West Nilers dance, raise Shs400m to educate kins

The West Nile Foundation chairman Caleb Alaka (right) joins community initiative members from the West Nile to cut a cake during the launch of West Nile Education Trust Fund in Kampala last week. PHOTO BY WANDERA OWORA OJUMBO

What you need to know:

  • Direct individual contributions was bound to drain, and finding alternative financing was imperative.
  • The foundation began the West Nile Theme Nights where partygoers converged every last Friday of the month to twirl to Congolese music.
  • The International University of East Africa and Kampala International University each offered five scholarship slots in the name of West Nile Foundation. The scholarship focuses on skills development in sciences and vocational education.

It began with simple commitments at a merrymaking of goat bites washed down with drinks. The year was 2013. The venue: Berbeque Lounge.
A small number of people from West Nile that evening made cash payments as seed contribution for the West Nile Trust Fund.
The scholarship scheme was initiated under the support of the West Nile Foundation, a larger self-help community initiative, headed by lawyer Caleb Alaka.

Direct individual contributions was bound to drain, and finding alternative financing was imperative. The foundation began the West Nile Theme Nights where partygoers converged every last Friday of the month to twirl to Congolese music.
The Shs10,000 per-person gate collection was shared in equal amounts between the club and scholarship Fund.
It raised several millions of shillings and the scholarship was rolled out last year, with financing provided for four students to study medicine and pharmacy at public universities.

Mr Hanani Baba, from Yumbe District, is one of the beneficiaries and studying pharmacy at Mbarara university. The other pioneer awardees are Koboko’s Nancy Adoru, Nebbi District’s Lawrence Owacowun and Herbert Ayiko of Maracha District - all studying medicine at Makerere and Gulu universities.
West Nilers, friends and associates on Friday gathered at Hotel Africana for a grand launch of West Nile Trust Fund and guests at the event pooled Shs250m in cash and pledges, with the keynote speaker Denis Aliga contributing Shs90m directly and through his companies.

The amount had jumped to Shs400m by last evening out of the Shs5b targeted to be raised over five years to support up to 350 beneficiaries, Mr Alaka said.
The International University of East Africa and Kampala International University each offered five scholarship slots in the name of West Nile Foundation. The scholarship focuses on skills development in sciences and vocational education.
“Our schools in the West Nile have continued to underperform, we are concerned about this. Why should it be our region with poor schools, poor teachers and poor grades? We need to find solution to this problem,” Mr Alaka said.

Until the early 1990s, West Nile schools such as St Joseph’s College Ombaci, Mvara SS and St Aloysius College Nyapea produced many of the best-performing students in the country.

The performance of these institutions have plummeted, with few parents with means now educating their children at private schools in central Uganda.
“My children are studying from Kampala and I am wondering why we cannot become confident of our own region. We can work hard towards improving our region,” said Ms Stella Chandiru.
West Nile districts include Arua, Pakwach, Nebbi, Zombo, Maracha, Koboko, Yumbe, Moyo and Adjumani all debilitated by the 1979 war that toppled Idi Amin and, more recently, the Lord’s Resistance Army rebellion.
“We need to improve the education standards in this region so that we can fit the standards of other regions,” said Mr Charles Draecabo, chairman of the scholarship’s board of trustees.