NYAKSASURA SCHOOL ALUMNI GRAND DINNER

All Nyakasura School Old Boys and Old Girls are welcome to join your former classmates on May 15th at 7:00PM at Protea Hotel in Kampala for the Alumni Grand Dinner.

Please register ahead of time by emailing nyakasura@gmail.com, on our website at www.nyakasuraschool.com, or by texting 8800 and typing code word: nyak in the message followed by your information or by calling 0772 500 000.

Nyakasura Now....

Is this the Nyakasura that you remember? An eroding chemistry lab?.... No! Find out what's being done to help Nyakasura School by joining the Alumni Association.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - Part 13

I am in my anecdotage now and could go on telling many tales of things that happened in the few short years I was privileged to be at Nyakasura. We made all our own uniforms. Who remembers the famous stocking machine? Who remembers the tree snakes and the boys who studied at night with lamps preparing for their exams, sometimes secretly beneath their bedclothes with the aid of small electric torches? Who remembers blocked drains that had to be emptied? Or Bishop Balya coming barefoot to take a service? Or Saturday morning visits to the hospital in Fort Portal? Or being motored in to the hospital to be dealt with at night because of some emergency? Who remembers the visit by the Governor, Sir Andrew Cohen, who, on being offered tea, replied, "I do not usually partake of farinaceous food at this hour!"

Ah well, they were good days shared by us all. Every one contributed. You remember the famous West African educationalist who said, "You can play a tune on white keys of a piano and you can play a tune on the black, but if you want to full harmony you must play both black and white together."

That is true, doubly so in the Nyakasura of my day when pupils came to the school from all over Uganda, and from all kids of homes and Uganda ethnic backgrounds. They all learned to work and play together and they as individuals and Uganda as a whole were the better for the experience. May the School live to enhance this harmony and to continue to set a good example of this kind for its recovery. The school will forever remain in my affections.

As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

Nyakasura Now....

Is this the Nyakasura that you remember? Pit Latrines?.... No! Find out what's being done to help Nyakasura School by joining the Alumni Association.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - Part 12

We tried to prepare for the future. Little did we realise how dark, ultimately, it would turn out to be, but we must take encouragement from the many old Nyakasura boys who at school learnt something of not only how to earn a living but also how to live and are still able to pass on these important lessons.

As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

Where to Purchase Tickets to the Alumni Dinner

Simba Telecom Shops in Kampala

- there are 4 on Kampala Road
- Garden City Mall
- Lugogo Mall
- La Bonita
- The Main Post Office
- Grand Imperial Hotel

You can also buy them at Protea Hotel, Kampala

And in Fort Portal at Nyakasura School.

NYAKSASURA SCHOOL ALUMNI GRAND DINNER

All Nyakasura School Old Boys and Old Girls are welcome to join your former classmates on May 15th at 7:00PM at Protea Hotel in Kampala for the Alumni Grand Dinner.

Please register ahead of time by emailing nyakasura@gmail.com, on our website at www.nyakasuraschool.com, or by texting 8800 and typing code word: nyak in the message followed by your information or by calling 0772 500 000.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 11

We sought to carry out the Christian tradition started by the Commander and to maintain the standards and values that he help dear and strove to impart. Chapel was a vital and important part of the life at the school. As a Government School, we had boys of Muslim faith. Of course, arrangements were made for them and they kept Ramadan and other festivals throughout the year. They rose in the middle of the night to cook a meal during he fast. I remember seeing a few Muslim boys anxiously waiting to see the sun sink below the Rwenzori Mountains so that they could dash in and join the rest of the boys for their evening meal.

Our chapel services were helped by the organ which Tony Irvine built and played. This led later to more bureaucratic trouble because the Education Department claimed the organ belonged to them as it was installed in a Government building. Tony had other ideas and I fear (1991) the organ is no longer there.

We took to putting on Shakespeare plays and this did much to help the boys to understand them. They were natural actors and they loved it. One great Shakespearean tale stands out, however, the open-air show of the Olivier film of Henry V. We invited every one around. They sat spellbound in front of the scree and went wild with excitement in the battle scene when the bowmen of England let loose a rain of arrows against the French. I have no doubt there are those who still remember that night and talk about it.

As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 10

Life was not all fun, of course. The staff and boys worked hard. We attained Cambridge School Certificate Status. Standards improved and exams were passed. We were able to offer mathematics at School Certificate level for the first time because the wife of the local Church Missioner had studied the subject at Cambridge University. I employed her the moment I heard about his and earned a strong rebuke from the Education Department for appointing someone without the Director's permission. The chance was too good to miss. However, and after all, we were over 200 miles from Kampala and letters took over a week or so to get to and from.

Government Departments are wedded to forms and these have to be routinely filled in monthly, annually, whatever. One of these contained inquiries about needs for future staff. I automatically asked for one more member each year, as the school gradually rose to full School Certificate status. We certainly needed him or her and the chances of getting some one from the U.K. were remote and in any case would take a long time. One Saturday morning I was locking the office door, when, to my surprise, A huge Italian lorry slowly headed in to view. It was a prize from the Second World War in Ethiopia. A man jumped out flourishing a bunch of forms. "Your furniture," he said, "for your three new bungalows." "We have no new bungalows," I protested. "Never mind," he said, "this furniture is all the way from Entebbe. Sign please." In the end I took one lot and returned the rest. Some one in "the office" had seen the accumulated indent for three new members of staff and assumed that it meant three new bungalows. So he reasoned that furniture for them should be sent.



As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

Nyakasura Now....

Is this the Nyakasura that you remember? Water for only 1 hour a day?.... No! Find out what's being done to help Nyakasura School by joining the Alumni Association.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 9

Some one had once told the boys of the curious English custom of April Fool. This was religiously observed. I turned up to their class room to find all their desks had gone. We had a young building supervisor living on the site. He had an Alsatian dog which proved a nuisance by chasing boys and snapping at their ankles. I warned the young man to keep it under better control. At 5:45 AM on April 1st, I was awakened by a very agitated young man who said the boys had told him his dog had attacked one of them and he was so badly injured he had to be taken to hospital in Fort Portal. The young man was very sorry and asked me if I knew where his dog was. He promised nothing like this would happen again and he would be happy to compensate the injured boy. I rubbed in how serious this incident was and then asked him what date it was. He looked puzzled and then slowly said, "They wouldn't do that would they?" "You never know," I said, "but if you ask them kindly, I think you'll find they will let you have your dog back."


As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

NYAKSASURA SCHOOL ALUMNI GRAND DINNER

All Nyakasura School Old Boys and Old Girls are welcome to join your former classmates on May 15th at 7:00PM at Protea Hotel in Kampala for the Alumni Grand Dinner.

Please register ahead of time by emailing nyakasura@gmail.com, on our website at www.nyakasuraschool.com, or by texting 8800 and typing code word: nyak in the message followed by your information or by calling 0772 500 000.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 8

An expedition up to Rwenzori Mountains was remembered by a Head Boy who on coming down told his father about the snow and ice at the top. The old man sad he would believe that water could be solid when his son brought a piece down to show him! Such a piece was in fact brought down and displayed for him, although it was a small piece compared with the one cut from the snow line, just before our descent began on account of the warmer weather on the lower slopes of the mountain.

A trek on another occasion over the end of the range, down into the Rift Valley, ended in a lonely part of pygmy country. It was very hot. We were all very thirsty. A local mud hutted shopkeeper offered us "spiced tea." "No milk," he said. Then, suddenly, as an afterthought, he wondered if we might "like some of this." "Some of this" turned out to be a case of Pepsi-cola. We knew "Civilization" could not be far away! We were so thirsty we would have drunk anything.

As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

Nyakasura Now....

Is this the Nyakasura that you remember? Classrooms in disrepair.... No! Find out what's being done to help Nyakasura School by joining the Alumni Association.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 7

Swimming in the crater lake was popular. Boys were encouraged to swim by being awarded points for the House if they could swim across the lake. Beginners were accompanied by a master in a small wooden boat. One evening, five set out to cross the lake followed by the master in the boat, with the head boy and myself swimming. Four quickly gave up and had to be collected by the master in the boat. The fifth boy went on and soon was halfway across the lake. The boat was coping with the four. The head boy and I went after the swimmer and to our horror, when we looked up, he disappeared. Then he came up and quickly sank again. The head boy reached him. The swimmer tried to climb on to the shoulders of the head boy and pushed him under. Minor panic. Arrived he tried to climb on to my shoulders. Life-saving instructions were of little avail. A senior bout and good swimmer , seeing our predicament, swam out from the shore and together, somehow, we got our fifth boy to the edge of the lake. The moment he touched the vegetation, he started to swim around the edge to the grassy bank where the diving board was and climbed out. Without a word, as if there had been no crisis at all, he walked back to the school. We all carried the taste of the slightly sulfurous water for weeks afterward. The depth of the lake was never ascertained. No one had a chain long enough to measure it. The swimmer became a well known Government Official and in playing cricket for Uganda against Ghana scored more runs than the whole of the Ghana side put together!


As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

NYAKSASURA SCHOOL ALUMNI GRAND DINNER

All Nyakasura School Old Boys and Old Girls are welcome to join your former classmates on May 15th at 7:00PM at Protea Hotel in Kampala for the Alumni Grand Dinner.

Please register ahead of time by emailing nyakasura@gmail.com, on our website at www.nyakasuraschool.com, or by texting 8800 and typing code word: nyak in the message followed by your information or by calling 0772 500 000.

Does this Sound Familiar??

Alternating joy and sorrow
Hope deferred, success achieved;
Teach us that on each tomorrow
Each day's loss may be retrieved.

Nyakasura Now....

Is this the Nyakasura that you remember? Crumbling buildings.... No! Find out what's being done to help Nyakasura School by joining the Alumni Association.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 6

We played football to a high standard for a School XI. One year we reached the final of the local cup. Our opponents were an old enemy. After an exciting see-saw game, we scored in the final minutes, and won. The 2000 spectators went wild. The next morning, however, I received a letter explaining, with a drawing to prove it, that, from where our center-forward had shot, it was impossible for the ball to have gone between the posts (there were no nets). Over 2000 witnesses disagreed and the results stood.

Our cricket was fun and our games against Budo, Buganda Kingdom's leading secondary school, greatly enjoyed. A highlight was when we beat a Boma XI captained by a District Commissioner who had played for Oxford! A hard cricket ball, however, took time to get used to. One of our boys, now (1991) a graduate of some eminence, was being given fielding practice. The ball hit him in the bread-basket and he collapsed, moaning, "No one told me it was made of iron!"

And we made our name in athletics too, as the exploits of Ernest Oluo were to demonstrate, for he did a gread teal to put Uganda in due course on the Olympic's map. I was grieved to learn of his death and the circumstances of it last year. Mention of Oluo, reminds me that he was one of the first Nyakasura Boys to com to the U.K. for higher education and training. Others followed. many of them came to see me at the School to whose Headmastership I had succeeded in England in 1954. My wife and I were delighted to see them again and to offer them hospitality.



As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

Nyakasura Now....

The beautiful swimming pool that so many of us remember has been inoperable for many years. Is this the Nyakasura that you remember? No. Find out what's being done to help Nyakasura School by joining the Alumni Association.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 5

We had a period of food shortage and a lorry had to be sent out into the surrounding counties to collect the matoke for the boys' meals. A school lorry rather than a hired one was needed. The Education Department in Kampala told us one was ready for collection. Murray went in his car to do this. He was told he would have to wait a week or so for the arrival by sea of a new member of staff from the U.K. who would be traveling via Mombassa and coming up by train. Murray said he could not wait. The headmaster had instructed him to bring the lorry back at once as it was desperately needed to collect the food and that he must do so. The official in the Department (very senior) was thus overruled and I fear we got a black mark. Our official popularity was agian undermined when, in seeking to have a laboratory built, we engaged the help of a Member of Parliament in the U.K. who asked a question about it in the House of Commons. Why the delay? The Secretary of State for the Colonies asked the Chief Secretary of Uganda, who asked the Director of Education, who asked what did I think I was doing? After suitable apologies to the Chief Secretary, our laboratory was sanctioned and built.

Our hydro-electric scheme was one of Commander Calwell's masterpieces. A deep trench allowed water from the river to flow on to a wooden wheel with corrugated iron "cups" which, when it was rotating, ran the generator. One night, slowly but surely, electric lights dimmed and finally went out. Prep. was over. On going to investigate, I took a Tilley lamp. The wheel was stationary. A hippo had fallen into the trench and stopped the flow of water. It was decided not to disturb him.

Later, to our great joy and even greater surprise, a generator was shipped out from England for us. Tony Irvine, our Maths Master, was a man of many parts. He at once set about unpacking the machine, housing it and attaching it to the school's somewhat antiquated wiring. In a few days we had light, by alas, only for a week. Again the lamps went slowly dimmer and dimmer and then out. The generator had stopped. The main bearing had burnt out. The instruction had stated "Under no circumstances grease the bearing: this had been done in the factory and the part sealed." It hadn't in fact been done, and so the disaster. No light: back to oil lamps and candles. Tony was angry but not defeated. he went to the metal workshop, ruled by Mr. Bujenja, where, amongst a host of this and that, were the Commander's old tool boxes. Rummaging in one of these Tony came across a main bearing, ex-Royal Navy. Could it fit? it looks as if it might. It did; and imagine our joy when the lights cam on again. In the meantime, however, I had informed our local Public Works Department man came, beaming, and said, "Now you'll be able to use the generator again." I had to explain we had been doing so for some weeks. The air grew blew, but I consoled him by saying it would be splendid to have a spare generator in stock. He was not amused.


As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

NYAKSASURA SCHOOL ALUMNI GRAND DINNER

All Nyakasura School Old Boys and Old Girls are welcome to join your former classmates on May 15th at 7:00PM at Protea Hotel in Kampala for the Alumni Grand Dinner.

Please register ahead of time by emailing nyakasura@gmail.com, on our website at www.nyakasuraschool.com, or by texting 8800 and typing code word: nyak in the message followed by your information or by calling 0772 500 000.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 4

We were fortunate in our staff at the time having men like Mr. Musgrove, Stan Acton, Alan Baxendale, Frank Garvey Williams, Tony Irvine, Mr. Baguma, Mr. Bujenja, Mr. Kabuzi, Mr. Mugerwa, Mr. Ruhweza, Mr. Nkojo and many others. There was also Professor Lucas, loaned from Makerere College and Mr. Murray Hicks. Murray had just retired from Winchester College, in the U.K. and came out to help us. He was a remarkable man and added much to the joys of life. Amongst hi teaching assignments he took boys to swim in the crater lake. In his view, costumes were unnecessary.

On one occasion the District Commissioner for Toro at Fort Portal was taken to see "the boys swimming." He stood at the brim of the crater looking down on a sea of naked bodies in the lake being watched over by an elderly European and muttered, "By jove, you do see life out here."

Later Murray started to build a swimming pool near the school, the origin of today's (2007) pool. Earth was moved by filling buckets and pulling them up out of the hold beginning to take shape as a pool. Unfortunately one careless boy, on returning the empty bucket to the boys digging let it fall on Murray's head and he was knocked out, but, mercifully, only for a time.
As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

Nyakasura Now....

Is this the Nyakasura that you remember? Dormitories falling part and in terrible conditions. No. Find out what's being done to help Nyakasura School by joining the Alumni Association.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 3

When it rains at Nyakasura it pours. In my first term I went up to school to begin the day. It was raining. There was no one there. I went to the dormitory attached to my house to find everyone in bed. "We don't get up when it is raining," I was told. "Oh, don't we," I replied, and rushed around stripping blankets off sleeping bodies. We introduced a morning run, rain or shine, before school after that.

One night we had a severe earth tremor and from that same dormitory the boys rushed out in pain. Only the Batoro remained calm. They were used to this. The Head Boy, a Mutoro, went round taking the names of those outside for detention, for being, as he said, "out of the dormitory without permission."

Near the dormitory, not far from the Commander's grave, there was a large gum tree. It threatened to fall and flatten the dormitory. We decided to cut it down to avoid it falling on the dormitory, the school tug-of-war rope was tied around it and eight or ten workmen hung on. Unhappily, as the axe severed the trunk and the tree swayed, the rope snapped and the tree fell and cut the dormitory in two. At one end, a sick boy thought his last moment had come and made off, miraculously cured, into the bush to avoid further danger. It was a fortunate and narrow escape.

As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!

NYAKSASURA SCHOOL ALUMNI GRAND DINNER

All Nyakasura School Old Boys and Old Girls are welcome to join your former classmates on May 15th at 7:00PM at Protea Hotel in Kampala for the Alumni Grand Dinner.

Please register ahead of time by emailing nyakasura@gmail.com, on our website at www.nyakasuraschool.com, or by texting to 8800 and typing code word: nyak in the message followed by your information or by calling 0772 500 000.

Some Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura - part 2

Nyakasura, like most institutions at that time suffered from the effects fo the Second World War, notably, a lack of equipment, books and staff. The most important tool on my arrival was an Allen Motor Scythe to cut down the elephant grass and thus let everyone see the buildings. The next thing was to find exercise and text books and some office equipment. I was told I would have to order all these through the Crown Agents in the U.K. on "the proper forms". At that time the shipments from the U.K. were few and far between. I took my needs to the Education Department and they kindly issued me a letter giving me authority to buy locally. This was a great privilege and was rarely granted. Armed with this I raided the Indian dukas and returned with enough materials to enable us to start a new term. That letter worked magic for the next two or three years until the Director of Education put a stop to my little (big?) game.

As remembered and written by Mr. E.C. Cooper, M.A., Headmaster, Between 1948 - 1954. Stay tuned for more Anecdotes of Life at Nyakasura!!