The seven-hectare school site belongs to the church, which built and founded the school in 1950. Nevertheless, the school is non-denominational. When we took stock at the end of 2018, there were a total of three sparsely furnished class blocks, each with two to three classrooms, toilets, a kitchen and two teachers’ houses. All of the buildings were in a very dilapidated state, some of them even in danger of collapsing. As a result, lessons only took place in two of the three class blocks. This meant that two class levelshad to be taught in one room at the same time. In addition, Nakibanga Primary School lacked the necessary furniture, such as school desks, so that an appropriate and concentrated learning atmosphere could not prevail.

The sanitary facilities were also not in an acceptable condition: There was only one completely overloaded and unhygienic latrine for all pupils and teachers. This is particularly problematic for girls with regard to their menstruation. In addition to all these obstacles, access to clean water is very limited – there is no well at the school itself, so the children have to fetch water from the village well. This leads to the use of no water or unclean water, which causes pupils to fall ill more quickly.

Our project started in the first half of 2019 in cooperation with our local partner KIDA with the construction of two new gender-segregated latrine facilities with six cubicles each. In the course of the inauguration, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) workshops were held by Viva con Agua Kampala, in which the children were taught about important hygiene rulesin a playful way. Building on this, we set up washrooms for girls in 2020 to provide them with the necessary hygiene facilities and privacy during their menstruation. The first step in gaining access to clean water was to take groundwater samples to find a suitable water source and then carry out the necessary construction work to gain access. In 2020, we were finally able to build a hand-operated fountain on the school grounds. At this point, special thanks also go to Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli, who supported these sanitary measures.

Another problem we tackled was the inadequate classrooms, which were in danger of collapsing. Initially, the plan was to build only one new classroom building with three classrooms and to renovate two buildings. However, as it became clear during the renovation that it would be more economical to demolish and rebuild one of the buildings, two new buildings with three classrooms each were built and one building with two classrooms was renovated. They were completed in January 2020. In addition, all classrooms were equipped with new school furniture, as some of the old furniture was broken and no longer usable. We provided the school community with wooden beams, which they used to build new tables and benches themselves.

To counteractthe exodus of teachers due to long and difficult journeys to school, we also built teachers’ houses. The two gender-separated buildings were handed over to the school management in July 2020 in a small ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In October 2020, the employees of our local partner organization KIDA underwent further training. In a 5-day workshop on topics such as organizational management, team building and motivation as well as project management, the ten participants were able to take away a lot for their future work within the organization. After the schools reopened in spring 2021, we were able to organize our WASH and maintenance workshops on site for pupils, teachers, parents and the school management at the end of May/beginning of June. With the help of the WASH workshop, the participants were once again made aware of the importance of hygiene and the correct use of water, particularly in view of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Committees were set up within the maintenance workshops, which will continue to implement organized ways of maintaining the buildings and infrastructure in the long term.

All these measures can give Nakibanga Primary School new qualities for more focused learning – this works towards our primary goal of promoting quality learning in accordance with the fourth Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations and thus guaranteeing learning success, especially the learning of basic skills.