Support Uganda Dream Nursery and Primary School

In early 2008, Kathy Ozzard Chism received an email from Mpagi Edward Edmary in East Africa. A successful farmer, Edward had been accused by another farmer of killing a man who was found alive seven years into Edward's sentence. When the man he supposedly killed went to the prison and begged the guards to release Edward, they refused, saying the release would make them look bad. Edward spent nearly 13 more years on Death Row until Amnesty International was able to release him.

Edward's dream the entire time in prison was to build a school and orphanage for the children of prisoners and AIDS orphans in his area of Kasenge, Uganda - an area that had never seen help from anyone in the history of Africa. There are no public schools in Uganda so if a child is orphaned or a parent goes to prison, the children usually wind up on the streets. Children as young as 11 often turn to prostitution to get money for food for themselves and their younger brothers and sisters.

Upon his release, Edward began a long search to find someone to help him build his dream. He learned to use the Internet and eventually found Kathy. When she said that her funding source was very small and building a school could take a long time, Edward responded that he had already been searching for someone to help him for four years and that he was "a very patient man." With that, Kathy said yes.

After acquiring land for the school, they started by asking for donations for "Bricks of Love" and brick by brick the first building, which would ultimately become the "Wisdom Library and Event Center," took form. Eventually, Edward brought on his dear friend Katongole Ronald, a local accountant and the friend who had searched until he found the man Edward had supposedly murdered, to manage all the day-to-day needs for the project. Ron is tireless and truly amazing. He is as devoted to the children as Edward, and they are both adored by all who know them.

Today, our school has the Wisdom Library, seven classroom buildings, a kitchen building, a teacher's building and storage house, separate lavatories for the boys and girls, a water well that services the entire local community as well as the school, a medical clinic, organic gardens, a laundry facility, electricity to all buildings, and a massive security wall around the entire complex. We also have an orphanage building for the children we rescue from the street or abusive situations.

Staffed and managed entirely by volunteers in Uganda and the US, and without the support of an umbrella non-profit organization, the Dream School currently cares for about 100 children. Before the upheaval caused by Covid most of our children had loving sponsors, but during the pandemic many sponsors were not able to continue. Meanwhile, some children left the school while many more came under our care.

Emergencies like the recent malaria epidemic require additional support, and we are grateful to the many loving people who helped us with funds to purchase mosquito netting. We are continuing to use donations to pay off the debt that was incurred for malaria care and medicine. And, as you can imagine, facilities maintenance for this many children, building new desks, sewing clothing, buying food beyond that which we're able to produce, all these things cost money, and 100% of the money that we receive goes towards caring for and educating the children.

Currently, we are looking for sponsors for about 60 children. If you are interested in seeing children who need sponsors for only $20 a month, please visit our Facebook pages: facebook.com/dreamnurseryandprimaryschool and

facebook.com/UgandaDreamSchoolSponsorship

If you don't feel called to be a sponsor, you can still show your love through a GoFundMe donation. Every penny helps!

Thank you and love from the Dream Nursery and Primary School!