Our First Year

Just over one year ago, Global Playground was simply a concept, founded by five individuals with full-time occupations. And now, it has blossomed into an organization that has struck a chord in the hearts of hundreds of others like us who share our same passion. We are now comprised of diverse individuals who have ties to academia, banking, education, government, health, law, media, and nonprofits. Though we come from many specialties, we share one common belief: that through education, we can change the lives of children and the lives of generations to come.

To date, nearly 200 donors have given over $40,000 for our projects in developing countries. We have reached our goal of $32,000 to fund the construction of an 8-classroom school for approximately 300 primary students near Kampala, Uganda. An additional $8,000 will be contributed by Ugandan community members themselves in the form of labor. The school will be operated by the local government with the involvement of local community members. We have purchased land for our school, and construction is expected to begin in September. We hope to complete construction by early 2008. To witness this progress firsthand, we intend to make our second trip to Uganda in early 2008. Meanwhile, as the Uganda project continues, we have been busy exploring additional educational projects in Thailand, Cambodia, and other developing countries. In the coming months, we will announce our second project.

We thank you for your donations and support thus far. Each of you who has donated is a stakeholder in everything we do. We understand and appreciate the value of your donation. With no paid staff and all administrative expenses paid by Board members, we are able to see that your donation is applied directly to the project at hand.

We have significant challenges ahead of us. We have only just begun. We may stop briefly to celebrate our first year, but we do so with full knowledge that we have our work cut out for us. Twenty years from now, we hope to have touched not one community, but many around the world, and enabled them to use education as a means of both economic development and cross-cultural understanding.

This is the Global Playground. Thanks for helping us build it.