FAQ

Why northern uganda?

Co-founders Jenni and Ethan headed to Northern Uganda in 2013 to work with a local church. For over two decades Northern Uganda was a war zone, leaving large numbers of Acholi people abducted as child soldiers, displaced, or forced into refugee camps in their own country. The war left an entire generation under-educated. Their children are now growing up and aren't able to go to school because their parents can't afford it. Now that the war has left Gulu, many nonprofits have pulled out. These children are just like your children, but they aren't in school and they learn quickly that dreams of a career are only dreams.

We believe that we can make a lasting difference in the world by educating these overlooked children.

HOW ARE CHILDREN CHOSEN?

Our students are selected through a needs-based system. We work with Ugandans and NGOs who are part of the local community to seek out children who lack access to education. For each family, we spend days carefully interviewing and researching, looking for any alternative options, and planning out the best case scenario for each student considered for Aphoyo. Because we believe in supporting families as they care for their children, we place a high emphasis on parent involvement by building relationships between our parents and schools. Students welcomed into Aphoyo sign a contract with their families, which provides that child with an service learning projects and a merit-based component (students must pass all of their classes) after three years in the program.

WHERE IS MY MONEY GOING?

If you are a sponsor, your money is broken down simply: 95% goes to our students. 5% goes to processing your money to our kids (this covers the cost of your credit card transaction and using Western Union to safely send your funds to our students' schools).

If you make a flat donation, your money is used to fund Aphoyo: paying for school uniforms, enrollment fees for new students, student college funds, Aphoyo events, and our operational costs.* *If you have a particular outlet you would like your money used for, we honor all donors requests.*

HOW CAN I PUT KIDS IN SCHOOL?

Sponsor. We need you! We currently have 10 students on the waitlist and we can't send them to school without your support. $35/month covers a child's educational expenses. If that's too much, split the cost! We also offer $10/month sponsorships. Giving any amount will support our students directly. When we are too low to pull from our waitlist, we save your money in college savings accounts for our students' futures.

Donate. Not everyone can commit to a monthly donation -- we get that! Even a few dollars help our kids get to and from service learning projects, keep our website online, and pay our banking fees. We need your help to keep Aphoyo running for our students!

HOW CAN I SUPPORT APHOYO?

Pray. We are running Aphoyo through prayer. God's grace provided the initial $500 we needed to get our first four kids in school and has provided every dollar since. Please pray for wisdom, discernment, and growth for Aphoyo.

Share. We believe in stories. Share our story! You can sign up to receive email updates, images, videos, and quotes to share on your social media outlets below. It's as simple as a few clicks. Tell your friends who we are and what we do. Share images of Mercy, Moses, or Winnie. Their stories are powerful and they are important. Let's get the word out.

And Keep Up! We have some new and exciting opportunities for you to support our students, including our #instaauction!

HOW DO YOU RUN A SCHOLARSHIP FUND IN UGANDA FROM THE U.S.?

We aren't here to reinvent the wheel. Aphoyo exists to support high quality programs in Uganda and help our students access them. We partner with the highest quality local Ugandan schools and keep tabs on our students through surprise school visits from trusted Ugandans and our co-founders and termly reports on each of our students.

In the U.S., we maintain our website, find donors, handle Aphoyo's finances, and return to Uganda on surprise trips to check on how our students are doing.

If you're supporting other programs, Why Aphoyo?

Hey! Good question. Aphoyo is unique for a few reasons:

1. Our "employees" do all their work on a volunteer basis. That means your donation goes straight to the kids; where it's needed.

2. Isolation isn't healthy or productive. By supporting high quality schools and partnering with local NGOs, we are able to support kids in new and unique ways.

3. Aphoyo is a comprehensive scholarship program. While we've found many great sponsorship programs out there, ours covers a child from the time they enter the program until the completion of university or trade school. We also combat learned helplessness with service learning projects and our Aphoyo give back program.

FAQ