On Wednesday, February 12, Campus Ambassadors and Young Ambassadors for Opportunity welcomed Thomas Balya Bugembe for a live chat.

Thomas is a school proprietor in Uganda who has grown the Maryhill Primary School and Kindergarten outside of Kampala, Uganda from 37 students to over 700 students with tools and training from Opportunity International. One of 13 children, Thomas and his brother were the only two siblings who were able to go to secondary school. After briefly attending seminary, Thomas became a porter, carrying supplies around the local market. It was here that he met the man that would become his mentor and benefactor, paying his way through college so that Thomas could become a teacher. It wasn’t long before Thomas had left his teaching post to start Maryhill, providing high-quality education to hundreds of children in his community.

In addition to his responsibilities running a school, Thomas has also launched a successful juice company for additional income, educated the parents of his students about Opportunity International and taken in 27 orphans to raise as his own.

Thomas is an inspiration to us all. He says, “I want to thank boldly Opportunity Bank, Opportunity donors, staff and everybody. Behind Thomas, there are so many Thomas’s [who benefit from] Opportunity Bank. So God bless Opportunity Bank. God bless everybody.”