.jpg?h=600&iar=0&w=900&rev=a671695f1ded429d82ae2973e781f60d&hash=38935B7E566391242959A92755570771 "NAS-Dubai-Sixth-Form-Open-Evening-Guidance-Discussion.jpg")
.jpg?h=499&iar=0&w=887&rev=ba9c657b06bd426fa2129ecb75c65308&hash=1C2AB01B256FF64BF318490D47AE266F "principal-classroom-visit-nas-dubai.jpg")
We use cookies to improve your online experiences. To learn more and choose your cookies options, please refer to our cookie policy.
Did you know, according to UNESCO, over 244 million children and young people worldwide are out of school? In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, millions of children still struggle to access consistent, quality education due to poverty, conflict and limited infrastructure. These statistics act as a straightforward but important reminder that since education is a privilege, we also need to acknowledge responsibility.
We have the privilege of attending school. For many of us in Dubai, education is expected, with a structured routine, modern classrooms, technology at our fingertips, and teachers who support us every day. Parents are fortunate to be able to choose private education for their children, carefully selecting schools that align with their goals and values for their children's futures. However, this is not always the case around the world.
At NAS Dubai, we have come together as a community to raise funds and awareness for Bwindi Plus Orphanage School in Uganda, a school that helps children whose access to education is anything but guaranteed.
Social impact is more than charity. It is the deliberate action of improving lives in a sustainable, measurable way. The goal is to create change that lasts long after an event has ended. Education remains one of the most powerful tools for lasting transformation. Studies consistently show that when children receive consistent education, communities experience lower poverty rates, improved health outcomes, and stronger economic growth. Education is the foundation upon which opportunity is built. That belief is what led us to Moses, one individual with a vision that began as a small act of compassion and grew into something life changing.
Bwindi Plus Orphanage School was founded in southwestern Uganda, near the dense forests of the Bwindi region, an area known globally for its mountain gorillas but also home to communities facing significant economic hardship.
The founder, Moses, began with a simple mission: provide vulnerable and orphaned children with access to education and a safe environment. Many of the children he encountered had lost parents due to illness, poverty, or regional instability. Some were living with extended family members who struggled to provide even the most basic necessities.
In June 2025, during a visit to Uganda, Mrs. Walsh (Secondary English Teacher) met Moses, the founder of Bwindi Plus Orphanage School. She was deeply moved by his unwavering commitment to transforming the lives of vulnerable children through education, care, and compassion.
She saw classrooms filled with children eager to learn despite limited resources. She saw teachers working tirelessly, often with minimal materials. She listened to stories of students walking 7 to 8 kilometres every single day to reach school, crossing rivers, navigating uneven paths, and sometimes travelling from areas close to the Uganda–DRC border.
That experience marked the beginning of a growing relationship between NAS Dubai and Bwindi Plus. As Social Impact and Charity Lead this year, Mrs. Walsh recognised that this connection was both natural and meaningful. Securing this partnership became a key goal of the Charity Committee.
Lauren Walsh: "By helping to support a community in Bwindi, Uganda, we're naturally building our own, too. Our involvement – no matter how big or small – is so powerful and so unbelievably appreciated by Moses and the children in Uganda, but I underestimated how powerful it would be for our own community; watching us all come together (including students from every year group) for a cause like this has been truly special and a testament to the wonderful and caring community at NAS Dubai."
Bwindi Plus currently supports 443 children, including 113 high school students. For many of these children, school is more than a classroom; it becomes a place that offers safety, structure and hope. Yet one of the school’s most urgent needs is the construction of safe on-site dormitories. Without them, students face long and potentially dangerous daily journeys, often walking significant distances simply to attend lessons. Imagine being expected to focus on exams after hours of travel or worrying about your safety before the school day has even begun. What would your child’s education look like without secure rest, consistent shelter or peace of mind? Dormitories would provide more than just shelter; they would also provide protection, stability, and the foundation that every child requires in order to learn.
Equally pressing is the need for a dedicated library and learning centre. Currently, Bwindi Plus has no library, meaning limited access to books, study materials, internet connectivity and essential research resources. Globally, research consistently shows that access to reading materials significantly improves literacy rates and long-term academic success. However, in this case, students preparing for national examinations are doing so without the very tools many of us consider basic. How different would your own educational journey have been without books, online research or quiet study space? A fully equipped library would dramatically expand opportunity, supporting higher academic achievement, greater digital literacy and stronger pathways to university and future careers.
The needs are clear, and the potential impact is truly transformational.
Four Year 10 students, Nael, Kayan, Siyuan, and Eline, took the initiative and applied for the Nord Anglia Social Impact and Charity Grant. Through a powerful video and written application, they demonstrated their commitment to global citizenship.
Their successful bid secured funding that will help them:
Eline Melcherts:
“We have worked incredibly hard for this grant, and receiving it means more to us than words can express. We are so excited for the journey ahead with the orphanage in Uganda and for the opportunity to finally make our dreams tangible.”
Siyuan Chen:
“Receiving this grant means so much more than funding. It gives us the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of many, and I’m so excited to see our project unfold.”
Their leadership proves that age is never a barrier to impact.
One of our first major initiatives was a Sponsored Community Walk at Kite Beach in early February, a simple idea with powerful meaning. Participants walked 7 to 8 kilometres, intentionally matching the distance many Bwindi Plus students travel every single day just to access education. In the comfort of a weekend morning, sponsored by House of Pops for ice cream and BIC for stationery. BIC is committed to supporting students around the world by providing them with the necessary tools for self-expression and academic performance.
.jpg?rev=6d13b8d6fc6e44bbaf371b49248dc1e3&hash=4105B86E7A054998FAE2B61D272119FD)
Our community stepped into the experience of what that daily commitment looks like. What would it feel like for your child to walk that distance before lessons even begin? Would exhaustion replace focus? The walk wasn’t just about fundraising; it was about understanding the perspective.
This marked the beginning of what we hope will become a long-term partnership rooted in meaningful impact and sustainable growth. We are only at the start of this journey, yet the response from Bwindi Plus has already been incredibly positive. With the strength of the NAS Dubai parent community behind it, this initiative has the potential to grow into something truly life changing. Alongside the walk, many of our staff and students also took on the Burj to Burj Half Marathon, with special recognition to Ashaan Sohal, who turned his personal endurance challenge into a fundraising mission, raising 6,240 AED. His determination is a reminder that one individual’s commitment can ripple outward, inspiring collective generosity and real, tangible change. If one student can create that level of impact, what could we achieve together?
This relationship between NAS Dubai and Bwindi Plus is about far more than fundraising totals or one-off events. It is about recognising the privilege of access to education, to safety, to opportunity and choosing to use that privilege to lift others.
We may be separated by geography, time zones and circumstance, but we are united by something far stronger: purpose. Education transforms lives, alters trajectories, and opens doors that seemed permanently closed. We have the ability to change the lives of 443 children as a community and many more in the years to come.
The question is no longer whether change is possible, but rather how far we are prepared to run and walk in order to bring about change.
Podcast: Episode 3: One Dream, Many Hands – Building Hope in Uganda
https://www.instagram.com/bic_group/
https://www.instagram.com/houseofpops.ae/