Kagoda the soul of Kabubbu's education

Jul 31, 2013

It is no surprise that Enoch Kagoda has become a pillar for his community, thanks to his humility. The 48-year-old is providing free education to several children and adults. He also takes care of several orphans and less privileged students and has built a health centre, resort and church in Kabub

By ANDREW MASINDE

It is no surprise that Enoch Kagoda has become a pillar for his community, thanks to his humility. The 48-year-old is providing free education to several children and adults. He also takes care of several orphans and less privileged students and has built a health centre, resort and church in Kabubbu village, in Gayaza, Wakiso district.

In fact, Kagoda is fondly called ‘Dad’ by the pupils at his schools owing to his fatherly nature.

Chris Mujabi, 20, is one of the beneficiaries of scholarships sourced by Kagoda. He says his life has been greatly shaped by Kagoda.

“He is honest, committed and uses whatever is in his power to help the community,” he says.

Teaching career


Kagoda teaches Christian Religious Education and geography at Kabubbu Community Nursery and Primary School.

The school was started by the community to cater for the needy children.

He says when he joined the school as a head teacher in 2000, there were a few teachers. So, he took on an additional role of teaching.

Kagoda is now the director of Kabubbu Development Project. He has established a school and other training centres.

When he joined the school, he went to churches, mosques and homes sensitising parents about the need to educate their children. This helped. With time, several children who were not in school resumed their studies.

It was while he was searching for partners that he was connected to Quicken Trust, based in the UK, which helped transform the school.

When pupils completed Primary Seven, Kagoda realised that there was need for a secondary school in his village. So, in 2006, he started Trust High School with the support of external partners.

Resty Nankinga, a parent at the school, says she could not believe it when Kagoda approached her asking her to send her two sons to his school.

“My response was that I could not afford to pay their school fees. But he told me to bring the children and assured me that their school fees would be paid,” she says.

Health centre and adults training centre

When more people settled in the area, there arose a need for a health centre.

“When the population shot up, I decided to set up a health centre. This was also a big relief for the school children and the community since they lacked health services,” Kagoda says.

The centre serves the community and the pupils his schools free-of-charge.

“My dream is to transform the health centre into a hospital one day,” he adds.

Fred Kizito, a resident, says Kagoda is a blessing to the village.

“He is always working hard to ensure that the community gets the best services. Because of him, we are living a better life,” Kizito says.

In 2006, realising that most adults in the community were illiterate, Kagoda opened up a training centre for adults.

“When Kagoda asked us in church to come for lessons, some adults declined. Some parents feared to study with their children. But some of us took up the opportunity,” Nankinga explains.

Resort and conference centre

Kagoda has also built a resort and conference centre to create job opportunities for his community.

He says the money he earns from the resort and conference centre is used to support the schools, as well as the other community projects.

“Our plan is to become self-reliant. I plan to introduce other projects in the area, which will bring in more money. I know we shall be independent soon,” he adds.

Sylvester Semakula, who works at the resort as a gardener, says the opportunity was a God-send.

“I never went to school. I used to vend food in Gayaza. My life changed when I was employed at the resort. I am paid a salary and the school sponsors all my children. Sometimes, people come into our lives and they make a big difference. Kagoda is just one of them,” he says.

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