Suubi Secondary School Blog

10-12-2019 Awards Ceremony At Suubi Secondary School

It was an very exciting day to conclude the end of the 2019 school year at Suubi Secondary School as awards were distributed to students who had excelled throughout the year.

A creative initiative over the last term had seen our tailoring students learn the skills of producing backpacks, that today were the highlight of the prizes handed out. To know that each backpack had been sewn by one of our sewing class and screenprinted by our very talented special needs students from our Smiling HeARTs project certainly added an additional sense of pride to the awards ceremony.

Our huge thanks goes to our wonderful supporters from Createcare Global and Jordbarn for making all of this possible. Your generosity has not only provided the students with backpacks, water bottles and solar lamps but more importantly it has given our students an opportunity to learn new skills along the way and feel a sense of pride in their achievements. Your generosity will continue to have a positive impact in the students lives well in to the future! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Students waited in anticipation as the prizes were set out on the awards table.

The smiles on everyones faces spoke volumes as the awards were distributed. Patricia was one of a number of students who was rewarded not only for her academic excellence but also for producing one of the backpacks that were being distributed as part of the prizes.

Gertrude, who had joined Suubi SS from our Smiling HeARTs project this year, was proud to be one of the recipients for also producing backpacks.

Our head prefect, Syrus, was happy to be awarded for his outstanding leadership.

All the awardees were presented to the rest of the school population; they are sure to inspire all of them to work hard so they can the very best version of themselves too.

Everyone's pride is tangible; what a wonderful sight to see the students head off to show their peers their well deserved prizes.

Our huge congratulations go to the following students who received awards:

Best performing academic students in each year level were awarded a backpack, water bottle and solar lamp each for their excellent results:

Senior 1
1.Nalutaawa Hanifa
2.Kigozi Allan
3.Nankindu Maria Peace

Senior 2
1.Lukwago Benedict
2.Namakula Patricia
3.Nanyonga Sylvia

Senior 3
1.Namutebi Susan
2.Lubega Andrew Joseph
3.Nakawojjwa Teddy

The Head Prefect of the school was awarded a backpack and water bottle for his leadership
Mafuma Syrus, Senior 5

The Most Disciplined Student was award a backpack and water bottle for her commitment and hard work:
Nanduaula Stella, Senior 3

Tailoring students who completed a backpack 'on their own' all received a backpack and water bottle for their effort to learn this new skill. The remaining tailoring students are working hard to hone their skills and will be rewarded next time.
Abbey Kisasa
Tomusange Peregren
Nalutaawa Hanifa
Nantongo Zainabu
Nakawuka Betty
Nankin Maria Peace
Naluyima Gertrude
Namakula Patricia
Nakassaga Moreen
Nakanwagiw Betty
Tumushabe Brenda
Birike Joyce

The remaining backpacks, water bottles and solar lamps, that were so generously donated by Createcare Global and Jordbarn, will be awarded throughout first term of 2020 as students continue to show outstanding academic results and/or exceptional personal life skills.

Actually, we would love continue to do this at the end of each term; so if anyone would like to contribute towards this we would love to hear from you.

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21-11-2019, New Sewing And Knitting Machines Arrive

There was great excitement at Suubi Secondary School when 4 new sewing machine and 4 new knitting machines arrived today! This was made possible by a fabulous grant from Universal Charitable Fund. Thank you, thank you, thank you to them for helping us, and so many other organisations, to make a positive difference in the world!

The new machine bases were carefully unloaded out of the delivery ute

for a team of tailoring students to carry them inside.

Knitting students were also on hand to carry in their 4 new machines.

The smiles on students and teachers faces shows how excited everyone is.

It wasn't long before everything had been set up and students were trying out the new industrial strength machines.

Whilst our previous machines have served students well to date, the new industrial machines will enable students to make heavier duties items, such as backpacks and will hopefully require far less repairs than the lighter models.

Knitting students are also thrilled to have 4 new machines - Instructor, Nanpuuga Kizito was happy to help the students set them up.

It wasn't long before the students were hard at work and starting to produce jumpers for next years senior 1 intake.

The new machines will take the number of students per machine from 16 and 8, in tailoring and knitting classes respectively, to 5 on each machine! This is going to have an enormous impact on how much hands on time each student will now have on the machines, meaning their skills will definitely improve more quickly.

Students are currently having intensive vocational training so the machines could not have arrived at a better time. Tailoring students are busy completing backpacks from materials that were provided by Jordbarn - they will soon have enough ready to distribute as encouragement rewards for fellow students who are excelling across all then areas at the school. We can't wait to share those photos with you! Once the backpacks are complete the sewing team will move on to producing 50 uniforms for the 2020 intake of senior 1s. The knitting team is already hard at work producing the 50 jumpers needed.

So as you can see, these vocational subjects really are teaching valuable skills that the students will be able to use throughout their lives; possibly even to support themselves and their families in the future. We would love to hear from anyone who would like to know more about this wonderful initiative or may be willing to help us continue to expand these opportunities. Everyone can help make a difference! - as our Suubi motto says, "Together We Can Create Hope In The Community"

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11-10-2019, Suubi SS Tailoring Students Making Backpacks

How exciting to see Suubi SS tailoring students learning the new skills of making backpacks, during the intensive block of vocational studies that was held over the recent academic holiday period.

Thanks to a wonderful donation from our good friends at Jordbarn and CreateCare Global we were able to purchase much needed materials for the students to use during the learning process. Their generosity will also enable the students to now go on and produce actual backpacks, during their weekly tailoring classes, that will be distributed to students as rewards for excelling across all areas of the school. Teachers will be on the look out for students who excel, but also those who, for example; persevere to improve, shows great leadership, or simply show kindness toward others and reward them with their very own backpack.

The students were taken step by step through the process of producing bags over the recent intensive training:

Firstly the pattern for practice size bags was displayed on the classroom blackboard for students to copy into their workbooks.

Tailoring tutor, Olivia, then went on to show the students how to mark each piece of the pattern on to the fabric with chalk.

Students then marked and cut out their own pieces for the backpack they would produce.

Students who could not fit on to the available tables were not deterred - they simple did their cutting out on the floor.

Once the cutting was complete, students moved on to the job of sewing the bags together.

Gertrude, who has joined Suubi SS, from our Smiling Hearts Uganda group this year, was happy to show her sewing skills to her classmates.

With a limited number of sewing machines to share between close to 60 tailoring students, they needed to wait patiently for their turn on a machine.

We would love to hear from anyone who would like to support this fabulous initiative, by contributing towards purchasing some additional sewing machines. This would enhance the students learning as it will enable more hands-on practice time.

How inspiring to see the students helping each other as they learned.

The smiles on the students faces said it all when the very first backpack was completed!

Pride in their achievement was palpable.

We can't wait to share the next round of photos, once the full size bags are complete and ready to be distributed. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has made this possible!

What a wonderful initiative that allows our tailoring students to learn valuable skills and encourages the wider student population to be the very best version of themselves!

This really does encapsulate our Suubi motto: "Together we can create hope in the community."

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30-9-2019, Coffee Initiative Taking Off

Thanks to many people joining together and donating to our Cents For Seedlings campaign we are excited to now see our coffee project taking off at Suubi Secondary School.

Our vision was to create a project that would provide an opportunity for our students to learn valuable skills that they can put in to use, now and in the future. This will enable them to earn an income, which will help them cover the cost of their own education and support themselves and their families in the future. We are thrilled to now see that the important first steps of this initiative well underway.

Marking out the site for the seedling greenhouse was an exciting day.

The construction of the greenhouse took shape over the last academic holiday period.

Members of the Setem team, from Barcelona, were happy to be able to give a hand during construction and help to put on the shade cloth.

The completed greenhouse is another great addition on the Suubi SS site.

Once students returned from holidays, they enthusiastically got involved in learning the many and varied skilled associated with growing coffee. This began with the importance of adding compost to the soil to give the new seedlings the best opportunity to thrive.

Students then worked together to fill potting bags in readiness for the propagating stems which will grow in to new seedlings.

They were then taught how to cut pieces from branches that had come from Suubi Centre's coffee mother garden. Each stem needs to have the leaves clipped from the lower half of the shoot so that a bare stem can be inserted into the potting mix.

The final step before putting them in to pots; each end is dipped in to rooting hormone which helps the cutting take root more quickly.

Hundreds of seedlings have been planted and these will be added to as the project progresses.

The students have the responsibility of watering and caring for the seedlings as they continue learn important skills of how to successfully grow and earn an income from coffee growing.

Once the seedling have grown enough to be planted out in to the ground each student, who has participated in the coffee initiative, will be rewarded with 10 seedlings to plant at their own homes. This will become a permanent project for them, with money raised from these trees helping with education expenses, even beyond their time at Suubi SS.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who have donated to date to kick start this project. How exciting to see that when lots of people join together we can truly make a positive difference in someone's else life!

If you would like to support the ongoing success of this project, just 50cents can cover the cost of growing a single seedling; for just $5 you can help provide 10 seedling to a student, enabling them to create a better life for themselves. A few cents x lots of people can make a big change!

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29-6-2019, Pioneering Suubi SS Student Joins Suubi Clinic

We are enormously proud to have one of our pioneering Suubi Secondary School students, Navugga Maria, recently join the team at Suubi Clinic.

Maria was one of the very first students to enrol at Suubi SS in 2015. With guidance from our supportive teaching staff and committed to hard work, she successfully passed her 'O' level examinations at the end of last year. Quite an achievement in itself for someone who was born and raise in Lubanda Village.

Making the most of the education opportunities she had been given at Suubi SS, Maria chose to join Lyantonde School of Nursing & Midwifery at the beginning of this year. It is such a thrill to now have her back with us in the village, undertaking the practical part of this course, at Suubi Clinic.

The Suubi Clinic staff, L-R Kayiira Robert, Navugga Maria, Arinda Alad, Nabakooze Eve and Bwambale Januario. The medical team will guide Maria throughout her nursing training.

Maria is gaining hands on experience during her time at Suubi Clinic across all departments, including the immunisation which is held every Monday morning at the clinic.

Dispensing drugs and keeping up to date records are important skills that Eve is passing on to Maria.

Navuuga Maria as a student in 2015

L-R Odell Brian, Muwonge Fahad, Kasirinya Bosco, Navuuga Maria, Namaganda Shanitah and Katietwa Ishmael - some of the staff who guided Maria throughout her secondary education at Suubi SS. They are all thrilled to see her doing her practical nursing training at Suubi Clinic. Kasirinya Bosco, Maria's biology and chemistry teacher, was particularly proud of the marks she received which allowed her to gain entry in to her chosen nursing course

Well done to everyone who has been a part of making all this possible. This really is exactly what we were aiming to achieve when we first started on this amazing journey together all those years ago: HUG in Australia supporting Suubi Projects that all work together to make a positive, long term difference in peoples live!

This is sure to inspire other students and the wider community to want to be part of any Suubi Projects in the future. 🙌🙌🙌

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2-5-2019, Intensive Vocational Studies During Holidays

The recent academic school holiday period has seen Suubi SS students undertaking intensive vocational studies across all five areas of interest on offer; tailoring, knitting, metalwork, building/construction and carpentry. The students enjoyed being able to focus, for the entirety of each day, on their chosen vocational subject, instead of having to fit it in around their academic classes.

With over 70 new students having joined Suubi SS at the beginning of this year, it is great to see the older students helping out our vocational trainers to pass on skills to their younger counterparts. Teaching someone else a new skill definitely hones the understanding of the student who is explaining, which sees all students improving over the course of the holiday program.

More experienced students were happy to pass on the skills they had already learnt to those who have only recently began their chosen vocational training.

The tailoring students did a wonderful job of producing laptop covers for all of the machines in our computer lab. The students learnt a variety of skills to make them and they will definitely help to keep the laptops free of dust - win win for everyone!

Tailoring trainer, Olivia, also taught the students the theory behind making shirts and trousers, which enabled them to complete the remaining school uniforms that were required by the new senior 1 students.

While the knitting student concentrated on producing the sweaters that had been ordered by our senior 1 students.

The increase in student numbers this year has also meant that new work benches were required for our carpentry students.

Over the course of the holiday program, the carpentry students worked together to produce new benches. Again new skills were taught to make the benches which will now be put to great use so there is more space for everyone to work in future - win win for everyone!

The building boys were also busy during as they learnt about setting the foundations of a new structure,

including the importance of making sure the corners are square.

So as you can see, Suubi SS may not have academic classes over the last few weeks but it certainly has been a hive of activity. We are enormously proud of our vocational training at the school, especially as we are now seeing a number of our past students going on to undertake further studies in trade courses or gaining jobs in these areas. Well done everyone!

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1-4-2019, Celebrating Suubi's 10th birthday

What a wonderful day it was when we recently had the chance to celebrate the 10th birthday of Suubi Centre. We combined the event to welcome our new Senior 1 and 5 students and also to congratulate last years Senior 4 on successfully passing their 'O' level examinations. The day was filled will lots of performances; singing, dancing and celebrating in true Ugandan style.

The day began with an official welcome for the Aussies who were lucky enough to be there for the party.

Traditional dance was one of the many special performances during the day, which also included mimes, popular dance and news reading.

There was also many speeches and thank you's throughout the day.

The Suubi ladies group were acknowledged for over 10 years of being together, sharing skills and supporting each other. They were the very first group to come together, even before Suubi Centre was first built all those years ago.

Suubi Centre Director, Ssemwogerere David and Helen Brown from HUG took the opportunity to thank the many people who have been part of this amazing journey - it certainly has been a huge team effort to help make Suubi the success that it is today.

David was presented with a portrait that had been made from banana fibre, by Frank, a hugely talented local artist. It will now be proudly hung in the administration area of the Suubi SS.

Thank you to each an every person who has been part of our amazing journey over the past 10 years!

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27-3-2019, Suubi SS Approved As A National Examination Centre

We had a hugely exciting day at Suubi SS today when a team from the National Examination Board came to do their inspection, as part of the accreditation process for our school to become a National Examination Centre. They toured the school, taking particular notice of the science room and the vocational training hall, where the students will actually be sitting their exams from.

The inspectors were impressed with the facilities available in the new science room, where student will be able to do all their practical experiments from during exams.

The vocational training hall was measured and it was calculated that 60 students can fit in to the space, allowing for the required distance between desks, during the exams.

The inspectors were very quickly able to see that everything on their checklist had been met and by the end of their visit Suubi Director, Ssemwogerere David, was thrilled to be told that we had been approved as a National Examination Centre.

We look forward to picking up the official papers on April 29th, which will ensure our 2019, and all future Senior 4 students, will be able to sit their 'O' level exams at Suubi Secondary School.

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17-3-2019, Helen Seeing Suubi SS In Action Brings Great Joy

After arriving in the village last weekend to lots of singing and dancing to celebrate my return, the week since has given me an opportunity to see, with my own eyes, how Suubi Secondary School operates on a daily basis. Although I have seen hundreds of photos and heard from David how things have been progressing since my last visit; about structures being built and activities being carried out, it has been absolutely surreal to see it all for myself. It is difficult to describe how it feels to see almost 200 students now having the opportunity to get an education in the village. The dream we had is now a reality!

Celebrating with singing and dancing is always a wonderful way to be welcomed back.

Since I was here last here the new classroom block, including the library, computer & science laboratories and 2 additional classrooms have been completed. To see how they are now being utilised and the positive impact they are having on the quality of education the students are receiving is overwhelming. Students now have access to books to study from, enough computers to hone their IT skills on and science equipment to carry out experiments, rather than only learning from the blackboard. These are all things that students and teachers in the western world take for granted but their counterparts at Suubi SS realise how lucky they are to have these facilities in Uganda, particularly in the village, and are definitely making the most of it all.

The library is a place where students access books to gain a greater understanding of what they have been studying in each of the 15 subjects they are taught. They can read from within the library space as seen here, or borrow books to use after class hours or in the dormitory at night.

Students seem to devour the information they are reading. This is understandable when you consider that prior to the library being added at Suubi SS many of them would have spent their entire education, prior to that, only learning by coping information from the backboard or in rote fashion. Now they can absorb the information at they own pace and gain a true understanding of what they are being taught.

I have also been impressed to see students individually then take the books and approach teachers, outside of their ordinary class time, to make sure they fully understand what they have read.

Our Senior 5 students are very fortunate to have one on one access to teachers so they have the greatest chance of succeeding when it comes time to sitting their 'A' level examinations.

In the computer laboratory students now have access to a laptop each - they no longer need to sit around for long periods of time waiting for their turn. This means they are learning for the entire time they are in their computer class.

Again, it is wonderful to see students focused and absorbed in what they are being taught for every moment they are in class.

The science laboratory is also a hive of activity. Students carrying out experiments to gain a 'true understanding' rather than trying to imagine what is being taught from the blackboard or text book is something that was only dreamed of in the past.

In this chemistry class students could see for themselves how different chemicals react when mixed with each other.

Carrying out experiments, such as watching the solution turn various shades of blue on this occasion, rather than merely reading that this would be the reaction, has been a new experience for students in the village.

Students interact and ask questions about what they have seen, again creating the best opportunity for them to truely understand what they are learning.

It is great to see the boys dormitory almost complete too. This year we have over 60 boys who are boarding so it is a relief to no longer have them crowded in to a spare classroom. They have recently moved in to the new dorm which they are all very happy about and are looking forward to the completion of their washrooms over the coming week.

The new boys dormitory structure, which sits in front of the original classroom block, is now almost complete. Painting and washrooms will completed over the coming week.

The boys are happy to have moved in to their new home.

With an additional 74 Senior 1 students this year, Suubi SS staff soon realised that there was a need to a greater amount of clean drinking water. Although there has been a small water purifier in the foyer of the administration area it could simply not provide the amount of drinking water required for the increased number of students. With this in mind, the solar water purifier that had previously been install at Suubi Clinic/Centre was moved to the school site this week. The Clinic has a smaller water purifier in the foyer which can easily cater for patients.

It was quite a sight to see a group of students carrying the solar water purifier through the village to be put in position at the school!

Clean water is something that westerners take for granted but it is vital to help prevent waterborne illness among students and staff here. We hope positioning the solar water purifier between the two classroom blocks will be a solution to providing enough for everyone.

So as you can see the past week has been quite a lot to take in!

HUGs from Helen

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25-2-2019, Student Numbers Continue To Grow At Suubi SS

The 2019 school year has seen number of students at Suubi Secondary School continue to grow. The great success of our pioneering Senior 4's at the national 'O' level examination gave prospective students and parents even more faith in the combined academic and vocational style of education that Suubi SS offers. Not only are our students achieving wonderful academic results but they are also learning a vocational trade that they will be able to use to support themselves and their families in the future, should they choose not to continue on to university.

Eighty new Senior 1 students have enrolled for 2019, from as far away as Masaka and even Kampala; this takes us close to 200 students and with Senior 5 students set to return for the year in early March this will see number will rise again. This is something people, in Lubanda Village could have only dreamed of 5 years ago!

The older Suubi SS students made an impressive sight when they assembled in front of the new classroom block at the start of the 2019 school year.

80 new Senior 1 students have joined Suubi SS this year, including Gertrude from our Smiling HeARTs group (in front). How exciting!
Our tailoring students are currently busy working on producing the Senior1's new school uniforms, which they will wear with pride. With the high number enrolled at this level, the Senior 1's will be divided in to 2 classes this year to ensure the teachers can provide the high quality of education that has come to be expected at Suubi SS.

Impressive new style desks were made, during last years classroom block construction, by our metal and woodwork students. They will be put to great use this year by both the Senior 4 and 5 students.

Although our new boys dormitory is yet to be fully completed, the boys recently moved out of the cramped classroom they had been using previously and can be seen busily set up in their new space late last week. If you are keen to help us complete the dorm, so the 41 boys currently enrolled to stay in it this year can have a finished home, please head over to our GoFundMe page.

The smiles on the boys faces show how happy they are to be out of the cramped classroom they had been sharing and in to their new home.

It certainly has been an exciting start to the 2019 school year; infact it looks set to be even bigger and better than last year. We look forward to keeping you up to date on everything that goes on throughout the year.

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Suubi Secondary School Blog

10-12-2019 Awards Ceremony At Suubi Secondary School

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21-11-2019, New Sewing And Knitting Machines Arrive

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11-10-2019, Suubi SS Tailoring Students Making Backpacks

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30-9-2019, Coffee Initiative Taking Off

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29-6-2019, Pioneering Suubi SS Student Joins Suubi Clinic

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2-5-2019, Intensive Vocational Studies During Holidays

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1-4-2019, Celebrating Suubi's 10th birthday

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27-3-2019, Suubi SS Approved As A National Examination Centre

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17-3-2019, Helen Seeing Suubi SS In Action Brings Great Joy

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25-2-2019, Student Numbers Continue To Grow At Suubi SS

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