First Education - Changing lives in Uganda

Supporter Stories

When Harry Mavrolefteros and his wife, Tania, set out to open a tutoring centre in Sydney, they wanted to offer a personalised tutoring service that built passion and confidence in their students. Using face-to-face or video call sessions, First Education gets to know the child’s needs and finds the best tutor for them.

In 2021 Harry was looking for an organisation providing education support to children in a developing country, specifically one providing educational opportunities for girls’. After finding us on Google and reading Annabelle’s story, School for Life’s CEO and Founding Director, he was inspired to support our work in rural Uganda.

Harry is grateful for the opportunities awarded to him growing up and living in Australia - a country where we can often take for granted our education. Now with a family of his own and Harry is proud to be giving back not only to the Australian community but across the world.

Pictured Harry, his 2 sons Kiros and Steven and wife, Tania.

In Uganda a little goes a long way - a contribution of $624 (Primary student) or $1248 (Secondary student) can provide a child in Uganda with everything they need for an entire year of education including 3 nutritious meals a day, access to clean drinking water, healthcare and high quality teachers - knowing how far a donation can go in a country like Uganda, Harry quickly signed up to sponsor their first Secondary School student, Julius, in July 2021.

Little did we know this would kick start an incredible initiative which would support even more children in Uganda. After speaking with Harry we learned of his tutoring business First Education and their cancellation policy. The concept is when a student here in Australia is unable to attend their tutoring session the money would become a donation towards a child’s education in Uganda!

His cancellation policy is in place to ensure that students and parents are committed but at the same time in the event the session is missed a student at School for Life would benefit from an education.

We truly love getting to know more about our community of supporters, so we asked Harry some questions to get to know more about First Education and his unique approach to donating, read more about it below.

Harry (first row, middle) with first education’s students and tutors

Getting to know First Education

SFL: How did you first hear about School for Life and our work?

Harry: I literally googled! We were looking for a place where we could give money to and support a developed country and specifically in education (and especially female education) and School for Life stood out for us!

SFL: What drew you to support School for Life?

Harry: I was drawn by how the money seemed to go to the right place, I also was quite inspired reading about Annabelle’s life and generally loved what you do! We were also looking to support people in less developed countries because our money would go further and do more and also to support students’ education because this we believe makes the most difference in the long term.

SFL: Can you tell us a little bit about you and First Education?

Harry: Of course, my beautiful wife Tania and I live in Bardwell Park with our two children (Kiros and Steven). We run a tutoring centre (called First Education) where we believe that by building our students’ passion and confidence that they can achieve their goals! At First Education we specialise in one on one tuition and have around 600 students between our four centres (Bondi, Earlwood, Maroubra and Mascot).

SFL: Why is it important to you that First Education works to support not-for-profit foundations like School for Life?

Harry: It is important to me because of what we stand for, building our students’ passion and confidence so that they can achieve their goals! So we put a lot of time and effort into doing that within our local communities but by giving some of what we have financially to an organisation like School for Life then we can expand what we do and also help students on the other side of the world in a significantly less privileged position than those in our communities!

SFL: How did you come up with the idea for donating the cancelled tutoring fees?

Harry: Basically I wanted the money to be repurposed to be in line with our goals! We need a cancellation policy in place to have some kind of commitment in place for parents and students (it’s actually the only commitment we have in place) but then when cancelled sessions are paid for we haven’t actually provided the tuition that makes the difference to our students. If we can put this money towards helping other students then we’ve achieved what we set out to do!

We are so grateful to Harry and First Education for their support and their commitment. Through their support they are currently sponsoring 12 students.

If you’d like to find out how your business can get more involved with School for Life, get in touch with us at hello@schoolforlife.org.au or if you are interested in changing the life of a child click the button below and become a child sponsor today.

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.