News
School for Life celebrated a massive milestone on February 28, 2021. On this day we opened our first boarding facility and welcomed the first group of Senior girls to their new home. Here we share the story of the opening as well as introduce you to some of the wonderful students who started their boarding school journey with us.
Around one third of the world’s children do not have access to remote learning. So when COVID-19 hit and schools were forced to close around the globe, 463 million children - most of whom are from rural communities - fell into the chasm of the digital divide. The pandemic shed a brutal spotlight on the digital inequalities children face and the impact this has on accessing a quality education. At School for Life, we are hoping to bridge that gap by implementing Google Classroom while schools remain shut across Uganda.
After all schools across Uganda were mandated to shut down to prevent the escalating second wave of COVID-19 in early June, forcing our students to stay at home and keep within their villages, our Community & Welfare team quickly moved into action to ensure the wider population were educated on preventative measures to keep healthy and safe. In doing so, our team reached and educated a wider audience, helping to reduce the likelihood of our students contracting the virus whilst in contact with their local community members.
At School for Life we are always looking for ways to enhance the learning and education being offered to our students. This year we had a strong focus on partnering with other organisations aligned with our core mission and values, and who would be able to provide training programs that would prepare our students with work ready skills or to develop their own small businesses. Enter Sawa World.
Read on to see how the recent Sawa World program has ignited a spark amongst our Primary 7 students.
We recently started our second vocational training program with five new ladies coming to learn the tailoring trade with our Kumi team in Katuuso. Our Head Tailor Winnie and three of our experienced Kumi tailors - Rose, Nalongo and Grace - will teach the course. Over the next five weeks the ladies will learn new skills including garment construction, accessories and product costing and sales. When finished the ladies will receive a certificate of completion and help to find employment within the local community or beyond.
As I sit in the library in Katuuso Primary School, unpacking boxes of donations that get sent from all over the world, I can't help but be annoyed when I come across completely irrelevant books such as 'How to Use a Microwave' or a summary of Australia's Top 10 Cricket Players from 1985. I am further incensed when I think about the discrepancy between these donations and the real needs of schools in Uganda.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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.