SCHOOLS

St. Francis de Sales, Nursery School for deaf children, Jinja, Uganda Special needs school

A new bright and colourful school
Sebastian Waiswa, Director, Organization of Parents of Disabled Children (OPCD)

  • Specialist school for children with hearing loss and other disabilities
  • The latest of the HUGS funded schools
  • Built in 2020/1 during COVID lockdown
  • Initial intake 70 children with disabilities
  • Opened in February 2022
  • Teaching accommodation and smoke free kitchen built
  • Set in 5 acres of beautiful land for future development, 13km outside of the town of Jinja

The school has a particularly safe design with a central quadrangle and protected walkways. The school is built in partnership with the Jinja Organisation of Parents of Deaf Children, a grassroots collective of parents and professions concerned with the wellbeing of children with disabilities. Future plans are to make it a centre of excellence for educating children with hearing loss.


Little Shepherd School. Rutunguru, Uganda Primary school and nursery in a remote area

Little Shepherd School. Rutunguru, Uganda Primary school and nursery in a remote area
  • Started in 2015
  • 350 children attend, and numbers are increasing, with a need for boarding facilities
  • HUGS has funded the building of 7 classrooms, water catchment, latrines and sports field. HUGS funded the development of a coffee plantation which will pay for 20 of the most impoverished children, a year, to attend school
  • We have just built a girls dormitory for 100 students so they can live in security and do not need to travel long distances to school

Good Shepherd School, Fort Portal, Uganda Primary School for children with special needs. There is also a school outreach programme, supported by Improving Chances, where handicapped children and parents are brought into the school for therapy and vocational training

Good Shepherd School, Fort Portal, Uganda Primary School for children with special needs.
  • Started 2007 and completed 2018
  • HUGS has funded most of the school building programme and supports some revenue costs each year
  • The school can teach up to 150 children with 25 on the outreach programme
  • The school has extensive farmland to help feed the children, it even has a fish farm
  • There are excellent vocational resources
  • Recently added a further 3 acres of land to the school to help provide more food for students

St Gabriel’s Children’s Home, Fort Portal, Uganda Is part of Good Shepherd School

St Gabriel’s Children’s Home, Fort Portal, Uganda Is part of Good Shepherd School
  • Home for abandoned or orphaned children
  • Started in 2017 completed in 2018
  • HUGS and Bury African Outreach have funded the buildings
  • Currently home to 20 children
  • Children cared for by the Sisters or the school congregation
  • Vibrant, fun and caring community

Asili Girls Secondary School, Lira, Uganda Girls Day and Boarding Secondary and Vocational school

Asili Girls Secondary School, Lira, Uganda  Girls Day and Boarding Secondary and Vocational school
  • Started in 2014 and building work continues today
  • HUGS has funded all the buildings and services and equipment including a science block
  • The school is currently operating up to O Level with 230 attending. The aim is to extend this to A level in the future
  • Vocational and laboratory facilities have been provided
  • Recently HUGS has bought equipment for a Computer Lab. This will greatly prepare students to get well paid professional jobs
  • Offers courses for single mothers and ‘school drop outs’ to improve their employment skills

St. Therese’s School, Rukira, Rwanda Primary school and Nursery

St. Therese’s School, Rukira, Rwanda Primary school and Nursery
  • Started in 2009 and completed 2011
  • HUGS has funded most of the buildings and equipment for the school, and paid for school meals for the youngest children
  • With the associated nursery school there can be around 600 children attending
  • The school is closely linked to a vocational school which is on the same site.

St Zoe’s Primary School, Mubende, Uganda Primary, Nursery and Boarding

St Zoe’s Primary School, Mubende, Uganda Primary, Nursery and Boarding
  • Started 1999
  • HUGS has funded most of the buildings (about 12), water catchment, internet café, and currently sponsors 9 children
  • 570 children attend
  • Since opening over 1500 children have attended
  • Results in the Primary Leaving Exam at year 7 are generally in the best 5% in Uganda
  • Set in 40 acres of farm land. The school is entirely self sufficient

St Zoe’s Secondary and Vocational school, Mubende, Uganda Secondary and Vocational to O Level

  • Started 2007 and completed 2011
  • HUGS has funded all the buildings, including vocational wing, carpentry and textiles with help from other charities.
  • Years Senior 1 to 4 and capacity c.150
  • Children have to change schools to do A levels
  • The school has extensive farmland to help feed the children

PROJECTS include:

  • Partnering the Organization of Parents of Disabled Children (OPDC) to build a special needs school in Jinja
  • Funding new science equipment and sports kit at the Asili Girls School
  • Expanding the facilities at Little Shepherd School at Rutunguru and funding a new dormitory to allow girl students to safely overnight
  • Continuing the sponsorship of c.85 students, primary, secondary and university
  • Supporting the higher professional development of teachers
  • Sponsoring student doctors, midwives and social workers
  • Support to the Lira Babies home (for abandoned babies)
  • During COVID pandemic we provided funds to help feed hungry families


We have been involved in:

  • Building 7 new schools that educated over 1,500 children a year
  • Sponsoring primary, secondary and university students
  • Providing teacher training
  • Paying for school meals for reception classes
  • Giving sports and play equipment
  • Ensuring malaria protection for residential children, by providing hundreds of mosquito nets
  • Assessing sight and hearing problems
  • Paying for sight treatments and hearing aids
  • Vocational skills training opportunities within school
  • Funding the creation of an income generating coffee plantation, and bullock farm
  • Flattening a slope to make a football pitch
  • Funding latrines and sanitation
  • Providing an Computer lab at a secondary school
  • Paying for water catchment facilities so children do not have to carry water long distances
  • Teacher exchange programmes
  • Supporting a women’s cooperative to help them earn money to educate their children

Please consider sponsoring a student or supporting a project.