Pre-Schools

Buwenda Pre-School was the first pre-schools to be built in the small trading centre of Buwenda. On land gifted by the community to Soft Power, Hannah Small set to work building the school with the support of overland passengers, donations and a team of local builders. The school took two years to build and is divided up into two classrooms and an office – it is run by 3 qualified Ugandan teachers and a local cleaner/school assistant. The headmistress, Florence, is an amazing woman who has been a major part in the school’s success and happy environment – her deputy, Justine, went to work as headmistress at our second pre-school.

The school now educates up to 120 pre-school children between the ages of 4 and 5 years old. The children are mostly orphans who have lost one or both parents to Aids, or children who come from desperately poor families. At the start of the new school year children are registered and it’s at this point the school committee, made up of the teachers and five community leaders, who keep the number of pupils in check. These adults are aware of the children’s family history - they know if a child is living in a large extended family having lost his or her parents to Aids, or are struggling in a poverty stricken environment - hence they make sure it’s these children who would otherwise have no chance of an education that are accepted.

The pre-school is open from Monday to Friday from 8am to midday and is free to all those who attend. The mornings are filled with games, songs, playing, writing, story telling, painting and learning. Soft Power covers the school’s running costs and the teacher’s monthly wage. We don’t provide lunch for the children, because if we did they wouldn’t get fed at home, so instead they bring their own snacks in small colourful lunch boxes – some have popcorn, others fruit, whereas the odd potato maybe the only source of food, or a handful of cooked insects. What amazes is the fact that these beautiful young children share – they have so very little, but whatever they have they share with their friends so everyone ends up with something.

The school is brightly and boldly painted and stands out from the main road – it has a fenced play area and a jungle gym and a 4 stance pit latrine. Surrounding the school are shacks selling a variety of produce, a small farmyard next door with cows and goats, a local health clinic sits behind the playground and a tap pumping water is across the road making it easy to collect water.

Our second pre-school, Kyabirwa Chidren’s Centre, was built soon after the official opening of Bwenda Pre-School – which took place in March 2003. The community of Kyabirwa had seen what had happened in Buwenda and approached Soft Power with the gift of land. However, the community were divided….some wanted a pre-school, others wanted a mosque. Being a non-religious charity we stood back and waited. The decision was finally made and a long and wide pre-school was to be built.

Bwenda Pre-School Students	Overland passengers entertain students

Kyabirwa Children’s Centre is a mirror image of Buwenda. It educates the same number of children, has the same staffing figures and it’s own school committee. The only real difference is the land – it’s a lot larger giving ample room for the children to run and get lost in, but it is off the main road, tucked away in the village, surrounded by crops, mud huts, winding paths and the sound of the Nile.

The children of Buwenda and Kyabirwa, like most children, walk to school. Some live close by, others walk for an hour. Soft Power Education cannot guarantee that every child from the two pre-schools built by the charity will go onto primary education, but they are given a good foundation for learning and a strong sense of being loved and looked after. They are tiny children, but they are immensely independent and wise for their age and with their smiles they brighten up the hearts of all involved in giving them a good and much needed start in life.