New Mattresses Make a Big Difference

A UNICEF study revealed that 33% of children from Uganda’s poorest households face severe shelter deprivation. Five or more people share a single room. In  Kampala’s slums where several Hope Alive! students reside, the average child sleeps in an overcrowded room. Many lack basic bedding and have to sleep on a mat, placed on the floor.

However, this changed when all Hope Alive! students, mentors, and staff received new mattresses in February, 2020. The excitement before, during and after the distribution was overflowing.

Students could be seen dancing and laughing all over the office compound. In our Kampala site, some of the boys were seen somersaulting as they celebrated their new acquisition.

To understand their joy, needs to look at the difficulties they have been facing prior to acquiring the new mattresses.

“When we go to visit the students at their homes, we notice that many of them sleep down on papyrus mats. They do not have proper beds,” explained Juliet Apiyo, a student mentor at Hope Alive!.

When asked how he felt about the mattresses, Innocent Opio, a student, burst out in laughter. When he finally composed himself, he expressed heartfelt gratitude.

“Without the mattresses, we were sleeping on the floor, we are many in our family and we didn’t have something to sleep on, but you have given us a chance to sleep on the mattresses. We thank you. May God bless you.”

With proper sleep playing an important role in making sure that students are alert at school, the mattresses will definitely make a difference.  Maxwell Lapyem, one of the teenage students noted.

“I have not been having a good night because where I used to sleep was not so comfortable. But now that I have a new mattress, I am so grateful. We are soon going back to school and it is going to help me feel good.”

The mattresses were given after student sponsors and other donors responded to the call to give towards mattresses in a fundraiser, last year.