DAY
5:
"According to the observations made by the Sweet Sleep
staff during the 4 days while working with the indigenous partner organization together with the
Community Development Centre team, the problem of poor sleeping conditions
indeed exists among the children in the various families and boarding schools
within Karamoja region.
Karamoja is characterized by generally low rainfall
distribution, reliability and soil fertility. The region has only one rainy
season and experiences cyclical droughts and erratic rainfall which have
affected crop production and pasture for livestock hence having a direct
negative effect on the live hood of the population. The region suffers from
high levels of illiteracy, poverty, poor infrastructure and there are reported
cases of malaria among children due to a lot of mosquitoes that were observed
during the nights.
Given the above factors, many homesteads lack the
capacity to provide beds and beddings for their children as a result of low
economic activities within the region coupled with strong cultural ties.
Most of the various communities that Sweet Sleep reached
during day 5 and within the previous days, it was observed that the kind
of huts “Manyatas” that serve as houses
for the Karamojong are indeed very small when compared to those huts built in
other parts of the Northern region like Gulu and are widely sparsely populated.
In these huts, many of the children were found to be sleeping on dried animal
skins without blankets and treated mosquito nets to cover themselves.
On the side of the existing Boarding schools in the
region, the sleeping conditions among the children is not any better as they
are greatly populated with many children sharing beds with small mattresses on
them while others are sleeping down on mats which are also shared.
Among the schools that Sweet Sleep was able to reach are
Kangole Boys, Kangole girls and Kapwachi Primary School all located in Napak
District and Moroto Municipal Council primary school in Moroto district. These
are all Government schools whereby the kinds of children within these schools
are orphaned, neglected/abandoned, returnees or vulnerable. The children are
either being supported by individuals or different Organizations such as the indigenous partner organization that help them by paying their school fees and meeting part of
their scholastic materials.
In addition to the above schools, Sweet Sleep staff was
also able to reach to one of the only orphanage home within this region called
“Charity Sister’s Mission Home for the Poor”. The is home under the Catholic
Nuns who are taking care of the 38 total orphans with good sleeping conditions
and only lacked mosquito nets at the moment.
With the problem of poor sleeping conditions being at the
extreme in most of the schools within the Karamoja region, UNICEF tried to provide
some bunker beds, mattresses, blankets and bed sheets to only those schools
that are organized and with good permanent structures within the region.
In spite of the efforts made by UNICEF, the problem of
poor sleeping conditions is still very prevalent especially among the children
in the local communities and in schools. The problem is further widened and
contributed by the existence of the following challenges within Karamoja
region:
- Highest levels of poverty among the people within the region that forces the local people to sell off any kind of material support that may be provided.
- High levels of illiteracy among the population of Karamoja region
- The strong culture beliefs existing among some sectors of the population in Karamoja region
- Lack of proper infrastructures like roads linking to various communities
- Hostility of some sectors of the population within the region whereby some tribes tend to be aggressive especially when their expectations are not highly satisfied. In other words, the hostile sectors of the population may sometimes ask for a lot of support.
- The rainy season usually causes a lot of floods hence making many roads almost impassable.
Therefore, to address the problem of poor sleeping
conditions and to expand its work in this region, Sweet Sleep has to so much
establish a strong networking mechanism with other key stakeholders dealing
with children focused programmes within the Karamoja region.
Among the key organizations that are operating within the
Karamoja region and were approached by the Sweet Sleep staff in the light of
establishing a possible working relationship were:
- Community Development Centre
- the partner organization
- Save the Children
- UNICEF
- Moroto Probation Office
For all the above mentioned organizations, they are in
position to deliver the Sweet Sleep items from one storage point in Karamoja to
the distribution centres."
