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BY RICHARD DRASIMAKU
ARUA: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2026
In the rural settings of Anzu and Nyio parishes of Vurra Sub County, Arua district, night discos are rampant that young children, especially the girl-child forego schools indulging in reckless lifestyle with their peers.
As a result dropouts are said to be high with early marriages and teenage pregnancies keeping the underage victims out of school.
Mary Cakuru Obitre, religious leader at Okuvu church of Uganda says that the problem is compounded by lack of a vocational training school where the young dropouts could be accommodated and trained.
She also said that handcrafts used to be compulsory in primary schools but they are nowadays, it’s no longer emphasized.
Accordingly, this leave the young school dropouts without any skills that they could lean on for livelihood.
It is on this account that Cakuru has welcomed the “Weaving Hope” project to that remote locality where 360 people are slated to be trained in knitting and weaving.
It is a sh101,766,000 project implemented by the Mungufeni Foundation, a local philantrophic nongovernmental organisation with 50% match funding from the Non-governmental Organisations board.
The nine-month project will equip the participants – 70% of whom are women- with skills of making sweaters using wool, design and make Kitenge handbags among others.
Mary Azikuru, a farmer in Ana village, Anzu parish expressed appreciation that the project will turn around the fortunes of her firstborn girl who should have been in P.7 this year but is loitering at home after getting distracted by the urge of disco dance.
“When the project team came to our village, they sensitized us and my daughter was among the people who were enrolled. I hope that she learns a useful skill that will help her,” she said, thanking the Mungufeni Foundation for the initiative.
Its Managing Director, Bernard Mungufeni, called the weaving hope project a blessing to the Anzu and Nyio people, explaining that they plan to train up to 500 beneficiaries.
He said it is a different project from the tailoring initiative under which trainings are conducted from a premises in Arua City.
Upon training, the graduates will be given some materials and equipment for group use at the community training centers, the project Coordinator, Lawrence Econi disclosed.
Targeted are the youths aged 16 years to 35 years and women and people with disabilities from 36 to 48 years.
Alfred Okuonzi, the Arua LC5 chairman urged the charity organization to use the project as a springboard for increasing household incomes and upscale to other parishes.
“We need people with skills to tackle environmental degradation, to tackle climate change and to carry on development,” he said urging that the skills range under the project be widened to reflect a cross-cutting and holistic human development.
Collins Okumu, an Assistant resident district commissioner in Arua, commented that the Weaving Hope project fits directly into the district’s development agenda.
He challenged the Mungufeni Foundation to go beyond the speeches and emphasize practical skills and entrepreneurial growth.
“The people of Nyio and Anzu, this project belongs to you. Support it and let it be a platform for unity, not division,” said Okumu.
