Three harmful nonprofit practices to avoid this #GivingTuesday, and what to look for instead!

Through these incredible – and, for the first time ever, international! – efforts, you all reminded us that the Far Away Friends family isn’t just about donating. Our mission to end generational poverty is no small feat, and it’s going to take a village; but that also means it is going to continue to build a community – and we are damn proud of ours.

The importance and benefits of arts education for students in Northern Uganda!

And then she hears it: the feet shuffling in the dirt, the soft cries of a mother, the coaxing of a father. She knows these sounds well, and prepares to deliver the first – and most likely not the only – baby of the day.

She puts the flashlight between her teeth – the only light she will have throughout the entire delivery – and gets to work.

This is the choice parents in Uganda are faced with today: Do they stop their child’s education to keep them fed at home? Or do they sacrifice daily meals to make sure their children can stay in school? It is an impossible decision, and one we at Far Away Friends believe no parent or person should have to make.

At Far Away Friends, we know that when we give girls access to the resources they need to stay in school, we come closer to leveling the playing field between them and their male counter-parts, and begin to build a community in which girls are not just encouraged but expected to succeed.

Together, this group of friends (including you, lovely reader) in partnership with our Co-Founder Collines’ friends, community and local leaders, have build that “castle in the sky” we dreamt of once upon a time. We’ve turned a once roofless building on a plot of empty land into a colorful campus bursting with life and laughter and full of even BIGGER dreams for the future….

Your support since January this year has funded some truly amazing projects on the ground in Uganda, and we wanted to take you through a quick tour of just some of the dreams you’ve made a reality in 2022.

Our Ugandan team has been hard at work the past week to officially begin training 12 teachers from around the district on our new Skills for Life curriculum!

I am passionate about investing in young people, locally and globally, to break cycles of generational poverty and make the visions of these future leaders a reality. I was very fortunate to be able to carry out this work in my tenure as a middle school English teacher, and am thrilled to continue to do so in my new position.

We are so proud to have had the opportunity recently to be interviewed by Mary Pagano of Hera Media! Hera Media is a project of Hera The Light of Women who’s vision is to “promote and highlight women and their incredible strength, tenacity and creativity.”

Intrigued by our commitment to collaborating with local companies and stimulating local economies in northern Uganda rather than relying on American volunteers, Wordfence invited Far Away Friends to engage in a further discussion on how they might be able to help make a collaborative impact by not only supplying lighting to our classrooms, but to all buildings on campus…

“I am confident you have almost halved their social challenges and [they] will face the world on a better built foundation,”

Global Leaders Primary School is among the best performers in Primary Leaving Exam (PLE) test scores in their district during one of the most difficult years on record. Here’s how your support made it possible:

At Far Away Friends, we pride ourselves in collaborating to prove what’s possible for communities in the most rural regions of Uganda. In our first quarter of 2021, just a year after COVID made everything seem impossible, we are proud to have already welcomed 116 students back to Global Leaders and are steadily returning stronger ever thanks to your support and Advocacy!

During our 2019 Cultural Immersion Trip, in partnership with local leaders our team identified Agwingiri Girls School as our next School Outreach partner.

An all-girls secondary school just north of Global Leaders in rural Amolatar District, we learned that Agwingiri was enrolling boys because of the high drop out rate of girls due to a lack of adequate toilets for their students. As part of our School Outreach Program (one of our many programs supported by all of YOU and our Advocate Community) we were able to build a new, drainable "Dry Box" latrine for Agwingiri Girls School to ensure girls would never miss another day of school due to lack of adequate toilet facilities.

As an organization founded by, run by and (primarily) funded by women, today is a special day for the Far Away Friends community as we celebrate International Women’s Day — a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

A quick update from Far Away Friends Co-Founder & Country Director, Collines Angwech, on how YOUR donations from our December 2020 "Raise to Reopen" Campaign are being utilized TODAY to make an impact on the Global Leaders campus in Namasale, Uganda!

Thank you to all of our incredible Advocates, supporters & friends who helped raise $30,000 to launch these construction projects so we can reopen Global Leaders Primary School safely for our students.