“Peace comes when every child learns” Wisdom from community volunteer Angela, 73

Angela, Community Volunteer

Angela is 73 and refuses to stop. Every week she walks the streets of Kawempe checking on neighbours, supporting families and helping children get back into school.

She began this work over 20 years ago because she could not ignore the children she saw struggling to survive. She started with what she had: time, compassion and determination.

This is her story in her own words.

“If every child goes to school we could find peace”

“I saw children selling bananas on the street when they should be in school
It hurt my heart. I wished I could help them all. That’s how I started.”

For Angela education is at the heart of peace. Not just the school itself but the chance for children to learn, to belong and to imagine a different future.

“If every child goes to school no one will be jealous of your children
People won’t say ‘you’re rich I’m poor’
We will all be the same and we will live in peace.”

She knows what happens when girls and boys from struggling families are kept out of school.

“A girl left at home is vulnerable. A boy who never learns grows up angry
Then they get married early and you have children raising children
No education. No income. No peace in the home.”

“If you want people to trust you you must first be their friend”

Angela’s approach is simple and deeply human. She builds trust greeting people sitting with them and listening.

“It starts with greeting people
You say hello you sit with them you listen
That’s how they open up. That’s how you earn trust.”

Sometimes she helps clean the room of an elder who is too sick to stand.
Sometimes she finds medicine for a child whose family cannot afford transport.
Sometimes she simply listens.

“If I have food I want my neighbour to have food
If my child goes to school I want my neighbour’s child to go too
I want us all to be equal.”

“Peace is when you wake up and everyone says hello and smiles”

Peace for Angela is not an abstract idea. It is something felt in daily life.

“If you are happy sleeping well and your neighbour is happy and sleeping well you won’t have any problem. Peace
But it is hard to sleep on an empty stomach”

She sees children eating rotten fruit because their families cannot afford food.
She dreams of a community where children go to school learn and support each other to build the lives they hope for.

“Sometimes I wish I had money to help them all. But I give what I have my time. That is my strength.”

“We are handing it on”

Today Angela walks with younger volunteers who are learning from her.

“We want them to learn because one day we will step back and they will stay
It is like a mother watching her children grow. They are strong now.”

She says this work does not stop. It is shared from woman to woman from neighbour to neighbour.

Building peace through education

Angela’s wisdom is the foundation of Awamu’s work simple powerful truths:

• Care for your neighbour

• Education brings peace

• Kindness builds community

From 2 to 9 December, your donation will be doubled during our Big Give Christmas campaign. It’s a chance to help more girls stay in school and continue building the lives they hope for.

Your support will help provide the mentoring learning and care Angela has been practising for years and now passed on to the next generation.

Peace begins with learning.
And learning begins with an opportunity that you can help create.