Background
The Daughters of Mary and Joseph
The congregation that founded Coloma Primary School.
The congregation
Education of the whole person
In 1959 the congregation of The Daughters of Mary and Joseph – an international order of sisters with its origins in Belgium – started a secondary boarding school for girls in western Uganda. That school, one of the better ones in the country, has since been handed over to another organisation. In 2010 the congregation started a new school: Coloma Primary School, for primary education. The school has a boarding section for girls and its day school is also open to boys.
The congregation considers ‘education of the whole person’ essential. Attention therefore goes not only to the children's intellectual development: they also learn home economics, agriculture and all kinds of crafts, and there is time for sport and relaxation.
The emphasis is on educating girls, which still has little priority in this traditional environment; in the countryside girls are often married off as soon as they reach puberty. Uganda also has many orphans as a result of HIV/AIDS and other hardship. Without outside help these children often have no chance at all. That is why our programme focuses on them.
Uganda – Mbarara district
Uganda lies on the equator in East Africa. Mbarara is a district in the south-west of the country, some 300 kilometres from the capital Kampala; the town of Mbarara has over 200,000 inhabitants. It is a fertile area where bananas, millet, beans, sweet potatoes and groundnuts are grown and where many cattle are kept. Families are often large (8 to 10 children) and desperately poor, and there are relatively many AIDS orphans.
There is a great need for good primary education: illiteracy is widespread. After thorough research the sisters decided to concentrate first on a school, possibly followed later by a small medical post. The school lies near a small airfield about 20 kilometres north-west of Mbarara town (0°33'25"S, 30°35'20"E).
Mission and goals
The mission is to offer pupils a good-quality education in a stimulating environment, so that they acquire skills for a promising future. The strategic goals of the project:
- Offer good-quality education to children, mainly girls but also boys (the latter in the day school only, for now).
- Pass on values, norms and competences that are relevant in Ugandan society and with which the children can build their future after school.
- Offer an innovative programme of activities that supports the children's long-term professional development.
- Provide employment for the local population: planners, builders, cleaners, teachers and support staff.
The school is owned by the congregation. The target group is children aged 6 to 13, mostly boarders. The project is carried out in phases: the congregation bought the land in 2003, teaching started in 2010, and since then the buildings have been put up step by step – main buildings, dormitories, a dining hall and housing for teachers. In the national final exam the ‘Coloma children’ generally score very well and some go on to secondary education. The school now has a strong reputation and a waiting list.
The sisters are well aware of the project's strengths (their own land, a good name as educators, water and peace) and of its main weakness: the constant shortage of money to complete all building phases. Fundraising in Europe and the United States therefore remains important.
Questions, or interested in becoming a sponsor?
Please get in touch. We will gladly tell you more about the programme and the children.