Rockville Centre residents work on a trans-Atlantic charity mission

A landlocked country in East Africa, Uganda may be thousands of miles away from Rockville Centre, but to the Garrity family of Peter, Delia and their daughter Trish, who visited there last summer on a humanitarian mission, there is a close connection.

H.E.L.P. International, an outreach organization that got its hands on a school in Africa, reached out to the Garritys: Peter is a mathematics education professor at Columbia University and Delia is a retired educator and former assistant superintendent in the Rockville Centre school district. The Garrity’s educational background was a perfect match for H.E.L.P., and the couple said they were more than happy to visit the impoverished village of Masese — a place that lacked an educational system.

The new school they established last year with their daughter includes pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first and second grade classes. It just recently added a third grade class. “The kids are mature and have a knack for learning,” Pete Garrity, a 19-year veteran of the Rockville Centre Little League, said about the students and the school they can finally attend. “This little educational opportunity has become a center for the community.”

Uganda requires its students to take standardized exams in English, Garrity said, and seven schools in Rockville Centre raised money and collected school supplies to donate to Masese in an effort to improve the quality of life and better the educational opportunities for its children. “[It] was missing education and the situation was pretty desperate,” Delia said. “But the people had a remarkably positive attitude and were very appreciative of everything we did.”

Delia added that Rockville Centre residents also donated to the effort: by providing clothing and money of their own. With the support of the community, the Garrity family opened the school for 40 students — it now accommodates more than 300.