MEET THE STUDENTS
Florence:
"I didn't know how to read and write but now I do and my spelling skills are improving on a daily basis. I missed school because my dad passed away and my mother did not have any income to keep me in school."

Ruth:
"How I wish this organization had come earlier!! This is because I have missed so many things due to not knowing how to read and write. I dropped out of school after falling victim to teen pregnancy. I gave birth to my first baby child when I was 14 years old. I am so proud of my achievement because now I can read to my daughter."

Karooli:
I am 72 years old. I did not go to school because my father died when I was a baby. My relatives took away all my father's property, leaving us desolate. I am so grateful to LAU for coming up with such a program. My days are gone (age-wise) but I would die a happy person because after all these years, now I can read and write."

Paula:
"I am more than happy with this organization. I pray that whoever started it lives longer. I came here when I could not even write my name. I did not go to school while young because of my stepmother who convinced my father that sending me to school was a waste of money."

Rose:
"I came here when I was a proper illiterate woman, but now I am so advanced in reading and writing that now I correspond with my parents, children and friends through letter-writing - something I could not dare do then. I pray that this kind of teaching be availed to all people who would otherwise end up illiterate like I was."

Viola:
"Can you imagine that now I can read and write most anything! Before LAU came, I had never stepped inside a classroom as a student. By the time I turned 2 years old, I had lost both my parents. The caretaker relative did not send me to school. I was employed as a nanny when I was just six years old. I have experienced all sorts of misery known to man - including sexual abuse. I am so glad to realise that I can now be counted among the literate."

Kyalimpa:
I have always been considered the unlucky child. My father died during the war. My mother died while delivering the sister who follows me. I have always known the alphabets but have never been able to freely construct sentences on my own.  Today, I am the Secretary of the school newsletter started for purposes of encouraging us to write and read.'
Kulumba:
"I missed formal education because of wars, but fortunately, through LAU now I have had that which I had missed. I have discovered that when you are literate you belong to a wider community."

Namande:
"I am very happy for this organisation. I did not get to polish my reading skills. I dropped out of school when I got.pregnant. My father refused to take me back to school. I never believed I could ever be able to sit in a classroom again. LAU classes have greatly unlocked the potentials in me and have unveiled my long hidden talents."

Amanya:
"I was dubbed a mentally retarded child and very unteachable. I was penalised for my handcap and eventually advised to leave school when, after three yearsof trying, I could not qualify to move from the third to the fourth grade. I have lived this life as a semi-illiterate child, until recently when I joined LAU classes. My teachers say that I would have made it if the former teachers had had the patience for my slow learning style."

Natasha:
"I find it hard to forgive my stepmom who denied me the opportunity of going to school although all my step brothers and sisters did go. There is no major reason why I could not go except that I was not her daughter. My first classroom experience was through LAU and I am so proud I never shyied away."

Edward:
"I came here when I could not read and write. I did not go to school because there was no money. I am so pleased with LAU's work among us. Since I joined LAU, I have been able to organize my business without seeking consultation of others. I can pretty much, correspond with all my business associates, so the money that I used to spend on writers now goes into my savings"

Hellen:
"I am so grateful with LAU's work among us. I have greatly improved my reading, writing and speaking skills, sure now nobody can even backbite me during an English language conversation."

Kagabo:
"The first thing I do each morning is read a newspaper. I can now do this although I could never do it before LAU came to our neighborhood. Reading stories in the newspaper has opened my eyes to the realisation of what I had missed all these years. I am among the pioneers of LAU. I cannot understand how I have lived all these years without even the ability to read a bill board. I was not able to go to school because my father rejected me that I was not his legitimate child so he could not waste his money on me. Thank you LAU for making me your "legitimate child."