We are very excited to announced the amazing projects that were supported through the 2024 Uganda Marathon event. Each one is locally organized and community-owned. Participants helped these people directly – and then met them in person to see the legacy that they’d created!
The Uganda Marathon, through CHEDRA (the Community Health Empowerment Development and Relief Agency), is a non-profit challenge on the Equator. Designed in partnership with local communities, the heroes that take part every year raise vital funds to support sustainable and impactful projects across Uganda.
To make your run even more special, we’d like to invite you to make a massive difference, by fundraising or donating to our selected projects for 2024. You can help empower Ugandans to direct their own futures! We’ve partnered with GivenGain, a secure online platform, to make it easy and fun for you to give back. Simply follow these steps:
1. Click on Fundraise & Donate below to visit the official fundraising for charity event page
2. On the event page, choose which project you’d like to support
3. Click on Start fundraising to set up your fundraising page
4. Complete the setup process (FAQs)
5. Make your page live and share it with the world for donations!
*Have a question? Get in touch at fundraising@givengain.com. Download the “How to fundraise” PDF for your convenience.
Choose any of these that speaks more to your heart by raising funds or donating!
Hannah Junior School: Help feed 400 primary school children with $ 6
Help feed 450 needy primary school children for $ 6 through establishing a school food farm
While, primary school education is free in Uganda, however the reality is that there is not nearly enough funding to support this. Recent figures suggest that government spending only covers about 1% of the average school fee’s per student, which means that the schools are forced to set school fees or the community must pick up the slack. This is particularly terrible in rural areas where there are heartbreaking high poverty levels and school drop outs at primary level. Hanah Junior School is located in a poverty stricken suburb of Nyendo and it offers heavily subsidized fees, providing quality education to disadvantaged children. With 450 children, the school lacks a stable source of food (Maize, Beans, Sweet Potatoes and Cassava) for kids. Both food and beans are bought throughout the year at very inflationary prices. During scarcity, poor quality food is purchased at very higher prices. Consumption of such food has caused several health problems in the school such as low attention and participation in class, physical weakness, malnutrition, abdominal and digestive disorders, loss of weight, mental retardation, stunted and retarded growth and poor class grades. On several occasions, the school has failed to provide the recommended three meals a day and at worst, there are days that children have missed food due to lack of money to buy. The situation has been made worse by the current HIV infected children in the school that must eat a balanced diet since their health is more at risk compared to others. This situation needs urgent attention. The school requests to establish a farm that can provide sustainable food to feed children. Funds currently used to purchase food will be saved and used to support the sponsorship scheme to allow more needy children at risk of dropping out of school stay in school. Kindly support this Hanah Junior School to raise $ 5,278 to establish a school farm that will feed 450 children.
Tulibumu Community Health Center: Help buy a bag of cement for $8
Help buy a bag of cement for $8 to construct a community health center that will serve 7,500 children and adults in remote villages of Masaka
The proposed health care unit will offer preventive and curative medical care to both school children and the entire community. It will serve approximately 16,000 individuals annually including 5 surrounding schools that include Ngegeya COU Primary School, Christ the King primary school, Katabaazi Juniur school, RC primary school Trust junior school. When pupils access health care near school, they don’t have to travel to find a physician, a counsellor or dentist. Parents shall benefit because they don’t have to take a day off of work and the school shall benefit because students will spend more time in class when they are healthy. A health centre in the middle of remote communities will enable parents overcome barriers such as transportation, promote access to menstrual health products for teenage girls, sexual and reproductive health, self-care among youth with chronic health conditions such as asthma or diabetes or HIV. The outcomes will include but not limited to: Increased school attendance, connecting students’ family members with health coverage, reaching out to most at risk and most vulnerable populations, promotion of healthy school practices through nutrition, physical activity, and health education. The health centre shall provide out-patient services, eye-care services, immunization, Basic laboratory services, family planning, anti natal care, routine management of chronic conditions– especially HIV, preventative services, health education, dental services, mental health, outreaches, screening for depression and teenage pregnancy risk reduction programs hence benefiting the entire community. Kindly support Tulibumu Development Association to raise $ 6,596 to construct a community health center that will support 5 schools and 10 villages.
Health is Wealth Women Development Group: Help buy a layer chick for $ 2
Help buy a layer chick for $ 2 to support single mothers and girls obtain financial independence in Masaka
Uganda is currently experiencing one of the biggest youth crises ever seen. With 77% of the population aged <30 and 83% being unemployed, significant numbers of young Uganda’s adolescent girls and young women are being pushed into prostitution and drug abuse that increase risk to HIV infection, unwanted and teenage pregnancies, and turning into gangs and thieves. Obulamu bwe Bugaga women development association is a registered self-help women led community group for vulnerable school dropout adolescent girls and single mothers experiencing poverty and/or living with HIV/AIDS. Their goal is to enable girls and women become financially independent, self-sufficient and develop their own skills and business acumen and supplement their diet and household income through boasting their ongoing poultry project. These vulnerable women are so eager to be empowered to manage their own personal needs such as buying sanitary pads, taking care of their sick children without relying on absentee and often abusive male partners. They have already established a poultry project but need to stock 2,000 more birds. Managing and feeding chicken can be hindered through the absence of easily accessible, safe water and insufficient for proper egg production. As a result, girls and women are required to walk long distances to collect water whilst they are also frequently are unable to do this task during their menstruation without the availability of clean water at the project. Kindly support these women to raise $ 3,694 to stock 2,000 more layer chicken and install two rain water harvesting tanks at their poultry project.
Bugabira Primary School: Help buy a brick for a girls dormitory for $ 5
Buy a Brick at $ 5 to construct a dormitory for 200 girls at Bugabira Primary School
While Bugabira primary has been supported by previous marathon runners, the school lacks dormitory space for girls. Children are much congested throughout all the available small rooms. This has resulted into increased spread of contagious diseases, making children sickly, unable to attend classes, enable to have adequate sleep, hence resulting into barriers to effective learning. On top of this, Bugabira school has HIV several infected children in boarding section that are sharing beds with HIV negative ones at a rate of 3 children sharing one bed and this puts the life of HIV negative children in danger especially those with skin health problems. The school has also noted increased skin diseases, inadequate fresh air due to congestion, inability to use mosquito nets and general poor health. This limits ability to attend classes . This dilemma further forces the school to pay high medical bills which takes a significant part of the school limited income that would be used for other development purposes. Kindly support Bugabira Primary School to raise $ 13,120 to construct one big dormitory block to provide accommodation for 200 girl children aged 8-16.
EcoBrixs
Our environmental partner! EcoBrixs is an innovative NGO in Masaka, which exists to ‘give trash a value’.
By employing the local disabled community as plastic collectors, EcoBrixs turns waste plastic that would otherwise be burned, into household items. Creating employment and reducing pollution. This closed loop, sustainable project has already created an income for hundreds in the local community. You can help them scale, clean up more pollution and create more jobs!
“Just completed my first half marathon around the Ugandan countryside! Scenery was breathtaking and, despite the most brutal hills I’ve ever run/walked up, the local kids that came out to cheer us on were incredible motivation! Thanks to the Uganda Marathon team for putting on such an amazing week.”
– Sam, Uganda Marathon runner
