top of page

Child Sponsorship

Child Sponsorship

Community Outreach: Gorilla Village Kids' School

Gorilla Village Kids School is situated in a rural area on the edge of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Ruhija, Southwestern Uganda.  There is no school nearby for the children to access so the community has constructed its own from its local natural resources of wood and clay.  The school  is situated on the top of a hill so work is underway to construct a level playground area and add more classrooms.  There are about 170 pupils on roll but the community is very poor and many people cannot afford to pay school fees or even understand the importance of educating their children, so funds to pay the teachers are low.

​​

Key Information: 

Non-government school 

Location: Bugarama Village, Southwest Uganda 

Director: Ngabirano Savio 

​

Teaching Staff:  

  • Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, Director of Studies (all also class teachers),

  • 5 additional class teachers 

The majority of the teachers are unqualified. 

Support Staff: Cook 

​

Classes and pupil numbers:  

Pre-School:

  • Baby Class: 17 

  • Middle Class: 32  

  • Top Class: 19 

Primary School:

  • Primary 1 (P1): 14

  • Primary 2 (P2): 17 

  • Primary 3 (P3): 21 

  • Primary 4 (P4): 28 

  • Primary 5 (P5): 11 

  • Primary 6 (P6): 4 

  • Primary 7 (P7): 0 

                               Total: 167 

​

History of support to date:  

  • BLI Uganda began supporting the community and school after lockdown, as the school struggled to reopen after being closed for 2 years due to covid and the poverty of the community.   Teachers had left the school and there was little money to reopen. 

 

  • BLI Uganda has provided teacher’s salaries, chalk boards, a water tank, hoes and seeds to families for farming, as well as medical outreach.  

 

  • BLI UK has funded teachers’ salaries, solar panels to provide light and electrical sockets, school uniforms, school shoes, pens, pencils, text books and exercise books.  

 

What Next?: 

BLI Uganda, together with BLI UK, would like to put the school on a more secure footing by encouraging our supporters to sponsor a particular class.  This would enable us to raise funds for the school to employ qualified teachers and improve the level of education the children are receiving. 

 

The ultimate goal is for the school to become as self-sustainable as possible in the long term, but that will take time and at the moment it needs support to establish itself.  

 

The Plan: 

  • The Director will continue to work on developing the school buildings and learning environment. 

  • BLI UK will help the school offer competitive salaries (the salary for a qualified teacher in the city is around £84-£95 per month) in order to employ suitably qualified teachers.  This will be done by raising funds through a ‘Class Champion’ programme, giving supporters the opportunity to sponsor part of a class teacher’s salary and follow the progress of the children in that class. 

  • BLI Uganda will oversee payment of salaries, support the school on the ground and reporting on progress. 

  

bottom of page