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RUBAGA NEWS
               from Rubaga Friends
  Number 7, August 2010                          
Contact us
  RubagaFriends@gmail.com
  520-327-7922
  Web-site
  www.rubagafriends.org

RUBAGA FRIENDS

Activity Report and Financial Statement 2009
The basic support program
In 2009, contributions from generous supporters of Rubaga Friends enabled continuation of the basic support program for the Rubaga Community School and its 280 children.  The main activity areas were improvement of food ($14,800), healthcare ($1,200), and wages to teachers and other staff ($5,000). Detailed information about the Rubaga School, Rubaga Friends and the support program can be seen at our website: www.rubagafriends.org. Chairman of the school board, Mr. Ssali-Kiggundu has reported that the children did extremely well at the 2009 final Primary School exam. He attributed the good performance to the improved good health and feeding of the children as a result of the support from Rubaga Friends. It also plays an important role that the support for salary improvements, typically 40-50%, makes it easier to maintain a staff of well-qualified and dedicated teachers.
Other support projects and cooperating organizations
During 2009, Rubaga Friends transferred $1,000 to assist updating of the school’s fire prevention and fire preparedness. Improved internet and e-mailing facilities were supported with $300, and $625 was granted for purchase of a new PC to replace the broken-down office computer. Unfortunately, few weeks after the purchase, the new office computer was stolen together with many other things by an intruding gang during the week-long armed conflict in Kampala in September 2009.
Pima Rotary Club takes a keen interest in assisting the children at the Rubaga School. The club organized a $4,000 textbook project, which in June 2009 provided all students in Primary School Grade 1-7 with textbooks for all main curriculum subjects. Rubaga Friends supported the project with $1,320. Proceeds from other Pima Rotary events will also benefit disadvantaged children in Rubaga and in Tucson.
At the end of 2009, the Dr. David Jacoby Memorial Fund and Family and Friends of Grammoo, Roberta Calkins donated $22,000 for a new kindergarten building next to the school. Separation of pre-school children from older children at the school has been a long-time, serious problem for the school, which sits on a tiny, overcrowded site squeezed in between residential buildings. With this generous grant the school can now go through with the building project and achieve a significant improvement of the living and teaching environment.
The Sam Hughes Elementary School in Tucson maintains its role as sister school for the Rubaga School. In cooperation with SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) at the University of Arizona the Sam Hughes School continues to arrange drives to collect for example books, school materials, toys and other needed effects, which are greatly appreciated by children and staff at the school in Rubaga.


Financial Statement 2009 for Rubaga Friends
Income and Expenditures, January 1 – December 31, 2009, US Dollars  

RECEIPTS
   Membership fees   1,200.00
   Donations   19,588.20
   Bank interest                   14.21
   Grammoo Kindergarten donations16,870.00
Total receipts                                 37,672.41

OUTLAYS
   Bank and PayPal fees        84.10
   Office expenses                                                     0
   Operation expenses                                        0
   Direct support to RCS                         23,620.00
   Support to RCS via Pima Rotary Club            3,820.00
Total outlays                                          27,524.10

NET SURPLUS 2009                              10,148.31                      
                                                            37,672.41        37,672.41

                            Balance Sheet December 31, 2009, US Dollars
Net worth January 1, 2009                                      26,717.97
+ surplus 2009                                                      10,148.31
Net worth December 31, 2009                                 36,866.28
Specification of assets by December 31, 2009:
  Account balance, Edward Jones Investments         32,640.03
  Account balance, Bank of America                         3,229.54
  Account balance, PayPal                                         996.71
Assets total                                                          36,866.28
.

[Scroll down to see the Rubaga Friends Annual Report and Financial Statement for 2009].

VISIT THIS JULY TO THE RUBAGA COMMUNITY SCHOOL
Rubaga Board member David Flieger and his daughter, Lauren, along with Robyn Gwozdz and her son, Ben, traveled to Uganda in mid July for our yearly on-site visit to Rubaga Community School.
The highlight of the visit was the dedication of the new Grammoo Kindergarten Building, which has been built in memory of Roberta Calkins, whose family nickname was Grammoo.  Robyn is one of four children and Ben is one of four grandchildren of the Roberta Calkins family, who donated the majority of the construction funds for the new kindergarten.
The building is airy, bright, and cheerful and has a multipurpose room, which will serve as a delightful meeting and entertainment center for the entire school.
David Flieger, who also works to benefit the school through his membership in the Pima Rotary Club in Tucson, spoke at the local Rotary Club of Rubaga and enlisted their support to be the local host Club for a Rotary International project to purchase a used minivan for the school.  We hope to acquire the van in 2011.
One afternoon our visiting group took one of the classes of Rubaga children to the local zoo located on Lake Victoria.  Everyone really enjoyed the animals, the lakeshore, and a very nice playground on the grounds of the zoo.
It was apparent that although we have made much progress in enriching the lives and prospects of the disadvantaged children at the school a long list of desperately needed improvements remain to be made.  The wish list includes additional land for outdoor recreation, expansion of the school, and construction of suitable living quarters for the teachers.  Computers and better internet access and further supplementation of the teacher’s salaries to compete with recent raises given to public school teachers are also high priorities.



















SUCCESSFUL MATCHING-FUND CAMPAIGN
In April 2010, a Rubaga Friends supporter pledged to match every dollar we could raise in a special fundraiser during May and June. The benefactor who wants to remain anonymous capped the pledge at $5,000. This generous incentive prompted more than 40 special contributions for a total of $5,978.
The total proceeds, $10,978, brought about a much needed stabilization of our cash balance, and a looming reduction of the economic support for the second half of 2010 was avoided. Together with other current contributions the usual level of support, $21,000 per year, is ascertained in 2011, which is the fourth year of the Basic Support Program. It continues to focus on improved nutrition, health care, and education for the 300 children who are now in the care of the Rubaga Community School.
A warm thank you from the Board of Rubaga Friends to all of our supporters who keep the program running!




Robyn Gwozdz in front of the new kindergarten building

The ground floor is in use by the about 50 kindergarten children.

The next challenge is to find funds for completion of the first floor.