The Building Hope Project

Dreaming Big

Elizabeth is the founder and president of the RDL Building Hope Society; a charitable organization that is presently building schools in Kenya.  The dream of this society is to allow every child in the world the opportunity to have an education.

The Kenya Project

In 2010 Elizabeth sat with a group of junior high students and initiated a discussion about what could be done as a global project.  She wondered aloud, “Wouldn’t it be incredible to build a school in Africa?”  The seed was planted.

Elizabeth then founded and is president of the registered Canadian charity RDL Building Hope Society.  The dream of the organization is to provide the opportunity for every child in the world to have a chance at an education.  She gathered together 10 committed adults to work on the project,including Rick Castiglione, who offered to document the project in film.  They, along with the students, staff and parents from Red Deer Lake School, raised enough money in one year to build a two-classroom addition to a school in Ewaso Ngiro, Kenya.  In April 2011, she traveled to Kenya with her husband Jim, and 4 others to see the the two new classrooms and to meet with their partners in the project, Kamishina (David) Ole Nkuito and Merry Purcell-Nkuito.  The seed was watered.

A magnificent relationship has been formed between RDL Building Hope and the Massai people in Ewaso Ngiro, Kenya.  Through partnership with the Nairoshi Foundation and thanks to generous donations from the Red Deer Lake community, and from many others around the world,  RDL Building Hope has completed the following projects to date:


1.  Two classrooms at Enkare Ngiro School in Ewaso Ngiro
2.  Planning and opening of the Building Hope Academy, a school for children aged 4 - 8 including:
  • 8 completed classrooms
  • a teachers quarters housing 4 teachers and containing running water
  • provision of two meals daily for the students
  • Washroom facilities
  • A garden
  • professional development for the teachers at Building Hope Academy
3.  Connection of a water well for the Maasai community
4.  Sponsorship of 33 students to go to high school
5.  Providing supplies to the students at Enkare Ngiro School
6.  Providing materials to help with exam preparation for               grade 8 students at Enkare Ngiro school
7.  Communication between students in the Red Deer Lake
8.  Community and the sponsored students
Current Projects include
Two more classrooms at Building Hope Academy
Additional Teachers quarters
A reverse osmosis system to purify the water from the well
Purchase of a mini van to help transport remote young students to school
Sponsorship of students to attend school
Additional student washroom facilities
“If you think in terms of a year, plant a tree; in terms of ten years, plant a tree; in terms of one hundred years, teach the people.” - Confucius

Watch the documentary, Dreaming Out Loud
Visit the Building Hope Society Website