The Kishanda Community School: A model school for southern Uganda

Batwa children whose families were once nomadic forest dwellers living primitively in the rainforest just one generation ago are on the move again—except this time the move is not a relocation, but a move of young minds, motivated to learn and help countries like Uganda take their place in a rapidly changing world.

Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci famously said that, “Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.” For poor children in developing countries such as Uganda, da Vinci’s sentiment rings true. Education is not free in Uganda, and few families in this area can afford school fees or uniforms. Thanks to strategic partners, about 1200 children in our programs are able to excel as their minds are opened to learn new subjects, ideas and ways of imagining the world.

Schools such as the Kishanda Community School serve as a model for how schools can be constructed and operated. Run by the Batwa Development Program (BDP), student enrollment is 414 pupils across nine nursery and primary school grade levels. Kishanda marked the of of this school year with very promising results on their mid-term and end-of-term exams.

“The school has brought so much excitement to the community,” beams Benson Koshaba, the BDP’s Education Officer.  With the latest phase of development completed recently, young eager minds now have access to eleven fully furnished classrooms, a well-designed IT space, library, kitchen, dining hall and a playground; school staff have a nice staff room and head teacher’s office. 

Integral to the campus design is adequate space for play grounds and a large field. In this hilly region, the school compound is now leveled with large retaining walls and water channels for rainwater diversion—a must-have in the rainy season of equatorial Africa.

Some parts of the compound have been paved with concrete pavers, and rainwater catchment tanks have been installed along with large latrines to support a school this size. The first seeds in a new garden have been planted that will soon provide vegetables, harvested and used for feeding the expanding student body. 

With qualified teachers, a well-functioning campus and eager students, the school is a model for the entire district.