We were established in 2015 in Uganda with a mission of caring for vulnerable children and to reach their potential. BEF is located in Kashija Village Rubuguri Parish Uganda. Our main objectives are to give children and women who have had to end their education because of poverty. BEF also provides opportunities for families where vulnerable children come from to earn a living through self sustaining projects such as farming, jewelry making, and most of all education.
Kisoro District has a large number of schools, and yet education remains out of reach for many children. About 35% of elementary aged children and 44% of secondary aged children are not in school. While the ability to pay school fees is the largest barrier, teen pregnancies greatly reduces attendance of girls in secondary school. On a national level, 43% of girls are pregnant or mothers by the time they are sixteen.
We have provided for 33 children in village of Kashija and Rubuguri with school supplies, uniforms and tuition assistance. Before we came to these villages only 11 of these children (3%) were attending school. Now, 100% of the children in our program are attending school. We are monitoring their academic progress by creating a close working relationship with local school administrators. During the school holidays, we provide the children with supplemental tutoring and education
Besides helping with education, our organization is also focused on creating financial security for local families, particularly those headed by single mothers. One way we do this is through our piggery and sheep projects. Before starting to work with our organization, the average income for a single-mother household was 35,000 Ugandan shillings ($9.80) per month. As of now, these households are earning, on average, 80,000 Ugandan shillings ($22.40) per month, having more than doubled
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
