Don Bosco Children and Life Mission (CALM)

Salesian missionaries have been operating the Don Bosco Children and Life Mission (CALM), located in the town of Namugongo just 10 miles northeast of the city of Kampala in Central Uganda since 2006. The organization, which was launched in 2001, was initially headed up by Comboni missionaries and a Jesuit priest before the Salesians were asked to operate the center.

Salesian missionaries have been actively engaged in improving the programs and services to better meet the needs of youth. Most recently, missionaries have been working to launch a primary school for youth in the region. The initiative was launched in 2015 by Salesian Brother Hubert Twagirayezu, who had asked the Salesian Mission office in Turin, Italy for financial support.

CALM currently hosts 155 children. Older youth, about 60 of them, attend the Salesian school in Bombo during the school year. The others attend the Don Bosco school in Namugongo together with 40 students who are not part of the CALM programming. The classes have between 10 and 25 children with two teachers, but more space is needed. While there are other schools in the area, those environments are not suitable for the needs of youth from the CALM program. In addition, the higher school fees prohibit many poor families from sending their children to them.