Life Before and After Covid
In March 2020, after the school year had just begun (February 2020), our students experienced a great deal of disappointment and concern when they were sent home for almost two years due to the world-wide pandemic. Living in some of the poorest communities, there were few activities as options for our children and teens to engage in. Online learning wasn’t a possibility due to schools not having tablets or computers to provide, and many homes do not have electricity. Our students hungered for things to fill their time and for food to fill their bellies. 
Many of our students depend on the meals they receive in school for regular nourishment. Because of that, and in the wake of severe job losses, Hope Alive! was committed to delivering food relief to our students’ families. Additional food was provided to special needs households. Thanks to our supporters, who gave generously to our COVID-19 fund, we were able to provide these families with staples, including beans, rice, cornmeal, cooking oil, sugar, salt, soap and charcoal. Their thankfulness to God for this provision led over 25 caregivers to accept God’s even greater offering of forgiveness for sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Praise God! Parents and students alike expressed their gratitude for the timely help. In turn, they were also generous neighbors—and those neighbors likewise expressed their appreciation for Hope Alive!’s care.
In lieu of Saturday Club (another activity where our students are provided nutritious meals that had to be canceled during the height of the pandemic), our mentors took it upon themselves to come up with a safe means to keep our students rooted in the word of God through discipleship and regular communication. Our students began gathering weekly in very small neighborhood groups with one or two mentors to pray, study the Bible and encourage one another. The feedback was so positive that we have continued the groups even after our Saturday Club program resumed in October 2021.
Additionally, education continued through small group study sessions. Hope Alive! worked with educators to develop materials that our older students and mentors could use to tutor younger students. With the permission of local authorities, they held tutoring sessions throughout the day. Most of our students from Gulu studied under trees as they could not meet on the site grounds due to restrictions from the district. Most of them trekked long distances to the Hope Alive! farmland where the classes were being conducted in Koch Li. This tutoring was a relief for many students, as they were afraid of forgetting what they had been taught. Still, when schools opened in February 2022,there was a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about the reopening of schools in Uganda. “When we returned to school, we were automatically promoted to the next level of classes. That meant that we skipped a year...I was scared, at first, because I didn’t know what to expect, but I am now catching up...and looking forward to taking my Primary Leaving Examinations at the end of this year to progress to Secondary School,” said one of our students. We are excited to report that our students have since completed two successful school terms (14 weeks long, instead of the normal 12 weeks) without any school closures or absences due to illness. We thank God for keeping our students healthy and allowing them to continue on with their studies! 
