Echoes Foundation

A classroom at the high school

The new truck a great gift for carrying supplies and people

Preventative de worming has greatly improved the children’s digestion and overall health.

They know how much better they feel and happily display that they have received the twice a year de worming pills.

Looking after his buddy

Echoes Around the World needs your support. Everyday we strive to improve the way of life for the children and families of Uganda and Philadelphia. With your generous gifts, we can continue to provide health, education and shelter for these communities. Our success over the years is because of generous people like you who believe in what we can accomplish. Please help us continue to help the children. We can’t do it without you. One child at a time, one community at a time, one donation at a time.

Here are a few examples:

• Several people have run marathons and asked for sponsorship for ECHOES Around the World. One man raised $6000 with his run.
• Artist Ginna Clarke held an exhibit. She gave a percentage of the sales to ECHOES Around the World and gave out literature about our projects.
• At Halloween several children raised money from trick and treating for ECHOES. Children giving to children.
• Santa Tom roams in the Main Line Area of Philadelphia and he only asks for a donation to ECHOES Around the World for his appearance.
• $350 was raised by a young boy selling baked goods. He has medical problems and thought he would like to give to Double Cure Medical Centre to help others with medical problems.
• Lauren Hart, www.laurenhart.com a gifted song writer supported ECHOES with sales from her CD. She along with extreme adventurer husband Todd Carmichael visited the primary school and medical clinic.
• For many years one retiree honored his parents who were part of the local medical community by supporting a young girl pursue medicine. His yearly support meant a much needed trained doctor was educated.
• Students from several high schools held sales of goods, put on a talent show and held a raffle all to support scholarships for students at Trinity Children's Centre and Centenary High School.

*Please note we do prefer money to goods as it is very difficult to ship to a land locked country; furthermore, by buying in Uganda we are supporting their economy as well as giving our partners what they need.

Get involved with the St. James School in Philadelphia:

• Tutor children in our After School Program (3rd & 4th graders) or extended day program (5th graders)
• Lead an after school program (chess, sports, art, music, dance and more)
• Provide administrative office assistance (3-4 people needed for various shifts, 8am-6pm)
• Provide hospitality at our front desk (volunteers needed at all hours of the day)

Around the grounds: 

• Assist with landscape and gardening needs
• Gather friends for an upcoming cleanup day
• Help with “handyman” projects
• Paint and rehab

Roadblocks We Will Overcome in Uganda

• Failure of the United Nations mandated UPE, Universal Primary Education
• HIV/AIDS devastation of families
• Malnutrition and nutrition education deficits
• Lack of knowledge of health issues

PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION

One of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals for 2015 is the achievement of universal primary education (UPE), a fee-free educational opportunity for all children and citizens.

Despite good intentions, the U.N.‘s mandate for this fee-free approach is failing. According to the World Bank IMF Global Monitoring Report 2005, current trends predict the goal won’t be met until 2061, if then. Only 59% of children in sub-Saharan Africa currently complete a primary education. And the forecast is dim.

UPE states that all children attend Primary school. This places an impossible strain on educational systems that are not prepared for it. The enormous influx of non-paying students both diminishes funding and increases student numbers. This is a disastrous combination.

The better choice is a tuition based school system where families contribute and are therefore invested in the outcome. Unfortunately this remains unattainable to many in Uganda where the median family income is $300.00 per year and where many students are now orphaned by AIDS.

It is these families and these schools that ECHOES exists to support.

Facts about Ugandan Education

• Only 13% of women are literate.
• Public education is either unavailable (regional considerations) or inadequate. 
• Two thirds of students drop out of school and only half of the dropouts master basic skills.
• Average student to teacher ratios are between 44:1 and 55:1 nationally, in some cases they exceed 80:1
• Only 3.2% of students matriculate to college.
• School attendance is affected by distance, cost, plus the need for a child to contribute to the household income.
• Schools that provide meals for all students are rare.

AIDS PANDEMIC wreaks havoc in Africa

The AIDS pandemic cripples poor countries like Uganda. More than half the population today is under the age of fourteen. The steady decrease in the adult population means fewer providers are available to guide children to adulthood. It’s not just parents who are lost, but teachers, nurses, farmers and leaders in business and communities. The infrastructure of countries like Uganda is challenged at the deepest level.

Uganda deserves praise and support for its effort to educate the population in AIDS prevention which has been very effective compared to their Sub-Saharan neighbors. Statistics show a decrease in newly reported cases over the past 8 years. Despite those efforts, there remain almost a million children who are AIDS-orphaned in Uganda.

Countries, with a predominantly poor and youthful population are particularly vulnerable to the effects of poverty and AIDS. Children lost in the system are subject to all manner of predators. The world community needs to be there for them.

Will you commit your heart, your time and your funds to meet this great challenge? Will you join ECHOES Around the World in supporting these children who look to us for HOPE for their future? We are working with a small community that has been successful with very limited funds, equipment and resources. They could be the next leaders of their country if given the opportunity.

Malnutrition and Nutrition Facts

• Most Ugandan children eat just once a day. 
• Meals of porridge made from maize flour and some beans are the norm. Rarely do meals include protein from meat or fish.
• Orphan children who “board” with families in the area often are not fed at all until an evening meal, when they return home around 8:00 PM.
• Dietary deprivation causes stomach disorders, worms, eye and skin conditions, lethargy, poor attentiveness, reduced cognitive function and stunts growth.
• When schools provide daily meals such schools find that students are livelier, have increased stamina throughout their 12 hour day and are more attentive in class.
• Students cannot learn on empty stomachs. By supporting students with your donations for daily meals, you are giving them the opportunity to learn.

Health Issues

Malaria wreaks havoc in Africa. Uganda unfortunately is one of the hardest hit countries with their ever present problem. Knowledge of this and other diseases is ignored or not known. Knowledge of prevention and treatment is minimal and often unaffordable for many citizens. Access to trained medical help is very difficult thus leaving the people at the mercy of untrained “nurses” and store front pharmacies.

ECHOES Around the World strives to provide health education and opportunities for health professionals to visit, treat, and teach the children, teachers and other adults on how to maintain a healthy environment for learning and life.

Will you help us develop a reliable medical clinic staffed by trained persons who can mend the body, educate the mind, and attend to the total well being of the community?