Food is strongly linked to child education. According to unpublished research conducted by Fr Dominic Tumusiime, the founder of the Rubanda Solidarity Nursery and Primary schools, in 2004, lack of enough food at household levels was the greatest cause for the rising numbers of students dropping out of all only government-aided schools in the district of Rubanda.
The findings provided a basis for both short and long-term solutions in whatever future action that was to take place. With a great team joining, initiating a private day and boarding school was a necessity for us. The new school would prioritize on a new feeding program seen as an important tool to attract, children, and make a positive change to not only prospective young learners but also the education system and the community. With a vision for “better life” and a common mission to “provide quality education for both girl and boy child” in Rubanda community, the project was imperative and ripe time.
So, in 2005, with the 70 students from the previous year of study, the Rubanda Solidarity Nursery and Primary school was inaugurated. It offered both day and boarding school opportunities serving the children and the community. Our beginnings were very humble, one step at a time but with a giant mission ahead of us to accomplish. Consequently, a feeding program was designed and initiated that reached out to all students with an impact that everyone immediately felt. The new program attracted the enthusiastic students and also changed the attitude toward conventional education to that of education for life in the community.
Parents got very motivated to seek quality education and appreciated the unique initiative of the feeding program seen as a great a support towards their parental responsibilities in their families. They pledged continued active participation which has never faded away.
Finally, we had to focus on our basic objectives towards achieving our goals. These included building unity (Solidarity), promoting better eating habits, ensuring good sleep, nurturing spirit filled students who study hard with a passion, and promoting skill filled service to them and the community. All these were to be embodied in a program of “Three Pillars”: Faith, Academics, and Skills.
Within the Life skills initiatives, we concentrated more on school gardening as our major skill to our students equipping them with their traditional farming values and improving on their skills for both knowledge and local food production. With that, we knew we would feed them, contribute to high costs of food, save money, strengthen and sustain our food store and create sustainable food security.
With this ambitious goal, the process began on the first day of the opening of the school with a journey that continues to this day. Later, in 2012, we founded Yamba Abaana, a local association to continue with the process of food production
Our gardening culture has gradually evolved from local and primitive methods to conventional methods and most recently to the American improved simple farming methods brought in by one of our friends Mr. Daniel Bedard after being inspired by previous visiting friends including Dr. Bruce Murray, a medical doctor, Dr. David Sharp, nutritionist, among others.
These and more friends of Yamba Abaana USA, have passionately worked around the clock to see a modern agricultural project take off at our school. And Mr. Bedard graced it all last January 2018, when he traveled along with me on my vacation to Uganda, with a mission to design, create and start off a modern school garden. It was a wonderful accomplishment.
We’re very grateful to everyone who has contributed towards the betterment of our school, specifically towards improving our garden production for better feeding of our children before we could think of feeding their minds.
Your contribution, in any form, makes our school what it is today. You must watch our students enjoy the fruits of their labor or listen to them describe how much they eat enough food with enough vegetables in it. They must be comparing our school eating habits with those in their homes. We know your care does not need your presence on the ground but know that the impact of your generosity is greatly felt and enjoyed by many. Please, we’re greatly thankful and proud to share these galleries of our school garden with you in order for you to follow what we do in our common project at the ground.
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