Central High School Kabale is a small secondary school based in south-western Uganda, with around 200 pupils (approximately 140 boys and 60 girls) and 12 teachers. It was established by our friend and inspiring headteacher Sunday John, who decided to start his school in Kabale because children there are particularly disadvantaged. Kabale is a remote, rural area 400 km from the capital, Kampala. People here live largely off the land, with few economically viable activities, and limited access to high quality education. Most people live on less than $1 a day, and there is also a high illiteracy rate.

The school does an incredible job in educating young people and has a remarkable record at helping their pupils into further education and successful careers. However, the school operates with limited resources in very challenging surroundings. Having operated successfully for 10 years, the school urgently needs investment to replace their existing temporary wooden and tin-roofed classrooms which are deteriorating (due to recent torrential rain and termite attack) with more robust brick-built structures, so that the pupils can continue their education.

Please help! By contributing a little to this school you could make a really big difference to generations of young people in this small town in Uganda. We know this from first-hand experience from working with Sunday John and the school over the past few years.

Here is a clip of headteacher Sunday John, talking about the classrooms:

Here is our story of why we are helping this school in Uganda, and why we need your support.…

Over 20 years ago our friend Annette Alcock, volunteered to teach chemistry and biology in Bubaare in Uganda (where she taught alongside another volunteer, Justina Gavin). One of Annette's pupils was a young boy called Sunday John. Knowing that he had problems paying school fees due to his family circumstances, she introduced him to us and we then sponsored him through O and A levels and then university in Kampala where he successfully undertook a BA in Education. We were immensely proud of him when he decided to set up his own school, Central High School Kabale, which has now been running 10 years. During this period we have supported the school, together with Annette and more recently, Daniel Emlyn-Jones.

Through thick and thin John has worked tirelessly to educate his pupils in difficult circumstances, paying special attention to pupils in financial trouble, especially girls, who often sadly drop out of education at secondary level. John has often waived or subsidized the fees for them, so that they can continue their schooling. As he says, he wanted to offer "free education to many needy children who otherwise would never have gone to secondary school, just as I was offered it. I have seen some of them become graduate teachers, public administrators, nurses and social workers".

The leavers’ record of the school over the last 10 years is indeed remarkable: from humble beginnings, they have produced more than 40 pupils with diplomas, 11 graduates at Bachelors’ degree level, and many leaving certificate-holders. Successes include pupils for whom John waived fees: one former pupil has become a teacher of mathematics and ICT and was recently awarded a scholarship for a Master of Science in information systems; another is now a teacher of Geography and ICT and has started another school in a remote area near Lake Albert in Western Uganda; two more are now nurses. Currently, the school has 8 former pupils at university including two at John’s own former university, the University of Makerere in Kampala.

Several of us have from time to time sponsored pupils at the school. We have also helped John with resources for the school, including the building of a school hall out of brick (visible behind John and the children in the photo at the very top of this page), but now we are very worried that the rest of the school structure itself is in danger. We want to raise significant funds to help build solid structures to replace the wooden ones. Indeed one of the classrooms recently collapsed due to termite attack and other classrooms are under threat. Here is a picture of the existing classrooms:

Our aim is to raise money in three phases, as follows:

1) The first phase will be to raise £3000 to build 2 proper classrooms out of brick, with a longer-lasting tin roof. (Each classroom will have a capacity for 40 pupils , and costs approximately £1500 to build ). This is where we need your support right now!

2) The second phase will be to raise a further £6000 to build 4 more classrooms out of brick.

3) The third phase will be to raise £3100 to build a girls’ dormitory out of similar materials (The dormitory, will be used to accommodate the small number of pupils who live too far to day-commute to school, and will have 2 rooms. Accommodation for boys at the school is rented nearby )

(NB. All figures approximate as are converted from Ugandan Shillings).

The school will remain open, operating in the temporary classrooms, while the build goes on.

It has been incredibly satisfying to know that our small investment in the education of one person 20 years ago has directly led to the education of many more, some of whom are now going on to jobs like teaching and nursing that will benefit the whole of this community. Please help us to ‘future-proof’ the school for the education of generations to come! Thank you very much for your support.

Pupils at the school working in the existing classrooms with earth floor and wooden/tin walls.