Support Sir Samuel Baker School

Apr 03, 2019

When I attended the school between 1973 and 1976, SSBSS was floating on cloud nine, famed as one of the most desirable destinations for boys from all over Uganda.

By Dr Opiyo Oloya

I will say this. You are reading this column because of the passion for the written language first awakened in me at Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School (SSBSS) in Gulu.

When I attended the school between 1973 and 1976, SSBSS was floating on cloud nine, famed as one of the most desirable destinations for boys from all over Uganda.

Many including my three brothers Ogaba Oloya, Tom Oloya and Okota Oloya, went before me through the school on to illustrious careers. A stadium is not big enough to hold those who successfully passed through the school.

But sometimes even the best effort cannot prevent bad luck from happening. SSBSS went through tough times over the past several decades.  These past several years were especially rough. School administrators shunned it. The story is told of a headteacher who barely set foot in the school, administering it from afar, never bothering to know what was happening. The morale went downhill among staff who despite the challenges struggled valiantly to keep the school above water. Enrolment dropped as students sought admission in other secondary schools elsewhere in the country.

Then in December last year, the school seemed to catch a good break from the bad past. Simon Peter Torach was appointed the new headteacher. 

He came with a stellar record of turning failing schools into winning schools. He oversaw the rejuvenation of Moyo Secondary School, which had fewer than 200 students when he took over to become a bustling school with an enrolment of 800 when he left two years later. He was drafted to do the same magic with SSBSS and, by all account, things were beginning to look up.

  r piyo loya at ir amuel aker econdary chool  in ulu recently Dr Opiyo Oloya(left) at Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School (SSBSS) in Gulu recently

 
Then on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, disaster struck.  Speke House, one of the original student residences, my home for four great years, burnt in the early hours of the morning.  By the time Gulu Fire Brigade and the Lacor Hospital Fire unit got to the scene, the fire started by faulty electrical wiring at the front of the building had engulfed the entire structure. Luckily, there were no students in the building at the time. Tantalisingly, the fire devoured the inside structures but left the roof in place. From the outside, the building appears intact when, in fact, it is hollowed out from the inside.  When I visited the school a week later on March 15, 2019, all I could find were the skeletal bunker beds, similar to those I used four decades earlier, stranded in the charred interior.

This was the place where my formative years began, where in the wee hours of the morning, with lights turned off so as not to attract attention, our feet in buckets of cold water to keep awake, we used torches to study for exams. In the afternoon, during break time, we sat on the edge of our double-decker beds to debate the latest issue of the day, usually some fine point in English literature. We grew up into young adults here, boys into men.

Yet, despite the setback, I found Mr Torach a serious administrator, an inspiring man who bustles with energy, motivation and enthusiasm. "We are going to turn this school around and lift it up close to or even at par with what you had four decades ago," he told me matter-of-factly as he showed me around. 

I like that man, if anybody can turn the school, it is him. Indeed, when I visited the classrooms, where lessons were going on, the teachers and students were engaged in serious learning. In the old lab where my Chemistry teacher Mr Otim, taught me how to use the Bunsen burner, I found Mr Robert Akena teaching the Senior One class — you guessed it — how to use Bunsen burner and measuring equipment.

In the next class, Mr Mark Okumu was teaching another class Physics (I think it was Mrs Tilton who taught me physics). And next door, Mr Peter Okello was teaching Senior Six Biology.  Nobody batted an eyelid when I walked in. That is how focused they were in the classroom.

Since my visit was completely unexpected, the enthusiasm in the classrooms was genuine. The explanation for the turnaround was simple — the new headteacher Mr Torach discovered a staff that still believed in teaching children and, together, they rekindled the once dead classes into vibrant centres of learning. 

Mr Torach, meanwhile, wasted no time pushing to get evaluators to assess the damage to Speke House — he wanted to know what it would take to get the building in shape before the rains destroy the building completely. The assessors came and delivered their verdict— to get Speke House into shape would cost sh217,694,006. 

Obviously, this is no small amount. But here is what I am thinking. Prof. Ogenga Latigo went here. Hon. Kassiano Wadri was here too. Prof. Nyeko Pen-Mogi attended the school. Prof. Amii Omara-Otunnu was here. Dr. Tom Oloya learned science in the school…If the names are called out one by one, easily there are over 1,000 benefactors alive today who can each shill out sh220,000. Then if we throw in the larger Uganda community, including those who never went to SSBSS, but who are eager to lift up education in Uganda, there is another army of 1,000.

I might be a tad optimistic about this, but I am all fired up, ready to give it my very all, and calling Ugandans to chip in, a little here and a little there, until we can put Sir Samuel Baker SS back on the map. The readers of this column, I know you are there because you have each introduced yourself to me on the streets, in shops, all over the country. I am calling on you to make it happen. Show me the love.

And it starts here, now. The goal is a modest sh250m. There will be regular updates on the funds raised and full accounting on where it is spent. Trust me on that. Here is where to add your contributions to the growing funds. Account Name: Sir Samuel Baker School Old Students Association. Barclay Bank, Gulu Branch, Account No. 6006188611

SSBSS Motto: To Learn to Serve

Opiyo.oloya@gmail.com,

Twitter: @opiyooloya

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