RUBAGA NEWS No.9, June 2011
from Rubaga Friends
E-mail us: RubagaFriends@gmail.com or phone: 520-327-7922 More information: www.RubagaFriends.org
The Grammoo kindergarten building completed
The first floor of the new kindergarten was ready for use in June 2010. In addition to $20,000 rendered in 2010, an extra $8,000 was transferred to Rubaga in January 2011, and $4,220 in July 2011 to fund completion of the building. As planned, these contributions from Tucson financed about 75% of total building costs. All this was made possible by generous donations from Family and Friends of Roberta Calkins (Grammoo) and the Dr. David Jacoby Memorial Fund. Thanks to these contributions a wonderful building is now available for all pre-school activities.
Local Rubaga donations of labor, materials, etc. covered a significant share of the 25% of costs.
Pima Rotary Club support for computer lab
A 2011 $4,017 grant from Pima Rotary Club in Tucson enables the Rubaga School to buy 9 new computers (lap tops) and establish efficient education of groups (classes) in the use of modern office and communication equipment. Rubaga Friends provided one-half of the funds.
Two years ago, another $4,000 Pima Rotary grant was used to buy textbooks for the students in primary classes 1 through 7. Together, the two grants have significantly improved the basis for teaching and learning at the school.
School facts
At the Uganda Primary Leaving Examination December 2010, the 7th graders did well compared with other schools and improved their own scores over previous years; 20% of the students scored Grade A; 60% Grade B, 20% Grade C; none in the lower grades. The school director, Rose Andersen, attributes the good performance and other achievements to the Rubaga Friends programs.
The school has 289 children; 10 attend other schools for secondary education; 96 are pre-school children (first three lines of the table); 183 are students in primary school classes 1 through 7. There is a slight majority of girls in most classes. For about one-third of the students the school is also their real home.
At present, 25 former Rubaga School students attend secondary education at other schools, and 2 attend higher education.
Partner school cooperation
The Sam Hughes Elementary School has terminated its sister school partnership. Hopefully, another school will soon engage in this program in cooperation with Students In Free Entereprise (SIFE) at the U of A.
Funds transfer July 2011
Due to the slower rate of incoming donations it has unfortunately been necessary for the Board to reduce the semiannual basic program support in July 2011 from the usual $10,500 to $9,000.