Barr is one of those sub-counties in Lira district, Northern Uganda, which suffers from conflicts before the start of peace talks in 2006. The population remains in abject poverty because no one was able to plough their garden, and the constant drought has made it worse.
Most children have dropped out of school as their parents cannot afford the school fees levied by the only government school in the sub-country. There is no alternative than for them to drop out of school and marry at an early age to bring bridewealth to their poverty stricken homes.
It is against this that the community is demanding for a school run by them which can give the remaining youth a chance to cheaper education as a way of fighting against the looming illiteracy rates and predictable future gangsters who would destabilize the community even more if measures are not taken to solve the problem.