Secondary school dropout runs literacy classes in poverty-stricken Ugandan region (photos)

Secondary school dropout runs literacy classes in poverty-stricken Ugandan region (photos)

- A young secondary school dropout is pulling all stops to promote literacy in his village in Uganda's Karamoja region

- He had to drop out due to lack of school fees

- He runs the classes with the help of another teacher, and both are sponsored by a local NGO

A 26-year-old secondary school dropout in Musupu village in Uganda's Karamoja region is pulling al stops to promote literacy among his villagers.

Some of John Bosco Lokut's children

John Bosco Lokut dropped out of school due to lack of fees. He became and orphan at the age of seven and his relatives had to adopt him and pay for his school fees.

However, when he joined secondary school in 2008, it all became too much for them. Lokut says: “My relatives told me that there was no more money, so I decided to sit home. I am the only child of my parents and I had no one to turn to for help."

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Veronica Lokeris, one of the Lokut's students

Lokut decided to get involved in Uganda's Ministry of Gender's Functional Adult Literacy program with a view to teaching his fellow villagers English and arithmetic.

In his open-air classes, he is assisted by another teacher, Benedicto Abura, who trained as a bricklayer and worked as a foreman for the Institute for International Cooperation and Development, specializing in the construction of water catchments in his Musupu village.

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Together, they have provided adult literacy classes to more than 30 of their villagers, 18 of whom are women, since October 2013. They receive support and sponsorship from Samaritan Purse, an NGO operating int eh Karamoja region.

One of their students, Veronica Lokeris, explains the benefits of the classes: “I can now help my children to read and calculate numbers. Out of my seven children, three are in school, including one in secondary school. I can also calculate my profits earned from the vegetables I grow in my garden."

Here is a video about life in Karamoja, Uganda.