From RVC to Uganda: Building Hope and Feeding the Hungry

Eating. Going to school. Having clothes to wear. These are simple necessities we take for granted in Long Island.

But in a small village in Uganda, they are considered luxuries.

That's why a group of six village residents are heading back to the East African country to continue their mission of spreading education and helping impoverished children have a better life.

Delia Garrity, with her husband Peter and daughter Trish, will head back to Masese, Uganda in August with fellow village residents Diana, Corryn and Bob Silon, with the hopes of helping the children of Masese eat on a regular basis, keep safe from illnesses and receive a basic education that so many of us take for granted.

The mission first started two years ago when the Silons met two philanthropists while on a safari in Kenya. The two philanthropists, Pam McCormick and Jean Kaye, enlisted the Silons help in building a school in Masese with their charity organization, His Everlasting Love Prevails (H.E.L.P.). 

What the Silons found when they got to the small village — which sits near the headwaters of the Nile River — was heart-wrenching. The "school" was a makeshift building with no walls; where three children shared a single chair and most worked on a dirt floor. "They only had pencils and paper," Diana Silon said. "There isn't even a chair for every child."

McCormick and Kaye brought a container of chairs, tables and blackboards for the school of 35 kids and one teacher, Silon said. Garrity, who took her first trip to Masese last year, has seen the school — which houses grades Pre-K through third  — grow to 280 kids and five teachers, and she only expects that number to increase.

Asked why children are so eager for education, her answer was simple. "The reason a lot of these kids were never educated is because they can only go to school if their family can afford supplies," Garrity said. "For children like this, who have nothing, many of their families couldn't afford it. But this is truly a free school. All of the supplies are donated."

During her first trip, Garrity and the rest of the H.E.L.P. group not only brought more than 450 pounds of school supplies and clothes, but mosquito nets for every child in the village. Many children, she said, contract Malaria and Yellow Fever if they're not protected from mosquitoes, which is often fatal due to the lack of local hospitals and medical supplies.

Now the school has expanded to four classrooms — with anywhere from 40-70 kids in each one — and each child who attends gets free lunch. That may not seem unordinary for American school children, but in Masese, children only eat every three days because of the dearth of food and money. "For food alone, parents want their kids coming to school," Garrity said.

The group's next goal is to implement a breakfast program at the school, so that children may have nutritious meals at least twice a day.

For the children of Masese, most of whom have never seen crayons or markers, or have more than one set of clothes, their passion for learning is breathtaking, Silon said. "They are so full of joy and have nothing," she said. "They are so thirsty for knowledge, it's amazing."

During their trip in August, Garrity said that she and her husband, who are both educators, will host a two-day seminar for the school's teachers to enhance their teaching and learning skills.

They are currently looking for people to donate clothes, school and medical supplies, boots and money. Just $4 can help feed one of the children of Masese breakfast and lunch for a month. If interested, contact Delia Garrity at DTGarrity@gmail.com.