Holy Cross - District of East Africa

The Dream Grows

The District of East Africa, like many countries in Africa, is in great transition on many levels of evangelization, and economical and social development.

The District has been blessed to have the first African District Superior, Rev. James Burasa, CSC. There are now many young African priests and brothers in leadership roles, which is an indication that the Holy Cross Congregation is taking deep roots here.

Growth and development come with more demands of increased resources for religious formation, professional training, community establishment, and specific projects. How the District will meet these increasing needs, without overstretching our benefactors and friends, remains our biggest challenge.

The District has been doing serious planning for its mission and financial sustainability. On the 40th anniversary of Holy Cross in East Africa, we successfully launched our first campaign for the East Africa Endowment Fund.

Our sponsoring provinces, (Eastern Brothers and Indiana) have joined us in our efforts for financial stability by making pledges to our endowment, and for this we are very grateful. We are also grateful to the Holy Cross Mission Center as we join our efforts to increase our financial stability.

In addition to our endowment, we have been working hard on our two farms in Uganda. We hope to generate local income from Saaka and Kyembogo farms. Unfortunately, we have not been making money. We have reviewed this situation in our latest council meetings and we have agreed to go more extensively in raising beef cattle and tea, which are both highly profitable in Western Uganda. We are hoping that this difference will multiply profits and allow for further self-sustainability of the District.

Contributing to our endowment is leaving a legacy to Holy Cross East Africa missions and creating a strong financial base that cannot be uprooted.

Once again, your support is greatly needed and appreciated as we strive to take a risk, a leap of faith, in preparing our District to become a self supportive province.

Project Proposals

Holy Cross District of East Africa is looking toward its Golden Jubilee in 2008. Over the past 46 years people like yourself have participated in supporting the mission of Holy Cross in Uganda, Kenya, and recently in Tanzania. At this time we offer our gratitude to you for being effective partners; however, we still have dreams of future effectiveness. So future solutions need to be appropriated now!

Pastoral Center

Since we have experienced success in our ministries of pastoral outreach, education, development, and health care, the staff of our various ministries need a Pastoral Center to maintain and move toward steady growth and development.

Purpose of the Center:

To provide a regional center for retreats, educational workshops on justice and peace, social development, family relationships, and health issues such as HIV/AIDS
To provide employment training programs
To expand the evangelization outreach
To serve as a conference center for Holy Cross ministries as well as a center for Holy Cross personnel gatherings and celebrations
To be a setting available to dioceses we serve

Action taken to date:

Five acres of land have been purchased by Holy Cross along the River Nile, Jinja, Uganda. The location is central to Holy Cross residences and ministries.

Holy Cross Lakeview SSS Development Proposal

As Holy Cross Lakeview continues to grow, there are plans for an expansion of the current facilities. The immediate necessities include new dormitories for boarding students and classrooms, however, there are also other long-term needs.

Dormitories: Currently the dormitories are overcrowded with sixty or seventy students sleeping in a residential house suited for a single family. Almost half a dozen triple decker beds are jammed into each room. Study and toilet facilities are very inadequate, and ventilation is poor. Despite these inadequacies, it is more desired than having to walk ten or more miles to and from school and trying to study at home by candle light or a kerosene lamp. The girls' dorm is in greater need than the boys but both need to be done as soon as possible. An estimate for the cost of a dormitory for 250 girls is about $250,000, and funds are yet to be raised.

Classrooms: Although Lakeview began with a single class of 55 students, it has grown to nearly 800 students. The number of streams needed to accommodate the students in each level is increasing each year. Last year there were nearly eighty students in each of the second year streams, with students practically sitting on top of each other.

Kitchen: The current kitchen is a wood and iron sheet shack with primitive fireplaces that result in unnecessary consumption of firewood, which wastes our natural resources and pollutes the environment, contributing to the poor health of our cooks. There is an urgent need for a new kitchen with fuel-efficient stoves.

Laboratories: Two labs were constructed a few years ago to accommodate biology, chemistry, physics, and agriculture. Especially with the establishment of the A-level section, this is now inadequate.

Multi-purpose building: Due to the limited land the school has, a multistory building that could provide adequate office and storage space, an adequate computer room, home management lab and additional classrooms would be ideal. If such a building could be constructed with classrooms, some of the present classrooms could be converted to dorms for the boy boarders, making it easier for them to study at night as well as facilitating the overall management of the school.

Long run: Several other major buildings would be ideal, namely, a chapel, a proper dining hall and an assembly hall. Currently an open air shed is used as a space for all of these purposes, but is subject to weather conditions.

How you can help

As a partner in the mission of Holy Cross in East Africa, we ask you to join hands together to aid in the success of our ministries. Contributions to new projects as well as ongoing ministries are greatly appreciated.

Donations can be sent to:

Holy Cross Mission Center
P.O. Box 543
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-0543

Or contact:

Holy Cross East Africa
Development Office
P.O. Box 25827
Kampala, Uganda, East Africa

Phone: 011-256-041-268-060
Cell phone: 011-256-77-932-980
Email: gmuganyizi@yahoo.com
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Our Newsletter - "The East Africa Drum"

The East Africa Drum is published twice a year. It contains the latest development information and news for Holy Cross in East Africa. To view the Drum online, click an issue below.

Newest Version: Volume IV 2nd Issue September 2005

*Note, the issues are available in PDF format. If you are having trouble viewing the files, click here to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat.

If you would like to subscribe to "The East Africa Drum" and receive hard copies in the mail, send a request to The Holy Cross Mission Center, hcmc@nd.edu, or contact George Muganyizi, gmuganyizi@yahoo.com.

online archived issues of the East Africa Drum: