Tommy Hilfiger foundation supports education in Isingiro

Isingiro

Provision of quality education had always been a nightmare for the people of Isingiro South due to the area’s geographical location and topography.

The hilly terrain, coupled with scarcity of water further compounded the problem as the children and women spent most of their time looking for water as they had to travel more than five miles looking for water. However with the intervention of the millennium villages project (MVP), the situation has started improving and subsequently, better grades have started to be achieved, thanks to a donation of $2million by the Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation.

Timely intervention
Tommy Hilfiger is one of the top world fashion designers based in USA. The president of the foundation, Guy Vickers at the commissioning of a classroom block of Nyakitunda Primary School in Nyakitunda sub-County said the company’s aim is to see disadvantaged pupils get equal opportunities like privileged ones.

“As a foundation we are happy that we are investing in the future leaders of this country and beyond. Who would dream of president Barack Obama becoming a president of USA?” he asked. He encouraged parents to take their children to school and avoid dropping out at an early stage. “Your duty is to make sure these children attain education for future development,” he said.

The holistic approach to the millennium goals has turned around a hitherto bleak situation into one of hope. At the start of the project in 2006, the number of children enrolled at Millennium Villages Project stood at 3,472 boys and 3,558 girls. To boost their attendance, several interventions have been implemented.

The head of the MVP David Siriri says this was a community that was neglected with no intervention of any NGO. “It is amazing the children are passing in grade one and girl-child-enrolment has increased tremendously,” he says.

Some of the interventions include, classroom blocks, provision of water tanks at schools, a school feeding programme, introduction of information technology as a tool for teaching and learning, solar power and teachers’ houses.

Others include, community participation, retraining of teachers, construction of separate latrines for boys and girls and integration of health education, disease prevention and nutrition and environmental education. “Before the intervention, grade one results were a dream in this area, but now almost all the 21 schools in the project have been registering good grades and some of the products have gone to topmost schools like Maryhill High School and Ntare School among others,” Mr Siriri explains.

The head teacher of Nyakimuri Primary School in Nyakitunda sub-County Ms Florence Kakiiza attests to this. “With the provision of teachers houses, late coming and absenteeism are a thing of the past both for teachers and children. The introduction of computers has also made learning very exciting. This has also increased enrollment,” she says. According to her, the school has planted trees for both firewood and timber, which have improved the environment

Feeding programme
Perhaps this is the most exiting part of the innovation as the children are assured of meals at break time and lunch. They no longer have to go back home for lunch. This has drastically improved attendance and reduced drop-out rates to about 10 per cent from 62 per cent at the start of the project. In the four years of the MVP lifetime, there have been dramatic improvements in nutrition security, enrolment, attendance and concentration. “The percentage of children receiving school meals has jumped from five per cent to 74 per cent, meaning this percentage of children are retained at school all day,” Ms Shakila Bint Sheik the communications officer MVP says.

This has also helped mothers who have been returning from their fields to provide lunch for their children to reduce increase their daily productivity. It has been instrumental in strengthening the community’s’ sense of ownership of the program and in maintaining the regular and reliable contribution as required.

The introduction of school gardens has also contributed to better nutrition for the pupils. “The Hilfiger Foundation has done its duty by providing the necessary monies to bridge the gap between the better served areas by applying a holistic approach and the results are there to show. It is now the turn for the communities to embrace the approach as they are the beneficiaries,” Mr Siriri says.