The Children of Rushaga Community School
A Plea for Hope
The next generation and their dreams for tomorrow
The children of Rushaga Community School show up every day with discipline, curiosity, and hope, despite learning in conditions no child should endure. Their story is not defined by what is missing, but by their determination to learn, to dream, and to build a different future when given the chance.
When I arrived in Rushaga, one of the 16 villages within Rubuguri Town Council at the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, my suitcases were filled with sports equipment: baseballs, gloves, and gear generously donated by my caring community at home.
These children carry very little, yet they hold big dreams. Most of these items had been saved from landfills; here in this village, they became treasures. For many of the children, every piece was a first. They had never seen a baseball before, let alone held one.
Happy Bruno had asked me to bring sports equipment with a straightforward goal: to introduce sports to the children of Rushaga Community School. In a place where resources are scarce, moments of play become moments of possibility. When the suitcase was opened, their excitement was immediate. Laughter, curiosity, wide eyes. This was more than play; it was a possibility!
While they will need a coach to train their teachers so the games can be shared and sustained, the spark has already been lit.
Walking through Rushaga Community School, I was struck by the gap between what children deserve and what they are given, and it broke my heart. This school exists because the community refused to accept that poverty, distance, or displacement should decide a child’s future.
Today, 250 students attend the school. Eighty of them are Batwa children, members of an Indigenous community that was displaced from their ancestral forest home and has long been marginalized. All Batwa children attend school for free because education is one of the few tools left to restore dignity and opportunity.
Other students can attend thanks to sponsorships and the generosity of residents like Happy Bruno and Silver, as well as supporters in the United States. This is not a system built on abundance, but on shared responsibility.
Without this collective support, many of these children would have no access to education.
When Mr. Godfried, the principal, showed me around, our first stop was the classroom. Small rooms with dark concrete walls. Lessons are taped to scraps of paper. The floors are part concrete, part sand, sometimes hiding broken glass that cuts their feet. Learning happens anyway. This is where they learn. This is where they spend their days.
Half of the students live at the school because their homes are too far to reach on foot. Boarding is not a choice. It is the only way they can receive an education. They leave their home and families behind in pursuit of learning. Their rooms are crowded and sparse, filled with children who trade ease for opportunity.
A small computer lab with six donated laptops offers a narrow window to the broader world. Their curiosity extends beyond what the technology allows. The children take turns, eager to learn.
Meals consist of rice, a few pieces of beans, gravy, and cabbage. It keeps them going, but it is not enough for growing bodies or growing minds. Still, they return to class.
And yet, they show up.
They walk barefoot or in worn shoes. They stand on floors that hurt their feet. They learn. They ask questions. They smile. They dream of becoming doctors, teachers, engineers, and chefs—not because life has been easy, but because hope has not been taken from them.
They are not asking for luxury. They are asking for a fair chance.
The children of Rushaga Community School are resilient, curious, and full of potential. But potential needs protection. It needs safe classrooms, nourishment, tools, and care.
This is not a call for pity. It is an invitation to partnership.
Not charity, but belief.
These children are ready to rise!
They need someone to meet them halfway.
We’re Building That Halfway
Right now, we’re working alongside the Rushaga Community to rebuild their school, not just the walls, but the foundation for these children’s futures. New classrooms with proper roofs. Desks where students can actually write. A kitchen to provide meals. Safe latrines. The essentials that transform potential into possibility.
This isn’t a distant dream. We need partners to meet them there, to provide the resources that turn sweat equity into standing structures.
Every contribution moves a child from learning in the rain to learning in safety. From hunger that steals focus to meals that fuel minds. From wondering if education is meant for them to knowing it absolutely is.
When you visit with us, you’ll meet them. You’ll see their faces, hear their voices, and feel why this matters. But they need you now!
Through the Rushaga Initiative, we are raising $40,000 to rebuild Rushaga Community School—creating safe classrooms, secure learning spaces, and an environment where education can truly take root.