RON AND SANDY SMITH were in Africa on their way to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a national park in southwestern Uganda that is home to nearly half of the world’s mountain gorillas, when their lives changed.
They saw schoolchildren in purple and red uniforms walking along a dirt road on their way to St. Kizito Rubuguri Primary School – a humble collection of classrooms and buildings located in a small town where agriculture and tourism are the main industries.
FR. CLAUDE WILLIAMS AND FR. BRENDAN HANKINS FROM THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE ARE WITH FR. NESTORIO NIWAGABA OF THE DIOCESE OF KABALE, UGANDA ALONG WITH PARISHIONERS. PHOTO COURTESY OF RON AND SANDY SMITH
The following day, the Smiths decided to visit the school. They met Fr. Nestorio Niwagaba of the Kabale Diocese and were moved to action by the dirt floors in the classrooms and a host of other pressing needs for the 700-plus students ages 5 to their late teens.
And so, in January 2023, they formed Friends of St. Kizito Rubuguri Primary School, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
FULL-TIME CALLING
Five years ago, while living in Fresno and running a business, the lifelong Catholics had been considering missionary work.
“God put the idea in our hearts,” Sandy said.
But the COVID-19 pandemic put their missionary plans on hold.
In October 2022, when the Smiths went on that gorilla trek at the end of a missionary trip to Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda sponsored by an Orange County organization, they were ready.
Now the Smiths, parishioners at Edward the Confessor in Dana Point, are engaged full time in developing a modern, safe and comfortable learning environment for the students of St. Kizito Rubuguri Primary School.
After selling their funeral home and moving to Orange County, they’re pouring their own money into helping to refurbish the school and are praying that others will join their cause.
“When we tell people what we’re doing,” Sandy said, “many of them ask, ‘Why aren’t you helping people here in Orange County?’
“But people don’t understand how much of a need there is in Uganda. Until you go, you don’t realize how many people have nothing — and they would starve and die before they would steal something from their neighbors.
“I think the children and all the residents of Rubuguri see hope in what we’re doing.”
Added Ron: “When you get a calling, you must go with it.
“The needs are so huge you could get 10 to 20 non-profits over there and that still wouldn’t solve the problem.”
THOUGHTS FROM A NORBERTINE PRIEST
St. Michael’s Abbey priests Fr. Claude Williams, O. Praem, and Fr. Brendan Hankins, O. Praem, parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist in Costa Mesa, accompanied the Smiths to Rubuguri this past year, during which the couple spent a total of five months in Uganda.
Frs. Claude and Brendan spent 10 days in Uganda.
“First, we went on a safari and saw Uganda’s amazing wildlife including lions, elephants and hippos,” Fr. Brendan recalled. “It was an incredible start to our trip, but it was only the beginning of what would become a life-changing experience.”
As soon as the group arrived at the school, hundreds of young students welcomed them with singing and dancing – even incorporating their names into their songs. The priests celebrated Holy Mass with Fr. Nestorio and visited the classrooms, giving rosaries to the teachers and students.
After school, Fr. Brendan was able to play volleyball with the members of the girls’ volleyball team.
“Even though I’m 6 foot 3 inches,” Fr. Brendan said, “these girls gave me all that I could handle!”
Fr. Brendan said visiting St. Kizito had a profound effect on his life and faith as a Catholic priest.
“This area is very poor and the conditions in the school are not close to what we are used to here in Orange County, but the students are very happy and joyful,” he said. “Their frequent singing and dancing kept me smiling the entire time.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The Smiths are starting 2025 with a monthlong trip back to Uganda.
Among the many pressing needs at St. Kizito Rubuguri Primary School, besides basic school supplies such as books, are adding separate dormitories for boys and girls, as well as a lodge for visitors.
“There is plenty of room for expansion,” Ron noted.
Said Fr. Brendan of the Smiths: “They have shown me that we can make a profound difference in the lives of these beautiful children and people by giving them what we would consider in the United States to be a very small offering.
“Our missionary journey helped me to be so grateful for the abundance of blessings that I have received and to see that sharing a little of it can make the lives of our fellow Catholics so much better.
“My heart and soul still sing and dance with the beautiful people of Uganda and St. Kizito Catholic School whenever I think of them.”