Vision for Change

Susan Ogwal Pittman moved to Babcock Ranch in 2018 with her husband Baxter and their son Saleem as one of the inaugural families in the country’s first solar powered town. Susan is a licensed physical therapist at Lee Memorial Hospital, while Baxter works in the insurance industry. Saleem is a senior at Babcock High School.

Beyond their local community, Susan and Baxter also work to improve lives in Uganda through their nonprofit organization, Nile Heritage Foundation. With the MAIN: The Foundation’s work includes building schools and installing spring wells for clean drinking water. motto “Decreasing poverty one village at a time,” the foundation is currently raising funds and building a school.

Originally from Atlanta, Ga., Baxter shares Susan’s passion for helping others, serving in the U.S. military for 22 years before retiring. Like many contemporary couples, they met online, fell in love and became a team supporting each other’s dreams. “I don’t think at first he believed I was serious about the Nile Foundation,” Susan quipped. “But he’s totally on board now. I couldn’t do it without his support.”

RIGHT: Susan sharing a joyous moment with children in Uganda.

The foundation has already purchased sewing machines and other equipment to teach valuable trade skills and improve the standard of living. They have also constructed two spring wells to provide families access to clean, drinkable water, which was not previously available. The school, called Got-Olal Academy, is slated to open their first three classrooms in the first quarter of 2025 with an enrollment of 150-200 students.

Susan grew up in Gotolal Village, a rural community of about 2,500 in Uganda, before she moved as a teenager with her family to Hutchinson, Kan. Her father was recruited to work there, marking a significant change in their lives. During the Ugandan civil war, times were diffi- cult for everyone in her village. Despite the hardships, Susan’s parents were dedicated to making a difference. They collected books and sent them back home, along with funds to support the schooling of individual students. Her father was an educator, and her mother was a researcher, roles that greatly influenced their commitment to helping others.

Community members and volunteers tirelessly work side by side, laying bricks and mixing cement under the hot sun. COURTESY PHOTOS

Susan has relatives who still reside in Gotolal Village, maintaining her connection to her roots. Although Susan’s parents are now gone, the spirit of giving back that they instilled in her continues to shape her actions, outlook on life, and the foundation’s mission.

In Uganda, parents must pay directly to educate their children in private schools, or the children go without an education. In addition, parents must supply firewood and food for the school. Her family’s village does not currently have their own school. It consists of small-scale farmers who make only about $180 annually. Like Southwest Florida, Gotolal has a dry season when crops do not grow, and food can be scarce. Climate change has also worsened the conditions.

“If poverty and hunger do not touch you, it’s hard to believe what that life is like,” she said. “Building a school would mean more jobs, opportunities and a better life for the villagers for generations to come. It’s possible to make a significant difference by taking even small steps.”

When Hurricane Ian struck this region in 2022, the Nile Heritage Foundation shifted some of its focus to Southwest Florida. They provided hot food for 70 women, children and staff at the Abuse Counseling and Treatment Center in Fort Myers.

Susan is also finding support for her foundation here at Babcock Ranch. The foundation is headquartered in The Hatchery office space located above Slater’s Goods & Provisions. The foundation’s booth at the Juneteenth celebration in late June in Founder’s Square raised enough funds to purchase a fourth sewing machine for the school. “We are making progress,” she said.

When she found Babcock Ranch, Susan sought a caring community with a small-town feel. She liked everything about the concept of Babcock Ranch: the innovative spirit, the solar power and a town with amenities that wasn’t a big city. The goal was to find a community with a neighborhood feel yet with amenities like a grocery store, a quality school Saleem could walk to and medical offices. “We were looking for our forever home where we could retire and grow old — not that we’re ready for that yet,” she said.

The Nile Heritage Foundation team is a diverse group of compassionate individuals, each bringing unique skills and a shared commitment to making a difference. COURTESY PHOTOS

Babcock Ranch met all the marks, including offering Saleem a good education. Previously, they lived in Lehigh Acres, and Saleem would have had to drive an hour each way to a school that had the programs he wanted to pursue. In Babcock Ranch, he has a 10-minute walk to school. “It’s much less stressful for him and us. He’s been comfortable meeting friends and taking classes here. Now, we are visiting colleges to determine where he will study,” said Susan.

Although it seems like worlds apart from Susan’s native African village, the two communities have similarities. One of those is solar power. Nearly every home in Gotolal has solar panels to charge cell phones and for lighting. Both also value educational opportunities for their children.

The school the Nile Heritage Foundation is building broke ground in March for three small classrooms for grades 1, 2 and 3. Plans are to add a cafeteria, grades 4, 5 and 6 soon and a medical clinic for students and the greater community.

Susan’s former homestead will serve as classrooms for nursery school and kindergarten. She also has plans to add a library and computer lab. The school campus will use solar power for lighting and biogas for cooking fuel.

In addition, the school will include a garden to teach sustainable crop growing and provide food for the school. She envisions adding an irrigation system, so the garden area is not at the mercy of Mother Nature, as most are in the region.

A masonry training program provides labor to help build the school, and the blocks are being made locally there as a part of that program. “It is already impacting the community by providing jobs and on-the-job training,” she explained. A similar collaboration will provide carpentry. “The goal is to make the school sustainable. Some concepts, such as biofuel and irrigation, are new to the area and can help the community at large.

If we are successful, we can branch out and help other people in the region.

“When we visit, I am struck by how the smallest things can make such a difference in people’s lives. The villagers are so kind and giving, but they have so little. They always want to give us food, primarily beans, because that is the most important thing to them.”

During one recent visit, Saleem enjoyed seeing his cousins and chasing the goats around because that was new to him. He was amazed at how easily the local boys climbed the mango trees. When visiting a cousin’s classroom, he wanted to correct one of the teachers on some information. “I had to tell him to stop that because although he may have been right, it was viewed as disrespectful. What I’ve learned in life is that you have to meet people where they are in life to help them, or you don’t get anywhere. You can’t come in and impose your ideas on them. You have to ask what they need and meet them there.”

Visit nileheritagefoundation.org for more information.

The post Vision for Change first appeared on Babcock Ranch Telegraph .