The Brothers Of Christian Instruction & 100 Years Of Transforming Uganda Through Christian Education, 1926–2026.
On August 4, 1926, four Canadian Brothers stepped onto Ugandan soil carrying neither political power nor material wealth, but a conviction that would profoundly influence generations of Ugandan children and young people: education must form the whole person — mind, character, conscience, faith and service.
A century later, as Uganda celebrates 100 years of the Brothers of Christian Instruction, popularly known as the Brothers of Kisubi, their story is no longer simply the story of a religious congregation.
It is the story of an educational movement that has helped shape Uganda’s schools, professions, Catholic institutions, communities and national leadership.
The first Brothers arrived in 1926 to assist the White Fathers with the administration and teaching of Catholic schools.
The group was led by Bro. Charles-Jules Poitras and included Bro. Joachim-Léo, Bro. Eugène-Marie and Bro. Stanislas. FIC’s own historical publication identifies Poitras as the leader of the founding group and records their arrival at Kisubi on August 4, 1926.
Their mission was simple but revolutionary: produce educated Christians whose strength would come not merely from physical power, academic certificates or social status, but from character, faith, discipline and a spirit of service.
That philosophy provides perhaps the most appropriate description of the Brothers’ century in Uganda:
> They have sought to produce young men and women made of spirit, not muscles.
From Four Canadian Missionaries To A Ugandan Educational Institution
The story began with four men.
They traveled from Canada to East Africa and eventually reached Uganda. Recent FIC historical research records that the Brothers arrived in the Entebbe area in early August 1926 before proceeding to Kisubi.
They came at the invitation of the Missionaries of Africa, commonly known as the White Fathers, who needed assistance in administering and teaching in Catholic schools.
At Kisubi, the Brothers took responsibility for the educational work that would eventually make the institution internationally famous.
St. Mary’s College Kisubi — SMACK — became the great laboratory of the FIC educational experiment.
The Brothers demonstrated that a school could be simultaneously:
- academically rigorous
- morally disciplined
- spiritually grounded
- culturally conscious
- socially responsible
- and committed to leadership.
The Brothers Did Not Come To Build Muscles — They Came To Build Character
The phrase “men of spirit, not muscles” captures something fundamental about the FIC educational philosophy.
The Brothers did not reject physical development. Rather, they placed physical strength within a much larger understanding of the human person.
Their ideal student was expected to develop:
- The mind
Through serious academic study.
- The conscience
Through moral and religious formation.
- The character
Through discipline, responsibility and integrity.
- The spirit
Through prayer, faith and service.
- The hands
Through practical work and vocational skills.
- The heart
Through compassion and solidarity with others.
The ultimate product was therefore not simply a graduate.
It was a person prepared to serve society.
THE SMACK LEGACY
Few institutions better illustrate the FIC story than St. Mary’s College Kisubi.
Although the school predates the arrival of the Brothers, the FIC administration from 1926 transformed its educational trajectory.
Contemporary historical accounts show how quickly Kisubi demonstrated academic excellence under the new educational leadership.
An FIC publication records that in the first Government examinations after the new standards were introduced, Kisubi achieved 24 successes among 28 candidates and received 15 of the 20 scholarships offered by Government.
The lesson was unmistakable.
Christian education did not have to mean academic mediocrity.
The Brothers demonstrated that faith and intellectual excellence could coexist.
KITOVU: ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE STORY
The Brothers’ educational ministry did not remain at Kisubi.
St. Henry’s College Kitovu, founded in 1922 by Fr. Adrian Laberge of the White Fathers, was handed over to the Brothers in August 1927.
Bro. Charles-Jules Poitras visited Kitovu and appointed Bro. Eugène Paquette and Bro. Donat Trudel to take responsibility for the school.
This history illustrates an important distinction.
The Brothers did not necessarily establish every institution they later administered.
Some were founded by missionaries or other Catholic authorities and subsequently entrusted to the Brothers.
But through administration, teaching, formation and infrastructure development, the Brothers became inseparable from the history of these institutions.
In 2026, Kitovu itself celebrated 104 years since its founding and 100 years of the Brothers’ Christian educational ministry in Uganda.
The Network Expands
Over the decades, the Brothers’ educational footprint spread across Uganda.
Their institutions and ministries came to include, among others:
- Mary’s College Kisubi
- Henry’s College Kitovu
- Edward’s Secondary School Bukuumi
- Savio Junior School Kisubi
- Mugwanya Preparatory School Kabojja
- Uganda Martyrs High School Lubaga
- Charles Lwanga Secondary School Kasasa
- Caltec Academy Makerere
- Bishop Comboni College Kambuga
- University of Kisubi
- and other schools and educational initiatives.
An earlier FIC publication described the Province as having 13 establishments, nearly 1,000 co-workers and more than 9,000 students, illustrating how substantially the ministry had grown even before the latest expansion.
Today, the Province describes an even wider educational mission, including primary and secondary schools and a university.
The FIC’s 2025 centenary account noted that the Province had more than 190 Ugandan Brothers and that its educational network continued to expand.
From Classrooms To A University
Perhaps the clearest symbol of the transformation is the University of Kisubi — UniK.
The journey from the early mission school to university education represents an extraordinary century-long institutional evolution:
Mission education
↓
Primary education
↓
Secondary education
↓
Teacher and professional formation
↓
Technical and vocational education
↓
University education
The Brothers’ vision therefore expanded with Uganda itself.
The Uganda of 1926 was overwhelmingly rural and under colonial rule.
The Uganda of 2026 is urbanising, technologically connected and facing complex global challenges.
The educational mission has consequently had to evolve.
The Brothers And The Making Of Ugandan Leaders
The most important contribution of the Brothers may not be measured in buildings, school numbers or examination results.
It may be found in the people who passed through their institutions.
Generation after generation of Ugandans have gone through FIC schools and carried their formation into:
- politics
- public administration
- business
- medicine
- engineering
- law
- education
- science
- the military
- the Church
- civil society
- agriculture
- technology
- arts and culture.
The Brothers’ greatest monument is therefore not necessarily Kisubi’s buildings.
It is the human beings who emerged from those classrooms.
The Transformation Of The Brothers Themselves
The first Brothers were Canadian missionaries.
A century later, the leadership of the Uganda-South Sudan Province is predominantly Ugandan.
This transformation is one of the most significant achievements of the century.
The FIC’s 2025 centenary history records that the Canadian founders eventually gave way to a Province composed predominantly of Ugandan Brothers.
This means that the Brothers did not merely educate Ugandans.
They also formed Ugandan Brothers who eventually assumed responsibility for the mission itself.
From Bro. Poitras To Bro. Casio Aizire
The history of leadership mirrors the wider transformation of the congregation.
The founding mission was led by Bro. Charles-Jules Poitras.
Among the later Ugandan leaders was Bro. Joseph Tinkasimire, who served as Provincial Superior from 1981 to 1986 and carried responsibility extending to Kenya and Tanzania.
Bro. Gerard Byaruhanga served as Provincial Superior from 1994 to 2000 and subsequently became part of the international leadership of the congregation.
Bro. Peter Kazzekulya served as Provincial Superior during the 2010s and was documented in that role in 2017.
Today, the Province is led by Bro. Casio Aizire.
The FIC international record identifies the Province as the Province of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, covering Uganda and South Sudan.
Thus, the story is no longer:
Canada → Uganda
It has become:
Uganda → Africa → the world.
The Brothers Of Kisubi And The Challenge Of Modern Education
The centenary arrives at a difficult moment for education.
Ugandan young people are growing up in a world of:
- artificial intelligence;
- social media;
- unemployment
- misinformation;
- cybercrime;
- drug abuse;
- political polarisation;
- consumerism;
- declining attention spans;
- mental and social pressures;
- rapid technological change.
Academic certificates alone cannot adequately prepare a young person for such a world.
This is where the original FIC philosophy remains relevant.
At the 2026 centenary celebration at Caltec Academy, the Episcopal Vicar of Entebbe, Fr. Gerald Mpanju, warned students against excessive reliance on the internet and artificial intelligence, noting the danger of producing graduates with academic papers without genuine education.
That warning goes directly to the heart of the FIC legacy.
- Education is more than information.
- Education is formation.
A Century Of Faith And Discipline
The Brothers’ schools became known for discipline.
But discipline, at its best, was not simply about punishment.
It was about teaching young people:
self-control, punctuality, responsibility, respect, hard work and service.
The student was expected to understand that freedom without responsibility could become destructive.
The Brothers’ approach therefore attempted to combine:
- freedom + discipline
- knowledge + wisdom
- talent + responsibility
- ambition + humility
- faith + service
Women & The Broader Educational Legacy
Although the Brothers’ historical identity has particularly been associated with the formation of young men in their traditional schools, their wider educational ministry has increasingly contributed to the education and formation of young women as well through the broader network and educational partnerships.
The centenary therefore offers an opportunity to interpret the mission not simply as the making of “old boys” but as part of Uganda’s broader project of forming responsible young women and men.
The central principle remains the same:
> Build the person before merely building the profession.
The Centenary Is Also A Moment Of Gratitude
The Brothers themselves are only one part of the story.
Behind every successful FIC school have been:
- parents
- teachers
- lay staff
- priests
- bishops
- benefactors
- alumni
- boards of governors
- government
- local communities
- students
- former students
- friends of the congregation.
At the 2025 centenary launch, alumni and institutions contributed substantially to the proposed Community House for Elderly Brothers, with reported contributions of about UGX 500 million toward the centenary project.
That initiative is symbolically powerful.
Those who spent their lives forming generations now need the next generation to remember and care for them.
The Centenary Year
The Province formally launched its centenary celebrations at Mount St Theresa, Kisubi, on October 1, 2025.
The celebration included the launch of a centenary monument/project and fundraising for a community home for elderly Brothers.
The FIC international publication identifies September 8, 2026 as the planned culmination of the centenary celebrations, while contemporary Ugandan reporting has also identified September 5 in connection with the celebrations.
The Province’s own international communication gives September 8, 2026 as the closing date.
The year-long celebrations have already reached individual institutions.
Caltec Academy celebrated on June 13, 2026, while Uganda Martyrs High School Lubaga held its centenary celebration on June 6, 2026.
What Should The Next 100 Years Look Like?
- The first century was about establishing Christian education.
- The second century must be about renewing it for a changing world.
- The Brothers face the challenge of ensuring that their schools remain.
- Academically excellent.
- Uganda needs graduates who can compete globally.
- Spiritually grounded
- Knowledge without ethics can become dangerous.
- Technologically competent
- The digital revolution cannot be ignored.
- Entrepreneurial
- Young people need skills to create employment, not only seek it.
- Environmentally responsible
- Climate change requires a new generation of ecological citizens.
Inclusive
- Education must increasingly reach disadvantaged children.
- Research-oriented
- Universities and schools must generate knowledge rather than merely consume it.
- Human-centred
- Artificial intelligence must never replace human formation.
The Real Measure Of 100 Years
After 100 years, the natural temptation is to count
- schools
- students
- buildings
- teachers
- degrees, Brothers
- and alumni.
But those numbers tell only part of the story.
The deeper question is:
What kind of people did the Brothers help Uganda to become?
- Did their students learn to serve?
- Did they learn honesty?
- Did they learn discipline?
- Did they learn compassion?
- Did they learn to respect human dignity?
- Did they develop the courage to stand for truth?
- Did they use their education for the common good?
If the answer is yes, then the Brothers’ century has been successful.
**“Spirit, Not Muscles” — The Century’s Challenge
The phrase should not be understood as a rejection of physical strength.
Rather, it is a declaration that true strength begins within.
A person may possess:
- physical strength without courage;
- wealth without wisdom;
- education without character;
- power without integrity;
- technology without humanity.
The Brothers’ educational tradition challenges Uganda to seek something deeper:
- Strong minds
- Strong character.
- Strong faith.
- Strong conscience.
- Strong service.
That is strength of spirit.
A Century Of Service — And A Century Still To Come
From the arrival of four Canadian Brothers in 1926 to the contemporary Province led by Ugandan Brothers, the FIC story is one of extraordinary transformation.
- They came to teach.
- They stayed to build.
- They formed generations.
- They established and administered schools.
- They developed higher education.
- They promoted Christian formation.
- They trained teachers and leaders.
- And they helped create a culture in which education was understood as something greater than passing examinations.
The centenary is therefore not merely a celebration of an institution.
It is a celebration of a philosophy of human formation.
Conclusion
As the Brothers of Christian Instruction celebrate 100 years in Uganda, the country should pause and remember what began at Kisubi in August 1926.
Four Brothers arrived from Canada.
One hundred years later, their educational family has become an important part of Uganda’s history.
Their greatest achievement is not simply that they built schools.
It is that they attempted to build people.
- People who could think.
- People who could pray.
- People who could work.
- People who could lead.
- People who could serve.
- People whose education would not merely make them successful, but make them useful to humanity.
And that is why, after a century, the enduring challenge of the Brothers of Christian Instruction remains beautifully simple: Make Young People Of Spirit — Not Merely Of Muscles. (By Don Edwarles MKM, Centenary Special Feature)
