Northern Uganda is wounded. Together, we can heal it.

WORDS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF NORTHERN UGANDA

Today, one of the biggest challenges in Northern Uganda is illiteracy. In Northern Uganda, two-fifths of working-age adults have no formal education. The result is a cycle of poverty that needs to be broken. To become lifelong learners and to gain access to global opportunities, children need to know how to read and write which can happen through services that excite them to read more often. It has however been realized that even those who have books do not enjoy reading because books they get access to are full of strange concepts that the learners barely understand while others focus so much on passing exams that they induce unhealthy cramming.

LULA Uganda was launched in November 2019 with the intent to develop learning resources that are culturally and linguistically relevant for learners in the rural areas of Northern Uganda. The intended purpose of the program is to revive the story-telling culture that faces the danger of extinction, to create culturally and linguistically relevant reading materials for learners in Northern Uganda in languages relevant to them, and to make these materials available to promote a culture where children can read to fulfill their curiosity beyond matters related to their academic education. Also, creating a platform for the children to express themselves in writing, and bring out their untold stories to the face of the world. Producing oral folklore as one of the genres will also help children come in contact with many different books that are relevant to them and hence meet and read about characters and events that are similar to them. When children enjoy reading, they make reading a part of their everyday life. This promotes literacy development.