17 year old Bethany Haynes understands how important a basic pack of school stationery is to a poor Ugandan child after visiting the Soroti region.
Bethany helped hand out packs of stationery that were donated through the Coventry Telegraph’s School Pack Appeal held in partnership with the charity Global Care.
The packs include exercise books, pens, pencils, rulers, a sharpener and an eraser which are handed out to underprivileged children in Uganda, who will be unable to gain a decent education without them.
Primary education in Uganda is free but families must provide their children with their own equipment.
Bethany is a pupil at Coventry’s Blue Coat School and travelled to Uganda in 2008. She said that she will never forget how happy the children looked when they received the packs.
“It was amazing. They suddenly had this equipment for free, stuff which would normally cost such a lot for them. It’s incredible how happy they were, they were so grateful,” she said.
“Seeing their faces helped me see how important such a simple gesture as collecting a school pack is.
“Some people were reduced to tears but I didn’t cry because that doesn’t do anything to help anyone. Seeing them receive the packs made me more determined to do more to help.”
“You see images on television but you don’t expect it to be as bad. But it is as bad as you think,” she said.
“When we were driving round the streets the children looked really happy to see different people. They are happy with what they’ve got, which is difficult for us to understand.”
She is urging as many people as possible to get involved in this year’s school pack campaign.
“The packs mean they can write down and record what they are learning so it is a lot easier when it comes to exams. The pupils have to pass their exams or they can’t move up to the next year group.
“The packs are easy to put together but they really make a huge difference. It really doesn’t cost that much to go to Wilkinson or Tesco and pick up some simple school equipment.”