Friends,
We’re kicking off the holiday season and as we close out the year, we want to acknowledge how challenging 2020 has been for so many. From COVID-19 ravaging the health and economies of our countries, to wildfires tearing across Australia and California, and Americans and many others grappling with the reality of deep racial injustice in our communities, this year has challenged us all. Yet, despite all that 2020 has thrown our way, the TASAAGA family has much for which it is grateful and as we launch our 2021 annual giving campaign today, we want to thank you for what you’ve helped us accomplish over the past year:
We continue to fulfill our commitments to our teachers: TASAAGA’s Primary School and Secondary and Vocational School were 1 of only 2 private schools that continued to pay their teachers a salary after the Ministry of Education shut down schools due to COVID-19.
Running water is now available in Sitabaale: Thanks to the support of our partners in the UK, we have running water at the primary school. This development will not only help our students and staff, but means residents and businesses in Sitabaale have the option to connect to piped water for the first time as well.
We are building toward a sustainable future for the TASAAGA East Africa Secondary and Vocational School: At the beginning of fall, land became available directly across from the primary school and thanks to your donations, we were able to purchase one half acre to be the future home of the Secondary and Vocational School.
While 2020 was not what anyone expected, we’re grateful for what we’ve been able to accomplish and even more excited about what we have planned for 2021. Once again, we need your generous support to make it happen and are writing today to officially launch our 2021 giving campaign in hopes of raising $25,000 between now and mid-January. Your donations will help us execute on our strategy, which includes 2 primary initiatives:
Start construction on the new TASAAGA East Africa Secondary and Vocational campus. We are working on plans for the construction of classrooms, a science and computer lab, dormitories, and offices on our half acre and will begin construction in the new year, as financing permits (see our architect’s preliminary visual for the school below). Our immediate priority is raising $10,000 to construct the core, 6-room classroom for our students who return in February. Having our own structure allows us to increase the security of our staff and students as well as improve their learning environment. This investment will also put TASAAGA on a path to sustainability by eliminating rent payments and allowing the secondary and primary schools to share resources like security guards and cooks.
Improve quality and sustainability of school operations. As you may remember, a major 2020 priority was to attract and retain high quality teachers and administrators by increasing staff salaries. Negotiations were successful at the beginning of the 2020 school year and we were positioned to start the year with an incredibly talented staff. While COVID-19 changed quite a bit about our operating environment, we are pleased to announce that new contracts have been agreed upon and all of our teachers and staff will be returning in 2021.
To ensure we can predictably support our staff and broader school operations over the 2021 school year we are working to improve the reliability of school fee collection, raise $15,000 in donations for operating expenses by mid-January, and increase the portion of donations that come from monthly donors.
To date, we are grateful to a number of individuals, who’ve decided to give between $10 and $100 on a monthly basis, and whose generosity currently covers almost 40% of our operating expenses. As we continue to strive for sustainability, we’ve set a goal of recruiting 20 new monthly donors who are willing to contribute any amount on a regular basis. If you would like to sign up for recurring payments, you can do so here (include link).
From the TASAAGA organization and the team here at Friends of TASAAGA, thank you for your continued support. With this community, we are confident we can reach our $25,000 goal. If you have any questions or comments, never hesitate to reach out!
Kind regards,
The Friends of TASAAGA Team