ACI Uganda, The Financial Markets Association (ACI), a leading global body that represents the interests of the financial markets community has announced that it will support two initiatives aimed at improving literacy among learners in Uganda.
ACI said this partnership with its members as well as different stakeholders was a way to give back to the community.
This year’s beneficiary will be Salama School of the Blind and TFK-Read-Write School clubs whose work is to champion the reading and writing culture in schools.
The revelation was made during the ACI end of year engagement held at the Golden Tulip in Kampala.
ACI Uganda’s membership consists of dealers in the treasury departments of commercial banks. The members of ACI Uganda, through the 24 commercial banks in the country, drive market growth, awareness and development.
The ACI Uganda Chairman, Benoni Okwenje who is also the Stanbic Bank Uganda’s Head of Fixed Income while speaking at the dinner said that ACI believes in investing in the community.
“As an association, we believe extending kindness to the community is the only investment that never fails. We were given two hands, one to help ourselves and the other to help others,” Okwenje said.
“In 2016, we were able to raise UGX 34 million for the Bless a Child Foundation, a home for children living with Cancer. This year, we believe it is time to give back again. We have picked Salama School for the Blind because most of the children cannot afford specialized scholastic materials”.
TFK-Read-Write School clubs, has on the other hand been instrumental in raising the deteriorating reading and writing culture throughout Ugandan schools.
The Salama School of the Blind Head teacher and Co-Founder Francis Kinubi said, “Books and other scholastic materials for the blind at all levels of education are hard to come by in Uganda”.
“For example, prescribed reading materials for Literature in English are not translated to braille. So, for a student to pass they have to copy these books into braille manually which is tedious. In addition, most parents of our blind students are poor and therefore cannot afford these resources,” Kimubi added.
He extended appreciation to ACI for taking the initiative to support the students at the school so they can access these materials and perform better in their studies.
On behalf of TFK-Read-Write School Clubs, the Patron Director, Frank Kabushenga said the support support from ACI will ensure that the organization realises the dream of rolling out it’s reading and writing programm across the entire country.
“We have carried out several projects over the years which include, setting up read and write clubs in a dozen schools, providing reading materials to the club and the publication of various books by local writers and more,” said Kabushenga.
Incorporated in 2015, ACI Uganda serves Uganda’s financial sector and is affiliated to ACI Financial Markets Association (ACIFMA), the global body established in 1955 that is focused on enhancing best market practice and supporting financial market participants to adhere to principles of ethical conduct.