40th Anniversary of Nyakabungo Girls’ Boarding Secondary School
in S W Uganda
Everybody loves a celebration and 2024 is the year that Nyakabungo Girls’ Boarding Secondary School (NGBSS) is celebrating 40 years since it was founded.
They produced an 40th Anniversary pamphlet which you can view here clicking on the picture below
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Interestingly enough, it came into being mainly due to the effort of the men in Nyakabungo community. It was at a time when it was quite normal to believe that girls’ education wasn’t necessary as they would get married and move away or become pregnant and bring shame on the family if they stayed in school too long. A group of prominent men in the local council trekked the 40 kilometre journey to Rukungiri, the seat of the North Kigezi Diocese and the district headquarters to lobby for a girls school. There was no public transport so they had to make this journey on foot, a number of times. These men envisioned a girls only boarding school where they would have a conducive learning environment, safe from all the dangers of having to walk on foot every day to and from Rugyeyo Secondary, a co-ed school.
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After great determination from these men, the dream eventually came true and in 1984 Nyakabungo Girls’ Boarding Secondary School started, under the auspices of the Church of Uganda, with the Diocese as a founding body and supported by the government with a strong community stakeholder component. The new secondary school displaced Nyakabungo Primary School, inheriting the space and infrastructure. Most of these buildings were mud and wattle, with hard beaten soil floors, which were very dusty. Thankfully a great friendship developed between my mother, Mary Wood, and Bishop John Ntegyereize, the first Bishop of the newly created Kinkiizi Diocese, and the school started to grow, with support initially for 10 girls’ fees and upgrading some of the infrastructure. In 2003 there were only 6 buildings. Now there are 16, many of which were built with funds raised by the Mary Wood Trust.
NGBSS has come a long way in its 40 year journey and has had its shares of ups and downs. 8 headteachers and 9 BOG chairpersons later the school is now on a very good path. The school gained Advanced level status in 2009 and the A level exam results recently published in March 2024 are a good indication that the school is starting to shine once again.
On Friday April 19th 2024, they celebrated this special anniversary and it was great that Oliver and I were able to be there to join in.
The new chairperson of the board of governors and her siblings have recently given the makings of a marching brass band to the school, and the day was full of music and marching as well as speeches and fun. The MWT provided a cow so that the girls and other visitors can enjoy some meat on that day- a real treat and a welcome change from the regular diet of beans.
As well as celebrating the 40th anniversary of the school, the new A level and Fine Arts Block was officially opened on the same day. The MWT were able to build this new 3 classroom block with a gift given in memory of the late Margaret Pearson, who was a close friend of my mother and all our family, and also a great supporter of the school and the work of the MWT. With new desks, cupboards to store art supplies, solar powered lighting and a rain water collection system, it will be a great asset to the school. This project has taken some while to come to fruition so it was wonderful to see it actually completed.
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I am proud of the fact that we now sponsor 40 girls at NGBSS, many of these with individual sponsors. During our visit I spent some time with each of them, getting to know more about them and their family backgrounds. It was also important to show appreciation and support to the teachers who give up a lot to be in this remote school with no internet, no mains electricity, no mains water. It always amazes me that the girls achieve what they do. The O level results also came out recently and the school performed even better than last year.
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Over the years we have helped more than 15 girls pursue further education of some kind or another, all following on from their support at NGSS
Clare Ramsden
Mary Wood Trust Chairperson
