Our mission at BLANK is to permanently defeat the generational cycle of poverty in Uganda through access to clean water, a safe, modern school campus, and educational programs for the 600 students at the BLANK primary school in rural Uganda.
In 2018, our beloved brother, a pharmacist at CVS, was killed in a traffic accident. He was loved because he helped all types of people with their problems without expecting a reward. He lived his faith: enabling the meek to inherit the earth. His mother, BLANK, a hospice nurse, transformed her grief into action, creating our foundation to honor his compassionate soul.
The Covid crisis pushed 100 million people into the deepest poverty. In Uganda:
- Over half of the population is under 15.
- Nearly 50% of children do not complete primary school.
- In 2021, the GDP per capita in Uganda was $2,200. 41% live on less than $1.90 per day.
As Ugandans and now US citizens, education transformed our lives; we are doctors, nurses, and public health professionals. Our dream is for every child at the BK school to attend college and build sustainable careers.
Our urgent first mission was to build a Well to bring clean water to the school and the surrounding village of 47,000 people*
The school had only two tanks that collected rainwater. After the rainy season, often there was no water.
- Children walked three miles to collect water from an unprotected and unfiltered swamp.
- Female students lived a nightmare: sexual predators assaulted them while fetching putrid water.
- Outbreaks of diarrhea and typhoid spread through the school.
- Parents fell ill, so older kids missed school to babysit younger ones.
Despite the Pandemic, we built a Well, and wired the Well’s pump to the electrical grid to serve the entire village.
Today, the students, faculty, and the village have clean water; diarrhea and typhoid have disappeared. Attendance is nearly 100%. Grades have improved! Young girls don’t face sexual predators while fetching water three miles away in the dark.
BLANK is committed to creating a family atmosphere at the BUK school by supporting the students year-round with free backpacks, books, pens, geometry sets, and water bottles. Any school is only as strong as its teachers. Due to corruption, teachers may wait months or up to a year to be paid. We fundraise, often from our pockets, to pay the educators.
Our mettle has been tested, and we stand ready to enhance our water project, rebuild dormitories, and create agricultural and artistic programs to enrich students’ lives.
We have only just begun. The best is yet to come!