Some exciting news for Lilly Kindergarden and Primary School in Kampala Uganda, Amiee and Charlotte, 2 volunteers whom visited the school numerous times since 2010 have successfully established Lilly-Uganda a UK based charity with a goal of providing the orphans staying at Lilly with an opportunity to attend Secondary School. This is was wonderful news and addresses a serious short coming for the children as they graduate from Lilly in Primary 7. Only 20% of school aged children go on and attend secondary school, often the costs are prohibitive. Way to go Lilly-Uganda.  You can follow along with their success and some of the children’s experience by visiting their Facebook site. The Ssubi Foundation will also continue to work with Lilly Primary School as well, including sponsor support for Rita and Gertrude.

Dusman was at St Henry High School today to check on sponsor children we moved from Gulu to Kampala for their candidate years. He says they are all adjusting well and seem happy with their new living arrangements. Here are some pictures of Michael, Opio and Carol in their new uniforms having a chat with Dusman. Anyone who has met Dusman knows they are likely getting some very valuable advise on how to make the most of this golden opportunity.

Michael, Opio and Carol arrived in Kampala this week to check out their new high school. They were greeted by Dusman and provided with some new digs so they keep looking smart and were then taken on a tour of their new school. Check out some of the pictures of them arriving and Kampala.

After a lot of discussion internally and with our sponsor children in Uganda we have decided to move the Ssubi sponsor students attending secondary school (high school) in Gulu to a secondary school in Kampala. We think it is important for the sponsor children because the level of education is higher, enabling them to compete on the application process for post secondary institutions. All four students, Carol, Daniel, Micheal and Opio have been enrolled in St. Henry High School in Kampala. They will be moving to their new school Jan 20th, a week before classes begin, to help them adjust to their new environment. When we asked each student if they wanted to go to Kampala, they all said yes. Their reasons; they will  be in an english speaking environment which will help them progress with the language;  the level of education at Kampala schools is much higher, giving them more opportunities in the future; and it’s Kampala, the capital city, where they have never being but only heard about.  We are also pleased to the have them all in the same school so they can support each other emotionally with the change. This is a very exciting time for our students and we are very proud of all of them and wish them the best of luck in their new school.

New High School in Kampala

Lab in the new High School

We would like to thank Domicile Interiors for their donation to The Ssubi Foundation on behalf of the Richard Theriault Memorial Library at Lela Obaro Primary School. We are working with Lela Obaro Primary School to provide assistance for the training of their new librarian.  When the library was first developed, one of the teachers was placed in charge, but the demands of ensuring a clean and efficient library were difficult to accomplish while maintaining full time teaching duties. We were thrilled when the school management and parents teachers association decided they needed to hire a full time librarian to ensure the best use of their library.

There was all kinds of jubilation from the orphans of Lilly Primary School, when the Solar Engineer, Dirisa switched on the solar lights for the girls dormitory. “We shall have lights 24 hours and for sure, we have kissed good bye to darkness. This is our Christmas gift” said Priscilla the headmistress of Lilly Primary School. The Ssubi Foundation and Lilly Primary School would like to thank the Charuk family for providing the funds to enable the foundation to install solar lighting for the girls dormitory. In addition, the solar systems was set up to enable cell phone charging, a key feature for caregivers and school administration staying on site.

Installing the lights.

Happy girls in their well lit dormitory.

Thanks to all of you who have helped us out this year, we truly could not run a successful organization without the help of dedicated volunteers. Special thanks to Carla Klassen from Clay Graphic Design for her valuable graphic contributions and for choosing The Ssubi Foundation to support this holiday season.   Also a special thank you to Leah Newman of Bloom Hair.

From the Uganda end, we wish to thank Dusman Okee, our Director of Operations who keeps things running smoothly all year round with the his Ssubi team in Ug, Joni and Evelyn.

Things are going really well at Lela Obaro Primary School, they have hired a librarian, as the teaching staff was finding it difficult to manage with all their other responsibilities. The head teacher is currently looking into plans for sending the librarian for training in January 2012.  The library has so much potential.

R.T. Library at Lela Obaro

Dusman recently returned from a visit to Lukto School… he writes “The clean environment, the pupils and the community at this school made me forget, that, I had endured three hours in the worst road in the country to reach this remote school. As you maneuver through the thicket, to reach this school, somewhere you approach a large well catered for compound and finally emerge to see Lukoto Primary School. Although, it was a day to the  school  break off, for holidays, the pupils were still at school and from nowhere, they keep appearing from the bushes to swell the numbers. Since we build two classrooms, the primary one kids are using a veranda, as one of the classroom and the old structure was completely abandoned all together.” We have also heard from the District Education office that a Japanese NGO has agreed to help build more classrooms:) The Ssubi Foundation plans to help build teacher accommodations in the future.

Lukoto student resting on termite mound

Classroom on the outside veranda of new school block

Practicing her writing

Inside new classroom block

Listening to the teacher in class on the weekend, Dusman's visit must have generated some excitment

The Ssubi Foundation just sent out its Christmas eNews to all its supporters. It can be found here.