Report from BHW Uganda Partnership Facilitator

Key People: Timothy and Janepher Kakooza

This report has been compiled following discussions/video calls and emails between December 2024 and March/April 2025. I have not visited recently but am planning a trip to Uganda in September/October this year. 

Recent Events

Katosi Community School (UGA01a)

This school is going really well with 486 children in primary and 286 in the secondary section. In addition, Timothy has advised that the number of children in the primary and secondary boarding facility at the school has now grown to 340. The school has experienced a lot of growth. It is probably important to know that many of those who board at this school are designated as orphans, with no real home to go to. In Timothy‘s words, the school caters for four distinct groups of children. Firstly, there are those who are truly orphans. Secondly, they are trying to address the needs of those children who have been neglected or abandoned but have parents. Thirdly, the school caters for the children of the poorest of the poor, i.e. children who have parents but who are from extremely poor deprived backgrounds. Finally, the school also caters for children of parents who are doing reasonably okay, particularly those who are in the church fellowship. In Uganda, it is not uncommon for a child to be described as an orphan who only has one parent, or who has both parents alive but absent or having chased them away (which is very common when a parent re-partners). Part of Timothy‘s heart for ministry has been to provide a safe place for these children and young people. Not all of the people boarding are orphans with no home but during the school holidays there are often significant numbers of children who have nowhere to go. 

One of the other issues that the school is presently endeavouring to address is the new government requirement that all teachers in schools have degrees by 2029. It is hard to see how this is going to ever be possible in this country, given that the country has closed its only teachers training college, and the government is struggling to recruit teachers to teach in schools at present. Timothy did think that the government was not going to be able to achieve this objective. At the same time, he believes that he will be able to encourage teachers in the two schools to upskill and ensure that they are able to meet government requirements. This is also part of what he is addressing in the recruitment process when teachers leave the school and new teachers employed. 

Academically, the school is reporting excellent results from the 2024 exams and very good progress with the teachers.

Foundations for Farming and Feeding the Children
Some of the success of the school Timothy ascribes to the improvement in the feeding program at the school. When I reported in May 2024, they were looking at acquiring some land to grow beans and maize. There is now a 60-acre farm which has started doing this and provides some food for the school. This farm is in the process of being further developed. Last year they were able to provide 32 bags of beans (50 kg each) from the farm to the school and 145 bags of maize flour. This is a really good result for the first year of operation. 

Chosen Generation School (UGA01c)

The Chosen Generation School is going very well. It has now grown to 148 children, with 9 teachers. As classroom space is developed, they are extending the school upwards and it now goes to primary 5 with the aim to extend it to primary 7 in the next few years, and hopefully to secondary. In Uganda, it is not always clear what the ages of the children are in some of these classes. Some of the children in primary 5 can be 13 to 15 years old, even though they are still technically in a primary class.

One of the big challenges that they are facing is that the well at the school which was built with support from Bright Hope World and a donor, has now broken down. The problem is not with the pumping mechanism; it is further down in the piping system and the engineer has said that the system below the ground needs to be replaced at a cost of approximately US$4,000. Timothy is seeking some support for that. I asked him whether the pump was working at all, and he said that the above ground structure was ok but that they were not getting any water due to the problems further down. This means that children have to be dispatched 1 km to Lake Victoria to get water for the school each day. This is an enormous task, given that the school also feeds all of the children during the daytime. Not only that but, having visited that part of the lake, one would not want to drink from it. It is clearly heavily polluted and has a township (Mbale Village) which sits right on the shores of the lake and has no sewage sanitation facilities at all, which means that sewage is effectively being discharged into the lake at the same place as where water is being taken. This is a totally inadequate situation.

This school also needs more desks and chairs and at least one more classroom.  

I also talked with Timothy about the church that they have planted that operates out of the school at Mbale Village. The church meets in the school building of Chosen Generation School. They are trying to do their best to reach the area, but it is very neglected and the lifestyle of the people does not lend itself to the Gospel impacting very quickly. 

(All photos are of Chosen Generation School)

Marisara Babies Home 

The Marisara Babies Home now also incorporates a preschool and partial primary school. It has experienced a very large amount of growth. They presently have 20 abandoned or orphaned babies, and the site also hosts a preschool to primary 3 facility which has 136 children. When I visited this home in 2019, it had about 40 in the preschool, and about 10 abandoned babies. The additional development since is another testimony to the wonderful work that they do, even though Bright Hope World has not provided any financial support to this part of the ministry.

Ideas for the Future

There are a huge number of possibilities here, but some of those will not be able to be explored until I am there in the middle of the year. 

Seedlings

Timothy asked if we could consider the possibility of providing some seedlings for the farm. He needs US$5,000 for coffee seedlings to start producing income from the farm. They are US$1 each. He has also asked for $2,500 to support the planting of 350 mango trees and 1,200 avocado seedlings. 

I support the contribution of funds towards the seedlings as I think that this is a really good way to develop self-sufficiency. I have asked him to provide me with some information about the likely income from these sources but recognise that we would be having to take the long view before this would start to provide income that might enable us to reduce the level of support. 

Children's Centre

On two recent occasions that I have spoken with Timothy he raised something which might eventually turn into a partnership in its own right. There is a small children’s centre on one of the islands in Lake Victoria run by an associate of his. Those who live on the 70 or so inhabited islands are very neglected, and the children often do not get any schooling or support. He would therefore like to raise the possibility of some support for that children's centre, possibly looking to extend it into some form of educational centre. In addition to that particular possible partnership, Timothy is also adopting a church growth strategy with church planting, both to plant churches on the mainland and also on the islands. The people on those islands have very few facilities and significant social issues particularly associated with both poverty and alcohol abuse. To this end Timothy is working to teach and train pastors to work in these communities. They are seeing the blessing of the Lord on this process. Timothy did point out that, back when this partnership first commenced in 2006 or 2007, one of the intended objectives was to reach the islands. For various reasons that has not been able to be progressed yet, but they are hopeful that there could be some good development in that space.

Vocational Training and After School Tutoring

I did discuss with him briefly the possibility of after-school tutoring and vocational training as other avenues that he might wish to explore. I hope that he will take these further. There are a couple of other schools in the local vicinity, but the education system run by the government is patchy at best so they would have to be significant possibilities here.

Foundations for Farming

I wonder whether Foundations for Farming could be included as part of the school curriculum, particularly as they now have a farm which would also possibly provide good training for students and enable them to become self-sufficient and contributing members of society.

Current Issues and Challenges

A perennial issue that Timothy faces is the replacement of beds, mattresses and chairs for these schools. 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) Pray for the resources to repair the well - this is a critical need at present
2) Pray for the resources to add on new classes in the Mbale School
3) Pray for wisdom around whether it will be possible to incorporate Foundations for Farming training in the schooling curriculum
4) Pray for school resources, such as desks and chairs, and beds and mattresses for the children and young people that are in boarding school

Comments

All in all, this was a very productive discussion with Timothy. Even though this partnership simply moves on and does not change very much from report to report, it is exciting to see the longevity and the commitment that they have to the community. That alone is enough to give me confidence that we should be supporting this partnership as much as is reasonably possible into the future. It is making a huge difference to a very large number of children and young people. It is also providing significant employment, and opportunities for people coming through the education system to develop and improve. 

I am very grateful that we support people of the calibre of Timothy and Janepher and it was wonderful to catch up with him.

Timothy expressed a great deal of appreciation for the 20 plus years that they have been in partnership with Bright Hope World. He really appreciates the fact that we have been committed to them over the long haul, which is quite a different experience to what they have had from other donors.