Our story starts like many others. A kid set out to help other kids.
In 2012, David Curtiss, a local Los Angeles high school sophomore, took an unexpected trip to Uganda over the summer on a volunteer trip. What he thought would be a typical experience turned into a lifelong commitment to seeing children, all over the world, receive access to a quality education in order to become local, national, and world-changing leaders.
The seed of his hope turned into Building Hope Project, a student sponsorship program that keeps high-need primary school students in the classroom by covering all tuition and school fees, providing uniforms, and ensuring two meals a day in order to successfully complete their primary education, located at Kiira Primary School.
While students are in the program, they receive quarterly support to help bridge the gap between their personal success and everyday challenges, such as character development workshops, parent-teacher conferences, and one-on-one meetings that aim to provide encouragement and targeted attention.
Since its founding, Building Hope Project has successfully seen over 180 students through primary school with a retention rate over 95%.
Most students have gone on to further their education or attend vocational school. All of them have received an education that would have otherwise been impossible.
We believe this model helps to engage the entire school community in guaranteeing a child’s success and lay the groundwork for leadership development and activation. Our goal is to use school as an incubator to harvest and refine every student’s potential to lead not just in the future, but now.
