The Beck Group of Dallas, TX, has joined an alliance agreement to help develop a public secondary school in Kampala, Uganda, to serve orphaned and vulnerable children there. The Empower African Children School Alliance is an alliance between Empower African Children, a Dallas nonprofit NGO dedicated to advancing the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa; ProTech Services of San Francisco, CA, an environmental and ecological design and water treatment solutions company; and The Beck Group of Dallas, which provides integrated development, architecture and construction services.
“In Uganda, where half of the population is under the age of 14, only 15 percent of primary-aged children who attend public schools go on to attend secondary school,” says Alexis Hefley, founder and chief executive officer of Empower African Children.
The 20-plus acre campus will initially include a sustainable secondary school for 400 students that will minimize the carbon footprint by using sustainable and recycled materials, green products and a design that reduces energy use and dependence. The Alliance envisions the school as a scalable model that can be replicated throughout Africa. Betsy Del Monte, an architect with expertise in sustainability and green building, will head the design team in coordination with Ugandan architect Jonathan Nsubuga, principal, J.E. Nsubuga & Associates.