Service Leadership Team supports Uganda school

By Kate Wolff ‘25 and Briana Li ‘25

During the week of January 22, the Wardlaw + Hartridge Service Leadership Team hosted a fundraiser to contribute to the women’s programs in the Innovation School in Uganda. The team had asked everyone in the W+H community to bring in $1 in support of improvements for women’s education. In the year prior, the WHSLT had raised over $1,000 for the Innovation school and their successes continued, with the total now raised over $2,000.

Aastha Patel ‘23 shared, “Continuing the Uganda fundraiser from last year is extremely rewarding, especially after seeing how impactful it was last year. We were able to interact with kids our age and even got a glimpse of the new building that was constructed with the money we raised. Knowing that this second fundraiser will make a similar impact feels great.”

This $1 fundraising event was held in honor of National Women’s Empowerment Month. To contribute to women’s empowerment, the team focused on women’s education. Educating girls is significant in giving women more economic opportunities and decreasing child marriages and pregnancy.

Current obstacles to girls’ education include poverty, patriarchal values, trafficking, and child pregnancy. Statistics show unequal gender standards in education. Over 129 million girls are out of school and much fewer women are educated than men. For that reason, support for the fundraiser provides women in less developed countries an improved hand in life.

Naischa Puri ‘23 explained, “Equitable education is extremely important, and it is imperative that we use our privilege and resources to provide whatever support we can to those who are less fortunate.”

The WHSLT had given a presentation on the importance of women’s education and what the community’s contributions will go towards. The money raised is planned to go to classroom necessities such as chairs, tables, and blackboards, as well as to improve the infrastructure of the school. Paint, cement, and metal framework will all increase the quality of the Innovation School in Uganda, further benefiting the girls’ learning in the school.

“The students at the innovation school are more than capable, they just need the right tools and our team hopes to help with that as much as we can,” Puri said.

The Wardlaw + Hartridge Service Leadership Team leaders consist of seniors Aastha Patel and Naischa Puri, juniors Anushka Dalal and Natalie Koegler, with faculty advisor Mrs. Nicole Nolan. They have been working with the refugee school in Uganda for over a year and continue to work hard in taking action to help those in need. This inspirational display of empathy promotes important values which W+H aims to uphold. Continuous support for future fundraisers similar to this one will only increase the efforts of WHSLT in their humanitarian goals.