Tiereb sits in the shade of the tree outside her compound while two of her daughters play and jostle for attention. She lives with her husband, her mother-in-law and five children. Bekyefu and Yangzanezie are in P4 and P5 at Karbo Primary and Aanuyang, the bigger of the two girls rough and tumbling nearby, usually attends the day nursery.
Tiereb has lived in Lawra all her life. She didn’t get much of a formal education as she dropped out of school at P1 after being caned. She grows groundnuts, some of which she fries and sells and some she keeps for meals.
Tiereb says providing for the children on the money she and her husband can make is a challenge. The biggest challenge was providing school uniforms which are now thankfully provided through the school by ATE. However, she admits that footwear is difficult to provide.
This season, the rainy season, is particularly difficult to manage to feed the family as most of the stored grains are used for cultivation. At harvest time they will fill the grain store again but Tiereb says for now through the next 2-3 months this is the hardest period and there is a lot of hunger.
The family sometimes have three meals a day, but today for example they did not have breakfast and they certainly won’t have lunch. Tiereb says that for her children attending Karbo Primary, it helps a lot that they have a free school meal. “When they get up they hardly get to eat, and even when they come home if there is no supper, if there is something in their bellies from lunch at least that is something to keep them going”.
Since ATE has been providing support, Tiereb has noticed a lot of improvement in Bekyefu and Yangzanezie in terms of their attitude towards school. “They used to refuse to go to school. Now they get up and rush there. They are healthier. When they have completed their exams parents are invited to the school and they tell us about their grades. I have been really impressed with Yangzanezie’s results and will encourage him to go to Karbo JHS”. Tiereb says that the support from ATE with school feeding, uniforms and books helps and she would be grateful if it would to continue.
By Leela Shanti and Diedong Eric