The African [SOUP], or Sponsorship of Orphans in Uganda Project, provides a hand up - not a hand out - to children who dream big. We serve 352 children in our primary school, and your loving gift will educate, nourish, and empower these orphans and vulnerable children to become leaders in Uganda. Located in rural Uganda where there is no electricity, running water, or previous formal education system, the [SOUP] is a beacon of light that grants access to a future - and to hope.
When Brin Enterkin visited Nabikabala in 2009, she saw hundreds of malnourished children with distended stomachs sitting under mango trees, thirsting for knowledge and going to "school." Their teachers were village elders with no formal teacher training. Immediately, she and colleague Michael Kaidhiwa acted, and the [SOUP] was born. With 232 of our students' families living on less than $2/day and the remaining 120 students fully orphaned, our students had little hope for a prosperous future.
Since our inception, we have built a robust primary school that provides free, quality education, nutritional meals, healthcare, opportunity, and hope to 352 children. But there is more to be done. In addition to providing access to secondary school for our students who will graduate P7 this year, we are also investing in financial sustainability initiatives so that our community is prosperous for many years to come. Our holistic development is giving Nabikabala a "hand up" - not a hand out.
In addition to supporting Nabikabala, the [SOUP] is spearheading an initiative to redesign the way that Uganda teaches primary school - away from rote memorization and towards a more analytical approach. We are currently creating a framework for incorporating critical, creative, and ethical thinking into the Ugandan Primary School curriculum, partnering with local and government entities to ensure that our methods are tested and proven - affecting Uganda writ large for generations to come.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
