The Chance of Lifetime

Beacon of Hope Secondary School in Soroti, Uganda, offers over 650 rural youth one of the best boarding school educations in the region. We invest in children in great need, but who have even greater potential.  The poverty in the Soroti region is extreme, affecting every facet of life. Early marriage is common, food shortages are frequent, malaria is endemic, and 80% of the children drop out of school before seventh grade.

We founded Beacon of Hope School in 2006 as a response to the need for quality education in the aftermath of Uganda’s long running civil war. Our first students were 260 former refugee children from the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps of Northern Uganda.  Many of the students were malnourished, had never used a towel, worn shoes, or slept on a mattress. Most of the students were orphans, and all were former child soldiers, abductees, or victims of rape camps. Although the last child soldiers graduated in 2014, Beacon of Hope still reaches the “least of these” through an extensive scholarship program for students from “the bush”:  rural, subsistence agriculture communities in which the average person lives on considerably less than a dollar/day in grass-thatched huts without electricity or water.

These kids don’t just deserve an education– they deserve a top-notch education. So that’s what we provide. We’re pioneering a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) program that brings hands-on, project-based learning to the rural Ugandan classroom. Twenty-eight teachers and staff make sure every student gets personal attention. One of our most popular programs is the Robotics Team, which won two gold medals at an international contest last year!

The students at Beacon of Hope have consistently scored high marks academically, and in 2020, Beacon of Hope was recognized for being in the top 20% of secondary schools across the nation of Uganda. 

The gift of hope

Today, we have 658 students at Beacon of Hope; 207 of them are on full scholarships. Students are selected without regard to tribe, gender or religious faith, except that an effort is made to maintain an approximately even ratio of boys and girls.

Our scholarships include everything: school, lodging, food, books, extracurriculars, and even toiletries. It costs about $70 a month to send a student to Beacon of Hope. Sponsorships can be made through automatic monthly donations, or a one-time gift of $3400 which supports a student’s entire secondary school career.

These kids matter. Let’s reach out in bold love together and send them to school!

Partners

We are blessed with incredible partners in this work!

The following organizations provide scholarships for underprivileged students every year:

• Kings High School Community, Seattle, WA
• Church of the Redeemer, Boston, MA
• Plymouth Congregational Church in Seattle, WA
• The Allen Family Foundation
• The Clarence and Anne Dillon Dunwalke Foundation
• Zarmada
• … and individual donors like you!