How it all began: One of our GHS Interact students (Keena Fleming ’06) had a pen pal from Uganda during the ’04-’05 school year. She was impressed with this individual, Alex Kabaale, because he was just one person taking on a huge task: caring for the orphans left behind after their parents had died from the AIDS virus.

That student and her mother tried to help him in his endeavor by sending some supplies, but postage is expensive, and the needs at the orphanage are extensive! That’s when she got the idea of Interact being involved.

Since then, the Interact club at GHS has held many fundraisers in order to help Alex Kabaale continue to make a difference in the lives of the children at his orphanage. Before Interact could release any funds, a representative from Rotary in Uganda had to inspect the project to make sure of its legitimacy. They were so amazed with how much he was able to do for his village with virtually no resources. It was clearly an undertaking worth supporting wholeheartedly.

So, as a result of one student’s initiative, and the rest of our Interact members’ dedication, progress is being made in an area that looked pretty hopeless a few years ago.

Thanks to our efforts, the children at the orphanage have beds for the first time!

They were also happy to get mosquito nets, since malaria is at least as deadly as HIV has become in Uganda.

Our future hopes for the Uganda project include getting more of the St. Croix community involved so that the children at the orphanage have a better future and so that the rest of us are more aware of the plight of those less fortunate than we are.

Our most recent (and ongoing) project involves the 20 bins that were donated to us by HOVENSA. We are painting them, and VI Waste Management has agreed to empty and maintain them once they are placed in various locations on St. Croix. Various businesses will be making donations toward this project, generating funds that will further help us support the Orphanage in Uganda, not to mention helping to curb the trash problem on St. Croix.