Who are you trying to help? What issue are you trying to address?

On behalf my non-profit, I am trying to raise US$19,000 to build a small school in February 2014 for two villages that share one school that is comprised of three classrooms (1 under a tree, 1 a chalkboard tacked to the side of their mud and stick parish chapel/outstation, and a third is a mud and stick room). I would like to build seven brick classrooms, a latrine, and a water collection system for safe drinking water (another group of donors has offered to fund the water collection system).

What is your project and how will it help?

My name is Nicholas Smith and I am the founder of a rural microfinance program based in Buseesa, Kibaale District, Uganda called the Buseesa Community Development Centre (BCDC- www.bcdcmicrocredit.org; registered non-profit EIN 36-4738427). The BCDC presently serves approximately 500 borrowers in 15 villages. We work exclusively in remote villages, where about 90 percent of our borrowers are farmers that live off about US$1.25 per day. I also bring in nurses to conduct rural health clinics, and build latrines and water tanks in the community. The BCDC staff and the parents of the school children will voluntarily supply the labor, that way all US$19,000 go directly towards bricks, cement, iron sheets, and desks.

How can other people partner with you on your project?

Other people can partner with the Buseesa Community Development Centre (BCDC), by providing funding for the project, volunteering their time to help construct the school, and to help the school/BCDC with strategic planning.

Please detail the resources that you need.

I need to raise US$19,000 to build seven brick classrooms with cement floors, iron roofing, desks, and to build a latrine. A water collection system for safe drinking water is also to be part of the project (another group of donors have offered to fund the water collection system). Labor will be provided on a voluntary basis by the BCDC staff, a brick mason, and parents of local school children.