August 2020                   `

COVID 19 Impact On Mubaku

On March 23, 2020, Uganda shut down the country and closed their border when the first COVID19 infection was detected in a citizen that had arrived from Dubai. This included shutting down all schools.   Some easing of restrictions started July 22^nd, but schools are still shut down and are not expected to reopen until early next year.  This is a major setback to our goal of educating every child and adult in Mubaku Village, but we are moving ahead with our plans to expand the capabilities of Bright Future Nursery and Primary school to serve the village.

Celebration Sharing Love Campaign Success

 Since our last newsletter in November, there has been significant progress on MEF’s efforts to support the Bright Futures Nursery and Primary School & Mubaku Village.   Here are some of the projects completed and started:

In February our sharing love campaign raised sponsorships to enable 49  more children to attend Bright Futures Nursery and Primary School We now have 93 children sponsored. In addition, 80% of existing sponsors renewed their sponsorships and we got new sponsors for the remaining kids. Even though there is no school, the teachers are following up with the kids to ensure they will be ready when school continues.  This includes critical outreach to older girls.

The MEF Board and the Mubaku Community, including the children, would like to express our gratitude for your generosity.  We were working to get photos of each child to each sponsor, but that effort slowed when the school shut down.  If for any reason, you sponsored a child and did not receive the photo, name, and receipt for that sponsorship, please email

 

How Your Donations Help

Your donations have paid for the 60 student desks, 100 individual student chalkboards, one large bookcase for the library, and six classroom tables.

The Head Teacher and Administrative salaries are now being fully supported by generous donations.

Construction Update

Along with those accomplishments, due to very generous donations in memory of Nancy Wright as well as others, the construction of a new building, “The Nancy Wright Building”, is well underway!  The building will consist of three Nursery Program classrooms, a teacher workroom, a storage room, and a “Women’s Empowerment Center (WEC)”, where women of the village will work together to make local crafts, enabling them to gain resources to become self-sufficient and further contribute to the well-being of the community.  The WEC leadership team has been visiting the site to plan for the opening.

The new building (left) is on a parcel of land adjacent to the original school shade structure that MUCCO was able to buy using funds from MEF. It is close to the main road, which will be improved by the government in the next few years.  It will provide a wonderful location for the women to sell their wares, as tourists pass through the village on the way to the lodges.  Currently, the roof is being completed.

The next steps are to finish the brickwork, purchase and install doors and windows, plaster the walls, and pour the floors.  Then, we will need to purchase furniture and equipment for the WEC.

To finish and equip the building, we need;

• $2,900 to finish the brickwork, plaster the walls, and pour the floors
• $4,000 to furnish the school with desks, tables, chairs,  bookcases, and school supplies
• $2,600 to provide the equipment for the WEC to create crafts and clothes to sell
• $4,000 for a modern pit latrine to be used by the WEC and the Nursery school

A breakdown of each area is on our website on the construction progress page.

          Have a Birthday Coming? 

If you use Facebook, please consider starting a fundraiser for your next birthday to support the school.  It’s easy.  Just look for the Mubaku Educational Foundation, which is listed in their menu of approved charitable organizations.  Facebook charges no processing fees, so everything donated will come to Mubaku Educational Foundation.  You will be amazed by how many people see this as an important project. So far we have raised $1,770 for construction and $2,145 for sponsorship through Facebook birthday campaigns.

Please note:  501 (c) 3 Status
All of your tax-deductible donations, except a small PayPal fee, goes directly to Mubaku Village’s school efforts.  All Mubaku Educational Foundation operational and formation costs are personally donated by board members. Donations may be given through PayPal at the mubakuschool.org website or by mailing a check to:

Mubaku Educational Foundation

Mubaku Educational Foundation

12970 Andalusia Dr

Santa Rosa Valley, Ca

93012

Thank you for your on-going support! We hope you will stay involved, as we address the future needs of the school and students.  Thank you for spreading the word about Mubaku.  Every little bit makes a huge difference in the lives of the children in the village.

Best regards,

The Mubaku Educational Foundation USA Board of Directors.