StJosephCollegePadhola – eChange Endeavors

High Tea for High Hope

We have raised $6,000 half of our goal of $12,000! Will you collaborate with us to help St Joseph College acquire solar power that will power a new computer lab with 20 PCs? This will improve the quality of the student’s education, attract more paying families, and drive the school’s sustainability. Read more below.

Donate!

You are cordially invited for High Tea at Williams Place

Saturday, November 22, 2025, 3-5pm

Hosted by Michelle Waters Williams & Laura Frederick

R.S.V.P. appreciated by November 20, 2025

Join us for a lovely British High Tea to hear Laura Frederick, Founder of eChange Endeavors, share stories of the missionaries and families in Uganda we have touched by our support. She has 30+ years of experience working with the poor in East Africa and beyond. She began her missionary journey as Jesuit International Volunteer in Belize from 1990-1992. Laura has been working in Uganda since 2000 and lived there between 2006 to 2011. She continues to collaborate with various missionary partners remotely and through visits.

We are seeking to raise $12,000 for our partner St Joseph College in Padhola, Tororo district of Uganda that provides high school education with a Franciscan spirituality. The College serves rural families, mostly whose parents are farmers and their income is too low or inconsistent to afford the cost of education. The initial community school was started by a German Franciscan along with health facilities and related community programs. He bequeathed the land and facilities to the community upon his retirement back to Germany, who in turn invited Sr. Margaret Awor, National Director of YOUFRA Uganda to run and develop the school anew. In 2020, it was re-opened as St Joseph College Padhola a challenging year to begin. Funds will help install a new solar system for the College to power even more engagement!

We have helped the St Joseph’s College to operate through out the shutdowns and beyond with 6-8 scholarships per year, which has paid teacher’s salaries and purchased needed educational supplies. We funded the renovation of the College’s pit latrines upgrading them with a new modern design, disability access, easy cleaning and maintenance. In 2023, when the roof blew off their main classroom building we stepped in to fund the renovation of the whole building along with a brand new roof. We upgraded doors and windows to glass for better lighting. Added electrical capabilities and finished off 3 small rooms for science & computer labs, along with ceilings and a wide verandah for quieter atmosphere and extra space during heavy rains. We gave the building a new coat of paint inside and out.

Later when the borehole their main source of water for the school and community became spoiled we funded the substantive repairs and replacement parts. We helped purchase 10 new triple decker beds for the dormitory allowing 30 students who live to far away to commute to board at the school. We have also partnered with Farmers Oversees Action Group (FOAG) to build a fence around the College gardens to protect the crops they grow from wandering animals. Food grown on campus helps to greatly reduce the cost of education and boarding for the parents, as well as, a great learning and service opportunity for the students.

Now we are working with St Joseph’s College to implement a solar power solution for the school. They have 20 computers, a printer, and projector that was received in 2019 when they were still at the Eastside location (photos above). Since the campus is off grid with nominal power at the school it is insufficient to run the computers all at once. Getting the full lab working again will enable the students to learn computer skills necessary for today’s jobs, assist the teachers with richer lesson planning and ease their work. The school currently has just under 100 students. The computer lab will also enable the school to attract more paying students, which will help with their overall viability and sustainability. One day they hope to expand to a full vocational college.

Will you join us for High Tea and make a gift of $100 to $1,000 or more now? Donate! or R.S.V.P. with Michelle.

Before and after photos below of the toilet and classroom renovations.

Solar Power Solutions for Growing Souls

Three of our partners are in need of electricity to power their activities. We are seeking to raise $30,000 for solar power solutions for them as they are off the main power grid. Will you make a contribution to help switch on the lights, showers, appliances, and technology so as to create better living and learning opportunities for these communities?

Young Franciscans of Uganda (YOUFRA) has a Youth Centre in Lira town that provides counseling, livelihood training, agricultural demonstration gardens & partnerships, personal skills & communication training, and spiritual formation. As well, they board 20 students attending public school near by because the parents are former abductees of the war and live in rural areas not accessible to schools. YOUFRA is helping ensure the next generation will not loose the opportunity for education as their parents did because of the internal conflict. The simple solar power solution they had died back in March. Consequently, they have been without power and lights for 4 months, which is the only source of security for the facility. We are seeking $8,000 to complete wiring of the building, buy a higher power battery and inverter, and increase their solar panels sufficient to run day and night lights, 4-6 computers, photocopier, projector, sound system, kitchen appliances (blender, mixers, refrigerator, oven etc.), and charge phones and devices for the team, plus 20 students and up to a 100 guests. Will you help us light up the facility anew? Give Today!

St Joseph College in eastern Uganda, Tororo region needs sufficient electricity to power their student computer center with 20 PCs, plus computers for administration and teaching staff, printer, photocopier, projector, sound system, irons, and security lights for the classrooms, dormitories, and offices. Plus power for the kitchen appliances and health center equipment. We are seeking $10,000 for a new solar power solution for them, battery, inverter, solar panels, and accessories. Will you help the staff & students get back to using technology as part of their curriculum? Give Today!

Chiro Camp serves two youth movements the Xaverians and the Catholic Scouts. The have a large hall containing a kitchen and dining area to host 100-200 youths at a time. They offer weekend and week-long training camps for the children who sleep in small camping tents. They have a herd of goats to keep the place well groomed but also provide income for the facility. We are seeking $12,000 to make the camping experience more impactful for the youth. The camp needs enough power for the commercial kitchen appliances, office equipment, sound system, and projector plus a solar pump to get water up from Lake Victoria for the kitchen, outdoor showers, gardens and goat care. Will you help Fr Ceaser Matovu build up Chiro Camp so more youth can grow up to be great disciples, citizens and leaders? Give Today!

Classroom Building Renovations are Finished!!

Thanks to American Martyrs Catholic Church in Manhattan Beach, two generous individual givers, and UK partner FOAG we were able to raise $22,000 to renovate the main classroom building at St Joseph College in Tororo, Uganda. The roof had been blown off during Holy Week this year leaving the classrooms unusable. The school scrambled to create four make shift classrooms to finish the first term, then go a second whole term while construction was underway. We reached out to our partners and friends for help and the response was great!

With the funds we were able to redesign and build a fresh the roof structure to make it more durable for the long-haul. We extending the roof out to include a proper verandah with much needed space in the raining seasons. We replaced all the rotted wooden doors and windows with new metal and class ones. We re-poured the foundation, reconfigured the classroom layouts, wired the building for lights and technology, added ceiling boards, re-plastered the walls inside and out, finished the floors, and painted the whole building. When possible students were able to learn and get involved in some of the construction too! The building looks fresh and fabulous! Students, teacher, parents and community members are thrilled to have the revitalized space!

Thank you to all our generous donors for making this project possible! The school is back to operating fully and students are actively preparing for end of year national exams.

St. Joseph’s College Needs a New Roof!

During holy week this year a big storm blew through Tororo Uganda and took the roof off St. Joseph College’s main classroom building. Leaving students and teachers quite alarmed and exposed. They are currently renting a hall at a guest house near the campus to make up for the lost classroom. St. Joseph College is already busting at the seam with 140 students from Senior 1 through Senior 4 and a P7 class. The missing roof has exasperated the problem and the exposed walls and building to more damage.

We are stepping in to help raise $20,000 to replace the full roof and other necessary renovations to the foundation, walls, windows, and doors. Will you join us to help these youth stay in school getting a good catholic education?

Donate today!

Thank you American Martyrs parish and FOAG for stepping in to help! Construction of the new roof begins this week. We are still seeking funds to help replace the windows and doors, paint, and provide much needed solar power for the school. Join hands with us and donate today!

Construction has begun. Stay tuned for more.