Interview with Jacques Bwira Hope Primary School Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Jacques Bwira arrived in Uganda in 2000, having fled the violent conflict in his native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Though he had trained and worked as a teacher in Congo, he feared that speaking only French would prevent him from making a living in his new home. The police officer who interrogated Jacques on arrival in the capital city of Kampala took him to a flat rented by a Catholic priest who often hosted refugees. Jacques agreed to begin teaching the children of other refugees in his native French in exchange for a place to live. Emerging from a small operation serving a handful of neighbors, the Hope Primary School, of which Jacques is the founding director, now serves 217 refugee and Ugandan national children. Through hard work, advocacy, and community support, Jacques and the staff of Hope Primary School have been able to purchase land and build a permanent school—the only Ugandan school for refugees located outside a refugee camp. In this interview,editors from the Harvard Educational Review spoke with Jacques about the school's development, the community it serves, and its struggles and accomplishments.