The boda literally skids to a stop and the driver turns off
the engine.
That means we’ve arrived.
I take a minute to try to figure out exactly where I am. I am used to the
ministry van bringing me directly to the school. Although things look familiar,
I cannot see the school from here. I hop down from the boda and pay the driver.
As I turn around, I hear a familiar laugh.
“Auntie Cassie! You are most welcome!”
Mr. Nickolas has walked up to the road to greet me with a hug and make sure I
find the school.
As we walk down the windy, dirt road and through the
neighborhood, people call out to Mr. Nickolas to say hello. It’s obvious that everyone
knows him and he is well loved.
We turn the corner next to a few family-owned shops and I
can’t help but smile.
The voices of children reciting a well-known cheer for their
classmate who has answered something correctly rings through air.
A few children have yelled down the road, announcing my arrival, so some
children have escaped their classes and are waiting for me in the courtyard.
With the smile that always stretches across his face, Mr.
Nickolas says, “The children have been disturbing me a lot asking when you are
coming! They are excited to see you!”
We walked around the back of the first structure and ducked
into a small classroom, smaller than a bedroom, but seating more than thirty smiling
children, none older than four years old.
Seconds after entering the room, I am immersed in a
class-wide hug. All the children had left their seats and ran, as quickly as
possible, to get to me.
Mr. Nickolas is talking, but whether to me or the children,
I am unsure, because his voice is lost in the giggles of the children as they
express their excitement to see me.
This happens five more times.
I am taken to five more classrooms of children ranging from
three years old to thirteen years old.
Each classroom immediately greets me with hugs, songs, dancing, clapping, and lots and
lots of giggles.
I have never felt more loved and welcomed!
The love the children at New Brainstorm give is in direct
correlation to the love that they have received from Mr. Nickolas.
I first met Mr. Nickolas in 2012 when we came to his school
to do a program. His joy and love were the same then and I left wanting to be
involved with the school even more.
In 1996, Mr. Nickolas was part of a church fellowship. The
pastor had a heart for orphans and street children. He fed them and provided
for them. Nickolas was impacted by his pastor’s actions and had dreams to help
out those less fortunate someday.
In 2010, after spending some time hawking curry powder and
tea leaves on the busy Ugandan streets, Mr. Nickolas decided he wanted
something more for his life. He approached a friend and told her about his vision
to help village children and street children. He had a dream to start a school
for them.
They secured a small piece of land in the highland of a swap
for a very good price. And, through networking with friends and colleagues,
they were able to get some timber given to them to begin the school.
In 2011, the first classroom of Brainstorm Nursery and Primary
School was constructed. The small, one room timber structure was a beginning,
but it was just the beginning of their dream.
 |
| 2012 |
School in Uganda is not free. Even the cheapest village
schools is something a lot of parents cannot afford. When they have to choose between
food/rent for the family or an education for one child, education isn’t a
priority. For this reason, many children are not in school.
Mr. Nickolas wanted to lift the burden of school fees for
these families.
What started off as a few children from the neighboring community
quickly grew to be more children than their one-room structure could accommodate.
They purchased more timber and added more rooms onto the pre-existing
one. The more rooms they added, the more children showed up for classes.
With the completion of two building wings, Brainstorm had
enough classrooms to allow each class to have its own room, from baby class to
primary seven.
 |
| The structures in 2012 |
The following year wasn’t without challenges of its own,
though.
Mr. Nickolas’ friend and partner at Brainstorm, passed away suddenly
while delivering a child in her home. Suddenly, he was alone in his dreams for
the school.
The same year, the local government was threatening to close
his school and even imprison him for his wooden structure not being up to their
standards. They told him he had no business running a school. He replied that
he did not, but that God did, so he would continue running it for God’s glory.
Unfortunately, the poorly-constructed wooden structure
couldn’t stand the test of time. After only a few years, it eventually
collapsed upon itself. While saddened by its collapse, Mr. Nickolas didn’t lose
faith. Instead, he placed everything in God’s hands and asked him to provide.
A man from South Sudan called Mr. Nickolas and made him an
offer; he said he should come use his land and buildings in the middle of Kampala
for the school- free of charge.
The school received new land, new students from the
community, new hope, and a new name: New Brainstorm.
A year and a half later, New Brainstorm is continuing to
grow and thrive in their new location.
Recently, Mr. Nickolas hired all new teachers, all of whom
have a teaching degree or certificate; something that not even the big schools in
Uganda care about when hiring teachers. He cares about the education of the
children so deeply that he is striving to find the best equipped teachers in
Uganda for his students.
In the five years since opening its doors, Mr. Nickolas has
never chased a child from New Brainstorm due to school fees. While he asks for
parents to contribute something- whatever amount they can, to pay for the
teachers and supplies needed- he doesn’t demand anything. In Ugandan schools,
fees are due after the first week of the term and, if you fail to pay, they
chase you from school and do not allow you to learn. Mr. Nickolas realizes some
things are more important than money.
 |
| October 2016 |
While they have come a long way, Mr. Nickolas believes God
has even bigger plans for New Brainstorm.
They have recently purchased a plot of land in a village to
grow their own food, both to sell and to be able to feed the children during
their lunchtime (meals are almost never provided for children in Ugandan
schools like they are in American schools) and many students go the entire day
until evening without eating. Most people understand the correlation between a
full stomach and the ability to learn. Their days are made even longer and more
difficult when you know the distances they travel. In order to receive this free
education, some parents send their children to school over two miles from their
homes. Every day, these children, as young as three years old, walk two miles
to and from school. Now, imagine walking two miles at 6 a.m. with no food,
sitting and learning all day, packing your bags and walking another two miles
at 4 p.m. to a home where there might not be dinner that night.
 |
| Teaching at Brainstorm in 2012 |
The man from South Sudan who has allowed New Brainstorm to
use his land for the past year and a half is now wanting to sell the land or,
at least, get money from the school to help him pay for it. Mr. Nickolas’ dream
is to be able to purchase this large plot of land, parts of which are undeveloped
and parts of which have structures on it, and develop the two school buildings
into a beautiful, spacious compound with room for the children to play netball,
football, and act like children. The land is also titled, something not too
common in Uganda, which means its ownership would be completely legally theirs
and the government could not do anything to it or take it away at any point.
He dreams to, one day, have all the children in uniforms. Considering
most of the children cannot afford school fees, they certainly don’t have the
money to purchase uniforms. Costing just over $6 for each child, even that is
an amount the children simply cannot afford. Currently, there are around 25 children
who are unable to afford a uniform at New Brainstorm.
God is doing a mighty thing at New Brainstorm and I’ve been
honored to be asked to be a small part of it!
As of right now, I will be partnering with New Brainstorm
every Tuesday from now until I leave.
(I hope that my schedule will remain open and available that I can go more
frequently, but I feel like I am supposed to be there on Tuesday for sure. So,
right now, that is what I’m committing to.)
During my time at New Brainstorm, I will be teaching some
classes, helping with administrative things, and, of course loving on the children.
The children love to write letters and have always tried to find pen pals in
other countries, so I’ve reached out on social media, as well, and found a good
number of people with children and teachers who expressed an interest in having
pen pals. I will also be helping the children improve their English and
conversational skills through their letter writing. Plus, they’ll get to learn
more about America and make friends, in the process!
 |
| My pen pals from 2012 |
If you couldn’t tell by the information I’ve provided, Mr.
Nickolas and his wife have huge hearts and have larger-than-life faith in God and
his provisions- both for their lives and for New Brainstorm. The 29-year-olds
have three boys under six years old, a home that is always filled with children
from New Brainstorm visiting, a successful primary school with certified and
educated teachers, and a small fellowship of believers that they help feed with
the Word of God and encourage, and a heart to continuously give more to those
in need or to make others feel welcome.
While the door has just opened for my partnership with New
Brainstorm, I couldn’t be more excited about the future and the possibilities that
are ahead with them!
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