Alogoro Primary School

On February 2, 2010, in Completed Wells, by DITB

The Alogoro Primary school is in the village of Alogoro. There is no road leading to the village, so you have to drive through sunflower fields to reach the village.

Unlike many schools in Uganda that are set up by local authorities or groups from other countries, Alogoro Primary School was established by locals who saw an urgent need and decided to help themselves. The parents opened the school a few years ago.

Before the school was built, children from Alogoro had to walk 7kms to attend the nearest school. When two local farmers donated the land, the parents opened this school so the very young children would not have to walk that far. Right now, the school includes only nursery, P1 and P2, but P3 is expected to be added in the next year. The villagers are well organized and willing to help at the school, where the children receive a cooked meal each day. But the villagers were simply unable to raise the funds needed to pay for a well on their own.

Before installation of the well, children and their families had to rely on a polluted pond over 1km away for drinking water. Animals also drink from this pond, and the children were often very sick from having to drink this water. In addition, it is not unusual for children in northern Uganda, particularly in the region where the Alogoro village is located, to be kidnapped. The locals say it is the work of traffickers who sell the children for use in sacrificial witchcraft ceremonies.

As you can see by the photos, the children are now overjoyed to have their own, safe source of clean water.