The letter exchange with Nukumba Christian School in Entebbe, Uganda began back in the 2012-2013 school year.
I started it as a way to incorporate more writing into my social studies classroom.
We were actually writing to schools in nine different countries that year. This school was the only one that consistently wrote back. They’re the only one my students continue to write to.
In December, 2012 my students wrote letters to their ePals about their family’s holiday traditions, holiday foods, what they wanted for Christmas, and what they planned to do during their break. We received letters back around December 20th, right before we went on our break. One letter broke my heart. I couldn’t believe how simple and selfless this child was. He expressed that he didn’t want any presents because he knew his mum couldn’t afford them, yet here my student wrote all about the video games he wanted. I shared the letter with my principal, and she said we could send them something, like books or school supplies, and that I should ask them what they needed. I received a reply from Ms. Faith that any gifts we send would be most precious to them. The plan was to take care of that in January.
Well, on Christmas Eve I found out that the school’s one and only restroom for 650 students was washed out in a flood when Ms. Faith wrote me a letter wishing me a Merry Christmas. When we returned to school in January, I shared that information with my classes and showed them the pictures. I wanted to use it as a lead in to our studies on parts of the world that are less fortunate than us. I also expected them to help decide what we should send the school as a gift. I asked them to brainstorm and write their ideas on what we could send and do. One of my students said that we needed to build them a new bathroom. I asked how were we supposed to do that when we live in Texas and they’re in Africa. The boy, Jeffrey, said that I needed to contact the school and ask for the contractor’s invoice that broke down the total cost of each step of the build. So I did. The total on that invoice became our goal. We spent the next 4 months fundraising and gathering school and hygiene supplies. My students made posters and flyers, they worked at school garage sales, did a terrible job washing cars in the Texas heat, and put on a Walk-a-Thon during the school day. We also sold free-dress bracelet, and students were able to purchase raffle tickets that gave them the chance to pie me and our three principals in the face. Our goal was their cost for one new restroom and we tripled that thanks to a large donation from the NJHS organization at Harby Jr. High. Two new restrooms were built in August 2013 and 18 boxes of school and hygiene supplies were shipped in May 2013.
Since then, Harby students and staff have helped fund school fees for 35 students for an entire year in 2015, purchased land and supplies for a large garden for the school’s meals in 2016, collected and shipped school supplies in 2017, and paid for the construction of a new borehole and water pump in 2018.
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