Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world following the devastating dictatorships of Milton Obote and Idi Amin in the 1960s and 1970s. The disruption continued until 1986 when Yoweri Museveni took control of a distraught and bankrupt country. His government has restored peace but rebuilding Uganda's shattered infrastructure is a long and difficult task.

After thirty years of instability the education system in Uganda had collapsed. The result is a largely illiterate population and poor academic standards.

Education not only provides basic literacy and numeracy, it gives a chance for children to lift themselves out of the poverty into which they were born. Education is the key to social and economic development. Educated children can access jobs so are not reliant upon unprofitable subsistence farming. Only through education can social problems such as AIDS, alcohol abuse, sexual inequality, and teenage marriages be tackled.

We depart, or 'branch' as the Ugandans would say, from the towns and main roads into isolated rural areas. Both poverty and educational standards are at their worst in these communities. We target our investment here so as to help the most vulnerable and needy children.

Case Study: James Kirunda (Pictured right.)

James Kirunda is five years old. He lives in the village of Jaami in eastern Uganda . His father died of AIDS in 2007 leaving his mother and five siblings with only a small plot of land to support the family. The only way in which this family can move out of the poverty they have been born into is by educating the children.

Even though education at James' local primary school is provided free by the government, he has lessons sitting on the ground under the shade of a tree. There are over 50 children in his class. No classroom, no desks, and no textbooks. James cannot have a decent education in such poor conditions. James is just one of the 7 million children across Uganda in this desperate situation.

In 2009, with your support, we hope to build two additional classrooms and provide desks for the new classrooms so James and his friends can have their lessons at a desk in a proper classroom.  Also we would like to provide three teachers' houses, in order to avoid all the teachers walking many kilometers each day.

A typical rural school

There are over 7 million children attending rural schools in Uganda. The vast majority of these schools offer a poor standard of education.

  • Many children have lessons outside seated on the ground under the shade of trees due to the shortage of classrooms. On a rainy day lessons cannot take place.
  • Children who do have a classroom are often in classes of over 150. But, due to lack of desks, children are forced to sit on the dirt floors or, pathetically, a brick.
  • A shortage of latrines and handwashing facilities leads to poor personal hygiene and disease.
  • Schools have few or no textbooks and rarely any sports or science equipment.
  • Poor staff accommodation in rural schools makes it hard for schools to attract and retain good quality teachers.
  • Existing buildings are often in poor repair or sometimes even dangerous.
  • The poor conditions mean that the local community do not support their school. If parents do not take education seriously, many don't even bother sending their children to school.
  • Schools are struggling to cope with a rapidly increasing population.