Help build classrooms at Butembe School in Uganda
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Butembe is a poor fishing village on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda, East Africa. A small group from Tasmania visited Butembe in 2015 through a local Ugandan friend Peter. At this time, there was a small school there which was really struggling. At this time, the "buildings" were made of grass, and the school was in danger of being shut down if they did not build permanent structures.
At this time, the school had over 100 students. Some of the school teachers continued to come and educate the students even though they were not receiving any pay (some for 8 months with no pay).
After the 2015 visit, a family member saved and donated the funds to Butembe school for them to build five permanent structure classrooms.
Since this time, the school has expanded to 500 students, and again the teachers are not receiving a regular wage . Due to the poor resources available in the community, families are not able to afford school fees. To exacerbate this problem, there have been restrictions put on fishing licencing which limits people's ability to earn income. Families in Butembe live in mud huts with roofs made of grass. A lot of parents in the community take on care of additional children from their extended families or communities when children have no caregiver.
The current situation at Butembe school is that classrooms are currently not big enough, the 500 students are in only 5 classrooms and they are having to use temporary structures again to accommodate students.
The cost of building expanded classrooms is equivalent to $40,000AUD. This GoFundMe is aiming to raise at least half of this to help Butembe school to start building much needed classrooms. The money also goes towards the school continuing to provide the students a porridge meal during the school day, as most children do not and cannot afford to eat before they come to school. The school is exploring ways they can self-generate income to keep the school going, however, the lack of resources in the community makes it super difficult.
My mum, Lesley Arnold, has visited Butembe school multiple times, most recently in 2019, and has seen that previously donated monies has been used for its intended purposes to build what was set out to be built. Collaboration is had with Peter, the Ugandan local. Peter works fulltime for Compassion, and also helps to coordinate organisation of the Butembe School in his own time.
At this time, the school had over 100 students. Some of the school teachers continued to come and educate the students even though they were not receiving any pay (some for 8 months with no pay).
After the 2015 visit, a family member saved and donated the funds to Butembe school for them to build five permanent structure classrooms.
Since this time, the school has expanded to 500 students, and again the teachers are not receiving a regular wage . Due to the poor resources available in the community, families are not able to afford school fees. To exacerbate this problem, there have been restrictions put on fishing licencing which limits people's ability to earn income. Families in Butembe live in mud huts with roofs made of grass. A lot of parents in the community take on care of additional children from their extended families or communities when children have no caregiver.
The current situation at Butembe school is that classrooms are currently not big enough, the 500 students are in only 5 classrooms and they are having to use temporary structures again to accommodate students.
The cost of building expanded classrooms is equivalent to $40,000AUD. This GoFundMe is aiming to raise at least half of this to help Butembe school to start building much needed classrooms. The money also goes towards the school continuing to provide the students a porridge meal during the school day, as most children do not and cannot afford to eat before they come to school. The school is exploring ways they can self-generate income to keep the school going, however, the lack of resources in the community makes it super difficult.
My mum, Lesley Arnold, has visited Butembe school multiple times, most recently in 2019, and has seen that previously donated monies has been used for its intended purposes to build what was set out to be built. Collaboration is had with Peter, the Ugandan local. Peter works fulltime for Compassion, and also helps to coordinate organisation of the Butembe School in his own time.
Although Butembe students don't have a lot, their attitudes are happy and positive, most are joyful to be alive and grateful for the little they have. Any donations, small and large, will directly go to the Butembe school and directly impact on the lives of children.
Organizer
Analise Arnold
Organizer
Kambah ACT
