Donations are urgently needed now to help pay for school tuition and supplies for a small group of underprivileged children in a remote African village in Uganda, so they may continue their post-pandemic education.
Fruits of Hope, a non-profit, NGO charity based in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, is raising funds for the summer 2022 school term on behalf of eight young students.
Read More about Fruits of Hope here.
Public education is not free in Uganda. And Gangama Village, a tiny community of about 3,000 people in the Gomba District about 80 miles southwest of Kampala, is among the poorest of the poor, with scant per-capita income derived from livestock farming and subsistence agriculture.
In 2019, believing education and knowledge would help empower the local children to improve their lives now while also investing in a better future, Fruits of Hope director Abubaker Mutagubya, a religious young father dedicated to service to others, consulted with village leaders, parents, and children to determine the most promising and deserving students.
Donations from a small group of generous Fruits of Hope supporters in the U.S. and Europe helped pay tuition costs for a handful of students from the African village to attend Shalom Star School, which fortunately is within walking distance. Donors’ sponsorships also helped provide books and supplies to dozens more children in the village.
However, in 2020, school closures due to the COVID pandemic interrupted the sponsored children’s education for two years.
When Shalom Star reopened in early 2022, Fruits of Hope supporters again donated funds to help pay expenses for the year’s first two terms.
Tuition for the third term is due now to enable the young students to continue their education through the summer.
Fruits of Hope requests and welcomes donations and sponsorships through PayPal, sent to skp69@socal.rr.com, the personal account of Stephen K. Peeples, a retired journalist-producer, longtime FOH supporter, and major donor from Santa Clarita, California.
Peeples transfers all donated funds via MoneyGram (and absorbs fees) to Mr. Mutagubya. He then purchases school supplies in Kampala (less expensive than shipping supplies from the U.S.) and travels to Gangama Village to deliver them. He is often accompanied and assisted by his wife, Eunice Nyakato, and their young son, Rahman.
Mr. Mutagubya also visits the school to personally pay directly for the students’ tuition fees to ensure all donated funds go where intended.
Because Abubaker and Eunice are unpaid volunteers, and because Fruits of Hope has no other employees or overhead, all donations go directly to tuition and supplies.
Mr. Mutagubya personally thanks each Fruits of Hope donor via email. And for 100% transparency, he posts on social media the receipts from the school tuition payments and purchases of supplies, along with photos of his deliveries to the very appreciative students, so all donors can see the fruits of their support.
Mr. Mutagubya also mentors the young students and follows up with their relatives and school officials to gauge progress, and posts the students’ report cards at the end of each term.
Below are his brief profiles of each student sponsored by Fruits of Hope donors, with copies of tuition receipts and report cards.
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Name: Hope Namugenyi
Sex: Female
Age: 8 years
Class: Primary 2
School: Shalom Star School
Health: NO HEALTH PROBLEM
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Hope was born to very young parents. They don’t have a permanent home.
Her dad went insane due to drug abuse which makes him unable to look after the child. Her mom is a peasant farmer working in a chamber which makes her unable to take care of her daughter’s education.
Without education, Hope’s future may become dark, and that is why the Fruits of Hope charity family opted to support the little girl so she can study.
She joined us on July 26, 2019. Her performance in school was good as shown in the report card below, along with her school tuition receipts.
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Name: Rose Nakanwagi
Sex: Female
Age: 9 Years
Class: Primary 3
School: Shalom Star School
Health: NO HEALTH PROBLEM
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Rose is also a child who has grown up in the African village with only her mom and other children. Their mom and dad separated and he left them in a house they were renting. He has been nowhere to be found for four years.
The mom is a peasant farmer working on other peoples’ farmlands and this is where she gets what to feed to her three children.
Rose’s family life is full of untold stories that yield tears when one has taken the time to listen to them.
She and other children had no hope of education until 2018 when the Fruits of Hope charity family began to cater for her tuition so she can study. Rose is a bright child who can be of more importance in the future if we can continue to support her education.
For more on her education, read the reports and receipts below.
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Name: Ashraf Mayega
Sex: Male
Age: 6 years
School: Shalom Star School
Class: Baby class
Health: No health problems
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Ashraf joined our ministry in the year 2020 having lost hope of education as a result of broken families due to different circumstances of illnesses that robbed the lives of the parents.
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Name: Morris Lukyamuzi
Sex: Male
Age: 6 Years
Class: Top Class Kindergarten
School: Shalom Star School
Health: NO HEALTH PROBLEM
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Morris is a child of a single mother. His mom and dad had a misunderstanding and they had to divorce.
She went with her children to the African village with nothing apart from the few clothes they had. They had no home. But God helped them and got a little house that had been abandoned.
With a poor standard of living characterized by no food, water, poor medication, and zero education, they suffer from hunger and chronic diseases. Their hope of having a happy life seems to be dim.
The Fruits of Hope charity family chose to help his family by helping to educate Morris, because he may become the light that will save the rest of the members.
His performance in school is lagging and he needs extra help so he will be able to improve.
The photos below show his performance and also receipts for school tuition.
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Name: Innocent Kalungi
Sex: Male
Age: 10 years
School: Shalom Star School
Class: Primary 2
Health: No Health problem
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Innocent is a brother of Morris. Their mother is a single mom who does not earn enough to pay for education for her kids.
The Fruits of Hope charity family has been observing Innocent for two years, and his character and performance attracted us to help him as much as we can.
So Innocent joined this year in March 2022, giving him a chance for him to show his ability in studying.
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Name: Kebrine Alpha Nakibuule
Sex: Female
Age: 10 Years
Class: Primary 3
School: Shalom Star School
Health: NO HEALTH PROBLEM
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Kebrine is an orphan who lost both her mother and father to HIV. She and her two older brothers were taken in by their grandmother, who struggles to see that they have enough to eat.
None of the three children were studying after their parents died. As Fruits of Hope, we chose to help educate Kebrine, hoping that in the future she will be the one to help change the fortunes of her family.
Kebrine’s performance at school and at home is good; she has always been among the best-performing children.
Previously, Kebrine’s tuition was sponsored by a lady named Kelly K. O’Sullivan, who sadly passed on last year.
Below is one of Kebrine’s report cards and receipts from the school.
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Name: Jovan Semakula
Sex: Male
Age: 8 years
School: Shalom Star School
Class: Top Class (infant)
Health: No Health Problem
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Jovan joined the Fruits of Hope charity family in 2020. He had lost hope of education because illnesses robbed the lives of his parents.
He and his brother live with their grandmother, who is also helpless.
After she saw our work in the village, the grandmom came to me pleading to help her meet tuition bills for her two grandsons.
We couldn’t deny her plea, because our mission is to give young generations a better future, so we have both boys on our list of kids who we want to help by paying for their tuition.
Jovan’s comments from school are not that bad. The class teacher has good comments for him, saying that he is a boy who admires studying and puts in the effort to understand what he is being taught.
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Name: Juliet Namale
Sex: Female
Age: 6 Years
Class: Top Class
School: Shalom Star School
Health: NO HEALTH PROBLEM
Mr. Mutagubya’s Notes:
Juliet is a child of a single mother who has four children. They lost their father to a motor accident that left them with little assets that were stolen by other relatives.
Juliet’s mom is a peasant farmer employed to work on other people’s farms doing cultivation and this is where she gets food to feed to her children. She is unable to pay for their education.
Because of the situation at home, the Fruits of Hope charity family was touched by the agony story of the mom and we offered to help with the education of the youngest of her children.
Juliet joined us on February 9, 2019, and started to study at Shalom Star School in baby class kindergarten on the same day, with tuition raised from charity campaigns and paid in installments.
Juliet is a bright girl who performs very well in class, and if she continues to be supported, she can be a better person in the future.
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