Bootstraps Education

Wow! We just published this website yesterday and generosity of all types is flooding in! Many, many thanks to those of you who have jumped in to help us establish connections with more NGO partners, and who have given generous donations.

And these much-needed donations couldn't come at a better time. Locals are pleading with Irenge to make space for more students. We are strongly considering adding an afternoon session to our school day, as soon as possible, so that 20 more students can begin learning and working towards creating their own positive futures. 

We are starting the school with 2 classes of 10 students each and plan to keep our ratios low so that the children can really get the help they need to learn. Public schools in Uganda often have 50 - 200 students per teacher, which makes it difficult for the students to learn.

This week Irenge is also working hard to get the school set-up, so that we can start assessing children next week and can hold our first parent meeting next week. The families of our students are really happy about the opportunity for their children to attend a free, safe school; so we want to find opportunities for them to take part in the life of the school. We will be asking for parent volunteers to help with cooking for the students, as well as assisting the school in other ways.

It takes a (global) village!!

We've Got A Building!!

Irenge was able to find an excellent place for us to open our school in Kampala. It is a house with space for classrooms, a computer lab, a kitchen, and two restrooms; but, the best part is, it has a big, fenced back yard, where the children will be able to grow vegetables that can be taken home to share with their families. (This is a real treat as many refugees do not get fresh fruits or vegetables.) The school is also located in a district with many other schools. 

Marla has been setting up our finances, so that we can receive your generous donations for these deserving little souls. She has also been working on training videos for the teachers about our initial assessment process and will soon be making videos to show the teachers how to implement our English/phonics program. We will be assessing our first class of students next week, so that we can place them in appropriate learning groups.

Irenge Mbwiriza, one of our Founders, who is also our Country Director for Uganda, and our Lead Teacher, has been busy enrolling students for our first class. He has purchased some beautiful Covid-19 masks for our students and teachers, from an independent tailor in Kampala, and a purchased a charcoal stove for cooking the student's porridge. (This is an important meal for our students, that most can only get at school, as NGO rations of the monthly beans, cornmeal, oil, and salt; have been lower than usual lately, due to scarcity.) Irenge has also been scouting out a two-room rental in Kampala where our first classes will be housed, in addition to talking with other NGOS about our program, and registering our school with the Ugandan government.

Marla McGhee, the other one of our founders, who is a 35-year veteran educator, our Administrator, and our Director of Curriculum, has been working on developing this website, our Go Fund Me page, and our Facebook page, as it is important to get the word out about Bootstraps Education so we can secure much-needed books and other supplies for the school. Marla has also been working on developing our See It, Say It, Read It English program, and developing our Student Entrance Assessments, to place students into appropriate  learning groups. 

Coming Up soon...

We will introduce you to all of our teachers.

We will have a "Yearbook" picture of our first class of students.