UGANDA SCHOOL PROJECT

DREAM ONE WORLD is honored to work with a very special Dreamworker, Mpagi Edward Edmary, ("Edward"), in the building of an elementary school in Kasenge, Uganda.

Edward speaks with passion of "the children suffering here due to circumstances beyond their control and understanding."  When asked how to best serve his area, he told us a school is needed most, for the reasons he mentions below:

In his words, "I am looking forward to helping the orphaned children due to the AIDS epidemic, children whose parents have died on death row, and the children in northern Uganda who are affected by rebel activities. 

We have acquired land for the school in Kasenge, located between the Masaka District and Kampala, in the Wakiso District.

Although this land is remote, it has access to power and electricity, clean piped water, and a fair road, making it accessible to teachers from Kampala.

Children will be chosen from various locations, including my village of Kyamabaale, to benefit from the school's quality education.  Our community members are in support of this location for the DREAM ONE WORLD Centre for Education - Uganda.

These children are the heads of their families now.  If they get the opportunity to study, they can be important people in the future. 

Presently, they sometimes engage themselves in drugs or prostitution to get money...but if they can go to school and get counselling it can make a big impact.

I am sending pictures of local children, who desperately need to be helped.  Even though sometimes in play they are in happy moods, the situation is so bad here.

The children on nursery/kindergarten level are normally 3-6 years old.  After that level the children join primary school (p1 - p7), taking seven years. 

Around 14 years of age children join secondary level (s1-s6), and after that level they join universities or any tertiary institution.

I consulted the community about constructing a primary school or a secondary school.  They chose a primary school because the need is great.

A medium classroom block of 20' X 20' can be built for approximately $15,000, and we need a minimum of seven classrooms.  We also need a library, kitchen, staff room, a space to encourage art, music, and dance, two dormitories, etc. 

Volunteers from the construction sector and community volunteers will build the school, including a good friend I have worked with before, Katongole Ronald.

I have rented a digital camera from a town about 10 km (6 miles) away, (where I also go to use the Internet), and took these photographs for you. 

We are all so grateful about the willingness of the people of DREAM ONE WORLD to change the sufferings of our children by building a school."

We are honored to help, Edward. 

(We have since sent funding to Edward to purchase a digital camera. Please click the Mpagi Edward Edmary page at left to learn more about this most extraordinary and forgiving man, brutally held captive for 18 years under Idi Amin, who continues here with information about his village...)

The poverty level is so high in this village that most villagers go with only one meal every 24 hours.  There is no piped water, only water from a well that is contaminated during the rainy season.  There is no power supply in this village, so people use paraffin for lighting and firewood for cooking.

There are few homes with proper housing structures.  Many are grass houses, others have poor roofing systems that leak during the rainy season.

The roads and means of transportation in the region are all poor.  Most villages in our area do not have electricity, clean water, good housing, food security, medical. 

In Masaka, 272km away, there is one government hospital with a population of about 2 million people.  People stand in line a minimum of 24 hours hoping for medical assistance.

THERE ARE NO EXISTING GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES IN KYAMABAALE, NOR ANY OTHER NONPROFIT OR NGO FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD HELPING US.

Like our logo, like the symbol for gratitude, like the concentric circles that fan out from a stone dropped in water, these children will be constantly "hugged" by the structure.  Our plan is to list each donor's name and country around the foundation of each building as well.

In addition, our vision is to name each building words like "Forgiveness," "Love," "Acceptance," "Gratitude," "Peace," "Inspiration," "Kindness," etc.

In this way we are co-creating a new consciousness in building design, and renewal for all who attend."