Children Playing Outside the School
Providing children with education is giving them a hand up out of their current situation, enabling them to have a brighter future and a fuller life. As John F Kennedy once said ‘The progress of a nation can be no swifter than its progress in Education.’
Since Life Bridging Works was established in 2008 we have been involved with Kuleu Lights Primary school in Kapoeta South Sudan, that had just been set up by Salt and Light Outreach Ministries in 2007. Back then the school had 4 classes from Nursery 1 to Primary 2 meeting in a temporary structure and we were involved in helping the school finance itself through sponsoring 10 children to receive education. In 2011 we helped the school establish its first block of permanent classrooms and dig a bore hole complete with a water pump to supply the school with fresh water. In addition some funds were sent to help provide some repair work to the school that was caused by a freak tornado in Kapoeta!
Over the next 4 years (2011-2015) we helped establish the rest of the school with a further 6 classrooms to the 5 already built, plus offices space, storage rooms and a staff room. This meant that the school was now a fully functioning primary school that had become well respected and seen as a beacon of hope in the community as it was developed and kept running despite the young nation sliding into chaos due to the civil war that erupted in Dec 2013.
In 2015 UK charity Care and Relief for the Young (CRY) agreed to help us sponsor a further 20 children at Kuleu Lights academy and have continued to help us do this to this present day. The school and Salt and Light Outreach Ministries both acknowledge that the only reason the Kuleu Lights School has been able to stay open during the civil unrest and whilst the country experienced hyper-inflation and financial insecurity is because of the sponsorship programme.
The current peace agreement since 2020 seems to have held, however the COVID 19 pandemic brought new challenges to the school, causing temporary closures. Through our help the management of the school have done their best to continue to provide food for school pupils. Some of the older pupils have also been engaged in voluntary work to help the community in this difficult time. Thus whilst the present situation is challenging and far from ideal, the school is well placed to continue to bring hope and quality education into the foreseeable future.
Life Bridging Works has been involved in the development of Fountain Primary School. This primary school is based in Northern Uganda in the city of Lira. Set up in 2005, the school’s alumni have won national education prizes and in 2010 it was rated the 2nd best performing school in Northern Uganda. The school is supported by Victory Outreach Ministries, a network of churches across Uganda which is based in Lira. In 2020 we were blessed to take a team to Fountain primary to do some building work and to see the children.
In 2012 we helped build Blessed Hope Nursery and Primary School in Alebtong North Uganda. The construction on this school is now complete and the school is up and running. Presently the school has nine years of education from Nursery 1 to Primary Year 6 meeting in the permanent structures on site. We have been very blessed over the past 3 years to send teams over to run children’s clubs, bicycle maintenance classes, and help with the building of dormitories and classrooms.
The team from 2020 stood outside one of the newly completed dormitories. These rooms will house young people who would normally have to travel long distances to gain an education. These buildings mean that they can remain on site during the terms.
When we are on our trips we also make sure that we spend a good amount of time with the children from Blessed Hope; running activities, sports and teaching them about how Jesus loves them dearly.
If you are looking to make a lasting difference then invest in the future by investing in education, please give generously today referencing gifts for “Sponsorship Programme (and then BHS or KL).” Alternatively feel free to champion this and raise funds for the school. If you would like to raise funds for either school please email lifebridgingworks@gmail.com with your intentions, then download the proposal and sponsorship form below.