Saint Maria Gorretti School
The Buildings
When you say, “I’m going to school,” you think of a building, a structure, a place.
At the beginning, the school was an idea. The land was donated.
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But, Mrs. Nalumansi Mary and the village elders knew that they had to keep the children safe from the equatorial sun or the seasonal torrential rains. Above is the very first school structure… a framed hut with scavenged bits of sheet metal roofing. No electricity but there are smiles on the faces of the eager students.
Soon, the parents began hand-making bricks, a slow process, but eventually two buildings were constructed, with roofs, no doors or windows in one of them and hard-packed dirt floors. The Women’s Guild of Saints Faith, Hope and Charity paid for cement floors for the Nursery section and office.
Then, our group of supporters became involved!
Most importantly, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Wisconsin awarded SMG an important sum of money to build a new structure. They were able to plan for a wonderful two story building.
With their generous grant and more funds from what is now T.H.R.I.V.E. Foundation, the older buildings were renovated, plastered, tiled, wired for electricity, and a splendid new two-story building was constructed.
