Empower Wilson's Community Through Education

Mike and I just got back from Uganda. It was an amazing trip, and we are very blessed, but we saw a lot of need everywhere. Our guide, Wilson, was using his own money to start a school in his home community. We were touched and wanted to see how we could help.

We are creating a GoFundMe for Wilson and the kids. He donated the house he grew up in as a starting point. His story can be found below.

We want to help Wilson build the school back up. He needs to make two separate classrooms, get chalkboards, books, pens, etc. He needs to buy a tuk-tuk (small motorcycle-type vehicle) to transfer the excess food grown to the market. While the kids go to school, he is teaching the parents to garden, supplying better food for the families. Each family grows a certain crop to maintain a balance in nutrition. They sell the excess to support the school and farming.

A NOTE FROM WILSON:

My name is Wilson Nzigye, born 1967, in a small village called Kanyerire, Kasenda Subcounty, Kabarole District, Uganda.

To date, my village still has no electricity, running piped water, or clear roads connecting us to better public services. We do not have public schools (3 levels in Uganda) or a health center for basic or simple illnesses. People still rely on herbalists. Because of this, people have turned to alcohol to cope, domestic violence is prevalent, poverty and illiteracy are high, girls are married off too early, and kids suffer from malnutrition.

I was able, by the grace of God, to go to school because of my church. They collected donations to pay for my schooling. I knew I had to give back to my community. That is why I started Amasiko Community Nursery and Primary School.

There is a river that separates my village from the next village that has a school. This river floods during the rains. Five children drowned while I was growing up. For that reason, many parents will not let their kids attend school until they are 12 or 13. That means girls only get one year of schooling before they are given for marriage. The other reason for the kids not going to school is poverty. The parents have to pay for the schooling, and they just don't have the funds.

I started the school in 2017 using part of my tips from being a tourist guide. Education is so important to me; it is how these kids can change their lives. I was lucky enough to find a qualified nursery teacher in my village (or close by) and there was a teacher. We were able to work out a salary and school needs easily. The next step was to speak with my siblings and ask them to allow me to use the home I grew up in as the classroom. They agreed.

At this point, we had to identify the neediest children. We knew we could start with 30 children between the ages of 6 and 12. These kids had never been to school before. This was a challenge, but we were committed. We were able to save up and get a second teacher. We added more children and currently have 143 students.

The next big challenge was feeding the kids lunch so they would stay for the full 5 hours of instruction. While they are in school, their parents are working the fields. We had a meeting with all the parents, and they agreed to send lunches with the kids. This was not successful because there are no refrigerators to keep the food that was cooked the night before from going bad. We tried to have them send raw lunches and have a chef cook the lunches at the school, but that was too cost-prohibitive. We tried having the parents take turns cooking the lunches, but COVID put an end to that. We were finally able to afford a chef, whew!

In 2021, heavy winds came and blew off the roof of our school building. We got everyone together and made an open structure, one room, with a partition to separate the young kids from the older kids. We now have some of our pioneers going into secondary school, what an accomplishment! We will try to support them through secondary school.

Our immediate needs are:

Another classroom block

Kitchen

New toilet

Security lights

Outside equipment (balls, jump ropes, etc.)

Money for teacher and chef salaries

Tuk-tuk

Computer

At the moment, we are able to give each student a cup of porridge at break time and a meal of beans and vegetables with a banana at lunchtime. Every Monday and Friday, the kids get a boiled egg; it is quite a treat for them. We are trying to improve the nutrition of the kids.

Will you help us help Wilson and his school? A chicken costs $8. A goat is $40. Anything will help.

Thanks for reading! We will keep you updated.

Mike and Casey

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