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Welcome

Welcome on the website of Stichting Nurture the Child.

Education is critical for every child in the world. It is a human right.
Nurture the Child was created to offer underprivileged children a better future through education. This private initiative strives to support them in the most efficient way possible in order to improve their future prospects. Find out how we do that on this website.

Welkom

Welkom op de website van Stichting Nurture the Child

Nurture the Child is een Nederlandse Stichting die actief is in Kampala, Oeganda. Omdat de stichting actief is in dit land, en er sponsors zijn uit verschillende landen, is gekozen voor een Engelstalige website. Voor Nederlandstalige informatie verwijzen wij u naar het tabblad News, waar u een aantal Nederlandse nieuwsbrieven kunt vinden.

About Us

Nurture the Child

Nurture the Child was founded by Marjon Castelijns. She is a Dutch national and lived in Naguru from 2009 to 2017. In October 2009 she felt that she should do something for the children in the neighbourhood that she saw loitering on the streets every day during school time. She was introduced to the Creative Infant School by friends who were involved in a local NGO (Slum Aid Project) which focused on other issues in the neighbourhood.
Marjon took interest in the school and with the support of her friends and family, she started buying scholastic materials for the school as well as giving support for improvement of the school building. In 2010, the approach was changed to sponsoring needy students from the neighbourhood of Naguru who were studying at private primary schools in the neighbourhood. In the meantime some of the sponsored pupils have grown up and are attending secondary school, sponsored by us.

In the meantime the initiative grew, and in August 2012 it was registered in the Netherlands as an NGO called ‘Stichting Nurture the Child’ to formalize it. During 2013, 2014 and 2015, the foundation expanded to 120 sponsored pupils. However, since donations were not guaranteed beyond 2016, we did not enrol new students in the sponsorship each year anymore to keep the number of sponsored pupils stable.

Since 2016 we are working with New Age Schools for nursery / primary only and Kololo SS for secondary education. Just three students that started in secondary in 2014 are still sponsored in boarding schools. Because about 5% of pupils drop out of school almost every year due to a move to another neighbourhood or out of the city, or other family circumstances, we sponsored 95 pupils in 2017 and 92 in 2018.
COVID19 had a huge impact on education in Uganda. For 2 years (2020-2021) schools were completely closed. Only kids in crucial years (final primary year and S4) had some hours of schooling and exams in 2021, so they could continue their education in the next levels. Because teachers and their families are dependent on the salary they get from the school, which is partly paid by our school fees, we decided to supported the teachers from the primary school directly, by paying part of their salaries. We also supported the school in buying equipment to prepare for COVID measures to allow them to open up. In February 2022 all schools opened again. The number of pupils reduced significantly. This year we sponsor 24 children in primary school at New Age Schools, and 10 pupils in secondary school at Kololo SS. We also still sponsor Isaac, who attends a School for blind children in primary 3 now.
We hope to continue sponsoring all current primary pupils until have all finished primary (+/- 2028) and all secondary pupils until secondary 4 in 2025!

To get some images of the New Age school and also about Marjon's life and Uganda, see the following program (mostly in Dutch)  omroepbrabant.nl/More details about our work can be found in various sections of this site and on our facebook site: www.facebook.com/nurturethechild

Uganda

uganda_mapUganda is a country in East-Africa with a population of approximately 36 million people. It is a least developed country with almost 40% of its population living below the poverty line, i.e. on less than $ 1.25 a day. Uganda was a protectorate of the Britain until 1962.

Kampala

Kampala is the capital of Uganda, and with an estimated amount of around 6 Million inhabitants the biggest city of the country. Kampala became the capital of Uganda in 1962, when Uganda became independent. Before that time Entebbe was the Capital. Kampala is situated in the central region. From the end of the nineteenth century, Kampala was the capital of the kingdom of Buganda (one of the biggest tribes of Uganda). Kampala district is generally hilly. Kampala city was originally called the city of 7 hills because it was built on seven hills. Over time, the city has expanded to cover several more hills. At the bottom of most hills are swampy areas. This landscape influences daily lives. The hills are considered to be good areas to live, while the areas between the hills are generally less affluent and are where many slums are located. One of the hills in central Kampala is called Naguru which is one of the more affluent areas. On the lower parts of this hill are slums which housed big numbers of people. Over the years, the slums in Naguru are reducing as more affluent people are constructing houses, mostly costly apartments so the slum is reducing. One of the slums in the area is called “Naguru Go-down”.

Goal

Nurture the Child was created to offer underprivileged children a better future. It is a private initiative that strives to reach underprivileged children in the most efficient way possible. In this way we hope to support their upbringing in order to improve their future prospects.

Approach

To reach the goal, Nurture the Child focuses on sponsoring children into Primary Education in Naguru Go-Down in Kampala. By sponsoring children, we support:
  • The child, by keeping out of the home or off the streets during the day and giving it the opportunity to learn and develop
  • The family, by supporting one of their children and providing it one meal a day. This leaves them with a larger budget for other family expenses
  • The teachers, we clearly aim at giving the teachers the first priority in spending in the Primary Schools. We make sure the money for sponsorship covers the teachers' salaries.
  • The school, by providing the school a reliable, constant source of income (through sponsorships) the school can improve their planning, make budgets for long term improvements and will end up with more funds available to meet their costs.
    The approach aims to have simple processes that are easy to manage, ensure minimum overhead costs and avoid money leaking out of the school.

Achievements

The foundation started as an private initiative in 2009 and was formalized by registering as a foundation in the Netherlands in 2012.

  • We sponsored 35 students.

In 2022 the schools opened again!

Many pupils dropped out because they moved away from Narugu, or outside of Kampala due to poverty during the COVID19 period.
Most pupils did not make any progress during 2020-2021, and therefore we still have pupils from P3 onwards.
Due to restricted budget, we stopped entering new pupils to secondary sponsorships after graduation from S4. Therefore, we only have pupils in S3 and S4.

One week after the schools opened in 2020, they were closed due to COVID19 restrictions.

Unfortunately, pupils did not attend school until 2022.
During this period we supported the teachers by paying part of their salaries, so they could still support their families. Pupils in primary 7 could finish their exams in 2021 and most of them graduated.
Pupils in their final years in secondary school could finish their exams, and all of them graduated! Some of them were supported from primary 4 until secondary 6! We managed to support them for 10 years until their graduation!

  • We sponsored 90 students.

Again we continued with pupils that were already sponsored in 2018.

We sponsored 1 pupil in nursery, 60 in New Age Primary, 27 in Kololo SS and 3 in secondary boarding schools and one in Primary at the school of the deaf. We plan to continue with the same students from 2020 onwards, and continue until the last one finishing Secondary 4 in 2025!

  • We sponsored 92 students.

Again no new students were added in 2018 because our yearly sponsorship reduced. We sponsored 2 students in nursery, 64 in New Age Primary, 22 in Kololo SS and 3 in secondary boarding schools and one in Primary at the school of the deaf.

We plan to continue with the same students from 2019 onwards,and continue until the last one finishing Secondary 4 in 2025! If we achieve new continuous sponsorship, we can of course add new pupils to the programme on a yearly basis.

  • we sponsored 95 students.

Again no new students were added. We decided to stop sponsorship at Prime Care Schools due to management issues at the school, so for nursery and primary we exclusively work with New Age schools. Some of the pupils did not transfer from Prime Care to New Age. We sponsored 6 students in nursery, 66 in primary, 19 in Kololo SS and 3 in secondary boarding schools and one in the school of the deaf.

  • We sponsored about 120 students.

The reason why the total number decreased since 2015 is that some students left the neighborhood and we did not add new students. Reason was that this was the last year that our main sponsor will contribute, so we decided to make some savings to ensure we could continue for 2 years after their sponsorship was finished. This year a team from Nutricia visited us again, and activities at the schools were organized. On top of that a trip with all students sponsored in secondary school to Lake Mburo National Park was organized.

  • We sponsored about 130 students.

The change from supporting the school to just providing sponsorship for the pupils was considered successful. It makes management of the initiative easier as the main control is attendance of the sponsored pupil and the quality of the food. All students that transferred to secondary school were only presented with the option to go to Kololo Secondary School, because management of attendance of boarding schools had proven to complicate management.

In 2014, the focus of the project shifted from supporting one school (Creative Infant School) to purely sponsoring children into nursery, primary and secondary school. We started working with 2 nursery/ primary schools, one public secondary school and 3 boarding schools. We moved away from Creative Infant School due to accountability and mismanagement issues with the school. The nursery and primary students went to two new schools: New Age Schools and Prime Care Schools.
We paid tuition fees, school and sports uniforms and breakfast for nursery and lunch for primary pupils. For pupils in secondary school also scholastic material was paid. This year a team from Nutricia visited us again for one week, and activities at the schools were organized. The secondary students went on a day trip to Jinja. 2015

  • We sponsored about 130 students.

The change from supporting the school to just providing sponsorship for the pupils was considered successful. It makes management of the initiative easier as the main control is attendance of the sponsored pupil and the quality of the food. All students that transferred to secondary school were only presented with the option to go to Kololo Secondary School, because management of attendance of boarding schools had proven to complicate management.

In 2013, Nurture the child achieved the following at Creative Infant school:

  • Provide scholastic material : one book for every two children from P1 to P7 in Creative Infant School
  • Provide breakfast and lunch for the school children: +/- 220 children got a well-balanced meal every day during 2013. Moreover, all the teachers at in Creative Infant School enjoyed a daily free lunch at the school.
  • To allow for the food to be cooked every day:
    • A kitchen was built
    • Roofs and water tank to provide the kitchen with rainwater
    • Part of the water drainage was covered, both for hygiene reasons and to allow access to the new kitchen
  • P7 started in 2013. This completed the full curriculum of Creative Infant School as a nursery and primary school. 10 students sat for the final exam, of which 8 were sponsored by Nurture the Child.
  • In June 2013, a team of 10 persons from Nutricia came to Kampala to work in the school for one week. That week another “fun-day” was organized for all children in the school!

By the end of 2012, Nurture the Child had achieved the following at Creative Infant School:

  • 80 children were sponsored
  • The teachers received their monthly salaries in time
  • Construction of concrete buildings to house all the classes
  • Creation of P5 and P6 classrooms

We are constantly looking for sponsorship opportunities to ensure sustainability of the foundation!

Team in the Netherlands

Nurture the Child is a registered “Stichting” (Foundation) in the Netherlands. We have an official board consisting of:
Marjolijn Castelijns

Marjon Castelijns - Founder

My name is Marjon Castelijns, I am from the Netherlands and lived in Uganda from 2009 to 2017. I came to Uganda working for UNICEF for 6 months only, but I soon decided to stay in this wonderful place and joined a Procurement Agency working with various NGOs and governments in Africa. In 2013 I started a new company based in Kampala, and I choose Uganda to be my base for many years to come. My home and office were in the neighborhood Naguru in Kampala, so I was a neighbor to the Naguru Go-Down slum. Even though I returned to the Netherlands in 2017, I want to put as much effort as possible into giving more children in my neighborhood better education, providing them the best possible start in life!
Cindy Gravemaker

Cindy Gravemaker- Treasurer

I am Cindy Gravemaker from the Netherlands, and visited Marjon in Uganda in 2013, 2014 and 2016. During my visits we also spent time with the sponsored pupils at the schools and organized activities for them. I coordinated the sponsorship of Nutricia Liverpool for a few years, but moved back to the Netherlands in the meantime. It is an honor to support Nurture the Child as much as possible because I know the situation these children and their families are in!
Marit van Dooren

Marit van Dooren- Notary

My name is Marit van Dooren. I am a high school friend of Marjon and visited her in Uganda in 2010. I always had in interest in Africa since I was young and first visited Senegal and Mali in 1994! I was impressed with the situation in Uganda and when Marjon asked me to join the board of her foundation I happily accepted.

Team on the ground in Kampala

Derrick Ringtho

Derrick Ringtho- Administrator

My name is Derrick Ringtho, Ugandan. I studied accounting at Makerere University and graduated in 2010. I am studying to become a registered accountant. I live in Naguru go-down and have a very good knowledge of the area and the needs of the people living there. As the NGO’s Administrator, I am very happy to support the team to in any way possible specifically by being the “link on the ground” and taking care of the financial accounts.
Alexander Bbosa

Alexander Bbosa- Team member

I am Alexander Bbosa, a Ugandan dad and management professional. I was introduced to Nurture the Child by Marjon Castelijns, a trusted friend and former colleague in Uganda. I was challenged by the opportunity to support children as they seek to attain a meaningful foundation. I have read and listened to most of the stories of these children and realized that despite their family situation, it is still possible to keep them in school, and perhaps help them secure a successful future. That is why I did not hesitate to join this wonderful team to reach out and lend a hand as much I possibly can. I am confident that because of our joint support, these children, and more will benefit from the value of education and go on to fulfill their long term dreams.

Education in Uganda

Primary Education

There are many primary schools in Kampala. Some are public and are officially free of charge and others are privately owned and parents pay a tuition fee each term. In 1997 the Ugandan government introduced universal primary education (the idea that all children should be able to attend primary school for free) and in 2007 universal secondary education. Unfortunately the demand for free education outstrips the availability of places at the free government schools. It is not uncommon for classes to have well over one hundred students, with very little in the way of facilities, and demotivated, over-worked teachers heading them. This means that for most of the population, especially those who want a higher quality education, the only other option is private school. In Uganda, private schools vary enormously in fees and quality. The Ugandan school year starts in February and finishes in December. The first term runs from February to April, the second term from May until early August, and the third term from September to December. The Ugandan Education system follows a fairly similar pattern to that in Britain. Children are in primary school for seven years (Primary 1- Primary 7), and then continue through secondary school for the next six years (Senior 1- Senior 6). The three most important school years for a child in Uganda are: Generally the literacy and numeracy rates of children finishing public primary school are very low. This means that many finished primary school but can still not read properly! The competition to get into secondary schools is very high, even for public secondary schools. This is why it is crucial to get a decent primary education, which is almost impossible in public schools in the city. A vast number of private schools has popped up in Uganda in the last decade. Some are created as a "business", others are charity initiatives and some a combination of the two. Generally the level of education in private schools is much better than in public schools. However, many of the small private schools that exist in the slums also struggle to survive. They often lack capacity to run the school professionally, and because many parents do not pay school fees regularly the stream of income is extremely difficult to foresee. This results in irregular payments of teacher salaries.

Secondary Education

There are far fewer secondary schools than primary schools in Kampala. Just like primary schools, some secondary schools are public and are officially free of charge and others are privately owned and parents pay a tuition fee each term. As indicated, in the primary education section. in 1997 the Ugandan government introduced universal primary education (the idea that all children should be able to attend primary school for free) and in 2007 universal secondary education. Unfortunately the demand for free education outstrips the availability of places at the free government schools. Also in secondary schools. the Ugandan school year starts in February and finishes in December. The first term runs from February to April, the second term from May until early August, and the third term from September to December. the secondary school levels are split into two: This means that after 4 years all students have to sit a formal exam to allow them to continue to A-levels. The O-level certificate also allows them to enter vocational institutes to professional education. The students that continue to A level aim at attending university. Competition for entry into secondary schools is tough. The results in the final exams of primary school officially determine whether a child is allowed into a school. Each school aims at getting the best students possible to attract more and better students, better teachers and higher school fees.

News

News is being shared on the facebook page: www.facebook.com/nurturethechild/ and via email. If you would like to receive updates by email, please let us know via

Support us

How does sponsoring work?

If you would like to support us, you can make a donation via a bank transfer to our account (below). We do not support personal sponsorship of a specific child, because this requires specific follow up and communication which is hard to organize with our small team.

The cost of supporting a child in school is still relatively low for Europeans, but has increased significantly over the last years. One year of school fees, uniforms, lunch and registration fees ranges between Euro 220 in primary to Euro 165 in secondary school (depending on the exchange rate) in 2023.

This is split as follows:

Pupils in Primary School, average/ year:

Total: +/- 230 Euro (average)

Registration fees etc. +/- 50 Euro (depending on year)

Pupils in Secondary Education, average/ year:

Total: 175 Euro (average)

Saturday studies +/- 25 Euro (S4 only)

The total budget of Nurture the Child is around Euro 5.000-6.000 per year in 2023. However, we happily accept any contribution to sponsoring our students.

So, you can transfer the donation to:

You may also contact us via 

Contact

Please contact us at: Stichting Nurture the Child
Donations can be done via PayPal, or transferred to: