“It has made life so hard” — The On-Going Food Crisis in Uganda

A breakfast that consists of maize-flour porridge.

A school lunch that consists of just a handful of beans.

A dinner that consists of nothing.

For the luckiest students in Uganda, this is a full day of meals.

According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a combination of a drastic decline in crop production due to droughts, in grain imports due to the conflict in Ukraine, and a drastic increase in prices due to inflation caused by COVID-19, many families across Uganda are in a state of emergency, with 1.6 million people on the verge of famine. 

In the remote and rural community of Amolatar, this burden falls especially hard on parents and their children, and its effects can last generations.

In a crisis like this, students will miss school at higher rates – especially in particularly rural or poor communities – either because of school closures due to a lack of food, or periodic absences while students help their parents work to make ends meet. This contributes to cycles of generational poverty, as students with high absence rates in this community are much less likely to return to school once they’ve left, and are much more likely to become teen mothers and brides in the case of many girls, or subsistence farmers or fisherman in the case of many boys.

Emul Ritah (left) with GLP Parent Mama Caroline (right)

Emul Ritah, one of our teammates in Uganda, recently sat down with Caroline, a parent of two students – a second grader and a sixth grader – at Global Leaders Primary School.

She explained that, because the prices for common household items – like soap and sugar – have more than doubled, she is having a difficult time paying her child’s school fees. Lunches provided by Global Leaders’ school meal program, however, are sometimes the only meal available to her children each day.

“It has made life so hard,” she admits.

This is the choice parents in Uganda are faced with today: Do they stop their child’s education to keep them fed at home? Or do they sacrifice daily meals to make sure their children can stay in school? It is an impossible decision, and one we at Far Away Friends believe no parent or person should have to make.

Through our 3rd annual Summer 5k, we’re hoping to raise $15,000 to ensure that the 500 students at Global Leaders never miss a meal – or a single day of school – due to the food crisis. Our community of people across the country – and in the UK – are coming together to walk, hike, bike, or run their way to making an impact! Anyone participating in the 5k can create a fundraising page, have their friends and family members contribute towards their goal, and help us mitigate the effects of this food crisis for nearly 500 families in Northern Uganda.

No child should have to choose between a classroom and a meal.

Join us in making sure they don’t have to.