WE KNOW THAT IMPROVED HEALTH AND NUTRITION PLAYS AN INTEGRAL PART IN THE ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY. 

If children are to learn and perform well at school, they need to be physically and psychologically healthy. Our healthcare and nutrition programs are designed to improve the health of students, staff and the communities we work in.

WHY HEALTHCARE?  

WHAT SCHOOL FOR LIFE DOES

School for Life opened its first on-site clinic at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School in 2016. With a full-time registered nurse, this clinic offers much needed primary healthcare services to students and staff. The installation and operations of the Katuuso school clinic have been made possible by the generous donations of Nadia Badawi AM and John Keogh.

Two more on-site clinics, each with their own dedicated full-time registered nurse, were opened up to accommodate the students, staff and communities of Mbazzi Primary and High School.

In addition to providing first aid, basic check-ups, malaria testing and medication, the school’s nurses will coordinate health promotion campaigns and outreach workshops for the entire community.

Through these clinics we:

  • Integrate general hygiene practices into the school curriculum.

  • Include sex education and family planning in the curriculum.

  • Teach students about the risk of HIV and AIDS.

  • Provide three nutritious meals a day for all staff and students.

  • Train all of our teachers to handle emergencies and deliver first aid.

  • Help our female students manage menstruation.

  • Ensure clean and safe drinking water is provided to all students and staff.

  • Support and protect the students’ mental and physical safety, providing child protection and psychosocial support through our specialised Community and Welfare team.

HOW WE DO IT

  • We have Health Clinics at Katuuso Primary and Mbazzi Primary and High Schools.

  • We partner with Alive Medical Services to bring qualified doctors and nurses to our communities frequently.

  • We work with local health centres to ensure our students have access to vaccinations and outreach programs.

  • We engage volunteers regularly to provide free dental services to students, staff and the surrounding community.

  • We have installed latrines and hand washing facilities.

  • We train staff in first aid through St Johns Ambulance, the delivery of sex education and the instruction of HIV prevention.

  • We grow 20 different types of crops and vegetables at the school farm for improved nutrition.

  • We maintain water pumps that provide clean drinking water to the surrounding communities.

  • We provide our girls with reusable sanitary kits and menstrual hygiene education to support them to not miss valuable days of school during menstruation.

  • We have installed water tanks with capacity to store over 2 million litres of clean drinking water from our vast roof spaces.

  • We have a specialised Community and Welfare team to provide counselling and psychosocial services to the students. We’ve hired a full time counsellor and social worker to assist and support our staff and students.

  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, we produced over 26,000 reusable face masks for our community members in our tailoring centre. We provided outreach to our surrounding community members with health and food support, as well as educating them on the virus and how to protect themselves against it.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We are working on developing partnerships with the local Government schools to improve the health of the whole community. We continue to hold health and hygiene days to educate the community on the importance of hygiene practices, sex education and reproductive health and provide free vaccinations.

Success Stories
Goretti

Sweet and shy Goretti lives with her aunt, uncle and cousins in a small house in the local village. When Goretti was younger, she moved in with her aunt and uncle because her parents could no longer look after her. She was one of our first students at Katuuso Primary, starting in 2011 when she was just 4 years old. Now, Goretti is in Senior One at Mbazzi High School, and is relishing the honour of being a high school student in her community - something that is taken for granted in Australia, but in Uganda, represents freedom and opportunity. Goretti also loves attending School for Life because she hopes to one day become a pilot in Uganda - a dream which she knows can only be reached with the help of a good education.

Violah

Violah has been at School for Life since since she was six years old. Sadly, Violah has experienced hardship no child should ever deal with. Her Dad passed away three years ago, leaving her Mum without the financial means to support her family - so she left Violah and her siblings with their elderly grandmother. Every day, Violah has to wake up at 5am to fetch water, cook meals and make sure that her younger sisters are properly looked after. Then she walks half an hour to get to school. Despite this adversity, Violah has flourished at school and has made many friends. She loves that School for Life is "helping me to build a future". After finishing school, Violah hopes to become a teacher to help other children.

Umar

Umar is one of our best performing students at Mbazzi Riverside High School - but life has not always been easy for Umar. His father abandoned the family in 2015, leaving his mother to struggle to support her five children on her own. School for Life has provided Umar with opportunities that may never else have eventuated for him. Umar begun his journey with School for Life at Katuuso Primary School, where his academic ability was quickly revealed. Now, he is a thriving member of our Senior 1 class and a formidable wing on the football team. With a love for mathematics, Umar is set on studying electronic engineering after finishing his senior studies - a goal which he is the first to admit is now within reach thanks to the skills and resources provided to him by School for Life.

Rose Nambooze

Rose is a 32‐year‐old single mother of one. She started working with SFL in 2013, after taking part in our tailoring training program. Prior to working with us, she was unemployed and living in her father's home helping to care for her father, who had cataracts, and his farm.
Thanks to her full time employment, Rose was able to save enough money to pay for an eye operation and restore her father's sight, allowing him to return to work as a mechanic. Now, Rose has moved into her own home and no longer relies on her father financially. 

Joseph

Joseph is one of our Special Needs teachers at Katuuso. After surviving a severe case of malaria at age four, he was left permanently deaf. He was raised by his single mother and attended a nursery school for the handicapped and later transferred to a school for the Deaf in Kampala. He eventually mastered sign language and pursued a university degree in education. Joseph decided to become a teacher so that he could give the gift of education to others who are hearing impaired.

Teddy Namatovu

Teddy is a participant in the Kumi Tailoring Program and four of her five children attend Katuuso Primary School. She and her husband farm two acres of land, which supplies fluctuating revenue. Participation in the Kumi Tailoring Project has secured income to reliably pay for school fees, nutritious meals and renovations to the family home. Teddy has gained a great deal of self-esteem from her ability to support her family and she takes pride in independently financing the education of all five children. Teddy has also been working on her numeracy and administration skills. She was appointed Treasurer of the tailoring group and will be responsible for keeping records of their savings.

Flaviah Nassaazi

Flaviah Nassaazi started working at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School in 2011. Prior to cooking at the school, she and her husband were subsistence farmers. They worked tirelessly for small yields and minimal income to support their family. Flaviah's cooking job not only enables her to pay school fees for her children, but she has also invested in a local barbershop business. She is now passing her cooking skills onto her eldest son Frank, who has also joined the school's cooking staff. Flaviah and her husband attend the adult literacy classes offered weekly at the school. Her English and reading have improved immensely, as well as her confidence.

Rachel

In 2010, Rachel began as a cleaner at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School. She was working to save money to study to be a teacher at University. Thanks to Barrie and Simone Goldsmith, her dream of studying came true and she is now fully qualified.