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Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Over 500 people from across West Nile and the Diaspora braved the Saturday morning breeze to participate in a marathon aimed at raising funds to support needy learners.
The 2 to 21-kilometer run, held within Arua City, was organized by the West Nile Education Trust Fund to mobilize funds for supporting students from the region to join universities on private sponsorship.
The West Nile Education Trust Fund was established in 2013 by a group of West Nile professionals to provide financial support to brilliant students pursuing courses, mainly in Medicine, Surgery, and Engineering. Since its inception, 28 students 9 girls and 19 boys have successfully graduated.
Bernard Atiku, one of the founding members and the organizer of the marathon, commended the participants for their support of education for children from West Nile. He also announced that the marathon would be held annually on the same date.
Salim Komakech, the Resident City Commissioner of Arua, applauded the people of West Nile for initiating such a project to sponsor needy students and urged them to take advantage of public universities like Muni.
Some participants appealed to the government to consider offering state scholarships to needy students in the region, arguing that West Nile has been left out of the scheme.
The first edition of the West Nile Education Trust Fund marathon was also graced by National 200m and 400m athletics record holder Shida Lenia, who was accompanied by four other athletes from the Sebei region. Over UGX 30 million was raised in cash and pledges during the run, with more people and graduate beneficiaries promising to continue supporting the Trust Fund to benefit future generations. The marathon will now be organized annually every 28th of December.
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