Education for Poor Children!

The past few months have been tough at SHARE Project and the Hammerslag School. Due to a lack of administrative support and a period without internet in Pallisa, we missed a very important due-dilligance report for GlobalGiving. By the time we resolved the issue and submitted the report, new and recurring donations had lapsed to the project. Thanks to the help of GlobalGiving's team, they were able to resolve the issue and fully reinmburse the school (a testiment to the organization for ensuring projects on its platform are properly vetted).  However, during this period we struggled to adequately care for and feed our boarding students, pay our teachers and staff a full salary, and to fund required state testing and other administrative costs. As a result, several boarding students were sent back to their guardians for a period of time. 

Despite the hardships, we have persevered and stayed in high spirits. We continued to teach, feed and house our rural and vulnerable population as best we could. In fact, the children start their end of term exams next week, which they have been studying hard for. And by the end of this year, our students will sit for the very first time at the national exam to join secondary education! 

When the recurring donations were reimbursed in late July, we were able to purchase food and living supplies for the boarding students, new scholastic materials, and to pay teachers their full salary. Some revenue went to the government as well to renew our training licence and operation permit (as is standard for all schools in Uganda). This is paid annually and requires a follow up with the Ministry of Education, which will take place in the next few weeks. Lastly, As pictured, we are working to complete the construction of desks for all the students. 

As these are the only new updates since the last report, I will finish by outlining our remaining needs/goals over the next quarter. Please consider giving as little as $10 recurring donation each month to support these efforts and ensure that we stay out of financial crisis; are able to feed, house and pay our staff the salaries they deserve. As always, we thank you for your generosity. 

Remainder of 2019 goals and financial needs:

• Pay teachers and support staff the national average, every month. This works out to a need of only $1,250 USD per year!
• Raise enough to cover the fees for the UNEB national exam for admission to secondary school. 20 students need to sit for the exam and it costs $10 per student ($200 total). Consider investing in the future of these hard working individuals by donating enough to cover the fees or one, or all of our students. 
• Complete construction of the primary one classroom. As pictured, they are still learning in a temporary shade outside the main school building. This would cost just 2,000 USD total including flooring, plastering for the walls, and constructing a black board, tables and chairs. 
• Raise money to cover healthcare costs of students suffering from sickle cell, malaria, HIV/Aids and other chronic illness. We have lost three kids in the past year to sickness, which could have been avoided with the proper access to healthcare, medications and also better awareness and counseling support to families in the community. 
• Complete construction of a seperate female latrine.
• Improve boarding conditions for students. Every child still needs a proper mattress, bedding and mosquito net.
• Improve the school feeding program. We are barely getting by and need to improve the nutritional intake of our students on a daily basis. Even small recurring donations will help ensure the boarding children are fed three healthy meals per day. 
• Maintain NGO office, wifi and other administrative costs (including licence, insurance and other fees necessary to keep the school legally registered in Uganda).
• Find international volunteer programs to help run the school. We are actively applying to partnerships in the UK and Australia so that we can find some relief in our day to day operations. 

As usual, we thank you for your continued support and donations to help educate rural and vulnerable children in Uganda.