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Update March 31 - The children returned to school in early February and are working hard on their lessons. Some excellent news regarding one of the earliest students we sponsored, Agnes. She graduated from secondary school and passed her exit exam! YAY Agnes. She has applied and been accepted to the Uganda Hotel and Tourism Industry training program, starting April 1. It is a 2-year program that will set her on the path to a career and self-sufficiency. Very exciting! But this program also has a tuition requirement and we are hoping to enlist additional donors to sponsor this last phase of her growth and education. Please consider helping - any amount matters!
A few years ago, I became aware of a hardworking but extremely poor rural community located on the edge of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. Many things that I took for granted - regular meals, medical care, education and transportation - are unaffordable luxuries there. Poverty and lack of resources are putting the futures of the Bwindi children at risk and greatly limiting their potential. When I learned that for the cost of a few nights out I could change a child's life, I immediately committed to sponsor the school tuition for a little girl. But one girl led to another and thankfully many of my friends and family wanted to help as well. By 2024, we somehow managed to sponsor the education of 19 children from the region. But there are so many more without sponsors! In 2025, the cost to fully sponsor a primary school age child is $239 - which includes annual school tuition with 2 meals a day, a new uniform (sweater, trousers, white shirts, socks), scholastic supplies, and minor medical treatment if required. That's it, just $239 USD a year per child can dramatically change their world and their health.
If you are interested in investing in the future of a child and their community, here are a few additional things to know.
- You do not have to cover the full $239. Any and every amount donated will combined with other contributions so every little bit really does help. (But of course, you can choose to sponsor a specific child and learn about them and their progress.)
- Other than the costs associated with utilizing GoFundMe, there are absolutely no fees or overhead. Happy Bruno, our contact in Uganda and the founder of Bwindi Conservation for Generations Foundation, coordinates all on-site support in Uganda as a labor of love. And I pay any Western Union fees in transferring funds as well as any emergency needs that on rare occasions may arise.
- Happy Bruno and I communicate weekly throughout the year. There are periodic updates and photos following his interim visits to the schools. This ongoing dialogue also allows us to respond to sensitive situations that might require funds for an intervention. For example, one young girl in primary school did not have a safe, secure home despite a loving mother so we worked with her to cover the extra cost for the child to board at school.
- We also support a few secondary school students, especially those that we sponsored for primary school who excelled at their studies and did well on their transition exams. Secondary school sponsorship in 2025 will be $680, which includes overnight lodging, 3 meals per day, $50 uniform cost and $30 in scholastic materials.
- For the upcoming year, it will be a challenge to ensure that we are able to continue sponsoring all 19 of our current children so our primary goal is make sure no one currently covered will be turned away. Additionally, by increasing our outreach for support, our larger objective is to be able to provide educational opportunities to more children in the community, including the brothers and sisters of some of our current students.
Facts about Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. It is named “Impenetrable” because extensive stands of bamboo are interspersed with larger forest hardwoods & thick ground cover of plant growth severely hinder direct access on foot. So the landscape is beautiful but not easy to work. The national park is a treasure as it provides the habitat to approximately 460 mountain gorillas - close to half the world's population of these endangered mammals.
Efforts by the Bwindi community. Residents are committed conservation of the world's last remaining mountain gorillas, biodiversity, and strengthening communities. Their hard work, buttressed by some external support, resulted in impressive accomplishments over the past few years. In addition to getting children into school, they established a Gorilla Gardening project, distributed sheep & pigs to women for self-sufficiency endeavors, operated a Bwindi micro-credit project, built a development center with well-stocked library and showroom for local crafts, carried out conservation meetings and sensitization with schools, communities and Uganda wildlife authority (the gorilla and elephant ambassador project), produced Bwindi Forest honey and Bwindi Gorilla coffee. They are provide a more secure existence for themselves and their children while demonstrating maximum respect for their natural environment.
Below is a link to a PowerPoint that has been placed on YouTube so that you can view information about our efforts to provide educational opportunities to the children of Bwindi and see some pictures of our students.
Thank you so much for considering our initiative.
Organizer
