Seven kilometres, counting numbers and playing football
Early childhood development through the lens of a child in Karamoja
“I catch the ball, I put it here, I play better.” 30 young faces smile and shout outside a grass thatched classroom.
Holding hands in a circle around their caregiver, the children eagerly follow instructions mindless of the hot morning sunshine at Assuruga Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre. The centre, which is located in Awolio Village, Abim District in North East Uganda, was started in 2012 by the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and the Assuruga community to address the need for early childhood education.
At Assuruga ECD Centre, the five trained caregivers teach the 180 children literacy and numeracy, school readiness skills of confidence building, socialization, communication and problem solving. The recreational and learning tools include bottles, bottle caps and sticks provided by both the school and the parents. The centre inspires children to believe and achieve their dreams.
Three times a week, six-year-old Joseph Ekadu* walks seven kilometres from his home in Akobokobot to Assuruga ECD Centre. He is excited about the games he plays at school.
He looks forward to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, days when he and other children can participate in play-based activities for three hours.
“I like school because I get to match shapes and play football with my friends.” he says.
Joseph believes that if he continues to play and learn, one day, he will be good footballer and a doctor who will “help members of the community have good health.”
For five-year-old Veronica Lydia Akello*, it is the counting lessons that she looks forward to. “I like numbers because it is very simple to understand.” Thrice a week, Veronica walks three kilometres, accompanied by her mother, to join her classmates in singing the entry song to the numeracy lesson;
“Teacher I can count numbers one to ten.”
“Count!”
“1,2,3,4…”
The children all developed an easy routine of learning interlaced with play until March 2020. With the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the subsequent government-imposed lockdowns, all ECD centres across the country closed.
Joseph who was then in Baby Class at Abuket Primary School found himself at home, doing domestic chores that included rearing cows and goats. “I got tired of staying at home, I played until I got tired,” he says.
After a year of no formal learning, Joseph’s father learnt of and enrolled him at Assuruga ECD, for a home-based learning programme supported by UNICEF. Veronica’s mother enrolled her on the programme at Assuruga.
With the home learning, caregivers would regularly visit the children’s homes and conduct short lessons, often improvising with local materials readily available at homes, like sticks and stones. The learning continued, albeit at a much lower pace.
After two years of lockdown, the songs, dancing, football and learning are back at all the ECD centres. Joseph and Veronica and scores of other children in Karamoja are happy to be able to play with their friends and keep learning.
Rosemary Alweny, UNICEF ECD Officer notes that early childhood development has for long been at the core of UNICEF programming, as a key foundation for human and economic development of children, their families, communities, and the country. In Karamoja, UNICEF is supporting 361 ECD centres and has to date facilitated the training of 532 caregivers in Moroto Core Primary Teachers College.
“We are keen on working with established community structures such as faith-based organizations, to strengthen community-level structures in Karamoja and across the country, to deliver early childhood education, for every child.” Rosemary concludes.
*Names changed
