Ugandan Girls Education & Empowerment

Aim

In memory of the late David Kanabahita, I will swim 7.5 miles to raise money for the Ugandan girls primary school where he was head teacher

"A great teacher’s sacrifice has been likened to a candle that burns out to give light to others. One of those candles was Mr. David Kanabahita." 

My late father-in-law, Canon David Kanabahita, was a visionary teacher, whose guidance has helped many Ugandans fulfil their potential. 

Among his many achievements, he is remembered as the former head teacher of Hornby High School in Kabale, which recently celebrated 100 years of the education and empowerment of girls. The junior school's current head teacher, Geoffrey Beinomugisha says the school remembers David as a principled leader who nurtured teachers and students, advancing in particular education for the visually impaired and blind, whose needs are under-served in Uganda.

David had a way of coining wisdom in just a few words and all of those he touched came away with a few nuggets of gold. He has left a huge hole in all out hearts but we are determined to do what we can to continue his great work.

For my part, on July 15th I will be attempting a 7.5 Mile end-to-end swim of Ullswater in the Lake District. This is a huge challenge: more than double any distance I have ever swum. In this time of mourning, I have not had as much time to train as I would have liked. I expect to be around 5 or 6 hours in the water, and your support will help me keep going until the end.

Today, Hornby primary school serves 280 students including 24 blind children. Of these 75 percent are classed as "needy," meaning they are orphans or come from families with limited means. 

The school is looking to fund the following:

• Rain water harvesting tank to reduce on the cost of piped water.
• Sponsoring needy children.
• Computers to begin computer classes in the near future.
• Photocopying machine (currently homework is written on the
• chalkboard).
• School face lift (see below)
• School fencing (currently, there is just a temporary fence of barbed wire)

We will be travelling to Kabale this summer and will meet with the school to help them start building a computer lab in memory of David. Your support will make a huge difference.

In time we plan to set up the Kanabahita Endowment Foundation to support causes David was passionate about, including girls education.

This project successfully funded on 31st July 2023