Beauty and poverty, opportunities and challenges, dreams and needs…Uganda. It is for her children that we work to build a school…and thus to Build Hope in Kids.

Greetings from Uganda, from St. Patrick school and from me.

As the school year slowly winds down allow me to express my sincere gratitude to you yet again for your support. We have had a wonderful year and on December 3, our students will be going home. The end of year is always an exciting time when we look back and count God’s blessings. Our children have grown physically, academically, morally and spiritually. We are grateful to the strong team of staff and faculty behind this success. We are happy to report that this term we also started teaching sewing classes and it is interesting that both boys and girls are excited about this opportunity.

The tentative date for opening the 2026 school year is January 26, and the end of the first term is May 1.

As much as all went well in general, we had serious challenges with power outages this term. The cause was that the transformers serving our area were struck by lightning. If it were not for the Jubaili genset we would have been in trouble.

Our seventy-five P7 graduates concluded their Primary Leaving Exams (PLEs) well on the 3rd and 4th of November. We also had four of our sponsored alumni doing the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) National exams. UCE is the national assessment for the first four years (out of six years) for secondary education. We are hopeful for good performances in their PLE and UCE exams respectively.

It is our practice to meet with the alumni of our sponsored students in December of each year. We are looking forward to hosting them during the upcoming December holidays and hearing their stories from their respective Secondary schools. As we end another great year allow me to thank you for the tremendous support you have offered us. Without your generosity and love for our school and students, it would be extremely hard to move on. May God bless you all.

I wish you God’s choice blessings as you end the year and wish you a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

What do you get when you mix 2 teachers, 50 treadle sewing machines, and a whole bunch of kids?

The Sewing Classes at our Uganda school, of course! At St. Patrick Nursery & Primary School in Uganda, the sewing classes are for ALL the students in P6. They’re held on Saturdays. Two classrooms each have 25 treadle machines. Yes, TREADLE - - like your great-grandmother used - - no electricity needed! The machines and table were purchased thanks to grants from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) in Lacrosse, WI.

While the classes cut into students’ “free time” on the weekend, they’ll also provide knowledge & skills for the future. Tailors are in high demand in Uganda; folks can’t just drive to a local clothing store like we do here in the U.S. Ask Board president John Grillot about it - - he purchased custom-tailored shirts while on mission trips to Uganda - - quality workmanship with a quick turnaround.

Also, plans are for the Pad Project to eventually transition to the girls at the school. It has been the work of volunteers who meet monthly at St. Monica’s church hall in East Peoria, cutting fabrics and sewing them into reusable sanitary pads for the girls/women at the school. Perhaps in the future the sewing classes in Uganda can not only provide pads for the school residents but also provide (or sell?) them to others.

Greetings and love from me from our school and my new Parish. Allow me update you as follows regarding the goings on about me and the school.

I have been moved to a new Parish (still as Pastor). The new Parish is called Holy Family Parish just 20 minutes drive from the diocesan headquarters as compared to my former parish 2 hours away. I served 7.5 years at my former parish and am now ready for the new assignment and the opportunities that come with it. However, despite the move, be informed that I will continue my engagement with the school and Board as before.

Regarding the school update, we successfully ended term 2, and term 3 will begin on September 13.

The P7 students had a study trip on August 21st to Queen Elizabeth National Park. They do this trip each year mainly to physically visit places and features they will have studied theoretically and want to have a physical experience. Right now while others are on holiday, the same P7 students are having holiday tutoring to enable them focus on the final national assessment (Primary Leaving Examinations) preparations that will be done some time in November. Pray for them please.

As part of expanding our curriculum we are going to now have sewing classes in third term. We thank our community of supporters who enabled us to secure 50 sewing machines for this purpose.

We thank God for the achievements we have attained which would otherwise be impossible without your support. Thank you for changing the lives of the poor children. You remain dear to our hearts and the children always pray for you.

Back of the new bus with an aerial view of BHIK-U campus

Building Hope in Kids - Uganda

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