Clean water + education = bright futures

My family is committed to building brighter tomorrows through the power of clean water and education for every child.

Education changes everything about a child’s future – higher income, better health, gender equality, and brighter tomorrows. It touches every area of a child’s life. Education is an unstoppable force for good.

It is the secret weapon that can change the world.

31 million African children don’t have a school to attend

My family is extraordinarily fortunate to have great schools right in our community. It’s hard for us to even imagine that 31 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa wake up each day without a school to attend. But today, far too many children lack access to quality education.

In Uganda specifically, the national government has made a commitment to provide universal access to primary education. Yet, over 600,000 primary school age children remain out-of-school. Many Ugandan public schools lack even basic infrastructure because they are underfunded.

My family is committed to changing this.

The success of Project Secret Weapon helped enable Building Tomorrow to build and launch the Omwiguru Primary School, a hard-to-reach rural area outside of Masindi, Uganda. Together with local community members, we’ve helped construct a 10 room primary schoolhouse that is easily accessible to children in surrounding villages.

In summer 2018, we had the privilege of visiting Uganda for the official commissioning of the new school. As the head teacher of Omwiguru put it, the community has gone from classrooms of “grass to grace”.

Clean water unlocks radical community transformation

When we traveled to Uganda for the commissioning of the BT Primary School of Omwiguru, it was a delight to see how the school was transforming the entire community. Yet, we also saw clearly how securing clean water remains a huge challenge for schools across Uganda.

For Phase II of Project Secret Weapon, we teamed up with the Ugandan Water Project – a longtime partner of Building Tomorrow – to equip another Building Tomorrow School in Uganda with two rainwater collection systems so community members don’t have to make the long, daily walk for unclean water.

The water system at Building Tomorrow Kibimba was installed in 2020, and is now providing clean water to 633 students and teachers!

Less time spent walking for water means more time spent in classrooms for boys and girls, redeems productive time for adults, improves health for everyone, and fuels macroeconomic growth.

My family continues its partnership with Building Tomorrow and the Ugandan Water Project in pursuit of radical community-driven transformation in Uganda.

In summer 2024, we had the privilege of returning to Uganda on a vision trip with the Ugandan Water Project. We visited communities, schools, and health clinics around Uganda for a close-up and hands-on look at how the clean water and education solutions are helping people break free from the bondage of water-borne disease and poverty.

We also had the honor of visiting the BT Omwiguru Primary School again. Six years since it’s commissioning, it was wonderful to see the school thriving!

The school now has about 350 children enrolled, including a good number of students and teachers who board there. Many of the students in higher grades remembered us from our first visit — a wonderful sign that they’ve continued in their education.

The rainwater collection systems from the Ugandan Water Project on each building help supply water for the school (although it is not always enough to meet the significant demand). And the ongoing support from Building Tomorrow’s Fellowship Program has been key to helping enroll (and keep enrolled) children in the school and build community awareness about the importance of education.

The Pocket Square Project

The Pocket Square Project’s founders, Dr. Rachel Vreeman and Mr. Dominique Price started this initiative because they were passionate about global health issues for children. Following in this shared vision, Drs. Daniel and Lorrie Vreeman are now leading the Pocket Square Project as a special division of their small business Blue Sky Premise, LLC.