UK Charity No. 281776 · Operating Since 1980
207 Children. 15 Teachers. One Extraordinary School.
In 2009, a headteacher in Uganda opened her own living room to children who had nowhere else to learn. Seventeen years later, Destiny Junior School is changing the future of an entire community.
It Started With One Woman’s Decision.
In Kibiri, on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, thousands of children fall through the cracks of the education system. The barriers are simple but devastating: a shortage of school places, under-resourced classrooms, and families unable to afford even basic school fees.
Jesca Nakamanyisa was a headteacher who lived in Kibiri. She saw the children in her neighbourhood sitting at home while others went to school. And she decided she could not wait for someone else to fix it.
In 2009, she opened her own living room as a classroom. She started with a handful of children, a few books, and a belief that every child deserves the dignity of an education.
IRFF UK found Jesca that same year. We didn’t arrive to build a school for her. We simply promised to make sure she never had to stop.
From a Living Room to a Government-Recognised School
Today, that living room has become Destiny Junior School. It is no longer an informal gathering; it is a fully functioning, government-recognised primary school.Because of the sustained support of IRFF UK donors, the school now provides:
What Your Support Has Built
Destiny Junior School today is a government-recognised institution with 207 enrolled children. This is what seventeen years of consistent giving has made possible.
Jesca had the vision. IRFF UK donors made it possible. Together, they built a school.
15 Qualified Teachers
Every classroom is staffed by a trained, salaried teacher — not a volunteer.
Clean Sanitation On-Site
A biodigester toilet block means children — especially girls — can attend school safely and with dignity.
Hot Meals Every Day
Children receive a cooked meal at school — for many, it is the most reliable meal of their day.
A Borehole
Before the community had to walk 3km to access water, now its accessible on-site, at Destiny Junior School.
Against the Odds: Academic Excellence.
In Uganda, the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) are the massive, high-stakes national exams taken at the end of Primary 7. Passing these is the only way a child can go to Secondary School. Despite facing extreme poverty, the children at Destiny Junior School consistently excel.
2025 PLE Results:
19 pupils sat the exams. 3 achieved First Grade, 15 achieved Second Grade, and 1 achieved Third Grade. All qualified for secondary level education.
2024 PLE Results:
12 pupils sat the exams. 2 achieved First Grade, and 10 achieved Second Grade. Almost all continued to Secondary School, with two receiving full bursaries for outstanding academic performance.
Joel Grew Up Here. Now He Has a University Degree.
When you invest in a child's primary education, you change the trajectory of their entire life.
We know this because we have watched it happen. Children who started in Destiny's Baby Class have grown up, passed their Primary Leaving Examinations with first and second-grade marks, and gone on to secondary school and beyond.
One of our proudest moments was watching Joel, Jesca's own son, who grew up alongside the school his mother built, graduate with a Bachelor of Arts with Education degree from Makerere University, one of the finest universities in Africa.
This is what happens when a community is given the resources to educate its own children.
"We mostly have disadvantaged children with a lot of challenges at home... Destiny Junior School has become their home. We are grateful for the support of IRFF... with this support we have been able to achieve with these young people and indeed transform the lives of the students, community, villages and Uganda."
No Girl Should Miss School Because of Her Period.
At Destiny, we do not just keep the classrooms open, we make sure every girl can be in them. The school provides reusable sanitary kits and hygiene education to girls at the school, ensuring that menstruation is never a barrier to attendance.
207 Children Are Counting on This Month's Gifts
Destiny Junior School needs £2,000 every month to keep its doors open — to pay its teachers, feed its children, and maintain the classrooms where 207 young people are building their futures.
Right now, that £2,000 is not guaranteed. Every monthly gift you set up today brings the school one step closer to financial security.
We don't ask people to sponsor individual children, because we believe every child in the school deserves the same standard of care. Instead, every gift goes into the shared Destiny Classroom Fund — ensuring all 7 classrooms stay open, every single month.
Your gift goes 100% to the school. There are no overheads taken from your donation. Every pound you give reaches Jesca and her team in Uganda.
Registered UK Charity No. 281776 | Operating since 1980 | Your gift goes 100% to the school
FAQs
100%. IRFF UK is entirely volunteer-run, meaning we have zero UK staff costs or overheads taken from your donation. Every penny you give to the Classroom Fund goes directly to Uganda.
We believe every child deserves the same standard of education and care. Individual sponsorship can create inequality within a school if one child loses their sponsor while another keeps theirs. By pooling donations into the Classroom Fund, we ensure the entire school stays open, teachers are paid, and every child is fed.
Yes, absolutely. You are in complete control. You can pause, change, or cancel your monthly donation at any time through the Donorbox platform, or by emailing us directly.
We receive detailed bi-monthly reports and full financial accountability from Headteacher Jesca. We also publish an annual report detailing exactly where funds have been spent, and we send regular updates to our donors showing the real-world impact of their support.
Yes! If you are a UK taxpayer, please tick the Gift Aid box when donating. This allows us to claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give, at no extra cost to you. This extra money goes into our General Fund, which helps cover emergency infrastructure projects at the school.
The School Is Ready for 400 Children. The Funding Must Catch Up.
Today, Destiny Junior School educates 207 children. But the school site has the space and infrastructure to serve up to 400 pupils, nearly twice as many young people from the surrounding community.
That is Jesca’s hope for the future: first, to secure the education, meals and care that the 207 children currently at Destiny depend on every day. Then, when the school has stable long-term income, to open its doors to hundreds more children who still need a place to learn.
It currently costs around £2,000 a month to run Destiny Junior School for 207 children. Eddie Hartley, Chair of IRFF UK, estimates that £3,000 a month could enable the school to support 400 children through additional teachers and food.
We are not asking for that expansion today. The immediate priority is to build secure, regular support for the children already at the school. But every monthly gift helps create the stable foundation from which Destiny can grow.
207 children are learning today. With a secure future, 400 could learn tomorrow.
Are you a business looking to make an impact?
We partner with UK businesses to deliver high-impact, verifiable ESG outcomes. Our current major corporate funding goal is a £4,700 IT System to equip the Destiny Junior School library and meet the Ugandan government's new digital literacy requirements.
If your company is looking for a transparent, 100%-impact charity partnership, we would love to speak with you.
