As many of you know, the majority of USAID funding has been paused or canceled in recent weeks. The abrupt changes to the development funding landscape have far reaching affects for Sister Schools specifically, and for the broader Ugandan community with which we partner.
From our staff in Uganda we have received devastating reports. The USAID budget for Uganda was approximately $950 million, and included numerous life-saving programs including HIV treatment, vaccinations, and food-aid. Approximately 1.4 million Ugandans living with HIV rely on antiretroviral therapy to survive; officials at Makerere University in Kampala estimate that USAID funding covered about 20% of those treatments. Unfortunately, it is unlikely the Ugandan government will be able to absorb those costs, and without access to those treatments, people will die. USAID also funded thousands of healthcare positions, which have been terminated, to the detriment of both the workers and those in their care.
Educational projects like our own have also been terminated, and literacy efforts, scholarships and more are no longer in effect. These programs are all vital for setting Ugandan youth on pathways to success: ending these interventions will lead to long-term adverse outcomes including poverty, unrest and instability.
Because of this bleak outlook, we are excited and grateful to share how Sister Schools and our community have responded.
Our USAID grant previously covered many of the costs associated with shipping our donated school supplies from Seattle to Uganda. We shared earlier that our grant was included in the initial 90-day funding freeze announced in January. A few weeks ago, we received news that our contract has been permanently terminated.
Thankfully, our generous and caring community stepped up to help fill the gap!
Perhaps the most touching response was the way our Seattle kids responded to the USAID funding gap. We had children of our Board members stepping up to give their own money, children who already donated supplies last fall contributing, and so many more! One mom shared this sweet note about why her family was supporting Sister Schools at this time:
“My sixth grader was really impacted when you spoke to the students at Salmon Bay K-8. She immediately came home and started gathering books to donate. When I told my kids that Sister Schools was impacted by the USAID funding freeze and wouldn’t be able to deliver the donations, they both asked if they could donate money. So, our family’s donation actually came from the kids’ own pockets as well.”
That caring and compassion is exactly what we hope to instill in all our youth, and exactly what we believe the world needs in the global leaders of tomorrow. Together we are building a kinder, more connected world where children on both sides of the globe can thrive.