Local Rotary project furnishes secondary school in Uganda

School built by local non-profit Education for Development.
Delivery of materials to school.

A caravan of trucks and SUVs arrived in the rural village of Namirama, Uganda, on April 13, bringing over $10,000 worth of school furnishings and supplies. The delivery was made possible through a fundraising project of the City High (Iowa City) Interact Club begun in the winter of 2004 by 2005 graduates Elizabeth Ehly and Tina Pontarelli. The sponsor of the City High group, AM Rotary Club of Iowa City, then involved Rotary International. Clubs from Iowa, Uganda and at the International level all contributed to furnishing the 200-student secondary school completed in the winter of 2005. The school construction was funded by Education for Development, Inc., an Iowa City-based non-profit organization.

Michael Kizito Waburoko, of the Mbale Rotary club, reports trucks were able to reach the remote village in eastern Uganda on the one dirt road leading into it, arriving just before the beginning of the wet season. The furnishings and supplies included 72 three-person desks, 20 chairs, 12 tables, $4,000 worth of text books, lab apparatus, and sports uniforms.

Doug Huette, of the AM Rotary Club, said, “This is so great. To see the pictures of the school up and running is rewarding. Rotary, the Interact Club and Education for Development worked very hard to make it happen.‿

Education for Development raised $40,000 to build the weather-proof, secure, five room school and sent a volunteer engineer to help with the construction in the summer of 2005. Elizabeth Whiston, founder and president of EdforDev, said “Now that the school is finished, we have committed to funding 30 scholarships each year for deserving students. The area around Namirama is very poor, largely without electricity or clean water, yet the people are still committed to education. The closest secondary school was miles away until the community started its own school with mostly volunteer teachers in a temporary mud brick building in the late 1990’s. EdforDev is privileged to be a part of this local initiative to make affordable secondary education available to the youth in several area villages. Our purpose is to support the development of individual people and their communities through education so this was a perfect project for us. We are especially delighted to have partnered with local high school kids in helping their peers in Uganda.‿ More information about Education for Development can be found at www.edfordev.org.