We want to grow our school in a way that also creates social and economic opportunities for the Kalagi community. We see this as a key to generating self-sustainability.

Donors have played a vital role in helping us with the start-up costs and training needed to implement school and community improvement projects. Find out how you can help and please contact us if you can volunteer, donate or support any of these projects.

Widows’ empowerment

Widowed or abandoned women are often the most vulnerable and marginalised members of an African community. ‘Women of Faith’, led by Mrs Robinah Ssekirime, is a project to restore hope to vulnerable women through fellowship, improved HIV/AIDS care, empowerment and skills workshops.

Through this program we have given widows assistance with basic needs and helped them learn sewing, weaving and hand craft skills to help them generate an income. But we need help to continue delivering this skills training – as our equipment (nb sewing machines) needs maintenance and we need to find a market for the crafts produced. With help, we can continue to make a difference in the widows’ lives.

Food and farming projects

At our school farming project we grow food crops like beans, cassava, bananas and sweet potatoes. Our farming helps supplement purchased food to feed our hungry students and promote good nutrition in the community. With more training and better framing practices we hope to become more self-sustainable and also support greater employment.

We also hope to trial a program to let parents trade food or firewood with us instead of paying school fees. This will increase access to education for children whose parents can’t afford school fees, while also helping us feed our students and keep them healthy!

Computer training

In 2016 we started running our first computer classes! We are currently busy training both teachers and students to be wizards in computer skills. We hope one day soon we can help spread these skills by offering computer training opportunities to others in our community.

Community solar & water

We are fortunate to have met generous donors who helped us install solar lights and chargers in one of our classroom blocks and orphans’ home. We are happy to have clean, renewable and reliable energy that lets our students learn when the mains power drops out! We hope one day to bring more solar energy to the school and Kalagi community for lighting, charging stations and power. While the start up costs are high, over the long term solar projects can help us save money and the environment.

Safe water is a basic and constant need for the school and local community. In the past we have relied on water collected from a nearby well and carried to the school each day by hand. This year, with the support of Australian friends, we have been able to install 2 x 10,000L rainwater tanks. This is a huge improvement that will help to significantly relieve the time and labour spent on collecting water – whenever it rains! We are also still hopeful of one day having access to a permanent bore well and piped water supply.