US Uganda Orphans Scholarship Programme (US-UOSP).

US-UOSP Background                                                                        

The idea of this fund originated from a discussion Regina Kamoga (Uganda) had with Virginia Ladd (USA) during an International Alliance of Patients Organizations (IAPO) meeting in London in the fall of 2005.   Virginia was aware of the problem of Uganda orphans not being able to attend school due, to lack of funds for school fees and requirements.  Because of her and her husbands primary school scholarship program in Indonesia, she understood that it did not take much in US$ to support a child’s education in a developing country.  She approached Regina with a proposal asking whether Regina would ascertain the cost of providing both primary and boarding school scholarships to needy orphans.  She asked Regina whether she would be willing to identify the orphans and be responsible for managing the funds to support the education and educational needs of these orphans. Regina agreed to do so on a voluntary basis, and Virginia and her husband agreed to sponsor six primary/universal students and one secondary/high school boarding student.  She decided to mention the project to Myrl Weinberg, another IAPO board member, and found that she was also interested in sponsoring scholarships.   This inspired her to talk with some of her friends and relatives. She found that many wanted to become involved. Word spread through e-mail; Virginia began to receive e-mails from others who wanted to sponsor a child or children. This led us to think about developing a broader initiative to address the overwhelming needs and numbers of orphaned children in Uganda.  Hence the US-Uganda Orphans Scholarship Project was born to collect the funds.