We have had the vision for several years of a local secondary school for the children of the 8 neighbouring primary schools in western Uganda where Charlenes Project has been working. The children had no hope of local secondary education and children were not completing primary school.

During the pandemic the plans were made and the secondary school build started in December 2021. When I was out in Uganda recently and visited Charlene Secondary School you could tangibly feel the excitement and the amazing hope it is bringing to this rural Ugandan community.

We were blown away by the quality of the finish at the school, the laboratories had been connected to gas and running water, WIFI has been put in and is available around the school (this is very unusual in Uganda), and the compound was very clean and safe for the students. The Dining Hall was still being built when we were there, and some buildings will be completed in the second phase of the building project. It is exciting to imagine what it will all look like when it is all finished.

One of the parts that was built in the beginning was the girls dormitory. This is because for girls safety in school is paramount and boarding allows girls to be close to school and not have far to travel, protecting them. During COVID, because many girls were out of school, rates of child marriages and girls becoming pregnant, often not by choice, increased. Therefore, it is so important to provide girls with an opportunity to stay in education. And thus, girls boarding was one of the first buildings to be on site.

Meeting with the teachers and the pupils was very emotional as we saw the vision of providing secondary education to this rural community come to life. But all of this has only been possible through the support of so many friends of Charlenes Project who are continuing to fundraise to finish the school and help develop quality secondary education in this community.

Thank you for your support and for your help in creating better futures for these children in Uganda.