Ronald Mayinja, having lost his parents when he was two years of age, has lived an incredible life of hurt & pain, struggle & starvation only to rise above and find himself a graduate of not only SACU Primary School but also as a skilled labourer from Butende Technical Institute.
For 7 yrs Ronald lived with a man who should have taken care of him but instead abused & neglected him and like so many Ugandan children he was not given the opportunity to attend school. After these years of a life no child should have to endure, he left his guardian’s home, thinking that any place would be better than where he was. He lived alone in the fields, sleeping in trees and eating whatever he could find, often it was food left out for the animals or chunks of sugar cane. Ronald had a will to survive and that he did until the day he was discovered by Ivan Nsera & Ann Isubah, two people who were searching through the villages & fields for vulnerable children who would become the first students of a newly founded Primary & Nursery School called SACU, Save African Child Uganda.
Ivan brought Ronald, at the age of 9 to SACU’s shelter in 2010 where he was fed three meals a day and given a bed to lay his head on at night. Ronald, his heart filled with love & gratitude for Ivan & Ann who saved him from a life of poverty, graciously helped care for this new home & family. He embraced the other children & staff knowing his life was now bright with promise.
Early years are typically years of growth in many ways for children, through nurturing by caring adults, learning through love & attention, play & socializing. Unfortunately, Ronald’s first 9 years were anything but an environment for growth. His profound abuse & neglect took a toll on Ronald’s ability to learn resulting in a tremendous up hill battle to grasp the skills of reading & writing. He found himself intellectually behind other children his age and due to the early years trauma, he scored very low on the PLE(Primary Leaving Exam). This exam is written at the end of the primary schooling years the results of which are used to designate a student’s secondary school journey. Ronald was accepted to St Charles Technical School even though his marks were below the allowable levels, he showed promise and had strong support from Ivan.
Ronald’s life of struggle built up his resilience and determination as he entered the Brick Laying & Concrete Practice course with both hesitancy & enthusiasm. Ronald had the opportunity to put his newly acquired skills to work as SACU underwent some construction projects during his break between first & second year. No better way to learn than “hands on”!
Ronald, with pride can say he helped build a kitchen & staff building for his SACU family. While in school there were many projects he took part in, gathering skills and building his confidence, brick by brick, building the bridge to his future.
We are very proud to say that as of 2021, when Ronald turned 20 yrs old, he became employed by our neighbouring high school Quality High School, to be part of the team of professionals building dormitories & classrooms for the quickly expanding educational facility.
His story right there is a success and to make his life just a little richer, he was presented with the deed to his father’s property. The small plot will be the start of building not only his own house but a wonderful future filled with promise. Thanks to that fateful day when a young starving boy was found by Ivan & Ann and brought into the loving arms of the SACU family !