Sunday February 28th, 2021, was a historical day at School for Life as we welcomed our first group of boarding school students.
Students arriving with their parents.
A new place to call home.
It was a perfect, sunny day as the school bus pulled into the drive way leading to the newly built girls’ boarding facility at our Mbazzi High School campus, the sun reflecting off the silvery tin roofs of the four dormitory blocks arranged around a rectangular quadrangle.
You could see eyes widen with eager and nervous anticipation as the group of girls on the bus took in the sights of their new home. Smiles erupted as they saw the future that lay ahead of them - a safe, secure and welcoming space where they could grow and learn and thrive. And most importantly, complete their secondary education to further their chances of achieving their dreams.
But even before the school bus was on it’s way to the new Senior girls’ boarding house carrying a group from the Katuuso village, a student had already arrived on foot with her parents so excited to move in that she had turned up at 8am. Talk about commitment!
The first student.
The first student to arrive at boarding school was Christine, a Senior 3 student who has been with School for Life since she was in Primary 1. This makes her one of our first ever students when we were just starting out!
Christine is the youngest of her siblings who have all since left home and her parents are farmers who grow a variety of crops, including cassava, maize and beans, to earn a living. She loves social studies, science and playing netball, and she tells us that she aspires to become an accountant one day so that she can change the course of not only her life, but that of her family as well.
A fully-equipped boarding facility in rural Uganda.
Boarding schools are often viewed as the norm when it comes to schooling in Uganda as such institutions are regarded as high-standard, legitimate and professional education centres that enable students to perform and excel in their studies.
It was only a matter of time until School for Life followed suit.
After raising the necessary funds in our successful Buy A Brick Christmas Appeal in 2019, we got to work very quickly on the construction of the girl’s boarding school, laying the foundations in January 2020.
With COVID-19 bringing the world to a standstill in 2020, the construction of our girls’ boarding facility took 12 months to complete. We’d also like to make a very special mention to the Mackenzie family who made this dream a reality for our girls.
At full capacity, the girls’ boarding wing will be home to 300 girls who will get to enjoy the well-resourced facility which includes a fully equipped toilet and shower block with 22 showers and change rooms, 22 pit latrine toilets, a clothes washing area with irons and ironing boards for the up-keep of their school uniforms, an entertainment room with a TV, and matron’s accommodation.
Even with 3 of the Blocks housing 40 bunk beds (80 students each) and the 4th Block housing 30 bunk beds (60 students), there is still plenty of space for each girl to keep her personal belongings. For the majority of our students, this is the first time they will have ever slept on a mattress or had a bed all to themselves!
With access to clean and safe running water, electricity and power to enable further study and revision after dark, nutritious meals and snacks every day and less time engaged in difficult and often back breaking work suck as retrieving water and digging in the garden, boarding school gives our students the best chance to successfully complete a full education.
Take a tour through the girls’ boarding during the final stages of construction with Diana below!
Unlocking girls’ potential to break the cycle of poverty.
“If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a nation” - African Proverb
We exist to educate poverty out of existence because we know that education is the most powerful tool to fight inter-generational poverty.
In particular, educating girls is key to breaking the cycle of poverty because “better educated women tend to be more informed about nutrition and healthcare, have fewer children, marry at a later age, and their children are usually healthier, should they choose to become mothers. They are more likely to participate in the formal labor market and earn higher incomes. All these factors combined can help lift households, communities, and countries out of poverty”. (World Bank)
Changing lives. Changing futures.
Prior to the second wave of the pandemic shutting down all schools across Uganda, our girls’ boarding house was home to 150 boarders. Here’s what a couple of them had to say about their experience so far.
Meet Fausta
My name is Fausta, I am in Senior 1 at Mbazzi Riverside High School. Joining boarding school has been the best thing for all my school life!
Before I joined the boarding section, I used to always get late to school because my home was far away. Sometimes when it rained heavily, I would miss school because I could not walk in such rain.
I used to always worry about the house chores that I had to do after school which got me so tired and could not spare any time for revision after school. But after joining the boarding school things changed and life became much easier.
While in boarding we have all the time for revision and relaxing as well, we enjoy good meals, our dorms are so nice, spaced with very clean bathrooms and latrines.
We learn different skills including self care that makes me a responsible person. I am so proud of my school!
Meet Cissy
My name is Cissy, I am in Senior 2 at Mbazzi Riverside High School. I find boarding school interesting and fun!
What I like most about it are the nice looking buildings inside and out. Our dorms are so warm and comfortable that you can sleep as if in heaven!
In boarding we have time for bathing, praying, revision and playing as well. We eat different types of food at school and we have all meals in time. We get time to wash and iron our clothes and there is solar power so we don't get power shortages, our electricity doesn't go off.
We also get safe and clean water for drinking in each class. I wish that the boarding section started earlier because it’s more better than home where we have to do a lot of household activities including digging.
There’s still work to do!
We’ve made great progress by building our schools and the boarding house section, but we still have a ways to go to achieving gender equality and ensuring all girls in our rural regions receive a quality education.
If you also believe that educating girls is not just the smart thing to do, but the right thing to do, we would love for you to consider donating monthly to our Girls’ Fund. In doing so you will be playing a part in helping to reduce global poverty.
By becoming a Champion for Girls, you can help make the below ambitions from our Senior girls become reality. 🙏🏾
