Pearl Community Empowerment Foundation (PCE Foundation) is a Ugandan national rural development and empowerment NGO (REG No MIA/NB/2012/01/2824) founded in 2011 to empower rural communities through dynamic but simple programs that directly involve and benefit community members, especially women, girls and children. We are currently operating in rural communities of the Tororo, Butaleja and recently extended our services to Jinja districts, Eastern Uganda.  

Key Information you need to know about our work

Greetings!

Before we take you through our achievements, milestones and hurdles, I would like to share with you key information about our work; 

The Pearl Community Empowerment Foundation (PCE Foundation) began operations by assisting local girls to go to school, with the long term aim of increasing the capacity of local families to support the education of their children. Since then, PCE has worked continuously with the communities through various projects that include Education, Livelihood, Agriculture, Preventive health care support and cultural exchange. Through these initiatives we have had strong support from the local communities. 

The Pearl Community Empowerment Foundation (PCEF)’s focus is on capacity building in and for rural communities, especially the education and empowerment of women, girls and children. Our organization’s emphasis is on community participation and leadership which helps community members work together, “own” the achievements facilitated by our programs, and sustain positive change. We are disability inclusive. For the past 10 years PCEF embraces community driven solutions to community challenges. This fosters the implementation of not only relevant, need based, and sustainable projects. In line with this principle, PCE Foundation has always identified community needs that are developed into fully fledged projects.

PCEF is funded primarily through individual donations, and has partnerships with organizations in the United States and in Europe that facilitate tax refundable donations to donors on PCEF’s behalf. These organizations are:

• A More Balanced World, a USA-based 501(c)(3) organization formed to assist promising, yet economically disadvantaged, students of the world in the achievement of their maximum potential, by providing them with the means to pursue education and develop a greater capacity to meet their individual goals.
• Hans-Joachim Herrmann Stiftung, a hospice and education oriented NGO in Germany which facilitates donations in Germany and gives administrative support to the local team.
• Respectief Foundation NL, which facilitates donations from the Netherlands and supports various projects.

We also receive funding from The Christian African Relief Trust charity and the Kitchen Table Charity Trust. 

Acknowledgement

You, our dear supporters, are the reason for our continuity for the past 10 years. Sometimes as the year starts, we hardly can tell what the future has for us and whether or not it will be an impactful year. The good news is, you have never disappointed us. We register tangible and life changing achievements every year. In this 10^th year of our operation we would like to give a special thank you to all of you. We appreciate all  our individual donors and child sponsors, Charity Trusts, the Advisory Board, Volunteers, dedicated staff, our beneficiaries and the supportive communities we operate in. 

On a special note,  kindly allow me to thank Karen Bentlage, a special  donor who has generously helped us in numerous major projects. The bakery – donation of the premises and a car for sales and supplies; Portland High School classroom construction;  and housing and farmlands are some of the costly projects we handled this year.  These could not have been achieved without her intervention.

We would like to acknowledge the sudden death of our long time child sponsor, Stephanie Anderson, mother to another child sponsor, Sara Malkowski Scholl. She was committed to our sponsorship program and we grieve her loss. May Her Soul Rest in Eternal Peace. 

Executive Summary

The year 2022 was quite challenging in comparison with the past years. We started this year with a BIG dream of building a multi-story classroom building for Portland High school. The good news is, by the end of the year we managed to set up the ground floor. There were several other construction projects that were accomplished as well, including dormitories, digital classroom renovations and general renovations in Portland Nursery, Primary and High schools.

Emerging projects came through such as solar lights, bedding, shoes, clothes, and food distributions for the vulnerable. There was less recruitment of new sponsor students and more support of young mothers in business.  A church was also planted at Portland schools for the students to have a place of worship rather than having to walk miles away from school to go  for prayers.     

Talking of students, only four (4) new students were added to the sponsorship program and were selected for sponsorship by A More Balanced World, making a total of 307 beneficiaries throughout the year.  We had several graduations of our beneficiaries throughout the year.

We continue to support and work with people with disabilities , this year we hired a cook with a hearing disability who is doing amazingly well at his job. Several students in Portland schools are also living with disabilities. 

Last but not least, I enrolled in a Master of Administration (MBA) program.   I appreciate having made this decision because I needed more practical knowledge in order to cross over the next decade in a more professional manner. I would like to thank Lorriane S for sponsoring me in this program. I would like to also thank Karen B, Samantha B and Robin H for their support of the scholastic materials, internet, and the daily gas.

Detailed Report

We hope you find joy reading our 2022 report. We will dive into the active programs and projects which include the following;

Portland Schools 

Portland Nursery and Primary school emerged in 2013 after the people of Amor village witnessed the  powerful impact of education on their daughters and sons who were in boarding schools in the city. After one year of their sponsored studies, they were glowing, confident, motivated and more focused. The people of the village  demanded a school for their little ones by 2023.  They  actually ended up building two small mud huts and made the use of a mango tree to start the school for their children. Then came the birth of Portland Nursery and Primary school. The school aims to develop each child as an individual; physically, academically, socially and emotionally, by providing a happy, secure, practical and stimulating environment, where each child feels valued. Portland High school came about due to increasing fees in the city schools along with unsponsored students which made everything become unaffordable. We decided to refocus our efforts from the Amor Village Community Center and Library to a high school. Portland High School aims at becoming a model Community school with a student-centered  environment, a bridge connecting students to other students, and students to teachers, staff and administrators. 

These schools have strong connections to the community and reflect its unique heritage and tradition of progress. As an organization we try our best to feed the learners well, pay the staff, meet the administrative and infrastructure costs with the support from you, our donors.  Those parents who are able contribute what they can.  

Academic performance at Portland Schools continues to stand out in the region and, for any parents who value  quality education, Portland schools get the best recommendation in the region. It is unfortunate that the school is situated in an impoverished community where the parents and guardians cannot afford to pay  school fees for their children. Most of the students in Portland schools are the children of the poorest families who would be unable to stay in school without educational support

Portland schools finished the year 2022 with 366 students combined in the Primary section and the Secondary school section.   The Nursery and Primary section had 248 students.  Only 63 of them had  sponsors through PCEF. Another 92 come from  extremely vulnerable families and could not attend school without support, so they were  directly funded  by PCEF.   The remaining 93 students’ tuition was paid by  their parents, guardians and or relatives. At the High School level, the 2022 academic year closed with 118 students, and only 38 of them had sponsors under PCEF.  Another 44 students come from extremely impoverished  families who cannot afford their education, so again PCEF covers their cost. . The remaining 36 students are sponsored by their parents, guardians and or relatives. 

Since inception, Portland schools wake up to daily new challenges.  So many young people are flocking to the school with hard and heartbreaking issues. The school and PCEF has been forced to turn away so many needy and deserving students because of severely limited resources. Those who are in the program but without sponsorship are those whose conditions are extremely hard, yet they are academically talented and are passionate to change their own lives. The sad reality is that most of these young people are desperately trying to gain an education with little interest or support from the parents and other adults around them.   Throughout the year we received support for the schools from different individual donors as well as from charity trusts. 

Early in the year we received full support for the construction of the urgently needed boys’ dormitory from individual donors.  Many thanks to Karen, Kelly S, Lorraine S, Ted and Lindsey C, Krystina K, Ellen S, Mireille B, Jessica G, Robin and Geoff H who provided funds for the entire construction work..

We received a loan from Karen B, one of our donors, for the expansion of Portland High school as there was a critical  need of classrooms for progressing students by January 2023 but we did not have any immediate source of funding . We started a three story building in February and by December we were done with the ground floor of 3 classrooms which are to be put to use by students in 2023. We appreciate you, Karen, we could not have achieved this without your intervention! 

Another construction project was the renovation of the digital classroom which we turned into a computer  laboratory for practical classes for the students. We received donations from Jonathan C and PJ for the ceiling and furniture. 

We received yet another donation for the ICT classroom equipment from The Christian African Relief Trust (who in the previous year funded bananas, chickens and cattle for Portland Primary and High School for food and income, helping it move towards becoming  a self-sustaining school.). The donation was made towards establishing solar power and computers. By the end of 2022 we had fully furnished the ICT room ready for classes in January 2023. We appreciate you Jo Cheersbrough and CART!

Running Portland schools is never easy considering the income streams. The key needs such as food, scholastic materials, and salaries are core needs, yet the sources of income are always a struggle. We received food donations worth 2000kg of posho (corn flour) and 4 bags of beans from Lindsey and Ted C  and Tammy K; we also received drugs/medicines for the school clinic that were supplied throughout the year by Pauline O. Thirty  students without shoes received shoe donations from Nat G, Samantha B, Lorraine S, Tammy K and PJ.

Karen B has given  Christmas/end of year gifts to all staff of Portland schools every year, since 2021. This year all the staff at Portland schools went home with smiles and food  hampers full enough for families for a week and over. These staff appreciate you Karen!

The RGCM project

We ended 2022 with the 10th  anniversary celebration of achievements and solidarity with our beneficiaries. Fifteen (15) young women and men graduated this year; 8 nurses, 3 midwives, and 3 University degree level students; a teacher, a social worker and a human resource manager and one certified plumber.  We celebrated these young people in December. It is always amazing how parents and guardians come along with heartfelt gifts for our graduates every December. No one is forced to bring a gift but  most people come with chickens and other smaller gifts. Some even brought goats. On this note, we would like to thank all of our supporters for crossing the 10 year mark  with us. To those who started supporting our work from inception to-date and still continue to do so, we do not take you for granted. You have helped us reach out to 451 sponsored students, most of whom are now career women and men. We have benefited over 70,000 people/ families with foodstuffs, clothing, housing, solar power, advocacy, livelihood projects and businesses, training and community outreaches in 10 years.

Farm Projects

We received funding for setting an apiary  of 30 hives from Karen B, making Beekeeping a more solid project with 96 hives to-date. This project is intended to generate income for Portland schools as well as train young people and the surrounding communities about Beekeeping. Our aim is to have 600 hives within a period of 5 years. We hope to re-invest from the current investment for sustainable growth and development. 

We did not receive much support in other farm aspects except for building on what is on the ground previously funded by Christian African Relief Trust: the banana, chicken and cattle project for food and income generation for the Portland schools.

The Bakery Income Project in Jinja

Dancing Heart K Bakery is taking shape in Buwenda as an income and skills training center. It is here  where we identify women interested in small business and give them support. We use this same space for small events of community interest. For example we held a Children’s  party that  over 100 children attended and received treats and food funded by Samantha B.

 This year we trained 27 young people in baking skills, some of whom have gotten employment after acquiring skills, while others are running their own cake businesses.  We also received a car donation for the bakery donated by Karen B and April L. A reliable probox that now helps with running the bakery errands. This car saved us the losses incurred by use of a super-custom that was an old van we purchased in 2018. It was not only consuming too much fuel but also was frequently breaking down and required frequent fixing. We eventually sold it and topped up for the probox car. We appreciate the donations from Karen and April, without which we could not have afforded to buy another car for the bakery.

A few times this year, we hired trainers who gave new skills to our bakers, which they in turn are currently using to empower the trainees. We would like to turn the bakery into a training facility due to the adequate space available. We would like to promote apprenticeships and internships while advocating and lobbying for vocational skills training programs such as Bakery and cookery skills, Salon, Computer, carpentry and decorations skills that can help young women and men who drop out of school to acquire self-support skills from our center.  

Within the bakery community Karen B helped acquire farmlands intended to produce supplies for the bakery, restaurant and the shop, all aimed at generating support that will bounce back to supporting young people in school. There are two farmlands; one has 30 beehives, bananas and cassava. The other is filled with vegetables; onions, egg plants, tomatoes, collard greens and carrots. 

On the same note, Karen B also acquired a residential home separate from the bakery environment with intention of putting  the current home next to the bakery to use with income generating activities such as  trainings, a restaurant, events management on hire among others. She paid for the purchase in 2021 and for renovations in 2022. 

Community Interventions

We undertake urgent community interventions throughout the year(s) because we are surrounded by emergencies and the need for relief support. We give relief aid to children in need, vulnerable families and communities in Tororo, Butaleja and Jinja districts. This year we reached out to over 3000 people with clothing, shoes, bedding, housing, and solar lights among others thanks to donations from Kathi S,  PJ, Samantha B, Deanna I, and Kathryn G. We are very grateful to you all! 

I would like to specifically acknowledge donations of 10 beddings (Mattresses, Bedsheets, Blankets) for 10 families from Deanna I; food and medication for an ill HIV patient by PJ;  kidney operation support for a helpless man with kidney issues by Rebecca H; and a Salon for two young women who were abandoned by the men who made them mothers, thanks to Amy, Kathryn, PJ and Samantha.

Forty two (42) solar lights were donated by PJ and these were distributed to vulnerable people in 6 villages in Kisoko/Amor (Tororo) community and 2 villages in Buwenda community(Jinja). Many thanks PJ for the continued annual solar light support to vulnerable families. A Church (Christ Foundation) was built at Portland schools with support from Krystina and Asmund (couple) and another donor who wishes to remain anonymous. Before this, students walked miles to access places of worship which wasn’t always safe.

The Future for Us

With the economic recession resulting from  the impacts of COVID-19, we cannot anticipate what to expect of 2023. We only hope and pray that you, our supporters, will continue to do your best to support our work in any way you can .  We hope not to take on major projects in 2023 without adequate support at-hand.

One sure driver in our programs and projects is our desire  to invest our time in sustainable projects in order to reduce donor dependency for our target beneficiaries including the schools and household level support. We are surrounded by so many community needs and we would like to address these needs by implementing sustainable and impactful projects. Some of our current and projected needs for the next 2 years include: 

• A fully built 3 level story classroom block for Portland High School – 10 rooms including Library and more Laboratories. The immediate need is for 3 additional classrooms for 2024. It would  be great if we could find  support for the three  classrooms within the course of 2023.   
• Ten toilet cubicles for Portland Primary school, as what they currently have is falling apart, and 6 toilet cubicles for teaching and non-teaching staff.
• Sponsors for vulnerable students on a rolling basis; we still have many students without sponsors. Please continue helping us change lives; make referrals, share with those who might be in position to impact individual lives. 
• Relief Support funds for food and treatment of extremely impoverished people in our supported communities
• Empowering vulnerable women with small businesses. It costs between $200 to $800 to establish small businesses. We target vulnerable women struggling to raise their children who have experience in business and a passion for using their skills and knowledge to become independent.
• We are also looking for more volunteers, especially online based volunteers who can help with fundraising, social media engagements, and coordinating activities. Since the world is going digital, we hope to schedule zoom calls and online-real-time interactions with you our supporters. We are looking for people who are good at these engagements to help us reach out to the online audience. 

Financial Report January to December 2021

All the above achievements have been made possible  by your donations and contributions throughout the year. Below is our financial Report:

AUDIT 2022 – JANUARY TO DECEMBER

Item	Amount
Income	881,788,069
Expenditure	881,746,959

Income	USD rate @ 3610	Euro rate @ 3680	UGX Rate @ 1
Bf as per December 31, 2021	14.18	13.91	51,180
A More Balanced World USA	115,712		417,719,057
Hans-Joachim Hermann Germany		19,415.40	71,448,672
Terra	520		1,877,200
Stichting Res Jo		2,536.50	9,334,320
Asmund Kilde		190.50	701,040
Carole Howlet		892.00	3,282,560
Jonathan		3,158.00	11,621,440
Dancing Heart K Bakery Income and Contributions			365,337,600
PCE Foundation Parent’s Contribution			415,000
TOTAL INCOME IN UGX	244,262.62	239,616.32	881,788,069

2022 EXPENDITURES	AMOUNT (UGX)
Direct Project Expenses
School fees /Primary/Secondary/University/College	275,847,415
Bakery underground water tank/Guest house renovation	94,577,535
Communication/Postage/internet/airtime	7,345,000
Transport and purchase of vehicle Probox for the bakery	43,980,000
Bakery expenses	322,334,920
Community Outreach	17,101,425
Purchase of Land Buwenda, Jinja	33,880,000
Farmland Buwenda Bee Hives	7,220,000
Public Relations/Media	895,000
Medical expenses	18,645,000
Security systems expenses	2,800,000
Consultancy Fee	950,000
General Maintenance	2,700,000
Bank Charges	5,062,664
Administrative Expenses
Wages	32,192,000
Office Expenses	2,311,000
Utilities	13,905,000
TOTAL	881,746,959

BANK BALANCES as of December 31, 2022	Amount
EURO 0.07	0.18
USD     00	0.19
B/F UGX AS @DECEMBER 31, 2022	41,110.15

Management Team

Behind the scenes are dedicated women and men pushing for impactful services provided by PCEF. We have a wide range of volunteers both online and on the ground, local and international.  We appreciate all our volunteers and staff for your dedication. 

The following people are the core volunteer management team behind its operations and success:

Thank you for taking your time to read our report.

Looking forward to your feedback, recommendations and or referrals!

Happy New year 2023!