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Country School Students Fund Well in Uganda with Support from Local Community

Following a full year of fundraising, and with generous help from the local community, students at The Country School (TCS) in Madison raised enough money to underwrite the creation of a well to provide clean drinking water in Kaberamaido, Uganda.

The successful conclusion of the fundraising effort, a partnership with the Madison nonprofit Call to Care Uganda, means construction can begin this summer. The well will be based at the Odongai Primary School and will provide clean water for as many as 1,500 people, including students at the school and others who live near it. The TCS well will mark the 28th well Call to Care Uganda has dug since its founding in 2007.

The Country School’s well effort began last fall after Joseph Coyne, an 8th grader and member of the Student Leadership Committee, learned about the work of Call to Care Uganda (www.calltocareuganda.org). In addition to the obvious health benefits, Coyne discovered that a well would mean that children—primarily girls—could remain in school, rather than having to spend several hours each day walking miles back and forth to deliver potable water to their families.

The full cost of the well is $8,500. Coyne and his Service Committee colleagues raised more than $5,353. Additional sponsors included Coastal Connecticut; Zane’s Cycles; Dr. Laura Miller, DDS; Bershtein, Volpe, and McKeon P.C.; Group Insurance Associates; Woodbridge Running Company; and Barndoor Lighting Outfitters).

Call to Care Uganda founder Martha Hoffman also helped Country School students initiate a pen pal program with Odongai students, and last fall, Country School students held a shoe drive, collecting 600 pairs of new and gently used shoes to send to their partner school.