UG 12 - TODAY FOR TOMORROW: ST. MARY COLLEGE

Project Location

The St. Mary’s Girls' High School is located in Aboke, area of the Lango area, 35 km from Lira which is the capital of the region and 350 km northeast of Kampala which is the capital of the country. It is a primarily agricultural area, blessed with fertile soil and good rainfall. It is densely inhabited but not industrialized, while trade has some relevance. Since there are no significant industries, there are few families with a stable income.

The majority have only what comes from the land that usually consists of 5-6 acres per family, so there is difficulty in cash for various needs that are not food. People are very hardworking. We cannot speak of extreme poverty, but being in a rural area, the great majority of people still live in huts where the furniture consists of a bed, a few chairs, a small table and a little more.

The school was founded 55 years ago with the aim of offering rural girls a holistic higher education that would eventually open the doors of a profession or even a university. The school is private and belongs to the diocese of Lira. The aim was to have young women, from rural areas, prepared and therefore able to assume significant roles in Ugandan society and to express the female dimension in the life and choices of the country. It was necessary for the female part of the rural population to be able to speak up.

Project description

The school is residential for various reasons. It is not only the English tradition that justifies the boarding school but also the distances, the lack of electric light in the various villages, the absence of regular public transport, and more.... Living in school is a cost that sometimes becomes very heavy for families. The school offers the use of textbooks and cultivates its own land producing cassava, sweet potatoes, sesame, corn and more. The students contribute one hour of hoeing in the fields per week, they also take care of the school’s cleaning: classrooms, refectory, dormitory and courtyard. This contribution reduces running costs so that the school can charge tuition in line with those of government schools.

This is the third school year with a double section - first, second and third grade - and the number of students has reached 580. When we have the double section up to the fourth grade - in 2026 - the number of students will reach approximately 660, the maximum capacity for the school. The increased capacity was the positive response to the request of many parents who hold the school in high esteem. The construction of the new classrooms and dormitories is complete and the parents have committed to paying for the construction of three blocks of toilets now completed.

What is urgent at the moment is the renovation of the computer lab. The computers currently in use are only twenty and very dated. Nowadays, an education is needed that focuses on knowledge of media techniques, on an efficient use of what the technological world offers and therefore also on a teaching of human-Christian principles and values so as to give a soul to the digital world. Furthermore, every course after high school requires knowledge of how to use a computer. Our students - in the majority - are not able to have a personal computer and therefore the school provides one.

Objectives

Respond to the needs of the increased number of students
Provide 40 new computers to make lessons efficient and learning effective.
Comply with the educational demands of the country.
Improve the educational offer of the school
Offer teaching in line with the needs of the times.

Beneficiaries

Direct: 580 students .

Indirect: families and the region that will have a more complete high school.

Referent sister for the project: sr Angiolina Bianchi