The photograph is two rooms of the same story. Above, seven children in a compound — no uniforms, no result slips, the red soil of a Kampala neighbourhood under their feet. Below, the same seven, numbered again, holding pages from Mercy Schools–Makindye.
That is what a school fee does when it is paid on time, for years. It is not a distant bursary. It is a shirt, a desk, a report card a child can hold up to the camera.
The One Together family and friends of the house sponsor almost every learner in the programme. This collage is how the house says thank you without a speech: here they were. Here they are.
If you are looking for a child to walk with, this is the road. A name, a term, a visit, a future that can hold a pen.
From the field
The photographs and films of this story.
Education
Before, and after a desk
Seven children, numbered. Above: a compound, no uniforms. Below: the same seven holding result slips in Mercy School shirts. Sponsorship is not a moment. It is a childhood.
Education
Letters in the courtyard
Cream uniforms, backpacks, pages in their hands. Sponsorship is a child who can walk into the yard on a weekday and hold the term up to the camera.
Education
The pile in the yard
A knot of children in the compound, every face a grin, a plastic car behind them. This is what the house is for on an ordinary afternoon: children who still get to play.
Education
Toys against the black gate
Toddlers of the house sit along the gate with a yellow truck and a racing car. Fees and food keep them. Play is how you know a childhood is still being had.