What took me to Uganda...
In 2005, George Srour from the College of William and Mary traveled to Uganda as a United Nations Intern. He was exposed to the lack of education the children in Uganda received and recognized that there must be a way to help. When he returned to William and Mary, he organized a campaign in December called Christmas in Kampala. Students raised almost $45,000 to fund the construction of a new primary school in Kampala. The Meeting Point Learning Center was finished in May 2006 and opened in April, with around 350 children enrolled in school.
With the completion of the Meeting Point Learning Center, George was given a fellowship that allowed him to start up Building Tomorrow (BT) and make building schools for the children of sub-Saharan Africa a full-time effort. As described on the website www.buildingtomorrow.org, “Building Tomorrow was created as a continuation of Christmas in Kampala as a way to empower the young people in the United States to make a difference in their global community and to provide millions of children with an opportunity to go to school and break the cycle of poverty.
Currently, there are 18 college chapters throughout the nation with more beginning the process of establishing their own chapters soon. BT also has a partnership with Key Club International. In Uganda, BT works in the Wakiso, Gita and Kiboga Districts. Combined the districts have about 500,000 children under 18 without access to education. Together with the Ministry of Education and local governments, our in-country director, Joseph Kaliisa identifies areas in need of a new education infrastructure. The community members contribute to the BT efforts by providing 25,000 hours of labor in the construction of the school. And in accordance to the Universal Primary Education Initiative, the Ugandan Ministry of Education partners with BT and covers teachers’ salaries and operating costs. Another great aspect of BT is the organizations ability to contribute 100% of all on-campus contributions toward the in-country building projects. The costs of administrative expenses are all covered by private donations and grants and BT chapters can therefore promise their donors that 100% of the money raised goes towards sponsored school in Uganda.
The Building Tomorrow Notre Dame chapter was established in the 2007-2008 school year. Within the first year, we raised $45,000 to support our own elementary school which is currently under construction. The future BT Academy of Sentigi sponsored by the University of Notre Dame will have 10 rooms with seven classrooms, a headmaster’s office, a reception area, a library, toilets, and a soccer field. This is the basic set up model for the BT schools. The money that we raised will pay for construction materials and is also typically used for paying the land. In our case, a member of the community donated his 2.5 acre plot of land for the construction of the school, a rare act in Ugandan society, the equivalent would be someone in our American society to give up his home for someone else to live in. The location of BT schools are built in areas that do not currently have a formal school in operation and in most cases, this gives children their first opportunity to learn inside of a classroom. When I traveled to Uganda with BT, I met a grandmother that thank us for giving her grandchildren and opportunity she never had, learning in a room with walls, being able to sit at desks, and having a stable structure as a school. For our BT school, the Vice-President of Uganda, Gilbert Bukenya Balibaseka has agreed to cover the cost of teacher housing out of his own pocket. Our school location is in his home region and realizes and supports the BT efforts. Our chapter also includes an architecture team that last year raised money to sponsor our second BT academy. The team designed a new plan for the school and the process of finding a site is underway with hopes of construction beginning next year. This school year, BT at ND is striving to bring back awareness to our cause and continue to raise funds to support our first school. We hope to raise money for school essentials like pens, notebook, and pencils. After we reach our goal of $5,000, the BT at ND focus will be to fundraise toward building our third school for the children of Uganda.
As a national group, BT has raised money to support the building of four completed academies, three academies that are currently under construction, and in the process of planning the construction of four more academies. About 1,000 children are now students at BT academies ranging from P1 (primary 1, the equivalent to our first grade) to P6 (primary 6, the equivalent to our sixth grade). The subjects taught are math, English, Science and Social Studies. While Building Tomorrow is still a young organization, going on its fourth year, momentum is still increasing with a growing number of BT chapters throughout the nation. And with its simple and direct plan, Building Tomorrow serves as an “international social-profit organization encouraging philanthropy among young people by raising awareness and funds to build and support educational infrastructure projects for underserved children in sub-Saharan Africa.”
With the completion of the Meeting Point Learning Center, George was given a fellowship that allowed him to start up Building Tomorrow (BT) and make building schools for the children of sub-Saharan Africa a full-time effort. As described on the website www.buildingtomorrow.org, “Building Tomorrow was created as a continuation of Christmas in Kampala as a way to empower the young people in the United States to make a difference in their global community and to provide millions of children with an opportunity to go to school and break the cycle of poverty.
Currently, there are 18 college chapters throughout the nation with more beginning the process of establishing their own chapters soon. BT also has a partnership with Key Club International. In Uganda, BT works in the Wakiso, Gita and Kiboga Districts. Combined the districts have about 500,000 children under 18 without access to education. Together with the Ministry of Education and local governments, our in-country director, Joseph Kaliisa identifies areas in need of a new education infrastructure. The community members contribute to the BT efforts by providing 25,000 hours of labor in the construction of the school. And in accordance to the Universal Primary Education Initiative, the Ugandan Ministry of Education partners with BT and covers teachers’ salaries and operating costs. Another great aspect of BT is the organizations ability to contribute 100% of all on-campus contributions toward the in-country building projects. The costs of administrative expenses are all covered by private donations and grants and BT chapters can therefore promise their donors that 100% of the money raised goes towards sponsored school in Uganda.
The Building Tomorrow Notre Dame chapter was established in the 2007-2008 school year. Within the first year, we raised $45,000 to support our own elementary school which is currently under construction. The future BT Academy of Sentigi sponsored by the University of Notre Dame will have 10 rooms with seven classrooms, a headmaster’s office, a reception area, a library, toilets, and a soccer field. This is the basic set up model for the BT schools. The money that we raised will pay for construction materials and is also typically used for paying the land. In our case, a member of the community donated his 2.5 acre plot of land for the construction of the school, a rare act in Ugandan society, the equivalent would be someone in our American society to give up his home for someone else to live in. The location of BT schools are built in areas that do not currently have a formal school in operation and in most cases, this gives children their first opportunity to learn inside of a classroom. When I traveled to Uganda with BT, I met a grandmother that thank us for giving her grandchildren and opportunity she never had, learning in a room with walls, being able to sit at desks, and having a stable structure as a school. For our BT school, the Vice-President of Uganda, Gilbert Bukenya Balibaseka has agreed to cover the cost of teacher housing out of his own pocket. Our school location is in his home region and realizes and supports the BT efforts. Our chapter also includes an architecture team that last year raised money to sponsor our second BT academy. The team designed a new plan for the school and the process of finding a site is underway with hopes of construction beginning next year. This school year, BT at ND is striving to bring back awareness to our cause and continue to raise funds to support our first school. We hope to raise money for school essentials like pens, notebook, and pencils. After we reach our goal of $5,000, the BT at ND focus will be to fundraise toward building our third school for the children of Uganda.
As a national group, BT has raised money to support the building of four completed academies, three academies that are currently under construction, and in the process of planning the construction of four more academies. About 1,000 children are now students at BT academies ranging from P1 (primary 1, the equivalent to our first grade) to P6 (primary 6, the equivalent to our sixth grade). The subjects taught are math, English, Science and Social Studies. While Building Tomorrow is still a young organization, going on its fourth year, momentum is still increasing with a growing number of BT chapters throughout the nation. And with its simple and direct plan, Building Tomorrow serves as an “international social-profit organization encouraging philanthropy among young people by raising awareness and funds to build and support educational infrastructure projects for underserved children in sub-Saharan Africa.”
