BUILDING TOMORROW INC

Roots to Rise is Building Tomorrow’s signature literacy and numeracy program based on the proven Teaching at the Right Level methodology, adapted for the rural Uganda context. In schools, the program is implemented through two 25-day camps, one in literacy and one in numeracy. In 2019, after five weeks of literacy camp, 51% of some 13,000 participants were able to read a paragraph, versus only 8% at baseline. Similarly, after five weeks of numeracy camp, 43% of students could perform all basic math functions, versus a mere 1% at baseline. Roots to Rise is meeting the overwhelming need to bring rural learners up to grade level through the mastery of basic skills.

In 2021, Building Tomorrow adapted Roots to Rise for delivery outside the classroom (“Roots to Rise Community”). We also launched Roots to Rise Ewaka (“at home” in Luganda), a distance learning tool to teach numeracy on demand through basic mobile phones utilizing interactive voice response technology.

Tomorrow is Now leverages the energy, community-building expertise, and leadership of Building Tomorrow Fellows Alumni to elevate the Community Education Volunteer (CEV) model to the systems level for sustainable impact. With the support of the Mastercard Foundation, we have hired 16 Fellows Alumni as Technical Advisors (TAs), who are working in administrative offices in five pilot districts. TAs are building the capacity of local leaders to adopt and manage the CEV model, and to deliver Roots to Rise using CEVs and other community assets. They also support local capacity for collecting and managing school data. All 62 participating Sub-Counties have adopted their own CEV manuals, and together with TAs, they have recruited more than 4,000 CEVs through the program.

Building Tomorrow is committed to ensuring all children have the opportunity to learn, regardless of ability or background. Though we seek to mainstream inclusive approaches throughout our programming, we make a concerted effort to ensure that children with disabilities are included. We train Building Tomorrow Fellows in Universal Design for Learning (UDL)-driven practices. Through a Training of Trainers (ToT) approach, Fellows train Community Education Volunteers on UDL. We also work closely with local government to train leaders on UDL, which can be implemented in their interactions with school leaders and teachers.

Fellows and CEVs also work to recruit Junior Kennedy Fellows, who are children with or without disabilities who are committed to helping support their peers with a disability. In 2021 alone, Fellows and CEVs recruited 98 Junior Kennedy Fellows, who have helped advocate for the enrollment of 359 children with disabilities in Roots to Rise Community camps.

To expand access to education, Building Tomorrow has constructed 82 government-aided primary schools in underserved communities across Uganda. These efforts have created safe classroom space for over 25,000 students in partnership with the communities we serve and Government of Uganda.