It was in 1993 when Agnes Abesiga Biryahwaho then an assistant Public Health Dental assistant in Grade (A) Hospital quit her job to answer her lifetime calling of helping the needy and orphaned Children. She then started small, caring for the needy children in the different neighborhoods in Entebbe and 24 years down the road, God has blessed her with a school, the Early Learning School and Love and Care for the Child Ministries located in Katabi-Busambanga in Entebbe Municipality to further her passion of caring for the needy and orphaned Children.
“My passion for caring for the needy children begun while I was working as an assistant Public Health Dental Assistant in Grade (A) Hospital; I treated all patients but children always held a special place in my heart. I always found myself bonding well with the kids that I treated and in 1993 I made a bold decision to quit my full time job and venture into my lifetime calling of helping the needy and orphaned Children”, Agnes Biryahwaho who is probably in her late 50s or early 60s narrates.
Agnes Biryahwaho’s Love and Care for the Child NGO Ministries which she founded 11 years ago has embraced all kinds of needy and orphaned Children.
“The Love and care for the Child NGO Ministries and the early learning school has embraced children who have been abandoned at Police, orphaned children, traumatized children who have been abused by their parents or relatives, Children from extremely poor families where their parents couldn’t afford to take them to school, street children, refugees and young mothers who cannot afford to look after their children. We have instances where mothers dump their children at the school and they never come back to check on the progress of their children”, Agnes Biryahwaho reveals.
Despite all the challenges that Agnes Biryahwaho endures to look after the 100 children in the school, she has persevered because for her serving humanity is a passion she inherited from her parents and relatives.
“We have 100 children we are caring for right from baby class to Primary seven (P.7) and though it isn’t a simple job, we (Love and care for the Child NGO Ministries) have persevered amidst all the challenges and hardships. Serving humanity is a passion that I inherited from my parents and relatives. We have board members, individuals and well wishers who give us support but our vision is to be self-sustaining where we can fund our programs. I’m grateful to Kalif Medical Center in Katabi that has been helpful in treating the children irrespective of the debts that we have accumulated. Every time a child falls sick we ran to Kalif Medical Center”, Agnes Biryahwaho reveals.
Because of the unemployment crisis in Uganda today, Agnes Biryahwaho has emphasized the teaching of life skills at the school such as tailoring, animal rearing, mushroom growing, liquid soap making, and making crafts to help the school generate some income and become self sustaining but most importantly to help the children understand the value of creating their own jobs that will enable them generate their own income other than roaming the streets looking for jobs which aren’t available.
“Apart from academic excellence, we have emphasized the teaching of several life skills such as tailoring, animal rearing, mushroom growing, liquid soap making and making crafts because we want the children to understand the value of creating their own jobs that will enable them generate their own income other than roaming the streets looking for jobs which aren’t available. We also teach soft skills such as communication skills, self awareness, etiquette and self identity. Most schools and parents prioritize academic excellence and forget that life skills are equally important”, Agnes Biryahwaho explains.
She adds;
At the Early Learning School we identify a gift in the child which helps them discover who they are. We categorize them according to their gifts which we nurture and because majority of the children have not had the chance of living with their families, we initiated a program where we have five families comprising of 20 children headed by a teacher to give the children a sense of belonging and responsibility. The family on duty takes care of the different projects in the school and cleaning the compound for one week and thereafter we award marks. The best family is given a reward.
“I’m glad that children whom we have taught at Early Learning School have become responsible citizens. Society had rejected them as dense but we were able to mould them into responsible citizens. We had a child Ngango Matthew whom we taught and performed very well in his Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and he is a qualified architecture now. Parents who would wish their children learn life skills are welcome”, she discloses.
Despite the challenges, Agnes Biryahwaho’s early learning school has been able to instill academic excellence, character formation, life skills and critical thinking among the children and it’s for this reason that the school finished 7th out of 43 schools that sat PLE last year in Entebbe Municipality.
Because of her selfless love for helping needy Children, Agnes Abesiga Biryahwaho envisages a future where early learning School will be self sustaining through the various projects that have been initiated to generate income and fund the school’s programs. She also hopes that the Old Students through the Old Students Association will support the school.
