Bethel Junior School

Mercy Uganda chooses which schools its sponsored children attend based on the quality of the education provided. There are some circumstances, such as location, where a Christian school is not available but every effort is made to ensure the children receive a Christian education. Bethel Junior School, in Namulanda, is one of the schools where five sponsored children attend.

School leaders are generally inclined to be helpful and open about their schools, their curriculum, and the affairs of the sponsored children. Of course, the schools don’t function in exact parallel to how they might function in the U.S. so Mercy Uganda is still learning what questions to ask so that each student is most well cared for.

For example, we learned that all of the students receive porridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. From what I can tell, porridge consists of milk with cornmeal. Seems cruel but given the available funds in an already poor area of the country, porridge three times a day is more than so many other children receive. The children can bring “pocket money” to purchase additives such as geenuts (peanuts), honey, or some other small foods. In a week’s time, students will generally need 2,500 shillings ($1.25) per week to have access to these extra foods to make the porridge more nutritious and more edible.

What this means is that child sponsors may wish to provide pocket money for their child from which to enhance their meal time and nutritional intake (at least a little). The $450 sponsorship fund is for education and boarding, but that money does not cover pocket money. This approach seems to be mirrored throughout all the schools we encountered.