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

Father Julius had hoped and planned to visit the U.S. mid-August through September, 2026. His itinerary was filling up fast - - parish missions, visiting with old friends, a Board of Directors meeting, and playing in BHIK-U’s 9 th Annual Golf Outing. What a busy, blessed six weeks!! But Ebola brought an end to his plans. It’s a terribly contagious serious viral disease that has already killed over 2,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Western Uganda shares a border with the DRC. The Ugandan government closed that border, but not before over a dozen Ugandans who had traveled to the DRC became ill. As of this article, Uganda has had no new cases for 42 days – meaning Ebola is not active in Uganda! But out of caution, the U.S. Embassy in Uganda had already cancelled all visa application interviews until May, 2027. So we will have to wait another year to see Father’s smiling face here. We pray for all those affected by this Ebola outbreak, and offer prayers of thanksgiving that Fr. Julius and everyone at the school are well and thriving!

BHIK-U will have a booth at the Gems of the Prairie Annual Quilt Show on August 22-23, 2026. If you haven’t been to one of the Gems’ quilt shows, you don’t know what you’ve missed! The raffle quilt “Arctic Star” (shown above) will be on display - - be sure to buy a ticket or two (or ten!). There’s SO MUCH to enjoy at the show: a Quilts of Valor presentation each day at noon, the Gift Shoppe, demonstrations, “bed turnings”, vendor booths, and – of course – many, many quilts on display, waiting for your vote for the best. BHIK-U Board VP Joan Krogman will be at our booth; say “Hello!”!

Find out more information and times for the Gems of the Prairie Quilt Show!

Greetings from St. Patrick School and from Uganda.

Our first term that started on Feb 10th ended successfully on April 30th, 2026. The second term will be from May 25 to August 21, with Parents’ Visitation Day on July 4. Please pray that all goes well with my USA visa so I can visit for six weeks starting August 19th. I look forward to seeing many of you and participating in various BHIKU-related events.

Allow me to update you that we have a new head teacher. Her name is Ms. Winnie Tokamanya. She has worked as our Deputy head teacher for 4 years. She replaced Mr. Maxmas Birungi who worked for us for 7 years, who decided to leave at the end of March. The transition has been smooth; all workers and students love the new head teacher.

I am gratified and amazed when I look back on our project. In 2015, while attending graduate school at Illinois State University, I was inspired to start a school in Uganda with the mission to break the cycle of generational poverty. I recognized that education is key to breaking out of the cycle of poverty into which many children are born. During 2016 I started fundraising, acquired 6 acres of land, and engaged others to assist in the project.

By December 2017, a site design was completed, initial funds were raised, I graduated with a PhD in Education, and I returned to Uganda to a “nothing but dirt” parcel of land. Since then, with the help of many supporters, we have built out the school campus with a total of 12 major buildings and sports fields and added several more acres of land. Our enrollment has grown to the current enrollment of 1,076 students, including 726 boarding students.

Our primary school graduates continue to have excellent results on national exams. Last year (2025) nearly all of our P7 graduates were in the top 10% nationwide. These results placed us #1 of all schools in both the Isingiro and greater Mbarara Districts (totaling about 2,000 schools) and #30 of over 17,000 primary schools in the country.

We expanded our student sponsorship program in both numbers and scope. Knowing that a primary school education by itself is insufficient to achieve our mission, we have continued to sponsor “our kids” to go on to high school. We now sponsor a total of 274 students from poorest-of-the-poor families with the opportunity for a top-notch education. The students have demonstrated their commitment through hard work and superior results. Some of our alumni are now attending very powerful high schools in the country.

Thank you all who support this great cause, a dream that has become a reality. I assure you of our continued prayers.

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

Building Hope in Kids - Uganda

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Plans Gone Awry

A Truly Amazing Venue for Our Quilts

BHIK Newsletter - June 2026