2024 Good Hope School Sponsors Update
Happy New Year Good Hope School Supporters!
We hope that everyone had a great holiday season and that 2024 is off to a good start. On behalf of the Good Hope School and Board of Trustees, we again thank you for your generous support of the children in 2023 and the year ahead.
2023 Update & Highlights
If you haven't already, please check out the 2023 Highlight Video. Scroll Down for more info on key activities at the school last year.
None of this would have been possible without your support!
Your Powerful Impact for Less than $1 a Day
Your $0.95 cents per day ($345/year) support for your sponsor child feeds, educates and houses them while providing life in a safe and supportive community versus despair and destitution on the streets.
Please Continue Sponsorship in 2024
Your sponsor children depend on your generosity to keep them housed, fed, and in school. All of the money you contribute goes directly to the school for the exclusive benefit of the children. There are no paid program administrators or third parties involved.
Can we count on you for another year?
We understand that these are trying times for many and that there’s a lot of competition among charitable causes. So, if you feel that this year will be the last year you can support your child (or if you currently support multiple children but need to reduce your contribution) then we ask that you please let us know as soon as possible so that we can try to pair your child/children up with another sponsor going forward.
Sharing a Sponsorship
Sharing a sponsorship between 2 or more people/families is also an option. If you have a friend or family member that you can share with then that'd be great, just let us know and we can loop them into the updates. Or, if you need help being paired up with another party then please let us know.
2024 Fees
The 2023 fees are USD$115 per term ($345 for the year)... that's $0.95 per day to keep a child fed, housed, educated, and safe in their loving community. This can be paid in full upfront (preferred for administration purposes) or by term in instalments as follows:
• Term 1 (Jan-April) – USD$115 by February 1st
• Term 2 (May-Aug) – USD$115 by May 1st
• Term 3 (Sept-Dec) – USD$115 by September 1st
2024 High School Fees
Fees for children already in High School or going to High School are slightly more than Good Hope School fees. This is due to higher boarding, transport, and school costs. This applies to the following children and sponsors:
Next Steps - How to Continue Your Sponsorship
1) Click the 'Donate Now' button and enter the amount you can give at this time (i.e. $345 per child per year or $115 per term per child), followed by your payment method. Use the slider function to reduce or remove the GoFundMe ‘tip’ (this $ goes to the website, not the school).
2) The GoFundMe platform will email you a payment receipt.
3) Hal will match up your donation to your respective sponsor children in our 2024 records and send you a follow-up 'thank you' message via the GoFundMe platform. This message may request you to confirm that we still have your correct email address and phone number for future communications. Thank you for responding with that information if requested.
4) This GoFundMe page will remain live throughout 2024 for sponsors that need to make payments on a term-by-term basis. The sponsorship coordinators will send reminders to those sponsors ahead of each term.
Please email Hal through the GoFundMe contact page or send a message with any questions by SMS or WhatsApp are also fine). His contact information is provided below.
2023 Highlights
• Around 140 students attended school in 2023 ranging from Kindergarten to 7th Grade.
• A total of 43 orphaned and needy children were directly supported for their basic needs and schooling by committed sponsors and donors like you.
• Collectively we raised $15,300 to fund the ongoing care and education of these vulnerable children while significantly supporting the school and wider community in the process.
• An additional 14 unsponsored orphaned & needy children also lived at school last year.
• The school participated in a district football competition for ages 5-13 and held a debating competition for the first time.
• A parent-teacher meeting was held to try to better engage parents and guardians with the school and its mission.
• Year seven had a farewell party to celebrate the success of the children that are leaving Good Hope School – this was a very happy day!
• There was a Christmas celebration with lots of food, cake, drinks, gifts of new clothes and soccer ball for the kids!
Year 7 Graduates - Accepted to High School
The following Year 7 sponsored students passed their state exams and were accepted to boarding high schools in the district capital Kabale! We're very proud of them and, with your help can send them to high school in hopes that they'll have a brighter future!
pictured left to right: Shivan (sponsored by Sharon Schmidt), Brenda (sponsored by Laura Peixoto), Dorothy and Moreen – twin sisters (sponsored by Rob Wilson)
left to right: Act (sponsored by Nigel Reid), Godwin (sponsored by Jessica Blanton), and Isaac (sponsored by Laura Peixoto)
Additional New Beds & Mattresses for the Renovated Dorms
Funding from the sponsor program bought new beds and mattresses for the children. The boys' and girls' dormitories were expanded and renovated last year to ease overcrowded conditions, replace dirt floors with cement, & add windows to improve light and ventilation.
Potato Harvest and Food Stability
2023 still saw huge inflation in food prices, but due to careful planning and funding from sponsors, the school was able to make bulk food purchases when prices were lower. They also leveraged the potato harvest from the crop that the children planted in late 2022 using donated funds to feed the children and supplement families’ food supply during the highest periods of food inflation. The children again planted and maintained a large potato garden in late 2023 which will be ready to harvest around February 2024.
How to Communicate with your Child/Children
Thank you to sponsors who sent their children photos and videos last year. Please keep them coming, they love it!
Our preferred methods for communicating with the children are through WhatsApp and email. Messages are received and shared with the kids by the School’s Director, Innocent Tumuheki, and the school's Social Worker, Jennifer Kyarikunda.
Please send any messages to Hal Dobbins (contact info below) who will channel them to/from the school and back to the sponsors.
Short WhatsApp videos are a great way for you to show the kids the environment around where you live, your family, your pets, etc! They love receiving messages of encouragement or even simple greetings and check-ins like asking them “How was your day?” You can also write letters and then take a picture of them to send by email or WhatsApp. Thank you to everyone who has sent videos and letters so far. Hopefully, you liked the letters and videos the kids sent you.
Vulnerable Children At Risk
Please Help Us Find Additional Sponsors
11 orphaned children were supported in 2023 by pooling one-off contributions that we received from generous donors who preferred not to commit to an ongoing sponsorship arrangement. This was a wonderful gift for those kids, and we are now urgently trying to keep these same children funded. These kids will be devastated if they can’t keep going to school and we fear they may end up facing some potentially terrible fates if they get turned away.
We need your help to spread the word about this! There is a separate New Sponsors campaign page to connect these children with the support they desperately deserve:
Please Spread the Word!
Please visit the above link and use the 'share campaign' feature to share through your social media platforms. Please also consider directly sharing the link with your friends and family, along with a testimonial about your involvement with the program so far. Your support on this is greatly appreciated!
Thank you again for your ongoing support and may your year ahead be full of blessings, happiness and good health.
Yours in service
Hal Dobbins and Jeanne Howell
Sponsorship Coordinators
phone: +61438141032 (Hal - Australia)
phone: +18587618500 (Jeanne - USA)