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.

Via our friend Annette, who taught in Uganda, we have been supporters of John, and of Central High School Kabale, for over 20 years. We're so proud of what the school has achieved in supporting poor and disadvantaged pupils. In recent years we've been joined by several other supporters, notably Dr Daniel Emlyn-Jones, Professor Chris Emlyn-Jones, Professor John Hammock in the UK and the Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation in the US who have all generously supported the work of the school.

Three years ago we fundraised for the first set of new brick-built classrooms and two years ago we raised emergency funds to support vulnerable girls during the pandemic. HUGE thanks to those of you who kindly donated at those times - it was much appreciated by the school. In the last six months, we and other supporters have continued the programme to upgrade the basic facilities of the school by donating to a second set of brick-built classrooms, a new girls' latrine and new girls' shower facility, to replace existing tin/wood facilities.

Why are we reaching out to you again now?

Simply put, we once again need to provide a financial safety net for vulnerable girls to enable them to continue their education, and for this reason we've paused work on fundraising for further new facilities until we can help the school through a difficult period. The Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns hit both pupils (and teachers) at the school very hard, and girls' education, in particular, remains incredibly precarious in this already not well-off region of Uganda. During the lockdowns, there were cases of girls being forced to abandon their education and marry early, and headmaster John relates many stories of girls (and boys) who have simply not been able to return to school because their parents' could no longer afford to pay school fees. As John says, "Families are struggling and the girl child seems to be the biggest victim."

John works tirelessly and selflessly to enable poorer pupils, especially girls, to enroll at the school with reduced or waived fees, but with food prices rising rapidly by as much as 70% in recent months the school is facing a huge challenge with making ends meet and looking after all its pupils (both girls and boys). John doesn't want to turn pupils away who can't afford to pay the - very modest - fees and there are still many needy children he would like to help.

We are therefore fundraising to support the school with funds to cover:

- school fees for vulnerable pupils, prioritising girls

- basic personal essentials for the girls such as soap and sanitary towels (without which girls often drop out of school) and clothing if required

- educational materials for these pupils e.g. schoolbooks, pencils

- food costs for girls from remote villages who board at the school, as well as additional funds to enable John to cover the increased cost of all pupils' lunches without having to increase fees overall

Please help enable vulnerable girls to stay in school! Thank you.

A final note on Fees Sponsorship: several of us as supporters sponsor individual pupils' fees (approx. £60 per term). If you are interested in this option, please send a message to sally_archer@icloud.com and we will liaise with John.

For more information on the founding of Central High School Kabale and in particular the moving story of its inspiring Headteacher, Sunday John, and how we and others such as Annette Alcock and Justina Gavin came to support him and his school, you can now buy a short e-book compiled and edited by Dr Daniel Emlyn-Jones, another of the school’s UK supporters, with a foreword by Professor John Hammock, Co-founder and Research Associate of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Central-High-School-Kabale-ebook/dp/B08HFSKS99 (£3 paperback, 77p Kindle - all proceeds go to the school)