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Grace
Sirimula Community School
Eva and Grace’s school sits on the top of the hill in a rural area of Uganda where many refugees from Rwanda were resettled. There are no government sponsored schools and very little development at all: a nearby village practices cannibalism. Four hundred children attend Sirimula Community School. Most if not all of their parents are subsistence farmers. Eva and Grace charge 10,000 Ugandan shillings each trimester (about $3.50) but only half of the students are able to pay. Like our other directors, these women never turn away a child in need. The small amount they receive from the paying student allows them to purchase chalk, books for the teachers and lunch for all 400 children.
Eva with the children
Grace's home, currently used as classrooms
Grace with the children she fosters
Grace and Eva's Story
Eva’s husband is a pastor of the 7th Day Adventist Church. He was transferred from the capital city to a rural village called Sirimula in the early 2000s. Eva soon realized that none of the children in the community attended school. The government never even built a primary school within walking distance. Eva is the sister of Segawa, one of our directors in Uganda, and with his help, she was able to purchase land on a nearby hill and constructed a temporary building in 2004.
Grace began teaching at Sirimula in 2007 and began running the daily operations of the school when Eva’s husband was transferred back to the capital. Though she no longer lives in the village, Eva’s heart is in Sirimula.
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Grace now cares for fifteen children, ages five through 16, in a rented, two-room home far from the school. She and Eva raised enough money to build a home for this makeshift familyl, but realized that classrooms were more essential at this time.
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Grace and Eva love these children and all the students of their school as if they were their own. The two hope that all their children grow up to become teachers and doctors who escape the cycle of poverty.