Building a brighter future for His Grace school

“When the winds picked up, we had to pray that the classrooms would stay standing. During the rainy seasons classes would have to stop, the school would be too muddy. In the dry season, the classrooms would be caked in dust. In the times they could attend school, kids would often return home dirty, and we’d have to face angry parents.” Teacher from His Grace School. 

 For many of us, these are not things we associate with school.  Most parents enjoy a peace of mind knowing their child’s school is a stable structure offering shelter and a conducive learning environment. If your child comes home dirty, it’s usually from playing with friends after school – not sitting in class during a lesson.

This was not the case for His Grace school, a school located in Central Uganda and built from random bits of timber and corrugated iron. That was until it received a total renovation. The community felt blessed before to at least have a school—today they consider their new school a miracle. 

“When you look at the first classrooms, we were happy but when we received help to build our new structure, it was a dream come true. Before, when it started to rain I had to tell children to run out of timber classes to the only two rooms of bricks we had. Our new structure was a miracle and a sign saying God has remembered us.” Teacher from His Grace School. 

Education plays an essential role in ending poverty. According to the World Bank’s most recent estimates, the pandemic led to 97 million more people being in poverty in 2020. 

Having access to education is a huge and positive step, and while the world has made encouraging progress to provide accessible education—it’s not always enough. Children must have their basic needs met in order for them to receive quality education. This includes not going hungry, which is why Binance Charity’s launched its flagship project, Lunch For Children, which provides nutritious meals for kids, helping them stay in school and learn without struggling from hunger. Around 66 million primary school-age children around the world are attending classes without enough food, with 23 million children in Africa alone. 

While hunger plays a crucial role in quality education, a safe learning environment is just as important. 

After learning about His Grace School and it’s inspiring children and teachers, Binance and its employees raised $150K USD to transform the building from just a few ‘shack classrooms into a safe and stable school. It now has nine classrooms, an office, store one, a main hall, a girls dormitory and a room left ready for computers.

His Grace School is now experiencing waves of interested parents, from less privileged backgrounds to richer families alike, opening more opportunities and driving up the community’s socioeconomic balance.

His Grace is now among the best performing schools within the Nansana Municipality, with its dedicated teachers and a newly-built infrastructure. The renovation has led to higher wages for the teachers, improved sanitation for the children and a newfound respect among the community. But most importantly, the students feel pride and joy when they attend class.  

Since the school’s renovation in 2020, the world has gone through an unprecedented global pandemic. As some countries look to rebuild, we hope His Grace offers their students a stronger start to a brighter future. Looking ahead, the school hopes to secure computers and provide their students a necessary foundation for the digital future.