When the hill roared again

The MAVOCK League brought convoy, Mass, music and a new gate back to St Mary’s Kyamuhunga — and reminded Western Uganda that alumni bonds run deep

By Mukama Phillip Kahigiriza

It was not simply a reunion. It was a reclamation — loud, proud and deeply felt. This past weekend, the hills of Kyamuhunga trembled with something that has no easy name: the particular joy of people returning, together, to the place that made them.

Old boys and old girls of St Mary’s Kyamuhunga Vocational School converged on their alma mater in Bushenyi for the annual MAVOCK League, the alumni gathering that has grown, over the years, into something far larger than football. This year’s edition was spectacular by any measure — a single day that held a road convoy, a Holy Mass, a concert, a shared meal and the blessing of a new gate built by the alumni themselves.

It began before sunrise. By morning, the heart of Bushenyi town was already alive with colour and noise. Dozens of cars draped in MAVOCK colours gathered alongside boda boda riders revving in formation, all lining up for the convoy that has become one of the event’s most recognisable traditions. Residents stopped to watch. Traders waved. Children cheered. As the procession snaked through the winding roads toward Kyamuhunga, horns blaring and jerseys catching the wind, it sent a message that needed no translation: these hills are still home.

On the school grounds, the mood shifted. The alumni gathered for Holy Mass, and Fr Allan — long regarded as both spiritual father and friend to the MAVOCK fraternity — delivered a homily that drew genuine reflection from the crowd. He challenged the old students to remain custodians of the values Kyamuhunga had planted in them: hard work, discipline and a commitment to service. For many, it was a moment of quiet reckoning, a reminder that the years and the achievements mean less if the roots are forgotten.

What followed was pure Kyamuhunga. Fr Allan, in an act that brought the gathering to laughter and warm applause, took to the fire himself and cooked pork for his guests. The aroma spread. Plates circulated. Titles and professional distances dissolved and, for a stretch of the afternoon, they were simply students again — eating together, laughing together, exactly where they belonged.

As evening came, Western Uganda artist Truth 256 took the stage and turned the school grounds into something close to a concert hall. Old boys, old girls, teachers and current students sang together and danced shoulder to shoulder, the kind of scene that confirms music carries across every generation without losing a note.

The emotional centrepiece of the day, however, was not the performance or the convoy. It was a gate. The new main entrance to St Mary’s Kyamuhunga Vocational School, fully championed and financed by the old students through MAVOCK, stood nearly complete at the edge of the compound. In a solemn ceremony, it was blessed and prayed over. Hands were laid. Prayers were offered. More than a few people who had left this place years ago carrying little more than a certificate and a sense of direction found tears on their faces.

That gate is not simply an entrance. It is a message written in concrete and iron, addressed to every current student who will pass through it: someone who once sat where you sit came back and built something for you.

The MAVOCK League has become exactly that kind of thing — an exercise in identity, in network, in the deliberate act of giving back. It demonstrates, year after year, that a vocational school set in the hills of Bushenyi can produce men and women capable of organising, mobilising and building lasting expressions of loyalty to where they came from.

This past weekend was history made in real time. St Mary’s Kyamuhunga Vocational School is no longer just a school. It is a movement. And MAVOCK remains its beating heart.

The post When the hill roared again appeared first on The Mt Kenya Times.