Suubi Secondary School Blog

6-11-2015, Vocational Workshop & Tools Unveiled At Music, Dance & Drama Final

November 6th will definitely be long remembered at Suubi Secondary & Vocational College: the day when the new vocational workshop and tools were unveiled at Suubi's most successful MDD finals to date. Everyone had worked tirelessly to make sure the construction was finished in time, and all that hard work certainly paid off when more than 1600 people turned up on the day. It was wonderful to see them all enjoying the students performances that highlighted this years theme of "An educated community, is a transformed community”. This certainly tied in perfectly with the launch of the new SSVC vocational facilities.

With the finishing touches having been put on building, the new workshop is certainly an impressive sight.

The SSVC students opened the MDD finals by singing the national anthem and also performed a song about the importance of education. There are lots more wonderful photos of the other schools performing on the Suubi events blog for you to see.

Midway through the performances everyone was invited to have a tour of the school, in particular the new structure where they were also able check out the huge variety of vocational tools that had recently arrived. The combination of the new building and tools means that the start of the 2016 school year will see carpentry, metalwork and mechanics added to the tailoring, knitting and baking vocational subjects that have been offered this year. Importantly though, the availability of space and the necessary tools means that the vocational subjects can now be incorporated in to the day to day curriculum, rather than just during school holidays.

Once inside the new workshop everyone was surprised to see the huge number and variety of tools.

They eagerly checked out everything from electrical tools, through to bicycles, wheelchairs and even secretarial supplies.

Each set of boxes contained tools specific to different trades. Here are some for carpentry and plumbing.

There are even gardening tools that will be put to great use for agricultural studies.

Another thing that people were very interested to hear more about was the biogas; how it is now producing very bright light and also wonderful compost that is being used on the school gardens.

The biogas unit was recently serviced and is now performing perfectly.

The lights are now shining so brightly that they were perfect to use as the audio equipment was set up for the MDD finals the night before.

The compost produced from the biogas is definitely helping the schools matooke trees to flourish. It won't be long and the students and teachers will be enjoying this matooke for lunch. An added bonus; it will be prepared from the new kitchen that was also built as part of the 2nd phase construction. Perfect!

What a wonderful sight to see the structures of Suubi Secondary & Vocational Collage now standing side by side: the original classroom block, the biogas toilet block and now the complete workshop and kitchen.

We've put together a short video of the finals day so you can get a real feel of the excitement of the event and as the community toured the new workshop for the first time. Enjoy!

How wonderful to see the positive energy that SSVC is bringing to the whole community.

It is amazing to think how far we have come in such a short time. A huge thank you to everyone who has been part of making all of this possible. Well done everyone!

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28-10-2015, Phase 2 Construction Nearing Completion

With the preliminary rounds of the Suubi Music, Dance and Drama Festival completed last week and the finals now only a week away, everyone has been frantically working to have the new workshop/kitchen at SSVC finished in time to show off to everyone who attends on November 6th. Students, teachers, family and community members from the 8 remaining primary schools, and others planning to join the festivities from as far away as Masaka and Kampala, are sure to be suitably impressed with the new construction. Since our last update things have certainly been speeding towards completion:

The outside rendering was completed.

Guttering was installed so water can be directed into the new water tank.

Power point's were installed in the main workshop area

and electricity fitted off to the outside of the structure.

With the concrete floor down, the workshop certainly now looks and feels like an ideal space for vocational studies.

Once the inside floor was complete, the front verandah and steps in to the building were the next thing to be ticked off.

and then the skirting surrounding the entire building.

What an amazing sight to see the vocational workshop and kitchen now standing beside the original SSVC classroom block. It really is hard to believe that less than 18 months ago this was a vacant block of land!

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19-10-2015, Suubi To Collaborate With Like Minded Organisations

It is exciting to see that Suubi Centre's hard earned, proven track record is reaping rewards and our director, Ssemwogerere David, is now receiving regular request for Suubi to collaborate with other like minded organisations. Recently David and SSVC staff members, Sanitah and Lydia, attended an entrepreneurship training with ASPIRE TO INSPIRE in Masaka Town. This organisation is facilitated by Bana Uganda Ltd and focuses on social entrepreneurship initiatives that mainly target children attending school. The intention is to see how the girl child can remain in school and at the same time be empowered with business skills and opportunities. When the Aspire to Inspire team visited secondary schools in the area, prior to this workshop, they very quickly realised that Suubi Secondary & Vocational College shares the same philosophy and already has many of their concepts up and running; students are already learning tailoring, knitting and baking, and more vocational subjects are set to be added in 2016. With this in mind, they very quickly invited David and SSVC staff to attend their training. With the training now complete, the next step is that the selected schools will come up with business ideas that at least 20 of their female students will choose to run. As the program progresses the participating schools will compete and exhibits will be held to showcase which school businesses are proving to be the most successful.

SSVC was selected to attend the Aspire to Inspire workshop as participants. As you can see Shanitah doing here, they were often asked to explain to others attending how SSVC is already going about running vocational studies to empower students.

In addition to the exciting opportunities to arise from the workshop above, Ssemwogerere David has also been in discussion with Kizza Josephine, from St Jude Rural Training Centre, after SSVC students had an excursion there earlier this year. They are both very keen to see SSVC become part of St Jude's school agricultural extension program.

Kizza Josephine, (c) from St Jude Family Rural Training Centre recently visited SSVC to check out the facilities and programs currently running.

So there are definitely exciting times ahead for Suubi as we build on these new relationships. Stay tuned to watch as everything continues to grow and create real hope in the community.

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14-10-2015, SSVC Workshop Construction In Overdrive

With the vocational tools having arrived safely from the UK less than 2 weeks ago, and the finals of Suubi's Schools Music, Dance and Drama Festival due to be held at SSVC on November 6th, phase 2 of construction at the school has gone in to overdrive.

Suubi's annual MDD finals alway attracts many people from Suubi's partnering primary schools and the wider community; it continues to grow in popularity year after year. So this will provide the perfect opportunity to unveil the new purpose built workshop/kitchen and the many vocational tools. Participating primary school students, their parents, teachers and the wider community will all be able to check out everything for themselves. They will also learn more about the SSVC philosophy and exactly how we plan to incorporate the variety of vocational subjects in to the 2016 curriculum. Those wishing to apply to enrol for the 2016 intake at SSVC will be encouraged to do so on the finals day.

With only a few weeks to go before this much anticipated event, all the tradesman working on the new structure are determined to have everything finished in time. Check out the amazing amount of work they have done since our last blog post just 12 days ago............

The windows and doors were finished being constructed and painted, and have since been installed.

The inside of the workshop area has had the walls rendered.

The skirting around the bottom of the entire structure, which protects the foundations from damage during the wet season, has been added.

Inside the kitchen a new fuel efficient stove has been constructed.

Tiles were fitted to the outside to give it additional strength and heat retention.

The finished oven is an impressive sight and will definitely save on the large quantity of wood that is ordinarily needed to prepare meals.

SSVC cook, Frank, (R) has been given instructions on the best way to use the stove to make sure of the most fuel efficiency.

Outside, a 2nd water tank has been installed on the school site. Water from here will be used predominately in the kitchen it is located next to.

Many hands are now at work as the outside rending is being completed.

How exciting to see what can be done in such a short space of time when many people work together. At this rate, we are sure to see the large crowds at the upcoming MDD finals buzzing around the completed building in the next update!

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2-10-2015, Excitement At SSVC As Vocational Tools Arrive

There was much excitement at Suubi today as everyone awoke to find that the vocational tools, that have slowly been making their way from the UK since July, had made the final part of the journey to Lubanda Village over night.

Suubi Centre director, Ssemwogerere David, had taken a large truck to the TWAM warehouse, in Kampala, the previous day to collect the many tools that had arrived: Full sets of carpentry, motor mechanic, plumbing, electrician, bicycle and shoe repair kits, as well as an assortment of power tools and sewing and knitting machines were among the long list of items donated. All of these pieces will soon fit out the vocational workshop that is currently under construction at SSVC. How exciting to think that the 2016 school year will now be able to offer so many valuable vocational subjects to the students!

The many boxes of tools for SSVC were firstly sorted from other donated items in the TWAM warehouse in Kampala.

Next they were loaded on to the truck to make the final leg of their long journey to SSVC in Lubanda Village.

SSVC Headmaster, Walugembe Robert and the students (L) were filled with excitement when Ssemwogerere David (R) showed them the many boxes of tools that have arrived.

Equally as important as the tools arriving, it is fabulous to see the progress that has been made on the construction of the workshop. Knowing the tools have now arrived safely at Suubi, it will be even more exciting to watch as the finishing touches are put to the building. It seems like just a blink ago that we were drawing up the first plans for Suubi Secondary & Vocational College, so to think about the positive impact the combination of the tools and workshop will have at SSVC in 2016 is like a dream come true!

Since our last construction update, the verandah poles were the next thing to be added.

Ventilator bricks were then installed in the kitchen area to make sure any excess smoke from the fuel efficient stove can easily escape, making it a far healthier environment for the cooks and students.

Bush poles were then sourced and needed to all be cut with a hand saw so the roofing could begin.

The builders then ventured up high to put the first poles in place.

It wasn't long before all the poles were in place.

The iron sheets were next to follow.

What a difference it makes to the look of the structure with all of the iron sheets are on.

The coming week will see the windows installed and the rendering begin.

What a wonderful sight to see the classroom block and the workshop/kitchen block now standing side by side.

As we write this blog post the many boxes are being unpacked and sorted through so check back in again soon so we can see all the tools for yourself.

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16-9-2015, SSVC Students Appear In National Newspapers

After the students from Suubi Secondary & Vocational College recently appearing in The Herald Sun newspaper in Australia, (see article left) they are now set to also be featured in Uganda's national newspaper, The Daily Monitor.

Today when Micheal Ssali, a prominent agricultural journalist from the Monitor, walked in to Suubi Secondary and Vocational College, he could have been forgiven for thinking he had arrived at a chicken farm, as there were eggs all over the place. He soon found out that the students have an exciting home based chicken project and that is where all the eggs are coming from.

Michael spent time interviewing the students and staff to learn more about this innovative project and will now write an an article that will feature in the national newspaper. He was extremely impressed with SSVC's intention to support these rural based students to acquire an education, but the fact that the project has proved to be such a huge success shows that this isn't just another idea or plan in the making; it's a reality and it working. The chicken project actually earns the students an income to help pay their own school fees, at the same time as training them in farming and personal project management skills for self reliance. Brilliant!

The Daily Monitor article is sure to spread this idea to many other schools and students across Uganda and inspire them to follow SSVC's lead. What wonderful role models our students are for people on both sides of the world. Well done and congratulations to everyone at SSVC!

The SSVC students were excited to read about themselves in Herald Sun newspaper in Australia recently.

So were also eager to tell Michael Ssali, from the Daily Monitor, about the school's home based chicken project and how it is helping their families to pay their school fees.

Michael was hugely impressed to see the number of eggs that the students were registering at SSVC to be sold.

Follow up: The article about the SSVC students chicken project appeared in the national newspaper on September 30th, 2015. Read the Daily Monitor article. How exciting for everyone involve at Suubi Secondary & Vocational College!

SSVC students eggs are now being sold in a number of places, including regular sales to Plot 99 Restaurant in Masaka Town.

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24-8-2015, After Only 1 Month The Building Is Already Taking Shape

The building team at SSVC have been powering along since the construction began on the workshop just a month ago. It is amazing to see the structure taking shape with the veranda and space for windows and doorways now clearly being seen.

The boxing for the verandah was next thing to be added since the last lot of photos we showed you.

A huge amount of back filling was then required so prisoners from the district were once again used to carry out this physically challenging work, just as they did during the construction of the first classroom block.

And as the saying goes, "many hands make light work" and the backfilling was soon complete.

What a wonderful sight to see the classroom block in the background - It wasn't very long ago that we were watching it being constructed.

With foundations complete the walls soon began to rise from every corner.

At the end of each day the everyone could see that great progress had been made.

And now, just one month on, we can very clearly see the verandah, windows and doorways. How exciting!

The workshop will eventually be almost twice the height of the classroom structure, to allow for vehicles and large machinery to be taken inside. With the builders commitment and the pace they work at, it want be long before we are bringing you photos of these gigantic walls and the roof going on. So stay tuned!

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1-8-2015, Foundation Work Begins On The New Workshop

Only a week after the construction began on the new workshop and kitchen at SSVC, we can already see the walls rising up. Nkuke Paul and his team of builders are setting a cracking pace as usual.

The first brick was carefully put in place to make sure everything was perfectly in line.

Paul was responsible for getting the all important first line of bricks in place.

Then it was all hands an deck as the northern wall started to rise.

With the height of the workshop set to be almost double that of the original classroom block, extra metal strengthening is being woven in to the brickwork.

Bricks are also being laid at 90 degrees to the usual method and support pillars are being placed closer together internally and externally; all to help create extra strength.

A congo line of workers passed bricks from outside the construction fence.

Before long the entire structure was starting to shape.

What a wonderful sight to see the classroom block in the background. It wasn't very long ago that we were watching it being constructed and now we have phase 2 well underway. How exciting!

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24-7-2015, Workshop/Kitchen Construction Begins At SSVC

There was much excitement in Lubanda Village, in particular at Suubi Secondary & Vocational College, as work got underway on 2nd stage of construction at the school. The next structure will consist of the all important workshop for the vocational subjects. With a wide variety of tools, which were so generously donated by Tools With A Mission, now currently making there way on a shipping container from the UK, the workshop will be the perfect place to house them. It is extremely exciting to think that, by the beginning of the 2016 school year, we will see SSVC students learning vocational skills such as carpentry, metal fabrication, bicycle and motorbike repairs, tailoring, knitting, hairdressing and baking; all in this purpose built workshop.

And not only that, a permanent kitchen and storeroom is to be built on the northern end of the workshop. This will enable us to tap in to the nearby biogas and a fuel efficient stove will also be installed. Both these methods of cooking will be far better for the environment as they will reduce on the large amount of firewood that is currently required to prepare school lunches.

Check out the exciting first lot of photos:

The first job required was to fence off the area to help keep students and the community out of the construction site.

The foundations were then pegged out and day 2 saw the digging get underway.

Many locals got involved in this, making light work of a big job.

Although the red dirt was rocky and dry this didn't deter the hard working team.

The end of day 2 saw the digging of foundations, for the external walls, completed

and bricks delivered in readiness for the bricklayers to start.

Remember to check back in often because, as were saw when the classrooms were being built, the builders work at a cracking pace!

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24-7-2015, SSVC Students On Agricultural Study Excursion

The students from SSVC, along with their agriculture teacher, Mr Deo, the home based project coordinator, Miss Shanitah and Suubi Centre director Ssemwogerere David spent a fabulous day at the St Jude Family Rural Training Centre today.

The students home based chicken project is what had peaked the schools interest in visiting the training centre but they also came away from the day with a multitude of other skills surrounding integrating crops and livestock on one piece of land.

The excited SSVC students arrived at the St Jude Family Project Training Centre with their agriculture teacher, Mr Deo.

The day began with inspirational talks about the best farming practises that help to make the many various crop and livestock projects at the centre so succesful.

With SSVC students having their own home based chicken project they lapped up every bit of information they could about caring for chickens.

Other livestock such as pigs, goats and cows are also kept at St Jude. Throughout the day it was highlighted to the students about integrated farming, where by on the same piece of land, one can grow a variety of crops and livestock and each aspect can benefit another. For example, chicken manure can be feed to the pigs, which in turn creates further manure that can then be incorporated in to making compost for the crops.

Intercropping is also encouraged at St Jude, as is seen here with the motooke underplanted with vegetables.

The students were happy to learn about how to make compost from, what may otherwise be seen as waste, from the livestock and plants that are grown on the property.

The size of the cabbages at St Jude's gives a great indication of how much of a difference it can make when crops are well cared for and composting is incorporated.

A variety of garden beds, that can be incorporated on even the smallest piece of land, were all clearly doing well at St Jude's.

Even items like old jerry cans were planted out, showing the students what is possible. Every home in Uganda has damaged jerrycans that can no longer be used for collecting water; clearly they should not be thrown away as they can be turned in to a garden.

Small seedlings that have been grown in a nursery bed are protected from the strong sun with banana fibre from the matooke trees. This protects them from the harsh elements and allows them to grow stronger while they are still young.

The students checked out the large dam on the property that is used for fish farming.

They were also showed that this too is possible on a smaller scale at a family home.

The SSVC students, teachers and St Jude staff were happy to take a group photo at the end of the day.

The agricultural study tour to St Jude training centre was definitely a huge success. The students have not only come home with great advise on the ways to care for their chickens but they have also leant many other skills that they are now keen to try out on land at home and/or at school.

An exciting outcome from todays tour is that the founder of St Jude, Kizza Josephine, is more than willing to continue working with Suubi Centre and SSVC in furthering this kind of training. They have a new project that is soon to begin for extension training in schools, and they promised SSVC will be one of only 5 schools to have the opportunity to participate.

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Suubi Secondary School Blog

6-11-2015, Vocational Workshop & Tools Unveiled At Music, Dance & Drama Final

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28-10-2015, Phase 2 Construction Nearing Completion

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19-10-2015, Suubi To Collaborate With Like Minded Organisations

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14-10-2015, SSVC Workshop Construction In Overdrive

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2-10-2015, Excitement At SSVC As Vocational Tools Arrive

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16-9-2015, SSVC Students Appear In National Newspapers

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24-8-2015, After Only 1 Month The Building Is Already Taking Shape

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1-8-2015, Foundation Work Begins On The New Workshop

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24-7-2015, Workshop/Kitchen Construction Begins At SSVC

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24-7-2015, SSVC Students On Agricultural Study Excursion

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