Sunday 21 September will remain engraved in the hearts of students, ululation and jubilation did not go unnoticed as Herman Wittetrod, one of the guests and the Secretary of the Board of Stichting, praising the hearty performances.
For Muhammad Mugerwa, the Secretary of the Board of Mbaale Meeru Education and Development Foundation, the day was worth commemorating considering the opportunities that came with the new partnership.
As Mugerwa explained, the partnership started through a Ugandan friend based in the Netherlands, who linked the two organisations together.
Mugerwa narrated: “The idea of a partnership began late last year with an online exchange.” “We later sent a project proposal to Stichting Great Lakes about uplifting the lives of community members in Mbaale Meeru in Bukomansimbi district. As we discussed, then it was decided that the entry point to helping the community would be Ibn Masood Day and Boarding primary school.”
According to Mugerwa, the new partnership will try to positively impact the lives of the people of Mbaale Meeru through supporting education and other project with the community members taking up their share of contribution.
Ismail Kajumba, one of the volunteers of the organization urged the community to support the initiative by volunteering for the school or raising funds saying charity begins at home.
This occasion was graced with the presence local government leaders including the area LC 1 chairman, Godfrey Kirunda who informed the guests that although Ibn Masood Education Foundation was started with Islamic foundation, it has since evolved to embrace children from all religious backgrounds.
Wittetrod, who retired from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and now working as an aviation consultant, told the gathering that they should not think there is any place where money hangs on trees, but rather any achievement is as a results of hard work and the community must be ready to play their part.
The chairman of the Board of Stichting Great Lakes Mussa Segakindi, a former refugee from Rwanda and now a Dentist in Holland, called on the parents to take education as a serious aspect of their children’s lives and do everything within their powers to better their education standard.
Rob Van Men Bijllaardt, an advisor to the Stichting Great Lakes foundation reminded the community that Uganda is a member of the United Nations, which endeavours to eradicate illiteracy, water shortages ,poor sanitation, poverty and ensuring that all humans have good health. .
Bijllaardt promised the community that as long as they are ready to play their part, he and his friends and organizations can help bring medical facilities in the area.
The Chairman Board of Stichting Great Lakes presented to the School Headmaster Suuna Abubaker donated books from Holland. The books came in two batches; the first batch consisting of 560 English reading books, kindly prepared by volunteers Jeanet van den Bosch, of ‘Read to Grow Foundation’ in Netherlands. The second batch was donated by another Dutch foundation Stichting Biblionef Nederland Organization headed by Hanneke Kramps.
The chairman Segakindi also donated medical charts to the school and a digital camera to the organization to help facilitate proper documentation.
A number of community members expressed gratitude by news that Stichting Great Lakes is ready to provide them obtain safe drinking water in addition to building the school proper latrines amongst other coming developments. The whole project is meant to improve the lives of the children and the community members at large.
The historic day ended with the guests taking a two—mile visit to the nearest source of water used by the school and the community.
