School Opens in Uganda Thanks to Butler Student Fundraising Effort
Monday, June 08, 2009
There is a new school in the village of Kiyamba, Uganda, thanks to the work of the Butler University chapter of Ambassadors for Children. During the 2007-2008 school year, the group raised more than $45,000 through a campaign titled “The Power of Children” to construct the Building Tomorrow (BT) Academy of Kiyamba. The primary school will eventually house 325 kids in grades primary one through primary seven (U.S. equivalent 1st-7th grade). Currently, more than 180 students, many of whom have never had the opportunity to learn inside a classroom before, are attending the school. 
Last summer, seven Butler students traveled to Uganda to help dig the school’s foundation and prepare the land for the commencement of construction.
“I could not be happier our school is opening,” said Butler senior and president of Butler’s Ambassadors for Children Jennifer Pignolet. “We saw so many kids in Uganda who were desperate for a place to learn, and we are proud to be able to give even just a few of them the opportunity to receive an education.”
BT Academies are constructed out of all local supplies, including over 50,000 handcrafted bricks, domestic timber and other aggregate materials. BT partners with regional ministries of education to fund the ongoing costs related to teacher salaries and provides continuing teacher training for BT Academy staff.
“You can tell how excited the community is just by walking around,” said BT Uganda Country Director Joseph Kalisa. “There’s a renewed sense of hope that this building has brought to parents and children alike.”
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