Dear Supporters and Friends,

As we welcome you and congratulate us all upon entering the month of September, we would like to give you a brief flashback of what we have been able to achieve in the month of August through your generous support. Thank you for giving us your audience and time!

Both learners of Portland schools and Titan successfully completed their national examinations. The non-candidate classes are currently home with their families for 3 weeks school break while the candidate classes only spent 4 days with their families; they will be sitting for national examinations from October and this is why every school works so hard at such a time to equip their learners with adequate assessments and practicals.

It was in the month of August when the administrators and PTA of Portland schools decided to segment the operations of the schools in three key sectors:

• Administration – headed by the school heads with support from the PCEF Operations Manager to handle all non-financial human resource, behavior, psychological and security needs of the schools
• Welfare – headed by the school bursar with support from the PCEF Finance Manager to handle the feeding, health, remunerations and all logistical aspect of the schools
• Academics – headed by the school directors of studies with support from a PCEF Administrator to process all the assessments, tests and practicals and to evaluate the impact and outcome of the assessment efforts.

It was agreed that monthly reporting on these areas shall be submitted to the PCEF Executive Director and that reviews be made after every 40 days of implementation. We came to realize that parents and guardians and the child sponsors pay attention to these three key areas. The other purpose is so the schools can excel beyond expectations so that self-paying parents can enroll their children to the schools in order to boost the income base of the schools, hence reducing financial struggles and donor dependency.

We received a donation for medical supplies of Portland schools by Pauline Oakley (UK) who has consistently donated quarterly for the past 5 years to support the schools’ clinic. Cases of Malaria, colds and flu are the most common and are successfully managed by the schools due to her support. There are also other cases with minor and major cases that are either managed within the schools or referred for advanced medical attention. We are very grateful for this support.

Portland schools (Nursery, Primary and High) also received donations for 10 security solar lights. This came in after Portland schools raised concerns for darkness in the walkways that mostly affects the boarding students and complaints by the security guards for general safety of the schools. We received USD $1,300 from Nina Hahn (U.S) and additional £100 from The Ann and Christopher Fielden Charitable Trust (UK) for the security solar needs of Portland schools and these have already been purchased and installed. We are very grateful.

Titan Schools Jinja construction and expansion project that were to be supported by Canadian donors has been delayed for now. Indeed, the Canada Revenue Agency (Canadian fiscal authorities) requires that the land be purchased and owned in the name of the Pearl Community Empowerment Foundation (PCE Foundation), and not by a private individual, which is currently the case. Therefore, land purchase and classroom construction both at Titan and Portland cannot be implemented yet. Moreover, the PCE Foundation work permit does not list construction as part of our activities. As this permit was issued for 5 years and cannot be renewed/changed until March 2026, the construction projects will be postponed until it can be changed. Portland schools (nursery, primary and high school) sit on my family land, which was offered by my mother in 2013 for school construction. I officially purchased this land from my family in 2016 in my name and construction and registration of the schools were also done in my name, not because of greed but because of the complexities of land rights and management of land in the cultural context. Both Portland schools and Titan current school space are titled in my name. Much as it is necessary for all the schools to eventually be titled under PCE Foundation, the governing board and the beneficiary communities are not ethically, culturally and logistically ready to take charge of the schools. It is a work-in-progress. 

Following the above, Myriad Canada, the organization administering the Canadian fund, suggested that the donations already available (thanks to the support of Stephen Kearley, Marcus New and Brian Scudmore) be used for the many other activities listed in the fund webpage such as youth leadership and skill development, health, agriculture, micro-finance, and for educational support and sponsorship. The highest priority is educational support (schools meals, stationery, printer equipment, and staff training), student sponsorship, teacher salaries, skill development/vocational skills, and agriculture. This support will relieve PCE Foundation from the current struggles in providing educational support and sponsorship.

As you know, in July we had a severe financial crisis that impacted our ability to pay our school staffs’ salaries and feed the students.   We asked for an advance of USD $7,000.00 from A More Balanced World (AMBW) which was spent on salaries for July and foodstuffs, which currently serve 78 candidate students residing within the schools this holiday. It was a short term relief with a financial gap to be filled, and leaves us in a challenging situation. We are requesting financial help to repay  AMBW and to allow us to settle August salary arrears as we wait for the Canadian money. We are not sure of when it will be wired to our bank. Apparently we are in a financial crisis which includes non-Portland and college level students in need of tuition.

More news from the bakery, agriculture and cultural exchange will come through in our September newsletter. We appreciate your contributions and encouragement. We wish you a fruitful month of September.