Kakila Swira Luzuga, is the head teacher at Shanta Mine Secondary School, Kasamwa in Geita Region. Over the past 10 years, he has changed the lives of hundreds of girls. When he first started, Kakila noticed that many girls were dropping out of school. Most of them came from far villages like Mgusu and Nyakabale, walking more than 20 kilometers every day to attend class. As a result of the long distance, they arrived late, tired and absenteeism was a huge challenge. Under such conditions truancy rates soared with children skipping school to hang out in the forest. Kakila recalls that sometimes, ‘when the bell rang, only 6 students had reported to class.’ Girls would also occasionally leave home for school and be missing for 3 days. The situation was alarming with 4 out of 10 girls dropping out of school and “some became pregnant and could no longer continue school.”
To address the situation, the school brought parents together to find solutions and agreed to construct a dormitory. The coordinated effort involved the local government who donated bricks and cement, and the parents contributed iron sheets for roofing. Within a short time, it became evident that the demand for dormitories exceeded capacity leaving some students to sleep in classrooms.
Luzuga approached the local government who reached out to Geita Gold Mining Limited (GGML) for assistance and slowly, dorm by dorm, the living and learning conditions at the school started to improve.
A safe place and brighter future
Today, there are 7 dormitories for girls and 2 for boys. Around 900 girls live at the school, and the total number of students has grown to 1,828 of which 1,228 are girls and 600 are boys. “Girls are now performing better in school with some attaining Division I and over 200 students move on to A-Level each year,” Kakila said. In 2021, the school started offering A-Level classes for girls, a milestone that once felt out of reach.
Kakila, who first came to Geita as a young boy from Magu in Mwanza, says his goal was simple: “I wanted to give these girls a chance. A safe place to stay. A future.”