Over the decades that St. Joseph’s Hill Senior Secondary School (S.S.S.) has been providing a quality education to students in Fort-Portal, Uganda, the student population has continued to increase. “We are blessed with an increase in the number of students [which is] now 640 in total,” said the school’s Head Teacher, Br. Joseph Kaganda, C.S.C.
This growth, and changes in curriculum, recently necessitated the need for new chairs for the school in order to continue to make learning more accessible to students. “With the increase in student number this year to 640, there was [a] need for portable furniture especially for outdoor study, Br. Kaganda said, explaining, “The new Lower Secondary Curriculum and the Aligned one of A-Level requires that students study in small groups outside the classroom.”
Because of this new requirement, not only were more chairs needed, but chairs of a different kind–namely, portable plastic chairs that are easy to store. “Classrooms are fitted with wooden-metallic chairs and desks,” Br. Kaganda shared when explaining the school’s current seating situation in June. “These are heavy and cannot be carried out of the rooms easily. Removing them frequently… exposes them to breakage.”
Therefore, the school approached the Holy Cross Mission Center (HCMC) with a request for funds to purchase 540 portable plastic chairs. Due to the generosity of donors and the Twinning partnerships with the Economics & International Business Club at King’s College, PA, and Duncan Hall at the University of Notre Dame, these funds were able to be quickly allocated and distributed, allowing the school to purchase the new chairs expeditiously.
The timing was providential in more ways than one. Because they were able to purchase the chairs promptly, the school avoided having to pay more for them due to subsequent price hikes in Uganda. Br. Kaganda shared, “We are grateful that the Holy Cross Mission Center addressed this need as soon as we submitted the request. Prices of items in Uganda keep changing; we were lucky that the agent maintained the original price per chair. At the moment, the price has gone up by a few thousand shillings.”
Though they were fortunate not to suffer from the price increase this time, it did teach them a valuable lesson in provident planning for the future: “Paying attention to the exchange rate variations while budgeting is crucial for future projects,” Br. Kaganda noted.
Since the school had purchased 375 plastic chairs years ago, the addition of the 540 plastic chairs raises their total number of plastic chairs to 915–a wonderful amount for accommodating the combined 700 students and teachers.
It’s a change that supports the hopes of the school as it carries out its Holy Cross mission. Mr. Mwange Rogers, who both teaches at the school and is also in charge of student welfare, told the HCMC, “St. Joseph’s Hill is a family to many of us. A home of living dreams, reality, and changing lives.”
He has a special insight into this reality, as someone who not only helps it to exist for his students, but also as someone who has personally experienced the school’s support as he’s worked to achieve his own dreams. “Personally, as [a] teacher, I have been given a chance to grow professionally, socially, spiritually, and economically,” Mr. Rogers shared. “Two of my siblings are students in this school, and most recently, I graduated with a Master’s degree in Education. I pursued this degree while teaching at St. Joseph’s Hill.”
Congregation of Holy Cross founder Bl. Basil Moreau once said, “We shall always place education side by side with instruction; the mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart. While we prepare useful citizens for society, we shall likewise do our utmost to prepare citizens for heaven” (Circular Letter 36), and Mr. Rogers paints an experience of the school in a way that shows it lives up to this (and other) expectations of Bl. Moreau, saying, “I joined this school way back in 2019. My involvement and dedication to this Holy Cross ministry has been ‘resurrecting the youth’ to [become] better citizens of now and the world to come… Through journeying with the young ones, I have found Love and a great opportunity to make ‘God loved, known and served.’”
Like the rest of the school’s students and faculty, he is both excited about the new chairs and what they potentially mean for the future of the school, and grateful for everyone who helped make their acquisition possible. Mr. Rogers told the HCMC, “With the resources rendered to us and especially the recent donation of plastic chairs, it is evident that our stay here is well facilitated. These resources will enable us to teach well. Some learners used to sit on grass and pieces of wood but now can sit comfortably on the newly acquired plastic chairs. On behalf of the student body and on my own behalf as a teacher in charge of student welfare, I express our gratitude, love and prayers to the director and staff at the Holy Cross Mission Center. Thank you for the good work and for continuing to support St. Joseph’s Hill.”
Rev. Richard Potthast, C.S.C., helped found the school in 1996 and has continued to be involved with it for many years. He expressed his gratitude to the HCMC, saying, “I sincerely appreciate the continued generosity of [all the] benefactors in supporting this school. I see progress at the school. From its humble beginning, St. Joseph’s Hill is now being transformed into a modern secondary school in a rural setting with better facilities. Thank you Fr. Tom and your staff for continuing to support the school through the donations that you put together for the many needs of the Mission… This is one of the schools that will need your support for some more years for the needs are many.”
Provided by Paula Lent, Holy Cross Mission Center Office Coordinator
August 2025
