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Caroline Ayugi

About Caroline Ayugi

Ms. Caroline Ayugi was until October 2016, a news editor at a Christian based radio station, Favor FM in Gulu, northern Uganda. She also worked as the East-Acholi bureau chief at Uganda Radio Network, Uganda’s biggest on-line news agency. Caroline holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Makerere University, and has ten years working experience as a news reporter for various media outlets including; The New Vision, Institute for War & Peace Reporting based in The Hague, The Observer, Uganda and Daily Monitor. She is a director at Word Oven Uganda, a company that offers translation, graphic design and editing services. She is also a trainee at International Women’s Media Foundation’s Great Lakes Reporting Initiative, 2017-2018. At Oysters & Pearls- Uganda, she is in-charge of on-line content production.

O&P-UG Assisted Students to Excel in National Exams

Two students who got financial assistance from Oysters & Pearls-Uganda are among the top students in the just released national examination results for entry into University and other institutions of learning.

Known as Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education, UACE, the examinations are marked out or 25 points.

Mathew 1 Mathew Awucu Mathew Awucu, who gradually lost his sight in a span of one year (December 2014-January 2015), scored 15 points out 25, beating all 15 sighted students who sat the same examination with him late last year, from Gulu High, a blind inclusive School.

Mathew said he only scored 9 points in his mock examinations which gave him the drive to study harder.

“I am an orphan so my future depends on my grades at school. I spent sleepless nights revising my books and having discussions with fellow students, that is why I got a good grade,” he said.

“Oysters and Pearls-Uganda also gave me a Victor Screen Reader, enough brailed and scanned notes that helped me during revisions,” he said.

Daniel Odoch, the head of department of special needs at the school, described Mathew as a disciplined and hardworking student, who never got in trouble.

Mathew said he has always wanted

Blind and Visually Impaired Ugandan Teachers More Keyboardinated after Touch- Typing Training

Eight months ago, a number of blind and visually impaired teachers in Uganda had the privilege of a touch typing training during Oysters & Pearls – Uganda sponsored annual technology camp.

The results are now remarkable!

Touch typing is an idea that each finger has its own location on the keyboard. It eliminates the need to look at the keyboard, hence, it is one of the most important and useful skills blind and visually impaired persons need.

Lawrence Apil, a blind teacher at St. Hellen’s Primary School in Mbarara, is among those who benefitted from the training. Before the experience, Lawrence spent time working on his laptop, and had to get the help of sighted teachers to assure him that his spelling and punctuation were correct.

“I no longer need to give my typed work to a colleague to help me correct misspelled words. It [the training] gave me a sense of computer-independence”

A great number of blind and visually impaired learners and teachers in Uganda lack access to assistive technology to aid their learning and teaching, respectively. Lawrence suggests that organizations supporting the blind and visually impaired should do more than just advocate for their rights, but empower them with enough skills and gadgets, like O&P-UG is doing, to make them

O&P-Uganda restores hope to new graduate

Two months after graduating from Gulu University in 2016, two iron bar hitmen turned Francis Odong’s life upside down.

As he sought his dream job in a bank or research firm with his bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Economics, Francis joined the boda boda business to make ends meet. On the fateful night, two robbers disguised as clients beckoned him to transport them to a place outside of Gulu town.

After about 2 kilometers into their journey, the ‘clients’ asked Francis to stop and hit his head with a blunt object severally, till he lost consciousness. His motorcycle, which was their target, is yet to be found.

In December 2015, iron bar hitmen ravaged Gulu Town, (which is fast recovering from the brunt of two decades of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) war so much that in just one week, they assaulted at least 17 people. The attacks persisted until 2017, resulting in the killing of a municipality leader, the injuring of a Gulu High Court official; forcing the then Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kale Kayihura to intervene.

Many died in such attacks.

Survivors nursed grave injuries for months.

For Francis, spending a month in hospital was depressing, but not more

Oysters & Pearls-Uganda Sponsorship Changed a Blind Student’s Dream

Fingers flying over the letters of his laptop in typing speed, Basil Onen, is undeniably more keyboardinated than many sighted people. But of course, many didn’t ever imagine that Basil would one day be able to use a computer. Not even Basil himself, who, having been born blind, spent his first 10 years at home, as his two siblings and every other child in the neighborhood went to school. “If there is a part of my life I would want to cut away, then it is my childhood,” he stated, emphasizing how “particularly excruciating” it was.

We would be very grateful to you for your donation to Oysters & Pearls to support our ongoing educational programs for the students in Gulu, Uganda
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