After a long time in lockdown, the resuming of schools was received with great joy, not only by the parents and students but also by the Salesians who work in Uganda. At Bombo community the feast of Don Bosco was brought forward and celebrated on Saturday 29th January. The students from all three sectors of Bombo community were gathered with the staff members both teaching and non-teaching and other invited guests to celebrate the feast of Saint John Bosco. The day commenced with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Father Joseph Mwebe, the parish priest of Namaliga parish. After the Holy Mass, there followed a competition of Don Bosco quiz, whereby all students from Saint Mary’s secondary school Namaliga, Don Bosco Vocational training Centre and Saint Joseph Bombo mixed primary school were represented. Six groups participated in the competition. Four of the groups were the four houses of St. Mary’s Namaliga, green, yellow, red and blue house, together with Don Bosco VTC and Saint Joseph Bombo mixed primary school. Green colour house from Saint Mary’s secondary school was the winner, followed by Saint Joseph Bombo mixed primary school. At the awards ceremony, Father Joseph Long, the Rector of the community, congratulated all the participants for daring to study and compete on Don Bosco, as it is through reading about Don Bosco that we come to know him. The quiz ended at 2:00 pm and was followed by lunch. After lunch, there was the final competition in football for boys and netball for girls. In football, the final was played by Green colour house against Yellow colour house, whereby Yellow colour house won the match by two goals to one. In the netball competition, Green colour house lost against Red colour house. The national Delegate for the Salesian past pupils in Uganda, Father Elie Nyandwi, together with the federation of the past pupils of Saint Mary’s Secondary School were present to award the winners of the competitions in both girls’ and boys’ sides. It was a great joy for the students who were able to reach the finals and obtain the first place. They thanked the federation of past pupils who gave them the gifts and showed them the love they have for their former school. Father Thomas Cyprian Oloya the Director of St. Mary’s Secondary School thanked the Old Students of the school (OB’s & OG’s) for their initiative of coming back to the school where they studied. He stated that such kind of spirit encourages the young students who are still studying in the school to love the school even more. The day ended with a lot of appreciation from the staff members, past pupils and the students.
Bro François Manirumva, sdb
