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Residents and local leaders of Kabule Parish, Ttamu Division, in Mityana District are looking forward to 2024 with optimism. 

This was after the Rotary Club of Muyenga in Kampala answered their continued appeal for support in the areas of health services and education. 

The Rotary Club of Muyenga (RCM) mobilised funds to renovate school buildings and upgrade the health unit to the status of Health Centre 111. 

Kabule has one health centre II operating in a dilapidated building. The buildings housing Kabule C/U Primary School are also in a sorry state. 

Francis Ssemwanga, the governor of Rotary District 9214, which covers Uganda and Tanzania, assured the residents of the help. “In Rotary, we focus on health, education, and the environment, so we had to come in,” he said. 

Ssemwanga was on Saturday, November 4, touring the club’s ongoing RCM projects, one of Kabule Health Centre and another of the renovation of buildings at Kabule C/U Primary School. 

Rotary District 9214 Governor Francisco Ssemwanga addresses Rotarians, pupils, and parents of Kabule Church of Uganda Primary School in Mityana Municipality where the Rotary Club of Muyenga is renovating buildings. (All Photos by Luke Kagiri)

While at the school, the Rotarians also donated reusable sanitary pads to the female pupils. 

Ssemwanga asked the pupils to ensure their continued stay in school despite some of the hardships they face. 

"It's only education that can cause people from poor and rich backgrounds to sit at the same table,” he said. 

Ssemwanga commended the Rotarians for their support of education and asked all people of goodwill to support the projects so that children can have a better future. 

Partners for Community Transformation (PaCT), in partnership with the Rotary Club of Muyenga and Mityana District Local Government, launched the construction of the Kabule new maternity ward last month.  

Ssemwanga (R) launches the renovation of a classroom block at Kabule Kabule Church of Uganda Primary School in Mityana Municipality.

The maternity ward, which is expected to cost over Sh170m will be ready by February 2024. 

The Rotary Club of Muyenga offered 230 square metres of land where PaCT will construct the maternity ward, while the Mityana District Local Government has pledged to provide and maintain the health workers at the health centre. 

The Rotary Club of Muyenga has been supporting Kabule Community since 1990 when they constructed Health Centre II. 

During their recent visit to the Health Centre, they discovered that the facility was no longer sufficient to handle the high patient population, the maternity ward was dilapidated, and male and female patients were admitted to the same ward due to limited inpatient facilities. 

Rotary Club of Muyenga urgently focused on mobilising funds and soliciting partners to construct the maternity ward. 

Rotary District 9214 Governor Francisco Ssemwanga sitting on a desk with pupils at Kabule Church of Uganda Primary School in Mityana Municipality where the Rotary Club of Muyenga is renovating buildings. (All Photos by Luke Kagiri)

Mityana district local government and municipal council have been providing medical supplies, staff, payment of staff salaries, and maintenance of the Health Centre. 

The maternity ward is just one part of the Rotary Club of Muyenga Signature projects that involve the construction of an outpatient centre with facilities for specialised health services, laboratory, radiology, and administration blocks sufficient to handle the current health care needs of over 100,000 patients per year. 

After the completion of the maternity ward, the Rotarians will be providing the health centre with access to reliable clean water, a project worth $77,000 (sh290m) as well as improving basic education and literacy by rehabilitating the Church of Uganda Primary School at Kabule. 

Local leaders and Education officials welcome Rotary District 9214 Governor Francisco Ssemwanga (C) at Kabule Church of Uganda Primary School in Mityana Municipality.

Simon Batte, the president of the Rotary Club of Muyenga, commended the Rotarians for their support and asked them to continue with the spirit. 

Batte asked the residents of Mityana to own the projects that had been given to them so that they could last a long time and serve many people. 

Attanus Lukyamuzi, the Ttamu division chairperson, and the residents commended the Rotarians for the services and asked them to offer more. "We have been lobbying to have this health facility upgraded. We are now so happy that the Rotarians have come to our rescue,” he said.