Build A Primary School for 300 students in Uganda!

As we end another remarkable year, we find ourselves reflecting on the incredible journey we've shared and the positive impact we've collectively made on the lives of vulnerable children and families in rural Uganda. Lives have been transformed, dreams ignited, and communities uplifted, as the result of your generosity. We understand the many demands on your resources, and we deeply appreciate the support you've provided thus far. However, we dare to dream even bigger in the coming year to change more lives like Joshua’s. 

In 2015, I met Joshua and his brother Joel, who were students in the public school where I was volunteering. We arrived at their mud home to meet their 87 year old grandmother, Irene, who became the caretaker of the boys after their parents passed away. 

The four, small rooms were almost barren. Irene estimated that they hadn’t had food in a month, explaining that she tries to work but it’s hard to find people to hire her to “dig”, the profession of most women in rural Uganda: vigorous, manual work preparing fields for planting. She estimated that they had not had food in a month. The boys told me they had been surviving by eating leaves from their bean plants. 

We found the “living area” filled with mud bricks. Irene expressed that she was racing against time because termites were eating away at their home and she was trying to build one permanent room before the house fell in. Before we left, Joshua pulled out a worn photo of his family: two loving parents and three well-dressed children, a happy memory of his former life that was taken from him far too soon.  

Joshua, and the millions of orphaned kids like him across rural Uganda, are the reason I founded Rukundo. Generous donations allowed us to admit Joshua and Joel into our scholarship program, where they were enrolled in a quality boarding school. We deliver food during school holidays so they don’t ever again have to go without. Today, he and his brother Joel are among the best performers in their classes. 

When I expressed to my Board chairperson that Joshua’s family was the poorest I had visited, she replied, “there’s one on every corner.” Unfortunately, over the last ten years, I’ve found that to be true. 

There are still challenges and unmet needs within the communities we serve, and hundreds of children like Joshua are waiting for our services. Your continued support can make an even greater difference. As we celebrate the start of a new year, we kindly ask you to consider a one time or monthly contribution, and/or a referral to help us expand our reach and create lasting change.

Last month, our Scholar’s Coordinator interviewed Joshua, and these are his own words:

“After we lost our parents, Grandma didn’t have an income and we would go to school without meals and requirements. We would pick leftover food from other pupils or the neighbors would sometimes give us food because we had no land to plant enough. The only options were to join life on the street or get a job, but when RI came into our lives, darkness faded away and life completely changed. 

We were put in boarding school, provided meals, and we became happy. Life became normal like other children. RI even visits on school visitation days and we are seen as special as some students do not get anyone. I am now in senior four which was never in my dreams. I am working hard to perform and be an important person in our community. I cannot thank RI enough for creating a ray of hope.”

Your generosity has been a beacon of hope for hundreds of students like Joshua, and we believe that together, we can achieve even more. Every donation, no matter the size, contributes to a brighter future for the children and families we serve.

Thank you for being an integral part of the Rukundo International family. May your year be filled with joy, warmth, and the knowledge that you are making a profound impact on the lives of those less fortunate.

With heartfelt thanks,

Andrea and the RI Team