Introducing Helen: Acting CEO

Hello, Helen here. I’m very fortunate to be taking the role of Acting CEO at School for Life whilst Annabelle gets to know her little one.

Helen and her two girls (Image supplied).

Top level me: I’m one of four girls and I feel pretty lucky one of them is my twin. We all attended Wenona on Sydney’s North Shore and I went to university in country NSW. Mum is one of my heroes and I also have a stellar stepdad and stepsiblings as part of my extended family. A few years ago, I married a lovely guy who I consider pretty spunky. We’re having a go at raising our two girls to feel empowered, confident and kind.

I LOVE a good cup of tea, book (although with two small kids it takes me much longer to read a whole book) and hearing stories told.

Bit of a deeper dive: When we were in our early teens, Mum took all four of us to live in Cape Town to engage with our extended family and see country she’d grown up in. She wanted us to understand how South Africa, along with the rest of the continent, can get under your skin – the music, the people and the challenges people have suffered and continue to suffer.

We saw extreme poverty, extreme division and inequality. The gap between black and white so obvious it was difficult not to be uncomfortable.

Race shouldn’t play a part in anyone’s life or determine how anyone is treated. Just because something has been, it doesn’t mean it has to continue to be.

In my time in South Africa I gained further understanding of the unfairness of inequality and the value education can truly have. Nobody deserves to be considered lesser and we all have the power to act and choose the extent to which we live it and give to others.

My choices following university led me to travel – to explore different avenues for a few years. When I really sat and listened to myself though, I wanted to activate more purposefully, and use my position of a very privileged life in a more positive way.

Helen (left) and her twin sister, Elizabeth. (Image supplied).

I have spent my last nine and a half years at AIME (used to be called Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience) acting as Partnerships Director and close support to CEO and Founder, Jack Manning Bancroft.

Together with a team of between 75-150 throughout those years, we had the privilege of engaging with thousands of marginalised high school students and volunteer university students to deliver a structured mentoring model. With the AIME program, students transition and complete school at a significantly higher rate and of course, as we already know, with education doors open, cycles of disadvantage can stop.

Whilst at AIME I also studied briefly at INSEAD allowing me to access brilliant minds around the globe and further cement the belief that education can open worlds, create influential connections and shift futures.

I’ve known about School for Life since its early days keeping in touch with Annabelle and attending a few of the epic Gala Balls. When AIME expanded into Uganda, School for Life was a first port of call, taking Jack and some of the team to Katuuso.

I now have the great privilege to be a part of the core School for Life team and I’m so excited.

In addition to providing support to Annabelle while she understands her personal strength even further, I hope to work closely with the teams in both Australia and Uganda to see 1,400+ young people back through the School for Life doors, providing them with a safe learning environment and ultimately allowing them to focus - on themselves, their futures – just imagine what they’re all capable of!

Camping in Tanzania with her twin, celebrating their joint 30th (Image supplied).

Fun Facts

  • Are you a coffee or tea drinker? Tea can calm any situation or person I think. Definitely tea.

  • What book have you read that has left the biggest impression on you? Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson left a mark in my teens, showcasing the impact of imagination, loss and being true to self.

  • What's your favourite meal? I have a few, but Italian cuisine partnered with a lovely red is definitely a favourite.

  • Where's the most interesting place you've ever been? Camping on the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania was an interesting highlight. My twin sister and I wanted to be in Africa close to nature for our 30th birthday together.

  • What would you say is your greatest achievement (can be personal or professional)? Becoming a mother and parenting in general is a daily daunting task and crowning personal achievement.

  • What was your first job? I was a nanny for a few families so I learned early how being present and in the moment can influence even the littlest of people!

Success Stories
Goretti

Sweet and shy Goretti lives with her aunt, uncle and cousins in a small house in the local village. When Goretti was younger, she moved in with her aunt and uncle because her parents could no longer look after her. She was one of our first students at Katuuso Primary, starting in 2011 when she was just 4 years old. Now, Goretti is in Senior One at Mbazzi High School, and is relishing the honour of being a high school student in her community - something that is taken for granted in Australia, but in Uganda, represents freedom and opportunity. Goretti also loves attending School for Life because she hopes to one day become a pilot in Uganda - a dream which she knows can only be reached with the help of a good education.

Violah

Violah has been at School for Life since since she was six years old. Sadly, Violah has experienced hardship no child should ever deal with. Her Dad passed away three years ago, leaving her Mum without the financial means to support her family - so she left Violah and her siblings with their elderly grandmother. Every day, Violah has to wake up at 5am to fetch water, cook meals and make sure that her younger sisters are properly looked after. Then she walks half an hour to get to school. Despite this adversity, Violah has flourished at school and has made many friends. She loves that School for Life is "helping me to build a future". After finishing school, Violah hopes to become a teacher to help other children.

Umar

Umar is one of our best performing students at Mbazzi Riverside High School - but life has not always been easy for Umar. His father abandoned the family in 2015, leaving his mother to struggle to support her five children on her own. School for Life has provided Umar with opportunities that may never else have eventuated for him. Umar begun his journey with School for Life at Katuuso Primary School, where his academic ability was quickly revealed. Now, he is a thriving member of our Senior 1 class and a formidable wing on the football team. With a love for mathematics, Umar is set on studying electronic engineering after finishing his senior studies - a goal which he is the first to admit is now within reach thanks to the skills and resources provided to him by School for Life.

Rose Nambooze

Rose is a 32‐year‐old single mother of one. She started working with SFL in 2013, after taking part in our tailoring training program. Prior to working with us, she was unemployed and living in her father's home helping to care for her father, who had cataracts, and his farm.
Thanks to her full time employment, Rose was able to save enough money to pay for an eye operation and restore her father's sight, allowing him to return to work as a mechanic. Now, Rose has moved into her own home and no longer relies on her father financially. 

Joseph

Joseph is one of our Special Needs teachers at Katuuso. After surviving a severe case of malaria at age four, he was left permanently deaf. He was raised by his single mother and attended a nursery school for the handicapped and later transferred to a school for the Deaf in Kampala. He eventually mastered sign language and pursued a university degree in education. Joseph decided to become a teacher so that he could give the gift of education to others who are hearing impaired.

Teddy Namatovu

Teddy is a participant in the Kumi Tailoring Program and four of her five children attend Katuuso Primary School. She and her husband farm two acres of land, which supplies fluctuating revenue. Participation in the Kumi Tailoring Project has secured income to reliably pay for school fees, nutritious meals and renovations to the family home. Teddy has gained a great deal of self-esteem from her ability to support her family and she takes pride in independently financing the education of all five children. Teddy has also been working on her numeracy and administration skills. She was appointed Treasurer of the tailoring group and will be responsible for keeping records of their savings.

Flaviah Nassaazi

Flaviah Nassaazi started working at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School in 2011. Prior to cooking at the school, she and her husband were subsistence farmers. They worked tirelessly for small yields and minimal income to support their family. Flaviah's cooking job not only enables her to pay school fees for her children, but she has also invested in a local barbershop business. She is now passing her cooking skills onto her eldest son Frank, who has also joined the school's cooking staff. Flaviah and her husband attend the adult literacy classes offered weekly at the school. Her English and reading have improved immensely, as well as her confidence.

Rachel

In 2010, Rachel began as a cleaner at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School. She was working to save money to study to be a teacher at University. Thanks to Barrie and Simone Goldsmith, her dream of studying came true and she is now fully qualified.