Jolly-Mercy Learning Centre

THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE JOLLY-MERCY LEARNING CENTRE
By Charlotte Frank

As the preparations for the Jolly-Mercy Learning Centre grand opening came to their successful conclusion, the members of CALM Africa and staff at the Jolly-Mercy school finally had chance to reap the rewards of their hard work and show off to the local community and press visitors their wonderful new school...
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Background to Jolly-Mercy Learning Centre

As a result of the work it was carrying out within the Rakai District, it became evident to the CALM Africa team that an increasing number of young people from rural areas, though owning or having access to quality land, were moving to the city in the hope of finding work and improving their living standards. All too often, they were arriving in Kampala to find that conditions were poor, jobs were scarce, and support services in an already over-stretched community were relatively non-existent.

Having acquired 5 acres of land on the outskirts of Kampala, CALM Africa began working towards the establishment of a much needed vocational centre and supporting primary school, to be named the Jolly-Mercy Learning Centre. From the outset, the Learning Centre offered disadvantaged teenage boys the opportunity to work alongside a team of professionals to help build a school from the ground up. By signing up, these homeless boys were entitled to live on-site, generate a small income, obtain training and skills, and earn themselves official enrolment at the Vocational Centre when it opened in January 2009.

Hearing the stories of poverty, tragedy and abuse that the youths told, it was obvious that CALM Africa needed to establish a school with a difference – one where children living in difficult circumstances could come and feel safe, be protected and educated, counselled and supported, and leave with skills that would enable them to become self-sufficient, capable of making their own decisions and determining their own course in life.

Construction began in January 2008 and, informally, on-site training has been provided to the boys by professionals for nearly a year. This helps build the boys’ confidence, makes valuable contacts for the within the building industry and provides them with the opportunity to prove their skills and work ethic to potential employers.

The school opened in January 2009 and currently offers Primary classes P1-P5 (later to be extended to P7) as well as nursery classes.
The Learning Centre will also cater for students who have dropped out of formal studies elsewhere, by offering evening classes and adult literacy classes and it will work closely with the local sub-county office to offer much needed computer access and skills training to students and the local community.

Remembering that many of the youths that the Learning Centre will cater for are teenagers from the Rakai District and other districts, the vocational centre aims to equip them with the skills, confidence and experience to return to their homeland and cultivate a future for themselves and their families.

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