Angwech Collines, Program Director at Hope for Humans, opens a Care Center with Nodding Syndrome children at her side. Photo credit: Hope for Humans
Education has long been considered the universal pathway to a better future, and that has never been more evident than with our Legacy Scholarship Program (LSP). The program, funded by Invisible Children supporters, grants merit-based educational scholarships to secondary and university students.
62% of LSP alumni are using their education to give back to their communities through jobs, internships, or volunteering, and one such alumni is Angwech Collines. From a young age, Collines’ father urged her to pursue education as the foundation for her future success. Because of the danger of the LRA, Collines’ childhood schooling was focused more on safety tips than education — so when her father passed away from an illness when Collines was still young, she was more determined than ever to obtain a university degree through the Legacy Scholarship Program.
Watch the video below to learn more about Collines’ work with children affected by Nodding Syndrome.
Having graduated university, Collines is now Program Director at Hope for Humans, a Uganda-based NGO that provides comfort, safety, and treatment to children affected by Nodding Syndrome. Nodding Syndrome is a rare, incurable syndrome characterized by seizures, mental retardation, and stunted physical growth that affects an estimated 10,000 children throughout Uganda. There is very little research on Nodding Syndrome, and there are even fewer resources for the children and families affected by the debilitating disease.
For Hope for Humans, this lack of funding has had fatal consequences. The NGO, whose property has a treatment and rehabilitation center separated by a river, found one of its Nodding patients, 15-year-old Esther Akello, drowned in the river last week. Esther, who took a different path across the river to avoid touching the water (cold temperatures notoriously trigger seizures in nodding children), could have perhaps avoided her tragic death if the NGO had had enough money to construct a proper bridge.
Currently, Hope for Humans and Gulu local government are partnering to launch a fundraising drive aimed at raising 60 million Ugandan shillings (over $23,000 USD) on behalf of children and families affected by Nodding Syndrome. With an increase in funding, Collines is sure that the organization will be able to help more children, expanding their care from only 70 children to the 304 that Hope for Humans was prepared to serve.
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