Lake Victoria school launches tree planting campaign to mark 100 years

The headmaster Lake Victoria School Entebbe, Mr Steven Nabende has said a tree planting campaign launched over the weekend at Bulega- Garuga, in Wakiso district marks a series of activities to be carried out by the school as it prepares to mark it’s centennial celebrations later this month.

“We are beginning today to plant trees until the 8^th of September not only to mark the existence of the school from 1924 but to also play our part in greening the country. From 4^th to 8^th September we are going to have a campaign of planting trees in Entebbe Sub district alongside a medical health camp, a legal clinic to sensitise people about laws and have a marathon on the 8^th of September with the funds raised aimed at rehabilitating the school buildings” he said.

Mr Nabende said at it’s inception, the school had two campuses, the lower section which was referred to as Entebbe Common School that only had black students who were coming from Civil servants in the colonial government holding high positions and the upper section called Entebbe European School.

“Putting the field in between was for the purpose to ensure the two sides not to interact physically so during P.E time, the whites would use the field during morning because they feared sunshine and in the afternoon those from the lower section would also then use the field. After independence the two schools had to combine, since it was the reign of Queen Victoria and we were near the lake, the two schools were combined to form Lake Victoria School Entebbe” he said.

Mr Nabende said the centennial celebrations will be held on the 21^st of September with the chief guest being the Queen (Nnaabagereka) of Buganda Kingdom, Sylvia Nagginda who is also an old girl of the school.

The chairperson PTA Ms Proscovia Nanyonjo said  since the school is located in Busiro South County, the kingdom availed space in all sub county’s of Sissa, Katabi and kasanje to plant trees and restore the Buganda forests with some trees donated by the Franciscan brothers.

The President Rotary Club Kampala Central Ms Marion Muyobo said the club will provide over 2,000 trees for the schools centennial celebrations as part of rotary’s target to plant 50,000 trees across the country under the restoration of ‘Kibira Kya Kabaka’ (King’s Forest) campaign.

“We are currently on a drive as district 9213, currently where we are standing is district 9214 but we have to work together to fulfill our commitment to plant trees, I am so happy that the community is involved in this too since its them who actually look after the trees, ours is to come and inspect once in a while” she said.

The speaker Busiro South County Ms Eron Vero Bubye urged people to desist from cutting down trees since it greatly affects the environment.

“How will we be able to sustain the environment when people cut down trees that are even older than many of them, in the past even if one wanted to cut down their own tree they had planted, they had to ask for permission from the kingdom” she said.