Martin Olsson had been corresponding for over twenty years with the parish priest of Saint Cyprian’s, a country parish in Uganda, when a generous friend made it possible for him to visit the parish for their Patronal Feastin October 2012. It was during this visit that he met at Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedralin Kampala a number of young people who had ambitions to study at university. Martin kept in touch with them on his return to England, and raised funds informally to help two of them complete their secondary education. However, when Dimitrios K. successfully applied to study Medicine at Kampala International University, it became clear that more formal fundraising would be needed to support him through the 51/2 year course, and so in 2015 the Bishop Spartas* Memorial Fund for Education in Uganda was set up.
The Trust Deed states that:
The Trust aims to provide to the public benefit financial aid to meet in full or in part the tuition fees, cost of educational materials, and living expenses of university students or prospective university students in Uganda who would without such aid be unable to complete their studies.
Since the Trust was established, four students have graduated – in Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Science in Education, and Medicine and two are currently being funded by the Trust, in Medicine and in Electrical Engineering.
Reuben Spartas Makusa (1900?-1983) was the person primarily responsible for the establishment of the Orthodox Church in Uganda and was a pioneer of African led education before Ugandan independence. In 1972 he was consecrated under the name Christopheros as the first African Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda.