Key People: Timothy and Janepher Kakooza
On 15 September 2025, we spent the day with Timothy Kakooza in Katosi, visiting both Katosi Community School (also known as Winners School) and in the afternoon, Chosen Generation School at Mbale Village. It was the first day of the new term, however, there was a nationwide teachers’ strike which started that day and is still continuing while I compose this report. Even though the two schools are not government schools, primarily affected by the strike, many of the children did not show up. It is a process whereby they arrive over the course of the week for the new school year, but we only saw approximately 100 students at the Winners School, and fewer at the Mbale one.
.jpg)
Winners School has a roll between 820 and 880 students. The numbers vary because, at times, they recruit children from poorer villages to come to both schools, but after a month or so, many of them have returned to their home situations where they are receiving no education. This is unavoidable but explains why the numbers are often variable.
One of the things discussed was the reason children do not continue with their education, and the school roll fluctuates so much. Many of the children come from "poorest of the poor" families with significant behavioural issues and many of them find they cannot abide by the more restrictive school environment. This means that, for example, if Timothy allows an intake of 30 children from what he calls the poorest of the poor village just beyond Katosi, after a month there may only be about 10 or 12 left. The others simply opt out. Some of the children return to illegal activities. Additionally, young women often cannot attend school for extended lengths of time because of their period. This is a huge issue and may result in them entering into early marriage. We did discuss whether it would be possible to have some training to produce reusable menstrual pads if there were sewing machines in the school. Timothy was certainly interested in this and is something that could be given further consideration if a proposal is made.
At present, they are feeding approximately 840 children and young people each day. They receive three meals a day, except there are only 320 for dinner, as the day students return home.
The school population is about 10% Muslim and the rest Christian. The Christian foundation of the school is very evident and there is a high priority given to teaching from a Christian worldview.
.jpg)
We had a lot of discussion about the farm that Timothy and Janepher have purchased four hours north of Katosi in Chibolga District which is 71 acres. Of that, 30 acres were planted in maize. When we visited the school, they had transported the yield from the maize crop, which was more than 200 x 100 kg bags of maize and were in the process of drying it at the school at Katosi. It was very impressive to see that much maize all in one place. A rough calculation puts the yield of maize from 30 acres at approximately 0.6 of a ton per hectare, which is not very high. The land is presently replanted and growing a new crop. Timothy advised there are some Foundations for Farming practices being employed which are not easy to see from photographs that he has shown us, although the maize crop did look very healthy. The crop had not been mulched, and it is unclear as to the level of fertilization, although Timothy said that they use fertilizer in each of the planting holes, which is a Foundations for Farming technique. As they have only just started producing food for the school from this farm, we think we should give them the benefit of the doubt and some time to improve. They are definitely looking to improve and are open to learning and applying Foundations for Farming principles more consistently. We also sighted a photo of the field of beans. It showed a very healthy field of beans, but no evidence of mulching.
Timothy spoke very positively of the farm. In his words, "the farm is a big ministry." It employs 30 people, many of whom are part-time, with six full-time staff. Two of those have been trained in Foundations for Farming and are endeavouring to put those principles into practice. He sees the ministry as assisting vulnerable people, as the people that are part-time are those who have struggled to obtain employment, income, and work and life skills. He said each person who works there is paid approximately US$10 per day or 35,000 shillings, which is a reasonable income in a rural Ugandan environment. Some of the work and employment is seasonal, being done at planting and harvesting times, so the overheads are acceptable even with the relatively high level of pay.
Ephraim and Frances are the two people that went through the Foundations for Farming training in Jinja. Unfortunately, they had language issues there and it was never clear whether they fully benefited from the training. However, they do seem to want to put it into practice, and it would seem a good idea if we could possibly fund or support them to go to Jinja to have a refresher training course with, say, Fatherheart Ministries. Alternatively, given there are 30 people on the farm, it might be possible to contract Joseph from Fatherheart Ministries to travel to Chiboga District to do the training there. We did raise this, but it is up to Timothy to take it further. Timothy's plan for the farm is to help feed the school, generate income for those who work there, and to support the local workers, all of whom have come from difficult backgrounds.
.jpg)
30th AnniversaryThe school will be having its 30th anniversary next year and it is a wonderful testimony to the persistence and diligence of Timothy and Janepher that the school has reached this stage. It is certainly an impressive looking school as the photographs show.
While we were at the school, Timothy was quite busy meeting with a mother who had 12 children that were starting the school today. Of those 12 children, six were from her own family and six were from her dead sister's family. Timothy was looking at taking all of them into boarding, even though it was not clear whether they would be able to pay. It seems that a lot of the schooling at Winners School is by people who cannot pay full tuition and accommodation costs, which typically amount to around 400,000 shillings (US$115) per term.
.jpg)
There is a lot of further development to be done. These are the some of the things that Timothy talked about, many of which do not really fit into Bright Hope World’s primary aims:
1) They are wanting to find a way to harvest water off the rooves of the buildings as the tank supply that they presently have and the pump are not always up to the task, particularly when there are regular power cuts.
2) They also have issues around the scarcity of firewood which is becoming both rare and very expensive. They would like to install an electrically powered kitchen and retain the existing facility as a backup only.
3) They would like a dining hall.
4) There is need for development of the school playground.
5) As the farm produces its crops of maize, they are also wanting to have a grinding mill. It would sit on land near the road out of Katosi and would be the only mill in the town so it would therefore also produce income from it for the school itself. This was the first thing he had raised that we might consider would fit within the objectives of our organisation.
A maize mill also represents a realistic possibility of both supporting the school through income by grinding maize for the local people and supporting the feeding program to reduce costs. Apparently, there is a lot of small maize-growing of approximately one acre on people's properties. This all needs to be milled somewhere, and the nearest grinding mill is in the next village town.
Timothy is also very serious about a proposal to grow coffee at the farm. He understands this is a very good income-generating crop with long yields and significant upside benefit. I have asked him to provide a business case for the coffee, which fully documents the likely income, expenses, and profit from each crop if 5,000 trees were planted on 10 acres of land. I have asked him to obtain this from someone with experience in the industry. If the proposal comes through and looks reasonable, I will strongly recommend we endorse it and assist him to start the coffee plantation on that part of the land. The land is presently still a “work in progress” and not all of it has been fully developed yet. There is acreage that has been used for beans, 30 acres that has been used for maize, with another possibly 10 acres for coffee. I am not sure what Timothy's other plans are for the remaining land, except he is also talking about some cattle and goats and about growing some fruit trees, particularly mangoes and oranges as there is plenty of opportunity to develop there.
Finally, we talked about vocational training, particularly the possibility of a menstrual pads project within the school. This would involve the supply of maybe five or six sewing machines and someone to train in the making of the pad. This is something I think is well worth considering and supporting if Timothy wishes to pursue it.
Timothy has a burden to reach the people that live on the islands in Lake Victoria. This was actually his original focus when they first moved to Katosi many years ago. They have done evangelism out on the islands but there are significant social problems, many of which are associated with the fact there are very limited resources on the islands. There is no clean water, no education, no toilets or sanitation, and very few resources. There is also no power. Timothy identifies the people on the islands as being extremely badly off. They have, however, started a small school that has 72 students with six teachers. This school started two years ago and operates in an old, rundown building on one of the islands with a population of approximately 1,500 people. Timothy has also planted six churches on six different islands. Each of the islands has an approximate residential population of 1,500 people. The needs on each of the islands are for medicine and health, food supply, education and teacher salaries. Agricultural training on the islands is also worth considering.
.jpg)
One of the challenges faced by both schools, is the government requirement for all teachers to have degrees by 2029. We did not discuss what steps were being taken but I do understand many of the teachers are in the process of upskilling their qualifications. However, the goal of all teachers having degrees by 2029 appears to be unachievable in the current climate, according to Timothy.
He also talked about some of the safety issues around the Katosi school for the children, and particularly the need for a perimeter wall. There are also new government requirements that the primary and secondary schools be separated physically from each other. He has a plan to build fences to enable both of these difficulties to be overcome.
Timothy is very grateful for the long-term financial support from Bright Hope World. He is, however, very aware that such support is not guaranteed forever. He wants to put high priority into income generation as a way to reduce dependency and this is why the farm is so important. I definitely think we should be supporting any agricultural initiatives that Timothy might initiate that might produce income.
Timothy wants us to be aware of the needs. He is very realistic about the fact that Bright Hope World does not financially support buildings, however, we believe the grinding mill and income generation potential from the farm both have possibilities that we should be considering.
We also consider there is room for supporting any reasonable initiative out in the islands, provided there is a very clear plan for it. Any initiative in this regard, which would clearly benefit the poorest of the poor, would have to come from Timothy, however, he sees himself as being highly stretched and is needing to develop new leadership to carry the load. Sam, their son, is becoming involved in leadership of the church. Mighty, their daughter, administers the Katosi School. Joy, one of the other daughters, runs the Marisara babies' home and preschool at Mukono. Fatima, their adopted daughter, is principal of the school in Mbale, so there is a huge degree of family involvement.
Overall, this was a great visit and catch up. It is now up to Timothy to provide us with some further information and detail regarding the proposals that he considers to be the most important.