Dear benefactors, sponsors and friends of St. Patrick School in Isingiro - Uganda.

I am happy to update you on the 2023 school year as follows.

The new school year started on February 6, 2023, with a total of 850 students. Our enrollment includes 301 day scholars (151 boys, 150 girls) and 549 boarding students (285 boys, 264 girls). Of the boarding students, 206 (38%) are being sponsored. Additionally, we sponsor a total of 16 of our graduates who are now in Secondary School ... 12 in S1 (first year) and 4 in S2. Many thanks to our many Sponsors!

We had 48 graduating P7 students who sat for the National Exams late last year. We are pleased that 35 students scored in Division 1 (roughly top 10% in the country) and the other 13 were in Division 2.

We have 40 members of the teaching staff and seven administrators: the Headteacher, his Deputy, the Director of Studies, School Bursar, School Nurse, Secretary/Receptionist and the Facilities Manager.

We have 31 support staff: 7 cleaners, 6 cooks, 10 matrons, 3 security personnel, one barber, 3 drivers and one store keeper.

At the beginning of December 2022, we started construction of the Fr. Julius Library building. Work has been progressing well and we are now at the roofing level as the pictures show (pgs. 1, 4). The staff & kids were very excited because by the time they returned they found the building near roofing level, while there had been nothing yet started when they left school on November 25, 2022. After completion, it will house a library, computer classrooms, a teachers' resource center and some accommodation on the ground floor/basement area.

Thank you so much for your support over the years. The St. Patrick community is ever grateful, and we always have you in our prayers.

BHIK-U Newsletter March, 2023 - v2.pdf

Dear friends and supporters of BHIKU and St. Patrick School.

I bring you greetings and love from Uganda and from our school. As we conclude the school year 2022 allow me to express our gratitude for your incredible support in the Capital Development as mentioned by the Board president (in his pg.6 column) and many sponsorships for our kids. We can only commend you to God to bless you for your generosity.

I am happy to share that my health continues to be good, after my scare in August/September with type 2 diabetic attack. Am following the doctor's advice and now doing fine.

We are now winding up the school year. Government closing date was originally December 9, but because of the ongoing Ebola scare government has directed that all schools make adjustments and close on November 25 in order to control the spread. This could be a relief to some schools already struggling due to financial constraints because of high prices of food and fuel. One liter of gasoline which determines prices of many items (including food) is at an average of 6,500 UGX (which is approximately $6.65 /gallon) and so it has been tough to run business as usual.

However in general I can share that the school year has gone very well. Parents were very excited and happy when they came to visit the kids on October 15. Teachers and support staff are all upbeat because of the improvements on the campus in general, and especially that they all have living accommodations at the school. Some children often want to remain at school when it's time to close. We had big numbers of kids receive their first Holy Communion, and P.7 candidates and a few others also got the Sacrament of Confirmation. The P.7 candidates have now completed their National Examinations and ready to go home. We pray for their success as they get ready to move on to Secondary.

Allow me to express my sincere gratitude to the Board members of BHIKU for their dedication, many voluntary hours of hard work and immense generosity. You are such a formidable force. Thanks for your service to the Lord.

As the president expresses in his column (pg.6) we now call upon you to support us as we embark on our last building on campus. This is our project for the upcoming calendar year in which I also celebrate my Silver Jubilee (25 years) as a priest. Stay tuned for more details but meanwhile keep me in your prayers.

I wish you a wonderful celebration of Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year of 2023.

BHIK-U Newsletter - Nov-Dec 2022.pdf

Dear Benefactors, donors and friends of St. Patrick School in Isingiro Uganda! Greetings and love from Uganda and St. Patrick.

Am again honored to put a column in our newsletter and share with you about the school. Firstly a big thank you to the Parishes of St. Mary's in Bloomington and St. Monica's in East Peoria for supporting us with mission appeals this Summer. May the Lord replenish your coffers. Your support is greatly appreciated.

We ended well the second term of the academic year 2022. Kids are now on holiday until 5th September --BUT the P.6 and P.7 were back to school effective 16th August. They had study trips around the Queen Elizabeth National Park area for two days, 18/19th August, and had wonderful experiences and great fun. (A few pictures are attached.) They are now doing remedial learning at school as they wait to be rejoined by the rest on September 5th.

The P.7 candidates will write their National Advancement exams on 8 & 9th November. The rest of the students will end 3rd term on Dec.9th. We are sincerely grateful to you for your recent support that has enabled us to achieve so many accomplishments regarding capital development after completing the school auditorium, namely: paving all roads and pathways inside the school, drilling a second well, ongoing work on sports fields, ongoing works on septic system and putting up more flush toilets and trying to install a drinking water puurification system for the students. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of the children. Kindly continue to support the good cause.

May the Lord continue to use you to build hope in the lives of these children. Be assured of our prayers always.

BHIK-U Newsletter - September, 2022- for website.pdf

Greetings to all of you our esteemed readers.

We are happy to update you about our school.

We ended the first term successfully and we started second term on May 9th. The total number of both day and boarding students now stands at 820. We have 40 teaching staff and 30 support staff.

As part of the capital development we are now working on the sports fields and paving (using concrete and pavers) the inside roads and pathways within the school. We only had a soccer field for the boys but now we are trying to add volleyball, netball and basketball playgrounds. Our hope is that the construction will be completed in about three months (hopefully by mid August). We will need a lot of irrigation around this time because the dry season is coming (June to end of August). We plan to have room for fans along the edges of the play areas. We will have a chain link fence around the play grounds.

We are also planning to pave the road going to the kitchen for supplies while the walk ways to the dormitories and classrooms will mostly be paved plaza-type pavers.

We plan to have some trees and shrubs planted in the compound for both shelter and fruits (mainly avocado for improving nutrition).

We have done landscaping around the auditorium and hope to use part of this area as a prayer garden while another area will be paved.

Another near future plan is to get one room in the main classroom block and make it a library (furnished with seats and enough books) mainly for the older pupils.

We are glad to also update you that we are in touch with a few of our sponsored graduates who joined Secondary and they are doing very well academically. We support four (with tuition) and all of them performed excellently in their first term of high school. Apart from these being sponsored nothing much is known about the rest of our graduates (but information can be secured since the school has contacts of the parents). Thank you for all your support in helping us realize our dream.

You are always in our prayers and together we can continue to build hope in these children. 

BHIK-U Newsletter - June, 2022.pdf

Greetings from Uganda and from our school St. Patrick to all of you, our esteemed readers.

Am happy to inform you that schools reopened on January 10th, 2022 after almost two years of closure due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

School is moving smoothly. We have all the teachers we needed to hire (total 41 teachers) and slightly over 800 students. Both the former and new students and teachers have formed a new community albeit not without challenges. We had to secure so many start up items like furniture for classrooms and dormitories and the dining hall. Thanks to our donors for the support.

We have at times had inadequate water and we occasionally had to have water hauled in. The school has gained much popularity and the increased enrollment warranted us to increase the staff, the food portions and other necessities in same proportions. Other challenges included need for extra accomodation for teachers, and bussing program for day students became more cumbersome but we are managing it. 

We are grateful to God that since the reopening both our students and staff are healthy. Keep us in your prayers that this remains so and the students can catch up on their school lost time without further interruptions. 

You're also in our prayers. We wish you many choice blessings.

BHIK-U Newsletter - March, 2022.pdf

Dear benefactors, donors and friends of St. Patrick Nursery and Primary School in Uganda.

Greetings and love to you all. I am happy to update you on the happenings here in Uganda and at our school as follows.

Churches were reopened in September and I and my two parochial vicars are now fully engaged in pastoral ministry in our parish Christ the King in Rukungiri in the diocese of Kabale. We have 22 mission churches and this keeps us very busy. The Covid 19 situation is not bad now. Infections are very minimal and very few people are in hospital.

Tertiary institutions (universities and colleges) were reopened at the beginning of November but primary and secondary schools are still closed until January of 2022. We are ready and prepared to receive students back to school as soon as the government allows us to do so.

During the lockdown some members of the administration team (the headmaster, the bursar and the facilities manager) remained at school. We also have security staff (two of them) and two maintenance guys to take care of the place.

Construction of the school auditorium is in advanced stages. We are also currently building additional teacher's living quarters. Both structures are projected to be completed around the end of January 2022.

Allow me extend our gratitude to you all for your unending support over the years. Thank you particularly for your donations during my most recent visit to the US this past August - September 2021. We cannot thank you enough. May God reward you abundantly for your love and generosity.

As we come to the close of the year, let me use the opportunity to wish you good health, a very Merry Christmas, a successful completion of the year AND a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2022.

bhik-u-newsletter-dec-2021.pdf

Greetings from Uganda and from me to all of you, our benefactors, sponsors, well wishers and friends.

First of all I want to thank God who gave me a safe journey to and from USA from August 6th when I arrived to September 12th when I started my long journey (two days) back to Uganda. It was such an amazing reunion with majority of my friends over the years. Thanks to many of you that invited me to your houses for fellowship.

I was also very happy to be able to celebrate many Masses and reconnect with many parishioners where I worked when I lived there.

Thank you so much for the many donations you made to the school and thank you to those who gave me personal gifts.

I returned safely and spent a couple of days at school before proceeding to my parish. Nothing much is happening at school since schools continue to be closed because of COVID-19. The latest is that places of worship have been reopened but schools will continue to be closed and eventually reopen in a staggered way. Universities and tertiary institutions will reopen in November of 2021. Primary and secondary schools will reopen in January 2022. Information we have now is that all students will be promoted to the next class (for Primary and Secondary schools) and use the first 10 weeks to cover curriculum of the previous classes. Please keep our students in prayers because they have lost so much.

Thank you all for your support over the years for our school. May the Lord continue to bless you and your dear ones for your generosity.

BHIK-U Newsletter - Sept Oct 2021 - expanded.pdf

Download our September-October Newsletter

Dear sponsors, benefactors, donors and friends!

Greetings from Uganda, St. Patrick Primary School and from me.

I hope this message finds you all in good health. We thank God that we are still safe and healthy despite the recent surge in Covid 19 infections in Uganda. The country has been in lockdown for a month now. The good news is that the infection rates have started going down and we have registered big numbers of people who have recovered. Keep us in your prayers that we can have the country reopened and students return to schools.

I am happy to inform you that our pioneer class of 7th grade that wrote their national examinations in 2020 performed excellently. (In Uganda, primary schools go through grade 7.) We had 25 students and 20 of them scored Division One and five came in Division Two. The division one means those are in the top 10% best students in the entire country. In the district of Isingiro where our school is located we are the second best school out of over 100 schools. We thank all our partners for the support that enabled us to register this great success.

Our construction project on the School Auditorium is now at roofing level. We kindly request for your continued support to complete this project.

I look forward to coming over in the first week of August for four weeks and do a couple of mission appeals. I am excited about the trip and seeing most of my friends physically since I came home almost four years ago. I kindly request you for prayers for a safe trip.

BHIK-U Newsletter - July-August2021.pdf

Dear benefactors, donors, sponsors and friends! 

I bring you greetings from Uganda, St. Patrick School and from me. I pray that God continues to protect you all and keep you healthy. 

Am glad to update you on the school progress as follows: 

Our Primary Seven students did their national exams on March 30 and March 31. We are now waiting for the results from the National Examination Center. 

Other classes continue to report in a staggered way to avoid overcrowding at school and maintain the Standard Operating Procedures to avoid contagion with Covid 19. We now have 4th to 6th grades. Primary One to Three will report on June 7th. The new academic year starts in August. 

We continue with construction of the Auditorium. (See article on pg. 3) We have now embarked on the second level (first floor). If funds allow we hope that by end of June it will be on the roofing level. Allow me at this juncture thank all of you who have generously contributed as individuals or through matching gifts by Corporations and Foundations to their employees. May the good Lord bless you abundantly for your support. We still appeal for your generosity to be able to complete the Auditorium which will serve as our chapel and location for other big school assemblies and functions. 

Am planning to visit the US in August if travel conditions are favorable at that time. I have already taken my first shot of Astra Zeneca vaccine and awaiting my second one later this month. Hopefully if my travel plans come to fruition I hope to again see some of you physically. Kindly pray for these travel plans to succeed. 

At my Parish we are now operating almost normally. We have Masses as usual on Sundays but we wear masks and constantly sanitize ourselves. We thank God the Covid 19 cases have not been as hostile. 

May the Lord continue to protect us and heal our world so that we can return to normalcy. 

Wishing you God's choice blessings and assuring you of my continued prayers, 

BHIK-U Newsletter - May June 2021.pdf

Dear friends, sponsors, donors and benefactors of BHIKU!

Love and greetings from Uganda, St. Patrick Nursery and Primary school and from me.

Allow me update you on the school as follows:

Our Primary seven candidates and pioneers have now completed their curriculum. They will be writing their national exams on March 30th and 31st of this year 2021. Kindly keep them in your prayers.

The younger primary students will be returning to school with staggered, short terms as follows:

Primary 6 students report on March 1st for 14 weeks until May 21st.

Primary 5 & 4 students will report on April 6th for 8 weeks until June 4th.

The lower Primary 1 to Primary 3 students will report on June 7th for 8 weeks until July 24.

We hope this program will remain and school can resume without further interruptions. The School Management Committee and staff are ready to receive the students as directed by the Ministry of Education.

On capital development, we have now started construction of the school chapel. We are about to reach the Damp Proof Course (DPC) level (about to complete the foundation) and hope to be ready to cast the ground concrete slab by end of February. If funds are available the engineer says we should have the chapel ready for roofing by end of June. We will need to put a big retaining wall to prevent erosion since our property is on a hill. Our budget estimate for the chapel is $300,000. We kindly appeal for your generous support but also ask for your prayers to have this project accomplished.

Thank you for your support over the years. We wish you good health and be assured of our prayers.

BHIK-U-Newsletter-March_2021.pdf

Dear friends, sponsors, donors and benefactors!

Greetings from Uganda, from St. Patrick School and from me!

Join me to express our gratitude to God for His protection through the past year (2020). Am sure we all agree that it was a tough year mainly due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Am glad to update you on the current situation in our school as follows.

Our 7th grade students completed their school term very well. They did City Mock Assessment before Christmas break and emerged 4th best school out of the 90 schools that participated. Not bad at all for the pioneer class. The new term opens on 18th January 2021.

The national exams (Primary Leaving Examinations- PLE) are to be done on 30th & 31st March 2021; we hope the students will write them at our school since we acquired a National Examination Center Number.

As of now we are not sure whether the rest of the students will be allowed to resume school in February 2021 but government is going to issue a directive soon.

We are at 90% construction of the Perimeter wall around the school. We are on schedule and expect to finish it by the end of January 2021. Looking ahead, the architectural and structural designs of the chapel are ready. We only await the district officials' approval of the designs and we project to begin construction in February 2021.

The churches were reopened and we continue to follow stringent Standard Operating Procedures that include compulsory wearing of face masks, washing of hands with soapy water, use of hand sanitizers, and compulsory temperature measurements with temperature guns. Absurdly the numbers of Covid-19 deaths are now on the rise. Vaccinations have not begun but government has said in March we shall start receiving them.

Keeping you all in prayer for good health and wishing you choice blessings in the New Year,

newsletter-january-2021-v2.pdf

Dear friends, donors, sponsors and benefactors, 

Greetings from Uganda, from St. Patrick School, and from me.

Hope you are doing well and keeping safe from the Covid-19 pandemic. It has really changed the world but we thank God that we are still healthy. Am glad to update you on the current situation/ status in our schools as follows. 

Our 7th grade students/pupils reported on October 16. They are now fully engaged in academics and the headmaster tells me the progress is good and promising. The current term ends on 18th December 2020 and term three starts 11th January 2021, other factors held constant. The national examinations (Primary Leaving Examinations – PLE) are to be done on 30th & 31st March 2021.

As of now we are not sure whether the rest of the students will be allowed to resume school in February 2021. 

On capital development projects, we have now completed the teachers living quarters. We have been purchasing materials for the Perimeter wall. We have been securing hardcore aggregate stones, cement blocks and metallic bars for concrete columns. On Tuesday November 3, wall construction will commence and the project engineer expects it to be finished at the end of January 2021. 

Looking ahead, I have also asked our engineer to design the chapel. He will have the design and the cost estimates in the near future.

Putting the above aside, the churches were reopened and for a month now we have been allowed to celebrate Masses. We follow stringent Standard Operating Procedures including compulsory wearing of face masks, washing of hands with soapy water and use of hand sanitizers. We also do compulsory temperature measurements with temperature guns.

All is well with me and my two parochial vicars so far. We thank God no single case of Covid-19 has been identified in my parish and district at large.

Keeping you all in prayer for good health and wishing you choice blessings,

newsletter-november-2020.pdf

Greetings from St. Patrick Primary School in Rwakiruri, Isingiro-Uganda and from me. 

I am happy to update you on the status of our school as follows: 

2020 school year update 
Due to the continuous global pandemic of Covid-19, it is most likely that the 2020 school year will be a "dead year." We now have very many cases of infected people both symptomatic and asymptomatic and this makes it too risky to open schools.

Teacher's living quarters update:
We project to finish this by mid-September because now we have reached nearly 85% completion.

Upcoming third phase work on completion of the dormitories and perimeter wall: 
Nothing is being done currently, but I have notified the contractors to be ready in two weeks to come and complete the second floor (third level) of the dormitories.

The work on the Perimeter Wall is expected to start around September 20, pending the availability of funds. We will make a foundation of hard core stone and bricks, then use cement concrete blocks on top. It will be about 9 to 10 feet high. 

Allow me to extend our gratitude to our donors and benefactors who have enabled us to continue construction despite the Covid -19 pandemic, and a special thanks to all the new sponsors for students this year. 

May the Lord reward you abundantly. Be assured of our continued prayers and together we pray for the healing of our world from the Covid-19 pandemic and return to normalcy. Sincerely,

newsletter-september-2020.pdf

Despite the COVID-19 lockdown still underway in Uganda, the construction of the Teachers' Quarters continues. (Workers must live at or near the workplace, per Uganda pandemic rules.) Many, many thanks to all of you who have donated to BHIK-U this past year! Because of your generosity, a good number of teachers will be able to live onsite at the school during the 2021 school year.

Greetings from Uganda, from St. Patrick Nursery and Primary School and from me. Allow me to update you on the lockdown in Uganda due to Covid-19 pandemic that has adversely affected the entire world, and also update you on our beloved school. 

On March 20, all schools in Uganda were closed. Since that time the President of Uganda has partially opened up a few things (transport and some businesses) but with stringent Standard Operating Procedures. Unfortunately all churches and schools remain closed now, four months down the road. Everyone is anxious and unsure about tomorrow. We have had slightly over 1,000 cases of Covid-19 patients but almost all have recovered; we thank God no death has been reported. The public is pushing for total opening of the country since the cases are now very few but the National task force has advised the President that it is too risky. People are asking "how long will the lockdown be prolonged?" 

We thank all those who have donated funds for our school despite the hard economic conditions. Words cannot express our gratitude. May God reward you abundantly for your generosity. 

We still need your support to complete the ongoing construction of Teachers Quarters, finishing third level of dorms, and a perimeter wall around the school to prevent intruders from infiltrating the school. We have also been paying salaried staff, but have run out of funds and may not be able to continue after this month. We will continue to update you on the lockdown here and school-related activities in our newsletters. 

We pray to God to heal our world so that we may return to normalcy sooner than later. Be assured of our continued prayers. May God continue to bless you for your generosity and touching the lives of many needy and vulnerable children through your support. 

Fr. Julius Turyatoranwa (PhD), Founder of BHIKU

Newsletters

BHIK Newsletter - March 2023

BHIK Newsletter - December 2022

BHIK Newsletter - September 2022

BHIK Newsletter - June 2022

BHIK Newsletter - March 2022

BHIK Newsletter volume VI, Issue 6

BHIK Newsletter volume VI, Issue 5

BHIK Newsletter volume VI, Issue 4

BHIK Newsletter volume VI, Issue 3

BHIK Newsletter volume VI, Issue 2

BHIK Newsletter volume VI

BHIK Newsletter Volume V

BHIK Newsletter volume IV

BHIK Newsletter Volume III