WELCOME

We founded Project Shelter Wakadogo as a small student club at McGill University in Canada and the University of Warwick in England. It has since grown and evolved into an internationally recognised charitable organisation. We call it Project Shelter Wakadogo, which means “for the little ones” in Swahili.

The war in northern Uganda has been Africa’s longest running conflict. And after 23 years of brutal conflict, the region has made encouraging steps towards lasting peace. However, as a result of this conflict, 77 percent of rural schools in the Gulu District of the region are non-functioning, leaving more than 250,000 children with no education.

2 million Acholi people who had been sent to displacement camps for refuge from the rebel army are now trying to go home. They want to rebuild their lives. They want to find their old land and old homes and they want to send their children back to school.

Now is the time to help the Acholi people rebuild civil society.

On June 5th, 2009, after four years of fundraising (we raised approximately $100,000) and one year of construction, Project Shelter Wakadogo finally opened its nursery school doors to the heart-warming smiles of 80 children between the ages of 3 and 6 years old. We are the first to build a school of any kind in this village.

For the first time, dressed in colourful uniforms, these children can take pride in themselves and their community, learning and playing together. Every child that comes to school has a positive, creative, educational and fun day. The walls are covered with the ABC’s and there are toys and books in every corner. Local educators have trained the teachers to the highest standards. Lessons are taught in Luo, the language of northern Uganda, as well as in English in order to prepare the kids for a time when they will need to speak both languages fluently.

The children have been learning how to read and write, do arts and crafts, play with instruments, paint, sing, brush their teeth and wash their hands with clean drinking water as well as play football and basketball every day.

Young children are at the most impressionable stage of their life. The school focuses on learning through play in order to inspire creativity and invoke curiosity while building confidence. These skills are crucial for future generations to possess in order to change their destinies, make a difference in their country and promote peace and understanding.

None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the generous contributions from our donors and the time given to us by our volunteers. Continued support will allow us to expand our school to enrol a further 80 children in two more classrooms that are currently not being used due to funding constraints. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.