Carson Glore Bright Future School

The ‘Carson Glore Bright Future School,’ Carson Glore Foundation’s fourth school, was constructed and opened in 2022 in Zone 8 of the Palabek Refugee Settlement in Uganda. The new school will support 1,000 children with three new classrooms, desks, five latrine blocks including private girls latrines and wash facilities for safety, and rainwater harvesting tanks.

The new classrooms will be built using eco-friendly interlocking brick technology, known as Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks (ISSB). These are a significantly more eco-friendly alternative to kiln-fired bricks as they do not have to be fired in a kiln, so they do not deplete forests or burn fossil fuels and have a much smaller carbon footprint. The blocks also use less cement and are better insulated against extreme temperatures.

Grace, 11 years old

a student at a neighboring Progressive Primary elementary school in Palabek, Uganda. Before our partners, Street Child, built the school, Grace was walking two hours to school and back every day along a route which was dangerous, particularly for children, and one which made her very tired. Her favorite subject is math, and one day she would like to be a doctor. Now she is back in school, she believes this is possible for her future.

Uganda is host to the world’s fastest growing refugee influx with 1.4 million people who have fled across the borders from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Burundi, due to ongoing conflict. Palebek Refugee Settlement, a fully independent settlement, opened in 2017 housing around 63,000 refugees in the first seven zones and receives around 6-10 new households each day. These increasing numbers have prompted the settlement to expand into two new zones – Zones 8 and 9 – where our new school will reside.

Zone 8 has a total occupancy of 2,424 refugees, 58% of whom are children of school-going age (4-18). There is currently a temporary structure funded by UNHCR but has no water point at the school and no latrines so children are reported to be using the nearby bushes. There are no materials for either teaching or learning, no blackboard, no furniture, and no principal or school management infrastructure. Without privacy for girl children, there is high absence when girls are menstruating, and there are no child protection systems supporting the school.

Education is a priority for the Government of Uganda, but years of conflict coupled with the refugee crisis has left hundreds of thousands of children out-of-school. Uganda has one of the most progressive and inclusive immigration policies in the world, and promises all refugees the chance to access education, the right to work, and land to farm. The Ugandan Government is addressing the education crisis for refugees by ensuring that the most-marginalized children have access to quality learning with English as the official language of instruction so the first piece of our intervention is to swiftly support all refugees to learn English so they can successfully engage in education in host community schools.

To ensure that girls have equitable access to education we ensure that all school buildings have private latrines and wash facilities, to avoid missing school due to menstruation, and / or to stop girls dropping out at puberty because they fear sexual violence or harassment in open or mixed bathrooms.