Coloma Primary School Opens

On February 8th 2010 one of the dreams of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph, Africa Province, came true with the opening of Coloma Primary School in Uganda. Sr Adeodata Ahimbisibwe together with Sr Pascazia Kinkuhaire had for almost a year and a half supervised the construction of the school buildings and a community house. Since Christmas all hands were on deck to prepare the place and to be ready to received children for classes, Primary 1, 2 and 3. The new Coloma Community consists of Sr Teresa Bateta, Sr Eileen Maher, Sr Fausta Komuhangi and Sr Mona Maher.

During the weeks previous various staff were recruited and interviewed. Presently there are 4 teachers including Fausta, 3 matrons and a nurse, 3 cooks, 2 compound caretakers and 2 watchmen.

There was great excitement as the first pupils arrived. By the end of the first week 60 pupils have been registered. 8 of these are day pupils from the locality, 4 are boys. By 8.30 on the morning of Feb 9th classes had begun and the sounds of children's voices could be heard. We are already a fairly international school having 6 children from Rwanda, one from Pallisa and one from Karamoja. Language wise it is quite a challenge to the teachers - some speak no English, some no Runyankole and these are the languages of the teachers. Happily Teresa and the school nurse have other languages for communication.

 

        Children at play                       Children eating

                                   School Assembly

A very good beginning has been made but much remains to be done. Many parents and officials have shown great interest in the school but to continue expansion demands a lot of money which we don't have at the moment. We see one of our most pressing needs as water. Presently we are connected to the national water supply but we do not have an alternative if there should be any problem. It is in plan to harvest the rain water but as yet we do not have the funds to construct the system.

We wish to thank all our Sisters and our many friends for your prayers and support that this dream of Africa has taken off. Without you this could not have become a reality. We look forward to networking with you in our plans.

 

Up date on Construction of Coloma Primary School

August 2009

 Last month July 2009 the new roof was finally placed on the first classroom block of the school. 

Everything is now in place for the roofing of classroom block B as soon as funds become available for buying the iron sheets.

 

 

 

Since the beginning of 2009 much progress has been done on the construction of Coloma Primary School in spite of the restrictions imposed on us by the world economic crisis.

 

Presently the builders are working on the interior of the staff house.  It consists of four flatlets each containing a sitting room, a bedroom and a bathroom. Each doublet will have an outdoor kitchen. These kitchens are under construction at the moment.

  

 

   

The water in the area contains minerals and is neither suitable for human consumption nor for construction work so a pipeline was negotiated through neighbours' lands and connected to Uganda National Water. This will remain as an emergency source even when the school is completed while the overall plan is to harvest rain water as soon as the buildings are complete.  Efforts are underway to secure funding for this water phase of the project.  

Over the next few weeks it is hoped that the school block will be roofed and a ramp constructed to cater for children with disabilities.

Funding for this project has been a constraining factor over the past few months. It is now foreseen that without extra support the opening, which has been planned for Feb 2010 might have to be postponed. This would be a pity as our beneficiaries - the children, are eagerly awaiting this opportunity to attend Coloma Primary School while the Daughters of Mary and Joseph and the stakeholders are ready to fulfill the promise of quality education in that particular part of the country.

Please join hands with us in prayer and support to ensure that this dream becomes a reality.

 

COLOMA PRIMARY SCHOOL - DAUGHTERS OF MARY AND JOSEPH CENTRE, NYAKISHARARA,
MBARARA, UGANDA, EAST AFRICA.

On September 24th 2008 following the blessing of the school land by the parish priest the first sod was turned for the construction of Coloma Primary School - a venture undertaken by the Daughters of Mary and Joseph - Africa Province.   The intended primary school will be a day and boarding primary school for 1,000 children.

         Robert and Maureen

This will be to offer a chance to children who are orphaned by HIV/AIDS to have a place to stay and go for a short time to the relatives during holiday time.  It is intended to empower women by educating the girls because the girl child's education in this area is not of great importance. However a lower percentage of boys will be catered for in the school.
It is hoped that the first intake of students will take place in February 2010.
 
Background information of the project site
The project site is situated about 6 miles from Mbarara town and about 4km from the main road.  The land of the primary section which is 7acres was purchased by the Daughters of Mary and Joseph in 2003 with a view to establish a primary school.  Since then a plantation of 13 acres has been added as a source of food and income for the future .
This location was chosen because there are not many primary schools in this area. Since then work has been done on creating a secure fence, planting trees, establishing a banana plantation, planting beans and groundnuts.

A cattle valley dam is situated on the land and is used by the pastoralists of the area.
This remains throughout the dry season.  There is no other source of water on the land but the municipal supply runs along the main road and as the crow flies is about 1.5 - 2km away.  There is no electricity in the area.  There is an airstrip about 1km from the site but since the war of Iddi Amin 1972 - 1979 it has not been used.