Back to School programme
Back to School provides uniform, shoes and equipment for orphaned and vulnerable children who otherwise would be unable to attend school. The children attend Life Skills Classes which help them grow in confidence, cope with past experiences, focus on their school work and look to the future with hope. Some E3 partners also provide sanitary pads to girls so they don’t have to miss school each month.
Many orphaned children drop out of school because of a lack of support and encouragement and insufficient money to afford uniforms and other school equipment. E3’s Back to School programme provides funding to each of our partners so they can enable children to return to school and have a chance of a better future.
Discover more about the difference Back to School makes in children’s lives and meet Gloria who graduated from university thanks to Back to School.
Thanks to E3’s support, I finished school and am now at university.
“My mother struggled so much to provide for me and my 3 siblings. I used to go to school dirty and hungry. I started at Samaritan School, but my mum struggled to pay school fees, so I had to miss school sometimes. In Grade 5, E3 started supporting me. In all this I endured and worked hard because I was determined to become someone important after finishing school. I am now in my first year at university studying Clinical Medicine. Thank you to all who have made it possible for a girl from this community school to get to university.”
Samaritan School, teaches 560 orphaned and vulnerable children in Kitwe, Zambia. We are seeing the results of many years of partnership. Children from the poorest informal settlements are going to selective high schools and on to top class universities. The young people have a sense of dignity and a belief that it is possible to escape the cycle of poverty.
Enabling Back to School children to study further
As Back to School children come to the end of their schooling, E3 will enable them to go on to university or training so they can escape the cycle of poverty, achieve their career dreams and support their families. Most children who complete school in rural communities stay at home after high school because they do not have access to information about universities and colleges in the city and have no idea where to begin.
E3, in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal access programme, started an initiative to bring university lecturers to rural schools to explain applications, bursaries and why it is important to continue education. The first workshop at Ndabende Primary School in Mdutshini rural community was attended by 382 young people, including those who completed school a few years ago. We had four lecturers from two universities (University of KwaZulu-Natal and University of South Africa). The universities are happy to work with us on this in the coming years.
Support a child
E3 also supports children in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, directly through local schools. This support is funded by the generosity of individuals who give £7 / $10 / R100 per month to enable a child to attend and complete school in one of our partner communities. Supporters receive regular updates about Back to School in that community.
If you would like to change a child’s future through education, find out more about supporting a child through E3’s Back to School giving programme.
The joy of receiving smart new uniform and shoes!
The difference your donation makes
£7 / $10 a month will enable a child to attend and finish school through the Back to School programme in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
£2 / $2.50 will provide a nutritious school dinner for three orphaned and vulnerable children so they can concentrate at school.
£270 / $355 pays the registration fee to unlock a full university scholarship for a student in South Africa.
E3 partners supported 9,830 orphaned and vulnerable children in 2024.