Our partner CIYOTA, an extraordinary refugee-led organisation working in Kyangwali refugee settlement in Uganda opened their secondary school which is one of only two secondary schools in the settlement. Eve Omala, our Local Leaders Portfolio Manager, was able to see this school during a field visit and had the opportunity to interact with the teachers and students. The buildings are well constructed and stand out from many other structures within the refugee settlement.
Eve travelled with Benson Wereje, the CIYOTA Co-founder and former Executive Director who moved to Uganda aged 17 after his village in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was attacked, forcing him to flee into Uganda as an unregistered refugee. Benson moved back to DRC 5 years ago to start CIYOTA Congo, handing over the leadership of the Uganda entity to Ntakamaze Nziyonvira, his co-founder. He is currently in Uganda because his village and wider community in Bunagana, Eastern DRC were displaced by rebel attacks in March this year.
Kyangwali settlement has 137,000 refugees, 19% of whom are youth between 13 and 18 years. Previously, the settlement only had one secondary school located in the furthest corner – over 90km from some households which meant that it was inaccessible for the majority of children. The few who enrolled had to walk long distances which disproportionately affected girls who are exposed to several risks when travelling to school.
Benson struggled to get through school and had to endure walking long distances to this school, eventually dropping out in form 2 because he couldn’t afford tuition fees. The school whose student capacity is less than 500 is overcrowded with over 1,000+ students and an average pupil:classroom ratio of over 150 students which simply means that learning doesn’t take place. These conditions kept over 25,000 learners out of school with the settlement reporting only a 14% enrolment rate at secondary school.
CIYOTA’s new school has already enrolled 148 students with a plan to grow to 250 and 800 students in 2023 and 2024 respectively, if more resources to complete school construction are secured. They are also constructing boarding facilities to ensure that learners don’t walk long distances and most importantly that girls study in a safe environment which protects them from risks of early marriages and pregnancy.
The students have big ambitions and want to change the state of their families but also give back to the wider Kyangwali refugee community in the future. For most of these students, they will be the first to get a secondary school education in their families. They are so grateful to CIYOTA and are inspired by Benson and Ntakamaze’s stories.
Benson and Ntakamaze were extremely emotional as they took me around and still can’t believe that their dream has turned into a reality. They started CIYOTA to increase education opportunities for refugees by reducing barriers that prohibited them from accessing quality education.
We are proud of CIYOTA’s efforts in delivering education to marginalised communities and reaching thousands of learners who would not otherwise receive an education.
