Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but many public schools, especially rural schools, are often overwhelmed with too many students and limited facilities and staff. The quality of education, especially in the rural areas tends to be difficult, especially because class size can be significantly larger than sixty students in a classroom..
BWS (Bwindi Watoto School) is a private school and accepts no government funding. This makes it possible to keep class sizes to no more than 22 students, and we will gradually decrease it to 19. The school believes educational results continue improving in part because of this lower class size.
All sponsored children from first grade to the seventh grade (the last year of primary school) are required to board. Mothers of sponsored nursery students have the option of boarding their children at school or home.
Ugandan researchers believe that children, especially those who come from vulnerable families, perform better academically when living at school. We see boarding as a way to provide our most vulnerable children opportunity, better food and a healthier environment.
Many of our parents are illiterate, and many live with elderly grandparents. Homes rarely have more than two small rooms, making it difficult to find a quiet place to work. Few have electricity or can pay for solar lamps. Older children commonly spend evenings at home taking care of younger siblings.
At school, the children also receive an evening meal – something not always available at home. The school buildings also all have both electricity and solar while most homes have no. t Everyone goes to sleep at the same time. School is safe. . Children have their own bed and blanket instead of sleeping on a mattress on the floor with two, even three siblings. These are just some of the benefits of boarding.
At BWS all students, not just boarding students, receive morning porridge, with a little milk before school starts. At 10:30 am, they have a snack of a little fresh fruit. Lunch is a full meal with a very large amount of vegetables as well as the typical posho (corn meal) and black beans. In the mid afternoon, they receive a hard boiled egg twice per week and a small bowl of “g-nuts” (similar to peanuts) the other days. Boarders also receive an evening meal. The school’s food is unusual by Ugandan primary school norms. After a few months boarding, one can see a visible change in the faces of children, especially their eyes and skin, as well as in their behavior due to regular meals and nutrition
We have a brand new, first-time-ever boys’ dormitory that opened in May, 2024 through the kindness of a family foundation and some great sponsors. Currently there are forty five boys sleeping there, but there is room for more.(The only problem is that we don’t want to exceed a certain number of total students per class.) New showers and latrines were built very close to the dormitory. About forty-five girls sleep in a series of small rooms attached in one, U-shaped building not far from the classrooms. They also have their own showers and latrines. We have recently cleaned, painted and repaired all the girls’ rooms. A “patron” sleeps in the boys’ dormitory and a “matron” in the girls’ dormitory every night.
Over 95% of the schools operating costs are paid for by Educate Bwindi through sponsorships and other donations.
Teacher and staff salaries, including cooks, matrons for the dorms, a full-time nurse, cleaning people and security, are responsible for about 55% of costs. Food, wood for cooking fires and medications used by our full-time nurse is about another 40%. The remainder is used for utilities, school supplies, uniforms, small infrastructure improvement, transportation, the non-reader program, and a variety of standard needs.
Every sponsored child also receives personal items once per year. These include a new toothbrush and toothpaste, clothing, shoes, a bookbag, a new blanket or a lock box for their few possessions and a uniform. Up to $80.00 out of each sponsorship buys the children with everything needed to board.
These are just examples of the ways your donation helps support the goal and provides your child, and every child, with a happy and healthy living environment and education.
Please see the “Donations” page for all the options available to pay for a sponsorship..
Sponsorships are meant to help the child throughout school, not just for one year but until he or she has completed school. You may also make a donation of any amount, whether it is once or repeating.
For questions, please contact Lorna, our president at:
+1 312 316 7386 (leave a message please with your number)
Yes, but it is important to stress that your expectations as sponsors may not reflect the realities of a small village thousands of miles away in rural Uganda.
Many sponsors are used to children who have busy, rich lives with after-school events, sports, vacations and museums, and other activities. Your sponsored child (or children) has none of these. It is rare that any of Watoto’s students have been outside the village. Their letters reflect the quiet day-to-day sameness of village and school life.
For many, the only news that tends to occur in their lives is that a baby has been born or a parent or relative has died.
There are no computers for children at Watoto. No laptops or tablets.. No smart phones. Many don’t have radios at home. Internet connectivity can be spotty in Bwindi, especially during the rainy season. Educate Bwindi brought electricity to school for the first time several years ago. Seeing the classrooms light up from total darkness was magical.
Please don’t send your child anything directly through the mail. Usually it doesn’t find its way to our mail “box”, and it might take six months or more before we find it there. If you want to send a letter to us (Educate Bwindi/1933 N Hudson Ave/Chicago, IL 60614 or take a high quality photo of it and send to Lornaradio@gmail.com or type and send or email. The kids love letters, especially photos of the family, pets, what it looks like outside the house or a picture of it – and snow. They will write back.
You will receive a letter from your child at least once a year. You will also receive one or two school reports a year, and a new photo.
Part of the commitment to you is to keep you up to date as much as possible through this website and Facebook.
Eighty-two percent of the population of Uganda is Christian. There are Anglican, Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical Churches as well as a Mosque in Bwindi. The Ugandan government requires religious studies as part of the curriculum for all primary and secondary schools.
BWS is non-denominational ; Ugandan law that guarantees freedom of worship. Donors come from many different countries and reflect many different faiths and beliefs, all of which are respected by Educate Bwindi and by the school’s administration and teachers.
Yes. Please look at the Donations webpage. If a sponsorship is not the right option for you, you can donate any amount. Every donation does wonders for the school children.