Would you like to try to pronounce Nkurungiro? :). This is the name of one of the five elementary schools we are partnered with. To pronounce it, you say the "Nnn" sound, immediately followed by "kurungiro." I'll let you guess on the latter :).
When we visited Nkurungiro in 2018, we were shocked to open a classroom door and see this:
This is normally a single classroom. The school had put up a makeshift wall so they could make two classrooms. The teachers were talking over each other and kids in one classroom barely had room to move.
When we asked why they had the sudden overcrowding problem, Pastor George said it's their toilets! The year before, Kisoro Kids raised funds to build sanitary toilets for each of the five schools ahead of an imminent health department inspection of all schools. The inspection happened and all of the schools surrounding this one failed the inspection and were closed! All five of our schools passed! Many caregivers then sent their kids to Nkurungiro. (The schools say caregivers instead of parents because so many children are not with their parents.)
The teacher's office wasn't much better. Here is a photo I took of the teachers in their office in 2018:
Well I'm happy to report that through generous Kisoro Kids donations, we were able to provide funds to build three new classrooms and a new teacher's office.
Here are the new classrooms:
And here is the new teacher's office:
Once again, God's timing for these projects has been perfect. When the schools re-open, the government will have new student distancing requirements. These buildings will help them meet those requirements!
The government in Uganda recently announced that places of worship can meet again. However, schools are not scheduled to re-open again until January. The teachers at the five schools, however, are still meeting with students outside in small groups as they can, to educate them as they can.
Please pray that the schools will indeed re-open in January; that the teachers will be encouraged to remain with the schools and continue to meet with students; and that when schools re-open, that their caregivers will put them back in school instead of having them work in the fields.
Thank you so much for your partnership. You are an encouragement to us all!