Matovu Richard is a 17 year old young lad, who has managed to self-fund his education by completing jobs for teachers and schools in return for an education as payment in kind. He is one of thousands of youths in Uganda who work extremely hard to get an education.
Last year however, he chose to step out of senior 1 education so that he could support his 6 younger siblings through their primary education. By choosing to leave education he was able to work for money and help pay for his 4 sisters and 2 brothers to attend school.
Because he was an exceptional student, head boy of his year and performing extremely well academically, his old head teacher; Mrs Nakyanzi Sophie wanted to find a way to support him back into school. This is where The Bugabira Primary school stepped in and through the recommendation of Mrs Nakyanzi Sophie, Matovu was hired to look after the 210 poultry chickens that the Uganda Marathon runners funded as an income generator for the school.
Thanks to this job, Matovu now, not only earns a monthly wage, but also has food and accommodation covered by the school. This allows him to continue to support his siblings as well as save for his own secondary education which he aims to start again next January.
Under Matovu’s 5 months watch, the chickens have matured and are now laying their first eggs. Here he is talking carrying out his work…
