Bweyogerere Rotary Club in cash drive for vulnerable children's school

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The Rotary Club of Bweyogerere-Namboole has launched a drive to support Don Bosco Nursery and Primary School, a Catholic church school for vulnerable children. Michael Nuwagaba, the club president, said it is the norm for every Rotary club to come up with a signature project each Rotary year.

“Therefore, as the Rotary Club of Bweyogerere-Namboole, we have this year decided to support Don Bosco Primary School. At Rotary, we believe in service above self. When we heard the outcry of this school, we came to respond to the alarm,” Nuwagaba said.

Nuwagaba added that during their first year of partnership with the school, they established that the feeding of the pupils at the school was inadequate and also needed something that could generate daily income.

“In our first year of operation with the school, we realised that pupils’ feeding was not up to standard as required by the Ministry of Education. As Rotary, we donated four Friesian cows, two of which have already given birth, and the children at the school drink milk daily, with the rest being sold to the community,” Nuwagaba revealed.

Nuwagaba revealed that recently the Ministry of Education and Sports asked schools to start feeding their children with milk, which was aimed at improving their nutrition.

In a bid to save the environment and reduce respiratory diseases, Nuwagaba noted that they also constructed an eco-kitchen at the school, which uses briquettes and solar energy.

Rev. Father Henry Ssemakula, the principal of the school, revealed that at the inception of the school, it was mainly established to take care of vulnerable children who were picked from the streets of Kampala, orphans, among others. He added that due to limited funding, the school was opened to the public to generate more income to facilitate the daily activities of the school.

“We are seeking financial aid to run the school and help the pupils at the school to attain their dreams. The school has over 500 pupils, but these aren’t the only ones we are catering for, as we also have many more in other sister institutes,” Ssemakula revealed.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 20,000 people in Uganda die each year from indoor pollution, a result of cooking with solid fuel, which is a key risk factor for childhood acute lower respiratory infections, as well as respiratory, cardiovascular, and ocular diseases.

Another report released by the air quality index in 2024 indicated that the particulate matter concentration in Kampala was 9.4 times higher than that required by WHO.