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Established in 1990, Sabina is a nursery and primary school serving boarding students and day students in rural Uganda. We are committed to quality education and breaking cycles of poverty through the love of learning! Our focus and success is built on Education, Infrastructure, Sustainability and Community. Read on to see what's happening at Sabina in these four important pillars of our school!
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MID YEAR TERM
It is the Mid-Year Term for our children! Term Two began for primary and secondary students at the end of May. Seeing the students’ excitement as they returned to their respective schools was wonderful. Parents of Sabina students took responsibility for bringing their students back on time, which was great.
TRANSITION FROM PRIMARY TO SECONDARY
Six students successfully transitioned from Primary to Secondary School. Their class load changed from four primary subjects to sixteen subjects, which wasn’t easy, but they all started on the right foot and passed well in their first set of examinations. Megan Hehir had the opportunity to spend time with them on their visitation day, which the students loved.
INTERHOUSE COMPETITIONS
All our pupils belong to a ‘house’ where they compete against each other in many different types of sports and games; Netball, football, volleyball, athletics, you name it, they are enjoying it all! They even compete in sanitation and English speaking, which encourages these great behaviors and habits throughout the campus. So far the Kwame Nkrumah House has surpassed both the Martin Luther King Jr. House & the Nelson Mandela House - but we will see if the tables turn in the coming weeks! The winning team will win a goat that they will enjoy for supper!
VISITATION DAY
In Uganda, for child who board stay at school for 13 weeks at a time. Visitation day gives them the opportunity to spend the day with their family. It will inform the parents of everything going on at the school. We are blessed that our pupils are so talented; we manage to put on a brilliant show each time! They danced, drummed, and mimed which highlighted the many skills they acquired in school. We have received great feedback from the parents.
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MEDICAL UPDATE
Sabina’s nurse alumni Aloysious Sserwadda continues to provide thorough monthly check up’s on ALL Sabina students. He has been able to treat and stay on top of medical issues such as: malaria, typhoid, H pylori, gastritis/ulcers, eye redness and head fungus. Proper diet, hydration and mouth/body hygiene continue to be reinforced. When issues are more severe, we refer students to our local partner clinic. We have also formed a new partnership with an Optometrist. Caring for one’s eyes in many third world countries is a luxury. Here at Sabina we are trying to change that by addressing eye care issues when identified.
We would like to give Kudos to Braden Burleson for her continued support in funding Sabina’s medical program. After Braden’s time on ground last summer, she has come to value the critical importance of access to proper medical care and how learning is enhanced when accessibility to such care improves.
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BOUNDARY FENCE CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
We continue securing our boundaries to ensure full security and safety of our children, staff, and compound. We'd like to thank all of our parents and guardians who pay their school fees which has allowed us to fund this project. Each term our parents pay 10,000 towards building the fence and this time the school paid 2,500,000 million to complete a portion of the wall.
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LET THERE BE LIGHT! ELECTRICITY IN NEW BATHROOMS
Donated by Irish Volunteer, Saidhbhe. Thanks to our recent volunteer, Saidhbhe Corbett, we were able to install electrical wires throughout the whole of the student and teacher bathrooms. The pupils can now see with ease while using the toilet during morning and evening preps. It is with great friends like this that enable Sabina to continue to make these improvements.
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SLEEPING COMFORTABLY
The school managed to purchase a few super quality beds and were lucky enough to receive a donation of mattresses to fill in the grooves, to make our pupils as comfortable as possible.
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COFFEE HAS BEEN PLANTED ON ALL 16 ACRES
Sabina’s sustainability project has taken root! Senyondo Wilson, our Sabina’s lead Permaculture/ Sustainability Manager, is excited to report that coffee has been planted on the entire 16 acres of land. The water drainage system created for this project is working successfully! We are blessed to be experiencing an abundance of rain and have been monitoring the effectiveness of water drainage system. Daily security has been instituted and intercropping will begin once the rains subside. Too much rain is very useful for the coffee plantlets but not so good for growing the other crops.
MATURE COFFEE PLANT DONATION OFFSET EXPENSES
A generous long time donor, Jan Smart, donated a piece of land with mature coffee plants to the Sabina school (shown in the middle picture above!) It is coffee harvesting season, and we are so grateful to be earning income from this garden to off-set Sabina’s expenses.
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D.E.A.R DAY
Sabina joined the rest of the world in celebrating the International D.E.A.R. Day; seeing our children drop everything and READ! Our children study so hard day in and day out for many hours to grasp concepts of Math, Science and other subjects. This time around, it was an amazing opportunity to see all our children drop everything and pick up a novel of their choice to enjoy reading under the shade of our beautiful trees. At the end of the reading session, we had a powerful speech from our head girl and the Headmaster to highlight the need to always read something - for there are so many hidden secrets, facts and knowledge in books!
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YELLOW FEVER VACCINATIONS FREE OF CHARGE THROUGH W.H.O.
Both our pupils and staff got a rare opportunity to get vaccinated against the yellow fever disease on April 4th, 2024. This initiative was funded by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) through our Ugandan government. It should be noted that most of our population cannot afford such an expensive vaccine therefore, it was a golden opportunity to have this jab given out free of charge. We are confident that close to four hundred of our pupils and staff are well protected from this deadly disease. We thank the local nurses who spent a whole day vaccinating our students.
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KABAKA'S BIRTHDAY RUN
Sabina Community is embedded in the Buganda Kingdom, in the central region of Uganda. Every year the King aka ‘Kabaka’ of the Kingdom fundraises on his birthday to help with issues affecting his subjects. This year over 100,000 people participated in the charity event to support his fight to end HIV by 2023, under the theme “Men are the stars in the fight against HIV/AIDS to save girl child. “The Baganda tribal people come out in force to support their King while in return their King supports a great cause to benefit his people. The proceeds made from the fundraising event goes to this cause. Sabina came out in force to support a wonderful endeavor, by running 8km on a rainy Sunday morning. Congratulations Team on your successful run and fundraising efforts!
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by Saidhbhe Corbett
In March, I had the incredible opportunity to volunteer at Sabina Primary School in Uganda, which was an amazing and unforgettable experience. From the moment I arrived, I was welcomed with open arms by the staff and students and was treated to a welcome song and traditional Ugandan dance. They even spelt my name right on the poster! The energy of the children, their eagerness to learn, and their spirit, despite the challenges they face, were inspiring. Every day the children were smiling and laughing and were so friendly and open. They were always in great form and happy to help me settle into life at Sabina.
The determination of the students to absorb new knowledge was remarkable. They often came to me during their lunch break to go over Maths or English questions, showing their constant enthusiasm to learn. Their resilience was humbling and a constant reminder of the value of education, something often taken for granted in my home country of Ireland.
Outside the classroom, the children were always up for playing games and singing songs. We had great fun when they tried to teach me some of the local language and they got a good laugh out of my awful pronunciation! The day that the hurling coach came from Kampala was a fantastic day out. The training session was not only fun but also helped the children learn about our culture. They picked up the skills immediately and seeing their enthusiasm and excitement was amazing. They often asked to practice with us and were so eager to improve their skills. We had great fun and it was brilliant to see their enthusiasm for a new sport. They are already much better hurlers than I will ever be!
The dedication of the teachers and support staff to teach the children and care for them was inspiring. I learned so much from them and their ability to adapt to challenges. I could really tell that they had the best interests of the children at heart.
My time in Uganda also gave me a chance to immerse myself in the local culture. From participating in traditional dance, visiting the local market, and trying new foods (posho, matoke), every day was a new adventure. The sense of community and the importance of family and relationships were evident in every aspect of daily life.
For anyone considering volunteering at Sabina Primary School, I highly recommend it. Volunteering at Sabina was a brilliant experience that opened my eyes to the important things in life and really made me appreciate the importance of education. I returned home with so many unforgettable memories and made some amazing friends along the way.
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The impact of sponsoring a child at Sabina is truly profound!
Written by Kyakuwa Cissy, pictured above with her sponsor, Susan
Greetings! My name is Kyakuwa Cissy, a student in Senior three at Blessed Sacrament Kimanya. Throughout my life, I have been blessed as I have had programs and sponsors to support my education and wellbeing. Today, I attend one of the best schools in the region that can support my dreams. Am apart of the secondary holiday tutoring program which has given me a significant support in improving my academic results. If it wasn’t for the sponsorship support my mother would struggle, I live with my mother and two sisters. Before I got sponsored, it was a tug of war for me to get school fees since my mom was a single mother who had no source of income to support me in my academics. Everyday, I used to feel like a thirsty person in the desert because it hurt to see my mum struggling to get tuition from us.
God really blessed me and answered my prayers when FOS came into my life and started sponsoring me. They pay for my tuition, scholastic and personal requirements while at school, medical care, textbooks as well as psychological support through counselling and guidance. Besides academics we have clubs and I’m a member of the Music Dance and Drama club. I love dancing and I have been part of many competitions at school and we have been awarded trophies. I am looking forward to becoming a doctor when I finish school so that I can help people in my community.
I convey my sincere appreciation to the Friends of Sabina team for the love, care and support they render to me, to the wonderful Christ Episcopal church for the piggery project that enabled my siblings to go to school. To my sponsor Susan and her daughter that I got to meet and spend time with I will always be grateful for the love and care the strong bond between you, I can not thank you enough. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am. May the Lord continue showering you with His blessings.
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