Mobile Classrooms for Pastoral Children in Uganda

Thomas Nybo: A timeless image from the region of Caramocha in North Eastern
Uganda, children tending to the herd, cattle and goats are what the
Karmajang people alive in what can be an unforgiving landscape.
Water is scarce and the harsh environment is not capable of
sustaining the masses on crops alone. A new image, one of hope,
children hearing a school bell and scurrying to class, in this case, a
UNICEF supported mobile classroom allows children here to
attend school while still helping the family look after the animals.

Nageria Lauya has been raising cattle his entire life, just like his
father and grandfather before him. But after a few lean years, he
wants to give his three children options that he never had.

Nageria Lauya: School is very important because in the past, all we cared about
was getting more animals. But now we’re in a middle of a crisis.
The animals are being stolen and there’s an outbreak of disease
and at the end of it, you might not have anything. Education is
delight; a child with an education can get a salary and buy food
from the market. Even buy a new animal if one dies or is stolen.

Thomas Nybo: He learned about the mobile classroom from Nakut Rose, a
community mobilizes who travels around the village informing
families about the importance of giving a child a formal education.
UNICEF, which supports her efforts, recognizes education is a
fundamental right, outlined in the convention on the rights of the
child. Not only will classes like this one help children develop to
their full potential, it will give them economic opportunities,
previously cut off to their community.

Rose is particularly proud of her efforts to get girls on the
classroom.

Nakut Rose: It’s important for a girl to go to school so society won't undermine
the girls. They are human beings, also to get knowledge so they
can have a place in society just like men. The men can solve the
family and a woman can also solve the family at the same time.

Thomas Nybo: There are many reasons to provide a free basic education to
children, education enhances lives and it helps end generational
cycles of poverty and disease but at its core, education is a
fundamental human right which should be extended to all children,
girls and boys, regardless of where they live.

This is Thomas Nybo reporting for UNICEF television in Uganda,
unite for children.