From the Past, to the Present, and on to the Future
St. Maria Gorretti School (SMG) in Kyojjomanyi, Uganda
HISTORY
Fr. Peter Walusimbi, a Ugandan priest who studied in the Chicago area, introduced parishioners at Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity Church in Winnetka, to his hometown of Kyojjomanyi, a rural village in central Uganda. The village sits in a dry region which makes farming difficult for the local population, which consists primarily of smallholder, subsistence farmers. With high illiteracy, no job skills, and extremely limited employment opportunities, the people are impoverished, leaving them with little hope for a better future.
In this grim setting, his father, Ssenoga Experito an incredible, self-taught but successful farmer and a respected leader in his village, and Federesi, Fr. Peter’s loving mother of nine (who has also taken in countless orphans), pushed their children to get an education and come back and help their village. Experito spoke with the villagers and emphasized they needed to bring a good school to the village. He donated the land for the school, and in 2013, an older sister of Fr. Peter, Mrs. Nalumansi Mary, answered this call and founded, literally under a tree, a primary school, St. Maria Gorretti (SMG). There were 12 students.
One of the many overfilled classrooms at SMG.
For the next three years, all the tuition money that was collected, was set aside to buy the materials for the villagers to hand make the bricks, which they then used to erect the first true school building in 2016.
In 2017, the school had 300 students, and needed another building.
In 2019, Fr. Peter was studying at Mundelein Seminary in suburban Chicago. He sent back to SMG the savings from his stipend and earnings from his job at the seminary. With these funds, SMG’s school board built a second classroom building.
In 2020, Karen Matic, recognizing the needs at SMG, solicited among friends to raise funds to extend a water pipeline and an electricity line two kilometers from the village to the school.
In 2021, Fr. Peter returned to Uganda for his ordination, accompanied by one of his professors at Mundelein, from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA). When she saw the conditions, and appreciated the efforts the entire community was making, she wanted to help them realize their dream for a real school. She applied for a grant from her congregation, which was generously awarded allowing for the construction of SMG’s main classroom building. Also in late 2021, the first students preparing to graduate from SMG took the critical Primary Leaving Examination (PLE). All the students passed the exam, with all but one scoring in the top two tiers of the exam nationally. This was an unheard-of achievement in a rural school.
In 2022, funds from donors were used to improve the first two buildings. Concurrently, the FSP grant funded the construction of the large, main classroom building, that came in to use as the student population exploded to 600, driven primarily by parents’ strong response to the outstanding test results achieved by the recent graduates, as well as the admission of 50 orphans of all ages. The orphans joined over 100 boarding students comprised of 6th and 7th graders who are required to live on campus because of the additional instruction time they receive, and from younger students who are placed by their parents because of the excellent academic results, but are too distant from SMG to commute daily.
In 2023, T.H.R.I.V.E. Foundation incorporated as a 501(c)(3) Public Charity to raise funds in support of specific projects for the benefit of SMG, the students, and the residents of the village. One of the first of these projects was the successful drilling of a deep borehole to provide a dependable supply of potable water to SMG, eliminating the need to purchase water from an unreliable government source.
Since then, T.H.R.I.V.E. Foundation has supported a wide range of projects and programs for SMG, providing advice, funds, and donated goods. St. Maria Gorretti school has become a beacon of hope for the people in the area. The Foundation is proud to collaborate with the local leaders and school board in Uganda, in helping them realize their dreams for a better quality of life.
Remarkably, Fr. Peter, Mary, and SMG's school board, have operated the school and orphanage on a breakeven basis, with outside donations providing the funds for capital expenditures.
The leadership team has kept expenses under tight control, enabling tuition to stay low enough to be affordable for most of the day students, with some other day students getting scholarships because their parents could not afford the tuition. The boarding students' fees cover not only their own costs, but also those of the orphans. And the academic excellence has continued, with all the students graduating over the last three years scoring in the top levels and qualifying for high school.
Furthermore, thanks to the tremendous efforts by Mary and Fr. Peter, all the graduates are currently attending high school, with many on scholarships provided by those schools. Annual costs are about $1,500 for boarding at high schools. This is an extraordinary achievement and incredible benefit provided to these students and their families.
100% of SMG students have graduated in the top two high school qualifying levels in the past three years
IMMEDIATE & NEAR-TERM NEEDS
With 168 students, both boarding students and orphans now living on campus in converted classrooms, there is an urgent need for more classrooms and dormitory space to alleviate the serious overcrowding. Recent government regulations dictate that the current dormitory space must be expanded by 50%. Because of this pressing situation, the School Board has capped the student population at 600, despite the continuing very strong demand for enrollment.
With a rapidly soaring number of students graduating, there is also a significant and escalating need for scholarship funds for students entering high school. Furthermore, in line with a commitment to self-sufficiency, there is a growing need for investment in solar energy to address the current high cost but unreliable government-sourced power. We need to invest in a farm to feed the students, generate income to support the school and orphanage, and provide a training ground for instruction in best farming practices for the local farmers to improve their incomes.
168
Students and orphans boarding at SMG
50%
Govt. regulated increase in dormitory space
600
Student population cap due to lack of space
THE FOUR YEAR PLAN TO ADDRESS THESE NEEDS
Based on these needs, T.H.R.I.V.E. Foundation, which was created to help Fr. Peter, Mary, and the SMG School Board operate the school and orphanage, is launching a
$1 million capital campaign
tied to a two-phase plan spread over the next four years.
PHASE 1
DORMITORIES
An SMG boarding student looks up from a crowded dorm bunk
The first phase, of $600,000, is focused on construction of a building to house two dormitories for the boarding students and orphans, additional classrooms and meeting spaces, a library, two kitchens, and a large multipurpose room with a stage. Two outdoor playgrounds, a large playfield, and sports courts will be added, along with government-required security fencing around the perimeter of the campus. Investment will also be made in both solar power and water catchment and processing.
PHASE 2
FARMING & ENDOWMENT
Rudimentary farming at SMG — just the beginning
The second phase, of $400,000, is focused on purchase of land for a farm, the related buildings and equipment for its operation, and the establishment of an endowment fund for scholarships for graduates from the school. Residual funds would be deployed for teacher housing.
BUILDING ON STRENGTHS FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
While this is an ambitious plan, it is built on a solid foundation.
First and foremost, excellent leadership and staff performance as well as execution in Uganda, undergird this entire endeavor.
Second, both the school and village communities have been outstanding contributors and partners. They are committed to the hard work it will take to improve the quality of their lives. For example, there is a solid group of adults in the literacy program sponsored by the Foundation and provided in the evenings and weekends.
And third, donors have provided the Foundation with a challenge grant commitment for a dollar-for-dollar match of donations, up to $500,000.
The Foundation hopes that with all these key pieces in place, donors and supporters of SMG will respond enthusiastically and generously. This investment will build on the transformative work that has been underway in SMG and its service to the children and adults of central Uganda for over a decade now.
Teacher Maweje Bashir leads pupils in a lesson
The SMG and village community celebrating the opening of a schoolhouse built by local adults
T.H.R.I.V.E. Foundation Members and Contributors