Rural Education: An Opportunity to Help

Greetings from Uganda!

Uganda. What are you doing in Uganda; I thought you were in England? Was that the question you just asked yourself? Yes, we are in Uganda. Jon is currently in his “research” year of his Ph.D. We arrived here in mid-October and hit the ground running. While Jon is off interviewing different political figures and digging through old dusty boxes, Jennifer is filling in as the field treasurer for World Gospel Mission. Kiah, Jacob and Karis are also enjoying their time here.

We would like to share with you a special project that we are helping with here in Uganda. Many of you have seen on our facebook or read on our blog something about a school in Uganda. So here is some information about the school and how you can help.

In April 2009, we purchased--- with our friends Livingstone and Stella Illakut--- a nursery and primary school in rural Uganda. Good Daddy Nursery and Primary School is located in a small village called Mukura and serves 294 children from nursery class (pre-school) to P7 (7th grade). Yes, we know--- the name of the school is certainly unique, but we assure you it is culturally appropriate.

Good Daddy Nursery and Primary school is a private institution and we rely on parents to pay school fees each term (there are 3 terms in a school year). It costs 45,000 Uganda shillings for a student to go to school each term, the equivalent of $23.50. There is an additional fee of 45,000 for meals. So for $47 per semester a child can go to school and eat lunch. These fees are minimal, but the average income in this area is only about $600 per year. Also, the families that we serve are mostly farmers who rely on the success of their crops to pay for the school fees. Unfortunately the conditions were particularly dry last year, resulting in extremely low crop production.

Families in the Mukura area tend to be large, having anywhere from six to twelve children. In short, if they paid fees for all of their children, it would cost more than what they earn for an entire year. Due to this, many children are simply unable to go to school. The families that can afford to send their children to school will bring in a small amount of money each week to help with the costs, but many of them are unable to pay for an entire term. Currently fifty percent of children in Uganda do not complete primary school mostly due do the cost.

The average school day begins with most Ugandan children walking 1-2 miles in time for classes to begin at 7:00 a.m. and they finish their studies around 5:00 p.m. Many families are making the tough decision to send their children to school but can not pay the additional fee for meals. This means that we have many children at the school who cannot even afford to pay for their lunch. We try to stretch our resources and feed all of the students, whether or not they paid their fees, but we can only do so much with our limited means.

Imagine if you were unable to send your child or children to elementary school? What if you were able, but couldn’t afford to send the funds for them to eat lunch while at school, knowing that they will go hungry all day? These are only some of the challenges that many of our parents face in Mukura, Uganda.

As a response to this enormous need we would like to start a scholarship fund to help children pay school fees. Currently, if a student has not paid their fees after the first month they are expelled from school. For just $47 you can send a child to school with lunch for one term (sorry to sound like a TV campaign). A gift of $140 will send a child to school with lunch for an entire year. Will you help us keep these children in school? Will you help us send children to school who cannot afford school fees at all?

Thank you for considering a gift to support the education of the students of Good Daddy Nursery and Primary School. We have not received our 501c3 status, but hope to finish that process in the near future. In the meantime those who would like to make a tax-deductible gift can do so by sending a check made payable to Oakdale Free Methodist Church with “Good Daddy” written on the memo line and send it to:

Oakdale Free Methodist Church
5801 Beattyville Road
Jackson, KY 41339

If you are not concerned about the tax deductibility of your gift, you can send a check written to Good Daddy Primary School directly to the school account at (earmarked: Account #2374):

Grant County FCU
6033 E. Big Play Way
Marion, IN 46952

In the coming months, we hope to get a lot more pictures up on our facebook wall and blog. We hope that you will enjoy seeing our progress and interacting with us there. We are open to questions and suggestions and look forward to hearing from you.

We cannot thank you enough for considering a gift to Good Daddy Nursery and Primary School and supporting us with your encouragement and prayers means so much.