Precious memories as Gayaza marks 100 years
Jun 11, 2005
GAYAZA High School is celebrating 100 years of <br>existence. <b> Zebiya Kwamya Ribgy</b>, an old girl, rekindles what the school was like in the 1940s and 1950s
GAYAZA High School is celebrating 100 years of
existence. Zebiya Kwamya Ribgy, an old girl, rekindles what the school was like in the 1940s and 1950s.
I remember Gayaza of those days (1947-50s). We did not have electricity or running water. Most of us wore no shoes but we had a school uniform we were all proud of.
A typical school day started early at sunrise. We were divided into different teams to do daily chores like cleaning the dormitories, the school compound, the classrooms and so on.
Some groups would work in the school garden or kitchen. Fetching water from Naikonto Valley was great. After the chores, we would brush-up, change into our uniforms, have breakfast, go to the chapel and were ready for classes by 8:30am.
Saturday was laundry day and using a charcoal iron for ironing was an adventure. We usually had one iron per 20 girls. Sunday was our favourite day - when we went to church and received visitors if we were lucky. I remember at one time, we had a ‘Nursery Place’ where two kids at a time, would be brought from Sanyu Babies Home.
The students would take turns looking after them. I sometimes wonder how some of those kids fared later on in life! Gayaza did a great deal to train her students for life.
We had a great team of teachers, many of them from the Church Missionary Society of Britain and some Ugandan teachers. I remember Miss Nancy Corby was headmistress before Joan Cox succeeded her. I remember the Art Teacher, Molly Paterson and the History Teacher, Brenda Richards.
Cox was such a good teacher. She made English in Literature a great pleasure.
She made Shakespeare’s archaic English come to life for students despite the fact that most of us had a limited grasp of the English language. My first memories of Gayaza dates back to mid 1930s when I was four or five years old. It was great seeing my favourite aunt Janet Kasisaki Kyengo coming home from Gayaza for the holidays.
It was a big celebration because in those days, the trip from Masindi to Kampala and back was a big event for anyone, let alone for a girl. She was one of the first girls from Bunyoro Gayaza and she would retell the stories of her adventures travelling there. How they would spend several days on the way: They travelled with escorts to carry their luggage and make sure they were safe.
Before sunset, they would start looking for accommodation by asking people with homes close to the road to put them up for the night before proceeding the following day. In those days, it was culturally accepted as a duty for people to receive travellers and offer them hospitality. There was mutual trust between guests and hosts.
I was first admitted to Gayaza from Kyebambe Girls in Fort Portal.
Gayaza was still a Junior Secondary School and Ms Corby was headmistress of both schools.
All the time I was at Gayaza I enjoyed my classes and enjoyed participating in the choir and especially in taking part acting in plays, like Shakespeare’s A Mid-summers Night’s Dream.
Gayaza was a great place to meet and make friends. Most of the friends I made at Gayaza became almost like family. People like Freda Katuramu and Yuniya Majara Byabazaire are like sisters.
I was involved with Gayaza at three different times. First as a teenager attending the Junior Secondary classes. At the time there was talk of extending Gayaza into a Senior Secondary (S 4 ). Unfortunately, the plans did not go through for our year. After the Junior Leaving Exam, some of my year mates took the only available training opportunities at the time by going for Teacher Training at Buloba College or Nursing at Mengo or Mulago Hospital. Others went home to marry and start families.
While training as a teacher at Buloba, the thought of coming back to finish High School was always in my mind. Even later on as I taught at Kyebambe Girls School, I kept in touch with Ms Cox, who encouraged me to keep studying.
So finally when Gayaza started offering the Cambridge School Certificate Courses, I was invited to go back to Gayaza — a second time.
I went back as a mature student. At the end of the year I took the Cambridge ‘O’ level exams and passed. I was admitted to Makerere University where I pursued my B.A. (Honours) in Geography. On graduation, I went for a Post-Graduate Diploma at the London University — Institute of Education.
For a third time I went back to Gayaza as a teacher before I was appointed an education officer at the Education Ministry headquarters in Kampala.
So my memories of Gayaza go a long way and I feel grateful to all those who moulded me into what I am today. Congratulations.
existence. Zebiya Kwamya Ribgy, an old girl, rekindles what the school was like in the 1940s and 1950s.
I remember Gayaza of those days (1947-50s). We did not have electricity or running water. Most of us wore no shoes but we had a school uniform we were all proud of.
A typical school day started early at sunrise. We were divided into different teams to do daily chores like cleaning the dormitories, the school compound, the classrooms and so on.
Some groups would work in the school garden or kitchen. Fetching water from Naikonto Valley was great. After the chores, we would brush-up, change into our uniforms, have breakfast, go to the chapel and were ready for classes by 8:30am.
Saturday was laundry day and using a charcoal iron for ironing was an adventure. We usually had one iron per 20 girls. Sunday was our favourite day - when we went to church and received visitors if we were lucky. I remember at one time, we had a ‘Nursery Place’ where two kids at a time, would be brought from Sanyu Babies Home.
The students would take turns looking after them. I sometimes wonder how some of those kids fared later on in life! Gayaza did a great deal to train her students for life.
We had a great team of teachers, many of them from the Church Missionary Society of Britain and some Ugandan teachers. I remember Miss Nancy Corby was headmistress before Joan Cox succeeded her. I remember the Art Teacher, Molly Paterson and the History Teacher, Brenda Richards.
Cox was such a good teacher. She made English in Literature a great pleasure.
She made Shakespeare’s archaic English come to life for students despite the fact that most of us had a limited grasp of the English language. My first memories of Gayaza dates back to mid 1930s when I was four or five years old. It was great seeing my favourite aunt Janet Kasisaki Kyengo coming home from Gayaza for the holidays.
It was a big celebration because in those days, the trip from Masindi to Kampala and back was a big event for anyone, let alone for a girl. She was one of the first girls from Bunyoro Gayaza and she would retell the stories of her adventures travelling there. How they would spend several days on the way: They travelled with escorts to carry their luggage and make sure they were safe.
Before sunset, they would start looking for accommodation by asking people with homes close to the road to put them up for the night before proceeding the following day. In those days, it was culturally accepted as a duty for people to receive travellers and offer them hospitality. There was mutual trust between guests and hosts.
I was first admitted to Gayaza from Kyebambe Girls in Fort Portal.
Gayaza was still a Junior Secondary School and Ms Corby was headmistress of both schools.
All the time I was at Gayaza I enjoyed my classes and enjoyed participating in the choir and especially in taking part acting in plays, like Shakespeare’s A Mid-summers Night’s Dream.
Gayaza was a great place to meet and make friends. Most of the friends I made at Gayaza became almost like family. People like Freda Katuramu and Yuniya Majara Byabazaire are like sisters.
I was involved with Gayaza at three different times. First as a teenager attending the Junior Secondary classes. At the time there was talk of extending Gayaza into a Senior Secondary (S 4 ). Unfortunately, the plans did not go through for our year. After the Junior Leaving Exam, some of my year mates took the only available training opportunities at the time by going for Teacher Training at Buloba College or Nursing at Mengo or Mulago Hospital. Others went home to marry and start families.
While training as a teacher at Buloba, the thought of coming back to finish High School was always in my mind. Even later on as I taught at Kyebambe Girls School, I kept in touch with Ms Cox, who encouraged me to keep studying.
So finally when Gayaza started offering the Cambridge School Certificate Courses, I was invited to go back to Gayaza — a second time.
I went back as a mature student. At the end of the year I took the Cambridge ‘O’ level exams and passed. I was admitted to Makerere University where I pursued my B.A. (Honours) in Geography. On graduation, I went for a Post-Graduate Diploma at the London University — Institute of Education.
For a third time I went back to Gayaza as a teacher before I was appointed an education officer at the Education Ministry headquarters in Kampala.
So my memories of Gayaza go a long way and I feel grateful to all those who moulded me into what I am today. Congratulations.