A project for the little ones
Younger Ismailis, whose parents migrated from Africa to Europe and North America in the 1970s, are used to hearing their elders reminisce about “the good old days” in the faraway lands that they once called home. But for Farah Williamson, who grew up in Uganda before studying in England and Canada, Africa was not far away. Although she now lives in the United Kingdom, her attention never strays far from the continent.
Over the past two decades, Uganda has seen conflict consume its northern region — known as Acholiland. Although encouraging steps towards peace have been made in recent years, 77 per cent of rural schools in the region’s Gulu district are non-functioning, leaving more than 250 000 children without access to education.
Farah Williamson with children at a camp for internally displaced persons in Northern Uganda. Photo: Courtesy of Farah Williamson
In 2003, Jan Egeland, then UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and emergency relief coordinator, called the conflict in northern Uganda “the biggest forgotten, neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today.” The situation, laments Williamson, hasn't changed much since then: “It shocks me that so many people — including within the country — have so little idea of what has been happening in northern Uganda for the past two decades.”
There is a desperate need to rebuild civil institutions in the region. Two-million inhabitants of the regions who were displaced by the conflict are trying to return to their homes. “They want to rebuild their lives. They want to find their old land and old homes and they want to send their children back to school,” says Williamson.
In 2005, together with her mother Nilmin, a third generation Ugandan, and university friend Andrea Charbonneau, Williamson established Project Shelter Wakadogo — which translates to “for the little ones” in Kiswahili. During visits to the region in 2006 and 2008, Williamson and Charbonneau learnt that building basic institutions like schools must become a top priority in northern Uganda. “There is a real awareness of the importance of education; many people of northern Uganda consider it to be their only assurance of finding a way to make a better life for themselves.”
These newly constructed buildings will house Project Shelter Wakadogo’s nursery school in Acoyo, Uganda. Photo: Courtesy of Farah Williamson
As a first initiative, they decided to build a nursery school for 80 children between the ages of 3 – 6 years. The school will be located in the village of Acoyo, just outside of Gulu. Project Shelter Wakadogo is the first to build a school of any kind in this village. To get the project started, they raised $87 000 — enough to construct the school and operate it for one year.
Construction of the facility was completed in 2008, and Williamson is now travelling to Acoyo to complete the tasks that remain before the school can open. Local teachers need to be hired, the playground has to be built and the school’s water well must be completed.
“We are doing something very small in the grand scheme of things,” admits Williamson. “We’re not saying that we can solve the situation in northern Uganda; however, for 80 very young children and their families in a village just outside of Gulu, this nursery school project means hope. Hope that with education they will be able to build a life never before possible.”
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