JAAS Foundation Awards Grant to Ugandan High School for COVID-19-Related Sanitation and Student and Community Food Assistance

WOODINVILLE, Wash., May 19, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​​The JAAS Foundation announced this week it has awarded a grant to Shammah High School in Kampala, Uganda, to fund COVID-19-necessitated student and community food assistance and sanitization programs direly needed as that country begins its restart. Nearly 450 children attend the school, which is located in a rural area where many of the families live in severe poverty.

The JAAS Foundation was founded in 2016 to support the educational needs of children in developing nations as a means of opening opportunities and ending the cycle of poverty. Applicants for funding submit project proposals for review by the foundation’s board of directors. Since its start, the organization has benefited more than 50,000 students in several countries. 

In Uganda, where Shammah High School is located, 48 percent of all children and 66 percent of poor children do not get three meals a day and 43 percent of all children are unable to read or write, according to UNICEF’s 2019 Uganda Child Poverty Report.

“Schools like Shammah are typically central to the communities in developing countries not only for the educational opportunities they provide but for other support services, like nutrition,” explained Aleksey Sinyagin, co-founder, JAAS Foundation. “Meal programs and education truly go hand in hand in a poor area as a hungry child cannot concentrate enough to learn.”

As the school prepared for reopening this month following the health crisis lockdown, its future was uncertain. Tuition payment delays, increased costs to keep the facilities sanitized to prevent virus spread, and the added demand on food services promised to strain an already-tight budget.

The grant from JAAS, however, allows Shammah to sanitize the facility daily to contain virus spread; establish hand-sanitizing stations throughout the building; feed its 450 students and 39 educators through November; and provide daily meals to 20 families in the community in acute need of assistance.

“This pandemic has taken its toll in so many ways worldwide. And the burden has been especially heavy for the most vulnerable members of society in remote areas,” said Aleksey. “In reviewing Shammah High School’s grant application, it became immediately apparent that its loss to the students and the community overall would be substantial. The grant will cover the costs of the community and student food programs and sanitation efforts over the next two school terms. It gives them the cushion needed to rebuild its budget, employ virus containment efforts, and ensure children do not see a further interruption in their studies.”

For more information about JAAS Foundation, go to JAASfoundation.org. To help support the Foundation’s efforts, go to JAASfoundation.org/donate.

For media inquiries, contact ​Aleksey Sinyagin at (425) 292-7886 or [email protected].

Source: JAAS Foundation