Uganda’s First Vegan School Wins International Kindness Award

For Immediate Release:
March 2, 2023

Contact:
Robin Goist 202-483-7382

In celebration of the first primary school in Uganda to treat students to healthy, all-vegan food, Atlas Vegan Community School has won a Compassionate School Award from TeachKind, PETA’s humane education division. Included with the award is a box brimming with free teaching materials, including Share the World empathy lessons for young students and a $1,000 donation toward their good work.

Established by the charity LUV4ALL, Atlas Vegan Community School helps local children eat in a way that avoids speciesism—the harmful belief that other animals are inferior to humans, despite their extraordinary talents and intelligence. The curriculum is especially relevant to Uganda, which “sleeping sickness”—and other zoonotic illnesses that spread easily on farms—and the climate catastrophe, driven by the meat, dairy, and egg industries, have hit harder than other countries.

“TeachKind is delighted to honor Uganda’s first vegan school for showing students how to build a kinder, healthier, better world for all,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg. “Kindness is the curriculum at Atlas Vegan Community School, where kids eat nutritious meals that benefit animals, the planet, and human health.”

Each person who goes vegan saves nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint, and helps prevent future pandemics. COVID-19 is believed by many experts to have stemmed or spread from a live-animal meat market, and SARS, swine flu, and bird flu have also been linked to confining and killing animals for food.

TeachKind’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way.” The group offers presentations, lessons, and other resources to help teachers add compassion to their curriculum. For more information, please visit TeachKind.org or follow the group on Facebook or Instagram.