Shining achievement: Suburban Rotarians provide computer lab at Ugandan school
The Rotary Club of River Cities, which supports the communities of Des Plaines, Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights,— recently led an international project that installed a computer lab at Candle Light High School in Kampala, Uganda, that serves more than 400 of the capital city’s most under-resourced young people.
Before that, no computers were available for the students’ educational use. But since its installation, the boys and girls have learned such advanced computer skills as website development. They are using the lab to support their studies and do research.
According to the local Rotarians, the impact of the labs on the students’ academic achievements is measurable.
Two years ago, no fourth-year student at the school was able to achieve a score of Grade 1 (the top level) on the Uganda standardized achievement exam. But as of this year, with access to the lab, all 54 fourth-year students received a score of Grade 1.
The club’s International Service chair, Andy Ullman of Des Plaines, was hosted by the school’s director and fellow Rotarian Rosette Nabuuma in October 2022. He noticed the absence of computers and the impact that had on the curriculum.
“I proposed to Rosette that we initiate a Rotary project to install a computer lab at the school and provide useful skills to bring the kids out of their extreme poverty,” he said. “The members of my Rotary Club were very supportive of this effort, and we are all proud of what we achieved.”
Members of the Rotary Club of River Cities and their project partners regularly meet with the Candle Light High School students on Zoom, allowing them to demonstrate their new computer skills and share their future plans.
“I can see a huge change in their confidence levels,” Ullman said. “Our first Zoom visit with the students I felt that if they could have hidden under the classroom desks they would have. Now when we have Zoom meetings between Rotarians and the students, the students all want to interact with us and speak their mind.”
Based on the success, a similar Rotary project is under way at a school for abandoned kids in Quito, Ecuador. The computer lab will be installed in the next couple of weeks, and the school will use volunteer university professors to teach the computer classes.
Ullman’s Rotary Club has expressed its gratitude to its fellow Rotarians of Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Kampala Nsambya and the Masonic Lodge of Barrington, along with several individual donors for their financial support of the Uganda project.
Rotary is a global network of more than 45,000 clubs and 1.2 million members dedicated to providing service to others, promoting integrity, and advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace.
The organization’s vision is a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe, in local communities, and in themselves.
On a more local basis, the Rotary Club of River Cities buys winter coats for children, awards college scholarships, and supports summer reading programs and camp scholarships.
The Rotary Club of River Cities meets at 12:15 p.m. on the first three Tuesdays of every month at Trezeros Kitchen and Tap, 302 W. Northwest Hwy. in Mount Prospect. Members invite newcomers to attend a meeting and learn more about the club.
For more information, visit rivercitiesrotary.com.