An estimated 7,000 school-going girls are set to benefit from the proceeds of the Absa KH3 7 Hills Run. The annual charity event, organized by the bank in partnership with the Kampala Hash House Harriers (KH3), raised up to 300 million shillings. These funds have been distributed among five institutions, focusing on keeping girls in school.
The beneficiaries will include 5,000 girls through World Vision, 1,875 through Amref, 266 by Windle, and 111 with Baylor.
Twenty two girls from a charity school for the needy and or talented, founded by Uganda’s celebrated Olympic gold medalist Joshua Cheptegei, will benefit. This school offers full or partial bursaries to talented and needy young people.
“We believe that education is a right that every child should have access to, regardless of gender. The Absa KH3 7 Hills Run is our way of supporting the girl child because their story matters. We have divided these funds among reputable social enterprises through which we are honored to contribute towards tackling a societal challenge: supporting the girl child to pursue an education, providing skills training, and improving menstrual hygiene management,” said Mumba Kalifungwa, Absa Bank Uganda Managing Director.
Kalifungwa also commended the general public and partners for their support towards this noble cause. “Overall, through this support, we intend to contribute towards a reduction in school absenteeism and dropout rates among girls. We are grateful for the overwhelming support of the general public who showed up for the run to support this noble cause,” he stated.
The MD says the benefiting institutions were carefully selected, assessing their impact towards the greater goal of supporting the girl child education.
The other institutions that have shared part of the proceeds include the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project, which has two schools in Rukungiri and Kanungu. They received 20 million shillings towards school fee bursaries for vulnerable children.
Baylor College received 50 million shillings to provide school fees for 111 girls under their Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) program in Fort Portal City, aiming at reducing the vulnerability of adolescent girls and young women to HIV infection.
Amref Health Africa received 30 million shillings to provide 1,875 girls with reusable sanitary pads under its Heroes of Gender program.
Through the program, Amref assists teen mothers who have dropped out of school by paying their school fees and providing menstrual health, hygiene, and management support.
Windle International received 60 million shillings to fund the purchase of bicycles benefiting 266 girls.
Windle supports girls to stay in school by providing transportation for those who have to walk long distances, reducing their vulnerability to sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse, which often leads to high dropout rates.
The lion’s share of 90 million shillings went to World Vision to strengthen menstrual hygiene management in Karamoja by providing access to clean and safe water, benefiting over 5,000 girls.
Jeremiah Nyaga, the national director for World Vision Uganda, expressed gratitude for the offer from the bank, highlighting that this is the second time the organization is receiving support from Absa Bank for the same cause.
Nyaga says this support from the bank is to be matched with the organization’s contribution to provide safe drinking water for a local school, aiming to save pupils from walking long distances to fetch water.
