When visiting Sacred Heart School, one of the first things to catch your eye as you walk past the administrative offices is the 3-story classroom block in the center of campus. It is painted a cheerful yellow, and if you come during classes it is alive with students filling each classroom with laughter and chatter until the teacher arrives to command their attention. The first floor of the building was funded by the Japanese government, with two additional floors constructed by Invisible Children Uganda’s School for Schools program.
“With eighteen new classrooms, the school can accommodate 1,500 students compared to the past where we could take in about 900 students,” said the school’s head teacher during the ceremony to hand over the completed building to the school.
The vibrant commissioning ceremony was witnessed by students, teachers, alumnae, head teachers from Invisible Children partner schools, staff of Invisible Children, the Regional Ambassador of Invisible Children, officials from of the Ministry of Education, the Gulu District Woman Member of Parliament Betty Aol Ocan, and the Japanese Ambassador to Uganda Kazou Minagawa, who in his words thanked Invisible Children Uganda for building on the work his government had started.
“The project we had started in this school would have turned out to be a failure, but with the intervention of Invisible Children it has finally been completed,” he said.
The additional classroom space brings great relief to the students who say they have been saved from congestion in classrooms, creating a free, more spacious environment for learning.
“Previously we used to shift from one classroom to another or even combine sections, but with the new classrooms we have enough space and each section has a classroom of its own,” said Sandra, a student at the school whose future dream is to become a surgeon.
Appreciative of the good learning environment, the students hope to maintain the facilities to benefit those that join the school years after them as they work toward academic excellence.
Through the Schools for Schools program, Invisible Children Uganda’s 11 partner schools have seen improvement in infrastructure that will provide students with a better learning environment. These education initiatives are part of our Recovery Programs in Uganda, and are funded through monthly donations by members of Fourth Estate. Find out how you can sign up for a Fourth Estate membership HERE.
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