Most Dangerous Ways To School | Uganda
We all know it. Walked it every day. But none of them were like these. The world’s most d4ngerous ways to school. Climbing, risking their lives, all for the chance of a better future. Spectacular and sometimes simply beautiful. The world’s most d4ngerous ways to school. CEI Islands, an archipelago within Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa.
The island of Bunyama is home to brothers Feldaw Malikisua and Hamitu Wedi. Daffin Muhindu, Stuart Maserka, Dan Bambal are siblings. They live on the neighboring island of Bugala. Every morning they set off on an adventure. An odyssey through palm oil plantations, tropical rain, and a boat tr.i.p across d4ngerous Lake Victoria.
Their destination, the school. A Tuesday in April. It’s 5:30 in the morning. Filidos Heridu. It’s time. Get up. I’ll wait for you on the shore. Come on, hurry up. The only school the two brothers can attend is on Bugala Island. It can only be reached by boat. Their father, Frank Murio, has to get up early to get gasoline and get the boat ready.
He takes the kids to the other bank for 12 year old Vid Daw and his 11 year old brother Hamidu. The day begins before sunrise. For 5 years now, Phyidos has been getting up so early to go to school. I’m looking forward to school, but I’m still a little tired. and black tea. What time is it? We still have enough time.
Drink the tea quickly so you can get going. If you start too late, you’ll miss the boat. Drink faster. Fidel’s father never went to school. His mother attended elementary school. While his brothers get ready for school, Jorah Mangara, the youngest, has to stay home. The parents cannot afford to pay the school fees for all three children. Nice.
Today is a special day. At school, the children will receive their report cards. My dad is here. Are you ready? Yes, ma’am. Have you packed your books? Yes, ma’am. And the flashlight. Yes. Plastic bags against the rain. Yes. Then go now. Be cautious. I am always worried they walk through the night and have to cross the lake.
I pray to God every day that they get to school and return home safely. The brother’s journey to school takes a total of 2 hours and they have a 3 km walk ahead of them to the boat dock. Meanwhile, on the neighboring island of Bala, come on up. You get Okay, brush your teeth and get ready. Come along.
Dan, get up. The night is also over for Fid Doll’s cla.ssmate, Deafen. Stand there. Daffine is 12 years old. Her brother Dan is 11. 6 year old Maserka has only been attending elementary school for 4 months. Daffine is the eldest. She bears the responsibility for her brothers even though she herself is still a child.
I help them get ready. I want them to look neat just like the other children. In Uganda, every school has its own school uniform. Dan, open your bag. Do you have everything? Yes. The pens, too? Yes. Your math stuff is there. All your books. Yes. Okay, close it. Especially in rural areas of Uganda, girls often do not go to school at all.
I want to go to university and become a doctor. That way, I can help others and take care of my family. Meanwhile, darkness still rains near Feridos in Hamidu. There are no street lights here. Did you know that the night dancers hide in banana plantations? They only wear banana leaves and walk around naked from house to house.
You’ll see. Absolutely. There’s one behind us. He’s following us. You’ll see. Come on, let’s hurry. Night dancers. According to popular belief, they hide in the forests and lure people into their spell. Horror stories like these are meant to warn children to be careful. In the dark, we often hear eerie noises coming from the bushes.
To keep ourselves from getting scared, we talk to each other all the time to distract ourselves. At 6:15, dawn gradually begins. It’s time for Daffine, Dan, and Maseda, too. They still have an hour and 45 minutes until school starts. About onethird of all families in Uganda belong to the Roman Catholic Church.
We pray every day. We ask God to watch over our family and to protect us on the way to school. There are so many dangers. Darin, take good care of your little brother, Masera. Okay. And you take care of your sister. Be careful, please. Daffine and her siblings are facing a 5 and 1/2 km walk to school.
The rainy season in Uganda is from March to May. It often rains in the early morning hours. It’s very cloudy. It’s already starting to drizzle. Put on your plastic bags. Hurry up. for I don’t like it when it rains. Not at all. It’s cold and just horrible. We h@te getting wet. I’d rather have the sun shining all the time.
The weather is also becoming unpleasant for Fidows in Hamidu. It’s starting to rain. See, we should hurry. Let’s go. Let’s see who gets to the front first. I’m faster. I have my plastic bag in my backpack. Wait a minute. Where’s mine? Ah, here.
The zipper won’t close. It’s broken. Put the bag on. This bag is total junk. The Sees Islands lie a few hundred meters south of the equator. The weather here is tropical and changes quickly. Rain showers are usually short, but heavy and accompanied by a cold wind. I h@te rain even with a plastic bag.
I get completely wet and so do my school books. We have to focus on school even if it rains. We have to go to cla.ss. That’s the only way we can escape poverty. around the world. I need to fold back. Still two more kilometers to the lake shore. The rain has stopped. Give me your plastic bags.
Wait, I’ll help you fold them. Rain and a tropical climate also have advantages. The soil is fertile and numerous crops grow on the Sei Islands. Many families grow their own vegetables. This also applies to Daffhina’s parents Aayub Aluku and Robin Mabu. But like most families here, they don’t own the land. It’s only leased.
What you cooking today? I’m making s from ca.ssava leaves. The children are getting their report cards today, so I have to cook their favorite meal. In tropical countries, ca.ssava is one of the most important staple foods. The starchy root provides a lot of energy. The leaves are used as a vegetable.
They taste like spinach. I’ll return to the house and start cooking. You can continue working here a bit like weeding. I used to be a fisherman. I had a small boat. One night I was fishing in an illegal area. I was arr.ested and tortured by the police. They hit me in the knee and on my back. Since then, I can no longer fish or do any hard labor.
Okay. On a good day, Daffine’s father earns about $3 from our jobs. The average income on the islands is $228 a month. Life here is really hard. We’re working hard so Daffin can go to school. We hope this will give her a chance for a better future. Then she’ll be able to help us, too, and everything will become easier.
Today the water’s low. Let’s continue. Daffhina and her brothers have been underway now for a half an hour. They’re getting close to the bush forest. I’m afraid of snakes. I got bitten once. Watch out. Various poisonous snakes live in the densely wooded forest, such as the black mamba and the forest cobra.
Right here, a snake bit me. I fainted. A man took me to the hospital. Since then, I’ve had nightmares and use a stick to defend myself. Dan Masa Do you know how to recognize snakes? They come in different colors. Green, black, brown. They move very quickly and slither. They hiss. When you hear that, you have to be extremely careful.
Pidal’s route to school also leads through dense bush forests and past plantations. Which animal sounds can you make? A dog, a monkey, a snake, and birds. Hamidu is slightly taller than Fidos, although he is one year younger. I love Hamidu very much. We share a bed.
We go to school together and are in the same cla.ss. We do everything together. I love my brother. The Byama jetty. The two brothers are now waiting along with other children to see if and when the boat will depart. Their destination, Ugala, more precisely the capital Kalangala. It is the largest city on the island.
Almost 74,000 people live in the center and the surrounding district. Unlike the smaller islands, there are gas stations, supermarkets, andarmacies here. In recent years, Bugala has also become a popular tourist destination with more and more mainland residents and tourists from other countries spending their holidays here. The children of Bunyama often wait for several hours until departure.
Sometimes the tr.i.p is cancelled due to heavy rain and the children have to walk home. I feel bad when I don’t go to school. I don’t want to miss a single day, not a single cla.ss. For 8 years, Billy Daw’s father, Frank, has been fing school children from Bonyama to the main island of Bugala. I’m very afraid of crocodiles.
They might @ttack the boat. I don’t want to encounter them on my way to school in the morning. But my biggest fear is strong winds and storms. They could build up into a cyclone and destr0y the boat. No one would survive that. Kids, come here. Filidosu, get the others. I learned to swim four months ago.
I’m not a very good swimmer. But if one of the children falls into the lake, I can rescue them. Here, get dressed. Whose vest is this? About 20 children travel to school by boat every day. None of the children can swim, so they all wear life jackets for safety. Once I ran out of gas on the way to school right in the middle of the lake, the children were with me.
I called for help, but it took about an hour for rescue to arrive. The children were scared, but I talked to them and tried to calm them down. Since then, I’ve always carried a reserve tank. The crossing to Bugalam takes about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, Duffin’s route takes her and her siblings through a dense palm forest.
A third of the main island is covered with palm oil plantations. They are mostly operated by international corporations. Palm oil is one of the most important export products of the Sei Islands. It is processed on the mainland and then shipped to the Congo and South Sudan. I’m afraid to walk under the palm trees.
They’re so tall and dark. The tr.i.p is often exhausting for me. The little one is often scared and gets tired quickly. And Dan is sometimes cheeky and throws stones. But I love my siblings very much. Lake Victoria, which the children of Bunyama Island are crossing, is the largest lake in Africa. It stretches across Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
It is considered one of the most d4ngerous lakes in the world. About 5,000 people d1e annually from boating accidents and drownings. That’s almost 14 deaths per day. Many families make their living from fishing. The large Nile perch, an invasive species once released into Lake Victoria, is exported. The small silverfish, also called muk, is a traditional food source.
Pretty Dao’s mother, Florence, also works in the silverfish business. Silverfish are found throughout Lake Victoria. For us women, it’s a good job. It’s the only job we can do here. The silverfish are dried in the sun, which makes them last longer. Fidel’s mother earns about $8 a week. The father salary pays the school fees.
as a school year costs around $78 per child. I am most afraid of crocodiles. They live in the water here and if they @ttack, they eat people, leaving only bones. Philly Dow is uneasy about the lake. I want to become a pilot. I want to buy my own helicopter and then fly the children of Bunyama to school.
Yeah, but I think Okay, everyone come on, let’s sing. halfway through the lake, the engine fails. Oh no, what a disaster. again. No
on the Sei Islands as throughout Uganda. Excessive alcohol consumption is a huge problem. According to the World Health Organization, about 12 lers of pure alcohol are consumed per person annually. This poses a danger, especially for young women. Once a man tried to rape me here. I didn’t even see him at first.
Suddenly, he grabbed my arm. I managed to pull away and raise the alarm. He ran away. Almost every second girl in Uganda experiences hara.ssment on her way to school. Daffine and her brothers have already completed more than half the journey. I’m so tired. Come here. I will carry you. We’re awake. Masara is still small.
He gets tired quickly when walking. He always asks me if I can carry him. I then carry him piggy back. Duffin carries her little brother 1 and a half kilometers every day. Meanwhile, boat driver Frank is still trying to start the engine. The boat finally continues with a delay of 10 minutes. Philidas, do you want to steer for a bit? Yes, of course.
Okay, come here. I’m so proud of Phil House. He’s a smart child. It’s very important that he can go to school. web. The children of Bunyama have to hurry. They’re running late and cla.sses start in about 45 minutes.
name the type of bees in the picture. Let me see. No, you have to think for yourself. Their hives are on these palm trees. Can you continue walking from here? So, keep walking. Watch out for the motorcycles. Daffin and her brothers are the first to arrive in Kalangala town center. Maserka, go down to school.
We’ll pick you up again in the afternoon. Bye. Daffine and Dan’s cla.ss starts at 8:00. Filidos and Hamidu also arrive just in time. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning teacher Isaac. How are you today? We are all right. Thank you teacher Isaac. Uganda we our future in thy heart
for children on the se islands grow up bilingual. While many families maintain the indigenous language Luganda, the official language English is also taught in schools. Around 700 children attend the Chibanga school. The cla.sses have up to 60 students.
Deafen and Finidawas are both in fifth grade. Children are supposed to start school at age six, but many start later because their parents don’t have the money. The older children then become the outsiders in the cla.ss. Teacher Namayanjadopista grew up on the Seiss Islands. She stud1ed on the mainland, making her an exception to the rule.
Less than a third of schoolage children attend school and three out of four drop out because of high school fees. Education in Uganda is actually free. However, schools use tuition fees to pay for teachers and teaching materials. Last week, Jen and Jen went to went to visit our uncle in Ginger.
Filidos is a good boy. He’s responsible. But during the rainy season, he often misses school because his way to school is so difficult. This affects his grades and his learning. I’m afraid it’ll rain again. It already rained on the way here, and I don’t want it to happen again on the way back. Writer’s uncle.
Mhm. The writer’s uncle was leaving lives ginger braided ginger show the writer. At 12:00 it’s time for a break. None of the children have anything to eat. Families who can afford it pay $42 per school year for a daily lunch. Cornmeal and beans. Daffine and her brother don’t get school meals.
Their first and only meal of the day is dinner at home. I’m always very hungry at lunchtime. I feel weak and dizzy. Daffhne has to hold out for another 5 hours. Now, so what are you receiving today? Reports. Take your report cards home and show them to your parents. If you got bad grades, apologize and promise to improve.
The children receive report cards three times a year. They’ve been working toward this moment for the past 13 weeks. I’m happy with my grades. They’re better than last year, but I want to get even better. I’m motivated. I’m sure I’ll succeed in becoming a doctor, but I want to work harder to get even
better grades. In two years, Daffine and Filidos will have to take an exam. Only those who pa.ss it are allowed to attend secondary school. Very few children on the Sei Islands manage to do this. Come on, we have to go. Yes. Okay. I’m sad that I have to leave earlier
than the others in my cla.ss, but I’m used to it. I have to catch the boat. Daffine and Dan also set off. We’ll pick up our little brother. Then we have to go home and help my mom cook. Hey, Hamidu. Fill it out. Do you have your report cards? Yes. Do you have good grades? Yes. Usually the lake is calmer in the afternoon.
Billy and Hamidu have been on their feet for almost 12 hours. Jesus. Jesus my savior. I love Jesus. Of course I do. You want to know me? My name is Die. I live at Jumba. Oh yes. Of course I do. Dous. Jesus myavior. I love Jesus. Of course I do. My name is Oh yes. Oh yes. I love Jesus. Oh yes. Jesus. Jesus.
Come here. Here’s the tattoo plant. Do you see my tattoo? Yes. and mine. Masar, show me yours. It’s very good, Masara. In the evening, on the way back, we’re always very tired and hungry. The sun is so strong. It’s hot. What kind of life do you want when you grow up? When I finish school, I want to live in a city and travel the
world. I don’t want to go far. I’m staying here with mom and dad. This last hill is the most strenuous. I just want to go home. Hey, welcome back. Nice to see you all again. Daffine, you have good grades, but you still need to improve in some subjects. School isn’t easy. The children always
have to get up early. When they come home with a good grade, it makes us parents proud. and Hamidu also made it. Welcome back. How are you? Okay, thanks. How was your day? Let me see your report cards. I am very happy. You got good grades. Thank you for studying so well. here are your presents. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for learning. Stay focused. The children have no toys. Nature is their playground. beautiful.
I feel great because we’re on vacation now and don’t have to get up so early. No more wet walks to school and no more sunburn from the hot sun. 13 weeks of school are behind them. Cla.sses start again in 3 weeks.
