Kampala Mercy Junior School

“Humble Beginnings”

Dr. Gilbert Birungi and I became acquainted while working together on a medical mission in a remote village in Uganda, Africa in 2011. In May 2012, we began corresponding via email and after several months of correspondence, we felt God was calling us to begin working together as a team. It has truly been an adventurous ride!!! We are thankful to the Lord for what He has accomplished through us.

“It was in the early part of February 2013 that in one week 5 children showed up wanting to go to school, even though we did not have an ‘official school’ yet at that point. The following week 5 more children came and the week after, 10 more children came. We found that God did not need our help to start the school! By sending the children, He started it all by Himself!”

When the Lord provided the finances, we did “officially” open Mercy Junior School with 20 students in a city slum village called Katanga in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. This area records the highest criminal cases in the whole country. Many children who grow up in this area end up as "street children” because of child neglect, child abuse, and many other unfavorable circumstances. Without an education, these needy children do not have a chance in life! We want to help them see life through a different set of lenses and help change their destiny!

As the school has grown, Mercy Junior has added a PTA Club, which takes an active role in acting as a liaison between the school and parents, helps with activities, and helps bring in paying students to help offset the cost of taking in poor “at risk” children, who are not able to get an education without financial assistance. Many times parents will give whatever little money they have or will give the school a bag of rice and other food staples as a substitute for cash payment. The children are provided porridge for breakfast and a hot lunch.

Boarding Section

In April 2018, the leadership of Mercy Junior School (MJS) presented a proposal to FOLA requesting a grant to open a boarding section in MJS. which allows students to live at school and go home during school breaks or for the holidays. This section helps bring in more paying students and helps reduce the cost of transporting children back and forth to school each day. The boarding section currently has 400 students.

The beginnings of Mercy High School

In Uganda, we have seen a great disconnect in their education system. The government believe in education, but unlike our programs here in the USA, whereby, any child can get an education for practically free, that is not the case in Uganda. 

The cost per student there is about $300 per school year. When a parent only makes $365 per year in salary, most children’s education evidently falls through the cracks! This is why we strive to foster change! When a child graduates from Grade 7, their education takes on a whole different meaning! A child has to a pass a “national testing exam” to see IF they “qualify” to go to a secondary school, which costs $650 per school year. The problem is IF the child passes the national testing, most Ugandan’s who cannot already even afford the $300 school fee, surely cannot handle the $650 fee, as most families are not financially stable enough to continue their kid’s education. So now the problem becomes that at age 13, no child is mature enough to have any skill set to get a job or know what to do with the rest of their lives. Most kids’ only option then is to literally “dig ditches or get married and have babies!” 

Dr. Gilbert and I have discussed this issue many times over in my years of working there!! At the beginning of this school year, Dr. Gilbert and his team, felt they needed to step out in faith and begin a secondary school, which would help educate any child who is really dedicated and wanted to continue their studies, without much cost. They began with 2 grade levels, Senior 1 (8th grade) and Senior 2 (freshman). They are taking courses which includes basic classes such as reading, math, English, science, history, geography, vocational training, and computer lab. 

Below: Mercy High School students