarten in the U.S. ).
There were several important people, local politicians, preachers, and community leaders who spoke at the ceremony, all speaking about the importance of an education. Then, the band arrived, and not only was it a band, but it was a marching band! The band was like the pied piper and it started a PARADE, leading everyone on a one mile stroll, letting community members know about the great celebration.The ceremony included a special recognition for honor roll students. Each family was given a dish such as a plate for a reward.
This was followed by lunch for everyone….cooks had gotten up early in the morning to start the fire and had been cooking all day.After lunch, around 4PM, the students performed for us. They danced-they sang-they smiled….it was fantastic! When they were performing solos, the teachers and parents walked up to the children and gave them hard candies as a reward.
This brought us into the evening, and it was our last night in Fort Portal. We downloaded the photos that we had taken during our trip to Uganda and put them on the laptop computers that we donated to them. We demonstrated how the computers worked and the children enjoyed seeing their photos on the computer.It was a long hot day and it was now dark.
We were tired and sunburned, and as we drove to our hotel room, one of our new friends said, “you know, these people will remember this day for the rest of their lives.” It was then that we realized that this was the best $344 dollars that I/we (as a board) had ever spent. It was a fun and joyous day of celebration and it impacted the whole community-giving them hope for a brighter future.The Paul Harvey “rest of the story” is that the enrollment in the school went up over 30% when school resumed in February 2019.
