Holy Cross - District of East Africa

Kyarusozi Parish

St. Joseph's on the Hill Secondary School

The school was established in 1996 by the Kyarusozi Holy Cross Parish. The school welcomes all students and aims at educating the whole person - intellectually, spiritually, and socially. The students who come to this school are those who would not have the opportunity to go elsewhere for secondary education. The school's enrollment is currently 372, with 143 girls and 229 boys. All the students are day scholars, some of whom on average have to walk as many as 10 km just one way. The school currently owns approximately 10 acres of land, upon which it has built two classroom blocks, a multi-purpose hall (with capacity to hold about 250 students, which is currently being used as classroom), science laboratory, an administration block, staff housing, and a soccer pitch. It hopes to build a boarding section soon so that students will not have to travel such long distances to school, and therefore use their time more effectively for studying.

Kyembogo Farm

Kyembogo model farm is a Holy Cross community-based initiative which started in 1995 and covers 50 cultivable acres. It is run by Holy Cross personnel with the assistance of local agricultural trained extension workers and specialists in sustainable agriculture. It began with the vision to equip the local population with knowledge of modern agricultural techniques, and to create self-reliance and employment for the local people. The local community has been engaged primarily in subsistence farming with traditional farming methods and simple farming implements. This only enables the people to produce food for home consumption and a little surplus for market. Since the yields are low, the income is little or nothing. Kyembogo farm has created awareness to the local community, and has empowered them to raise their level of income, hence raising their standard of living.

Vocation Training School

The Vocation School began in 1995 in response to inadequate secondary education facilities in the parish. Its aims are to provide students who left primary the opportunity to pursue further studies and equip these youth with technical skills, thus elevating their socio-economic standard. It grew from a simple carpentry workshop that was established by Kyarusozi Socio-Economic Development Club, increasing enrollment every year, and now providing classes in sewing, handcrafts, knitting, nutrition/home management, tailoring, dressmaking, carpentry, concrete practice, and brick laying. A number of students are employed by the time they graduate, and even those who are not yet employed can assist others in the community to see the importance of education as a tool for socio-economic emancipation and advancement.

Saaka Farm

The Saaka Farm was established in 1997, at the Holy Cross Novitiate, just outside of the city of Fort Portal in order to train Holy Cross men in formation in how to respond to the pressing corporal and spiritual needs of the people who live in the area of ministries. Poor nutrition is a major concern in the Saaka area, as there is a high demand for food because it is a low agricultural productive local. The farm was initially used for mixed farming, with bananas and trees, but the yields were unreliable due to soil acidity and too much water, so a transition was made to dairy farming in 2001. The cattle are both of local and cross breeds, and they are working to create more advanced quality pasture, more advanced quality animals and a better physical structure for animal keeping. The project is sustainable and as it continues to be successful, will achieve its goal to be a model for other self-supporting dairy farming projects in the area.