Roke Telkom has launched the 2023 edition of Roke Gives Back by gifting blind children at Gulu Primary School, with vital scholastic materials.
Roke Gives Back, which is now in its 7th year, is the company’s signature Corporate Social Responsibility programme, through which it gives back to the communities within which it operates.
The company which is headquartered in Kampala handed over scholastic, sports, recreational, and writing material, furniture, and sanitary equipment worth over Shs. 5.9 million to the visually impaired pupils at Gulu Primary School.
The Roke Telkom Human Resource Manager Timothy Mugenyi said the scholastic materials will be of great assistance to these pupils as they prepare for their PLE and end-of-year exams respectively.
“We hope that our small effort will create a big impact. Let’s be ambassadors of the cause,” Mugenyi said during the handover ceremony.
Roke Telkom’s Account Relations Officer and team leader Patrick Senyonjo expressed the team’s gratitude that they were able to be part of a cause that brings a positive impact on the children’s lives.
He said, “Such visits always inspire us to appreciate life and it is even more gratifying when we get to spend a day with these amazing souls. We have learnt a lot from our interaction with them today. Last year we also had the opportunity to visit the school and interact with the visually impaired or blind students.”
Welcoming the team to Gulu, the headteacher Gulu Primary school, Ms. Lilly Rose Orem, extended heartfelt thanks to Roke for their commitment to help and maintaining the friendship.
“Your visit last year left us with so much hope and happiness. The kids have been looking forward to having you here again all year long and I thank you for not disappointing them. Long lasting relationships start like this. There’s a lot we can learn from each other so that we can create one big team to benefit these children.”
She encouraged them to be the ambassadors of the visually impaired children by inviting others to reach out and extend much needed help.
She added, “This year’s visit is especially timely because we were robbed and some of our special educational equipment was vandalized during this robbery. Luckily, your gifts today will do a great job of helping in helping the kids do their end of year and PLE exams respectively. We thank Roke Telkom for being our friends and hope we shall continue to work together to ensure quality education for the visually impaired.”
The Roke team provided and served lunch to the over 750 pupils at Gulu Primary School, played games, cut and served cake to the visibly excited pupils.
Martin Ogen, one of the visually impaired beneficiaries at the school was overjoyed and grateful for the gifts.
“Life is not very easy for us all the time. A visit like this always lifts our spirits and I thank the Roke Telkom team for always remembering us. The brail board games, reading and writing equipment are the best gifts we could ask God for this year! And of course spending our day with the team, playing games, having a nice lunch and chatting with them was the highlight of my year.” He excitedly said. Martin shared his dreams of being Uganda’s president on day.
Gulu Primary School’s Blind section is a home to 28 pupils, 3 of P.7 candidates due to sit their PLE this year.
As the visually impaired attending the same school with the sighted pupils mix, they still face day to day coping challenges like lack of enough trained teachers, a school compound filled with obstacles like stones, lack of enough walking sticks, teaching aids among others.
In addition to Gulu, this year, Roke Telkom plans to give back to children in districts including; Mbarara and Kampala during the month of October.
