Uganda remains one of the poorest countries in the world with vulnerable children still facing multiple barriers to accessing an education, leaving them trapped in a cycle of poverty.
Current figures show that approximately 80% of the Ugandan population is illiterate, and 44% of Ugandan children do not complete primary school. For girls the outlook is even more bleak as they face additional gender and cultural barriers that put education further outside their reach. For example, only 1 in 5 Ugandan girls who enrol in primary school will make it to high school.
Yet all the evidence shows that when girls have access to a quality education, the whole of society benefits. Educated girls and women are healthier, earn more income and provide better health care for themselves and their future children, and these benefits also are transmitted from generation to generation and across communities at large - making girls’ education one of the best investments that can be made.
At School for Life we believe every child deserves the opportunity to realise their full potential through a quality education. It is with this in mind that we are building a boarding facility for 300 girls to provide a safe, learning-friendly environment for the girls and young women attending School for Life’s Mbazzi High School. This is just one of our proactive programmes aimed at removing education barriers for girls and providing them with a safe, supportive environment in which they can learn and thrive.
Read on to learn how we’re making this dream a reality for our wonderful School for Life students.
2019: raising the funds to build
With the outstanding success of our ‘Buy a Brick’ appeal and the help of all our generous supporters, by the last day of 2019 we had the funds ready to begin the construction of our boarding facility.
Preparations were made to begin construction in January 2020, much to the excitement of the entire School for Life community!
January 2020: laying the foundations
With a new year came a new challenge - preparing the land ready for the foundations of the facility to be laid.
Our construction team worked hard throughout January to ready the site for construction, and in late January, the foundations of the boarding facility were laid.
Take a look at some incredible aerial footage taken of the site once the foundations were laid!
The foundations for the school were laid in the ground in January this year.
March 2020: an interruption to construction
Thankfully, our hardworking construction team had fully completed the construction of the foundations on site by late March, when the Ugandan Government directed the closure of all construction sites in accordance with regulations designed to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Construction was paused on the 20th of March, and the site secured until such time that work could continue safely - a time we eagerly awaited.
June 2020: the team prepares to recommence work
June brought exciting news. With the assistance of a very generous major donor, we could guarantee the ongoing financial sustainability of School for Life’s programs, allowing us to continue construction. The Ugandan Government declared construction able to continue under a range of new COVID-19 regulations.
Under the leadership of our team leaders Fred and Dickson, our construction team quickly sprung into action, purchasing materials and getting ready for construction to resume in July.
The team hard at work unloading newly ordered supplies ready for construction to resume on site.
July 2020: construction resumes
On the 2nd of July construction resumed on the boarding facility, with the team working at lightning speed to erect the brick walls and install the windows of the structure.
The steel is currently being fabricated for the trusses and the roofing of the building, and our team is now preparing to construct the showers and toilets needed in the facility, as well as completing the construction of the fence surrounding the perimeter of the boarding school.
Take a look at the photo gallery to see the building coming together!
August 2020: frameworks go up
The start of August brought even more action, with our construction team being joined by our roofing team on site to start welding up and installing the metal frames to create the roof of the boarding school.
September 2020: a roof over our heads!
September was an incredibly exciting month in the construction process, with the roof of the boarding facility being officially installed! The building was now fully enclosed, and ready to be fitted out internally.
November 2020 - Almost there
Work on our girls' boarding school facility progressed rapidly in November, with the electrical wiring and light switches for the buildings now in place and security lights installed on all corners of each building within the facility.
Major steps have been made to erect the security wall that will surround the entire facility, and the bathrooms, which include latrines, showers and handwashing stations, are now very close to completion.
Construction has not progressed without its challenges this month, with heavy rains in Uganda making the digging of the shower and latrine facilities incredibly difficult. However, as always, our hard working construction team found a way to ensure work could still continue on site despite the challenging weather conditions, with the team pumping water out of the digging sites so they could persevere with construction in the rains.
Check back here soon for more updates on the construction process as our girls’ boarding facility comes to life! We can’t wait for the facility to be finished so our girls can begin their journeys of education and opportunity - and we are so grateful for you, our generous supporters, for making this all possible.
