Craig Leiser, a Rotarian from Stillwater Sunrise, past District Governor 2010-11, and currently on the District International Service team, presented a check to Rick Pratt (International Team Lead) and our club and our Sylvia’s Children Grant.
Sylvia’s Children, Inc. – Funding for orphans attending high school and college in Mbiriizi, Uganda, Africa
Who will care for these children?
You’re an orphan… you live in the village of Mbiriizi, Uganda, Africa… your parents have died. Who will take care of you? Without a designated guardian or a government safety net, no one!
With Sylvia’s Children, the orphans attending the Mbiriizi Advanced Primary School, have a safety net. They are going on to high school and college and are being trained as teachers, nurses, information technologists, plumbers, electricians, caterers, and beauticians.
The Rotary Club of North St. Paul Maplewood Oakdale is supporting Sylvia’s Children through a drive to raise funds to ensure that the tuition for these children is paid and they get a better life.
This has been an on-going effort by Sylvia’s Children to provide education to the orphan children in the village of Mbiriizi, Uganda, Africa at the Mbiriizi Advanced Primary School. Now in its 16th year, the impact so far has been to see 125 orphans in high school, another 50 in college, and 28 who have now graduated as nurses, teachers, plumbers, electricians, etc. They are no longer dependent but, rather, independent and can make a positive contribution to their community. Currently, there are 1,000+ children in primary school with 25% of them orphans. The commitment of the organization is to ensure that the orphans can continue their education through high school and college. Sylvia Allen, founder, and executive, the director is fiscally responsible for managing all donations. Currently, 100% of the revenue generated goes directly to the school for distribution to the various educational institutions in which the students are enrolled. And, how many people are impacted? Teachers average 60-80 students per class; nurses see 25-100 patients a day; beauty operators see 10 people a day …and they go beyond their village. I would say thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, and the numbers will continue to grow as the students continue to graduate!
For more information or to donate to Sylvia’s Children, visit https://nstpmo.org/Sylvia
Sylvia joined our club in June 2017 and immediately committed to the international team.
She has been an amazing asset to our club with her experience in public relations and being the founder of Sylvia’s Children, a charity devoted to helping more than 1,000 students and orphans, ages 3 to 14, at the Mbiriizi Primary School in Masaka, Uganda. Since that first trip in 2003, the Holmdel, NJ resident has raised more than $800,000 for the school.
