KOB-SS Girls Scholarship Program

When you match a young woman seeking to further her education with a sponsoring family in the United States, everyone wins! KUSP offers as many scholarships as we have sponsors for girls who qualify to finish the last two years of high school. Individual families in the U.S. commit to pay $500 per year for two years.

Sponsorship creates a direct connection between the girl and her sponsor. Sponsors can write notes or send photos to these girls, in a somewhat circuitous route since the girls don’t have phones or computers. This increases the motivation for this young woman to achieve her goals and stay in school.

Here’s why these scholarships are so important for Kobulubulu, all of Uganda, and really the world —

Educating young women is an investment in the future. Studies throughout the world show that girls who are educated grow up to be women who invest more resources into their children, and raise the standard of living of their families, in part by having fewer children. Yet in an area like Kobulubulu, few girls have the opportunity to pursue an education.

The Kobulubulu schools only go through 10th grade (S-4). Many girls begin dropping out years earlier due to societal pressures to marry very young, to care for younger siblings, due to lack of sanitary pads, and other constraints. Even if a girl remains in school, parents cannot afford the cost of sending their girls to a boarding school out of District.

The pandemic has not deterred our scholarship recipients

We began to support the girls who persevered through our small competitive scholarship programs. We wish you could meet scholarship recipients Margaret and Josephine, who during the pandemic, travel daily to the town center to borrow our local coordinator’s computer and pick up an internet connection so they can study online and not fall so far behind when schools re-open in January 2022. Each girl, 13 in all, has a story to share. How many more can be helped depends on our donors stepping up to be sponsors.

Our investment in these girls pays off for our organization as well. For example, Anna Akado. Six years ago, Anna was pregnant and thought her dreams to complete her education were over. We disagreed. As our first scholarship recipient, Anna now has her Accounting Degree from Uganda Christian University in Kampala. During the pandemic, Anna designed a program to bring together Kobulubulu girls who have dropped out of school due to pregnancy or pressures to care for younger siblings, girls as young as 12, and 14. Anna gave them an opportunity to talk about their challenges and dreams. At the end of her program, all the girls attending pledged to return to school and not give up. Anna feels this is her way of giving back to her community for the opportunities she has been given.

In 2021, we expanded the options for those girls selected to receive a two-year scholarship. Now sponsors who contribute $500 per year support girls who attend Halcyon School to pursue college preparatory courses, or Jerusalem Nursing program to pursue a nursing certificate.

University scholarships are also available when we have donors committing to $1000 per year for three years.