Outrunning the Accelerated Learning Program

Uganda Blog | 27th April 2009

Since we started the accelerated learning programme being implemented by one of our partners (CCF Pader) as part of the Comic Relief funded project, I heard lots of great anecdotes about the challenges the tutors are facing but the most unusual of all the challenges has been the fact that they are struggling to cope with the vigour, enthusiasm, and dedication of the girls in particular.

144 girls are currently attending the accelerated learning programme and about 30% are child mothers mainly as a result of rape or defilement. Pader district has one of the highest rates of sexual violence against girls.

Walking through the middle of this vast centre mainly dedicated to creating a second chance for girls who, as a result of the war, had been abducted by the LRA and raped and are now pregnant or nurturing their babies, I felt angry at the perpetrators but amazed at the sheer dedication of these girls. Mary is one of them. She enrolled on the programme to become a teacher. ‘I think this is my last chance to change my life, and I am taking it all and giving it my best’, she said while flipping through her note book and suckling her 14 month old baby. ‘We are coping well here because of everyone’, one of the other girls explained. Ah! the spirit of Ubuntu, a Zulu word that has over the years captured the spirit of community, of oneness, forgiveness and the strive for a common goal. It was vital in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and in bringing all parties together: I am because of all of you.

As the coordinator of the organisation takes me on a tour of the centre, I saw many more girls ilke Mary. Every tree shade in the premises was providing valuable square meter where these girls sit quietly with their babies studying and providing an anchor for each other. Occasionally, they will giggle, play with their children, laugh and go quiet again. I tried to imagine what must be going through their heads, what will the future hold for them and their children, will this project make those dreams of becoming teachers, nurses, restaurant owners and computer technicians a reality?

‘We are very optimistic and the future looks bright.’ the Coordinator emphasized. ‘We have four years to make it happen and we will be there with these girls every step of the way. They believe in themselves again and that is a big shift for all of them. We call it catch-up education but we need to catch up with their pace.’

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