The BiZoHa project, which includes a humanist orphanage, primary school and community health clinic, was launched in February 2015 by collaboration of Bwambale Robert Musubaho (Founding Director) with three of his Fellows at the Brighter Brains Institute (BBI) - a charitable non-profit in Piedmont, California.

THE CHILDREN'S HOSTEL

A 'Go Fund Me' campaign was launched on February 27, 2015 and within 29 hours they had surpassed their first goal, as funding poured in from generous well-wishers in secular communities worldwide. Construction began in March on the Hostel building which would house the initial group of 8 to 16 children and their caregivers. Work also commenced to dig and construct latrines, and to bring piped water to the site from the nearby mountains.

DR. BRUCE CHOU CLASSROOM

The hostel was completed in just a few weeks, and work was started immediately to construct a classroom. The project received a $1,000 donation from Doctor Bruce Chou, an anesthesiologist from California, and the funds were used to build a classroom in May named after the charitable benefactor. 

ANDREA VOGT ROADSIDE STAND

The next order of business was to construct a roadside stand. Humanitarian Andrea Vogt of Germany donated $925 for construction of The Andrea Vogt Roadside Stand, a key component in guaranteeing economic self-sufficiency to the BiZoHa orphanage endeavor. Work was completed in June. BiZoHa is situated on seven acres of fertile agricultural land which will produce crops that can be sold at the Roadside Stand. Beverages and snacks can also be marketed, along with local crafts. BiZoHa is ideally located on the main highway that connects Kasese to Fort Portal in western Uganda.

SOLAR PANELS DONATED BY MACSEN JOHN REX AND JOHN DE BRABANDER

BiZoHa Orphanage is located on the equator and receives a wealth of sunshine most days. Through science we are harnessing the power freely and cleanly available from the sun to power our electricity needs. Two solar panels have been funded by generous $500 donations each from Macsen John Rex (powering the hostel and classroom) and John de Brabander (powering the kitchen and clinic). These are complete solar units comprised of a solar panel, regulator, main switch, solar battery, wires, lamps, conduits and connectors. Additional solar panels will be added as the campus expands. 

CHRISTINE DE BRABANDER KITCHEN

A kitchen was constructed in July 2015 thanks to a $1200 donation from Christine de Brabander of Delaware (USA). This will allow for storage and preparation of all meals for the ophans as well as for some future school children attending from the nearby community. BiZoHa will employ a cook, and ongoing funding will be appreciated from our supporters for salaries, equipment, and food supplies. 

ANDREA VOGT HEALTH CLINIC

Andrea Vogt generously funded a second building at BiZoHa, which will be a health clinic serving the orphanage, school and also the wider community. While it will not be able to handle all the medical needs of the area, it will be a great relief. Currently there is only one small government-run clinic serving the six local communities, and most essential drugs are not always available at that health unit. The Andrea Vogt Health Clinic will hire a trained medic with a small science lab for examining specimens and dispensing medications for common problems such as malaria and parasites. It will also provide health and hygiene education to the community. Ongoing funding will be appreciated from our supporters for the salary of the medical staff, medications, equipment such as microscope and examination tools, and various medical and first aid supplies.

Oguz Poroy Rainwater Harvesting TankS

In August of 2015, our first 2500 liter rainwater harvesting tank was been fitted between the Hostel and the Dr. Bruce Chou Classroom buildings at BiZoHa, where it will harvest rainwater from both buildings. The water collected will be used to supplement what we get from the tap and Muhokya River, and will be used to clean cooking utensils, bathing, washing clothes and cleaning toilets.

The funds making this possible was a $500 donation from a generous man named Oguz Poroy. As a sign of appreciation, the tank will bear his name fixed on the outside soon.His name also appears on the contributors wall at the site.We are very grateful and thank him for this generous contribution!

In November 2015, Mr. Poroy funded a much-needed second harvesting tank! We plan to have this installed before the next school term starts in February 2016. 

Zelevinsky family donates classroom

In August, Karen Zelevinsky donated $1000 to fund construction of the second classroom at BiZoHa. Work commenced as soon as materials were procured, and was completed in September. A sign affixed to the side of the building names it the Zelevinsky Classroom. The Zelevinsky family also have provided sponsorship of two orphans, who have moved in to the hostel on September 7th with our pioneer group of children.

The classroom construction is very important to our education phase of the BiZoHa project, as our plan includes a total of 6 classrooms at the site, which will comprise the BiZoHa Campus of the Kasese Humanist Primary School (KHPS). Besides our hostel orphans, we plan to enroll up to 200 local children in our school. Many are our students now attend KHPS at another campus where we have to rent classrooms, and we plan to move that campus to the BiZoHa site where tuition can help make our orphanage self-sustaining in the future. 

If you are interested in funding a classroom, we have sponsorship opportunities available and would be pleased to put your name on one of our buildings. Please see the Donate section for more information. 

Greg and Melinda BurnetT Donate Bright Future

Our third classroom was funded with a generous $1000 donation from Greg and Melinda Burnett, who have selected the inspiring name of Bright Future. In October 2015 the Bright Future Classroom was constructed to share a wall with the Zelevinsky Classroom, bringing us one big step closer to our goal of opening the BiZoHa Campus of the Kasese Humanist Primary School early in 2016. 

The Burnetts also sponsored two of our orphans, allowing them the opportunity to move to our BiZoHa campus where they will receive nurturing care, nutritious food, access to healthcare and tuition scholarship to our Humanist school. BiZoHa sends a big THANK YOU to the Burnetts and all of our kind donors around the world. 

musubaHo classroom

Attached to the Bright Future Classroom, the Musubaho Classroom is constructed in honor of Bwambale Robert Musubaho's "Grandie", who raised him when he was orphaned as a young boy. The Musubaho Classroom was completed in October 2015, as the fourth such classroom toward our (updated) goal of ten classrooms at the site. There is great community interest in this school, and tuition from local students will certainly make a strong contribution to the BiZoHa Humanist Orphanage to become self-sustaining. We are seeking sponsors for additional classrooms. Please see our Donate page if you would like to help!

loving heart, free mind, and helping hands

The Zelevinsky family made a very generous donation that funded construction of three additional classrooms, plus contributed to the general construction fund which is used for purposes such as the construction of 3 shower rooms, and private single rooms where live-in staff members will reside. We are so grateful to the Zelevinsky family for this kind donation, which goes a long way toward allowing us to achieve our goal to open the school campus with the February 2016 school term.

Karen Zelevinsky suggested the classroom names of Loving Heart, Free Mind, and Helping Hands. These names embody the Humanist values that we represent at BiZoHa, and we are very pleased with her suggested naming. Construction is underway in November 2015.

farmland added to bizoha site

The BIZOHA Campus of KHPS acquired new farmland next to the existing property, in the irrigation zone of Muhokya commonly known by locals as Rutoke. The land is spacious, with fertile alluvial soils, well connected by a road and located on the banks of River Muhokya. Planting crops in this area does not require one to time the season and changing weather pattern. Please see the News Story on our site for additional information about this property. We are excited for the possibilities toward becoming quite self-sufficient in feeding the children and also in selling food at our roadside stand.

final three classrooms are funded with construction underway

Dr. Bruce Chou Classroom #2 is sponsored by Dr. Bruce Chou, who was also our very first classroom sponsor. Dr. Chou, an anesthesiologist from California, demonstrated great faith in the project and the people behind it when the first classroom was constructed back in May, and we were delighted when he again offered funding for one of our final classrooms this month.

The Pegasystems Classroom is sponsored by Pegasystems, Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, MA and the leading provider of business process management (BPM) and customer relationship management (CRM) software solutions. We are pleased, proud and grateful to have this STEM company sponsoring a classroom at BiZoHa.

The final classroom sponsorship comes from Davida LeComte of Montreal, Canada. She has been a generous supporter and sponsor throughout the year, and we were excited to hear from her this week and welcomed her significant donation of a classroom and some additional funds for desks and other needs. Her classroom building will be completed in January, in plenty of time to meet the next term of school starting on February 22. 

These three classrooms are being constructed near the Roadside Stand, adding more privacy to the courtyard and school area from the road. 

solar panel, solar refrigerator, and desks galore

As the final preparations for the new school year are underway, we were very pleased to receive funding for two more solar panels for the site, funded by Scott Furciniti and Melanie  Carver. These solar panels will be used to light our classrooms with the abundant free energy from the sun that is available at our campus situated right on the equator.

We have also received funding for a solar refrigerator, which will help enable business at our roadside stand. Our plan is to sell cool, refreshing drinks and snack items on this busy roadway. This will provide a source of income for Bizoha, helping to make the orphanage self-sustaining. A donation from Patrick Ketaner makes the purchase of this solar refrigerator possible.

Many individuals have sponsored desks for the children and the students, and construction of those items is underway now. They are being built right at the Bizoha campus. We are very grateful for the generosity of all the donors who have made these items possible for our campus.