WHO WE ARE 
OUR HISTORY. In 1986, at the height of the civil war, our founder, then a youth advocate in her native country of Uganda, came up with the idea to mobilize villagers find a way to help children affected by war to continue with their education.
Rhoi was determined to break the never-ending cycle of poverty that is passed down from generation to generation. Without any start-up funds, she embarked on a grassroots campaign educating villagers and anyone she could talk to, on the importance of children's education. She raised small amounts of money to help pay school fees for war-affected children in Uganda. Her one-on-one crusade gave a voice to the youth and rural women inciting hope in every village that invited her to speak.
Relocation to the US. In 1988, we held our first event in Washington, DC to raise money for children in Uganda. At that time, ARK had not yet been registered as a nonprofit organization. The purpose was not only to continue to pay school fees for war affected children, but also to support those orphaned by AIDS.
Inaugural Milestone Event. In 1991, the ARK Foundation received its 501(c) 3 nonprofit status, at a time when Uganda was the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We were among the few organizations in Washington, DC to publicly campaign in support of African children affected by HIV/AIDS. We held house-to-house parties to raise money to support orphans and their caretakers. This was the year when ARK recruited its first board of directors.
First Grant. In 1992, we celebrated our first grant of $5,000 from the New England Biolabs Foundation to train families affected by AIDS in basic hygiene, community mobilization to fight HIV/AIDS and to support the construction of pit-latrines to prevent communicable diseases.
Going Regional. In 1995, our founder led a team of 12 supporters to villages in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to witness the devastation HIV/AIDS was waging on children, women and their families. Upon their return to the US, the ARK Foundation board of directors voted to expand its services to the rest of East Africa.
Expanding Our Strategic Approach. In 2005, the ARK Foundation began to change its approach. Building on our successes and lessons learned from the field, we recognized the dynamics of Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and their contribution to Africa's social fabric. We started focusing on building partnerships with indigenous CBOs, with the goal of strengthening their internal capacity and service delivery.
Where We Are Today. We are actively engaged with all our stakeholders including our program beneficiaries to ensure that ARK's activities are extended to as many children as possible. Principally, to have access to preschool and secondary school education. We have strategically expanded our programs to focus on areas where the need is greatest.
Our experience has proved that ARK's comprehensive approach to education is keeping the most vulnerable children in school with almost a 93% secondary school graduation rate. A high percentage of students served by ARK perform above average on government national examinations.
