Arun Patel BCAh was born in Mbale. After finishing his primary education at Nakivubo Primary School he enrolled at the Old Kampala Senior Secondary School (1966 to 1969). In 1970, he went to the UK where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. After a brief stint at KPMG's, an international firm of auditors, branch in Zambia, he started his own practice in Ilford, Essex. In 2006, he sold his practice to devote all his energies to run Polio Children, a charity he set up with his two brothers in 2002. Polio Children has assisted over 1000 children with polio and helped more than 200 students pursue University education. Arun attributes his success to the solid academic foundation that Old Kampala Senior Secondary School provided and says, “I feel extremely lucky and privileged to have this opportunity to reconnect with my alma mater. Old Kampala SSS has always meant a lot to me and has given me a lot of wonderful memories”. Arun feels passionate about the academic performance of the current students of Old Kampala SSS and feels that they all, especially the economically disadvantaged, should be given an equal opportunity to emulate the successes of their predecessors.
Arun lives with his wife in the UK and they have two grown up sons.
Dr. Shirish Patel (M.D.) was born in Mbale. After finishing his primary education at Nakivubo Primary School he joined the Old Kampala Senior Secondary School (1967 to 1970). He was a student of the ’famous’ class of 1970 whose ‘O’ Level results were nullified. He simultaneously pursued ‘O’ and ‘A’ level studies but had to leave prematurely in 1972. After qualifying as a doctor from the Baroda Medical College in 1979, he obtained his M.R.C.Psych. in England in 1986. He immigrated to the USA in 1988 and is currently the Chief of Psychiatry at a Veteran Affairs Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York. In 2002, he set up the USA branch of Polio Children which has assisted over 1000 children with polio and helped more than 200 students pursue University education. Shirish strongly believes that given the right conditions, every child has the potential to succeed and feels humbled to have this opportunity to help the economically disadvantaged students of OKSSS.
Shirish lives in Rochester, NY with his wife, a pharmacist, and their daughter.
Amar Thakrar is a 4th generation Ugandan Asian born in the UK. After obtaining his B.A. in Business Management and Spanish Language, he returned to Uganda to join his family businesses, Translink and Transtel.
He keeps in close touch with our associates at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School.
He lives with his wife and baby girl in Kampala.
Mayoor Patel BCAo was born in Kampala. After completing his primary education at Nakivubo Primary School he joined Old Kampala Senior Secondary School in 1971 but had to leave prematurely in the Asian exodus of 1972. He completed his schooling at the Marlborough College and obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) from Surrey University. Currently, he is a partner in a financial services firm. A passionate supporter of education, especially for the disadvantaged, Mayoor has been actively promoting this cause through his involvement in several charities including Polio Children (which he set up with his two brothers), the Little Drops Charity, and the Shravana Project. Of his brief, but pleasant, association with the Old Kampala Senior Secondary School, he muses, “Primary Standard 7 was the first major public exam I took. To secure a place at OKSSS, one had to score 70% or more. My best moment was not when I received the news that I had met the required score but that I had obtained a place at the OK!”.
Mayoor lives in Bolton, England with his wife and daughter.
Dr. Saiffudin Najefi (D.D.S.) was born in Hoima, Bunyoro District, Uganda, in 1952. After completing his primary education in Hoima, he joined the Old Kampala Senior Secondary School in 1967.In 1972, he came to England as a result of the Asian exodus and pursued dentistry at The London Hospital and obtained his degree in 1981. He is the past- president of Anglo-Asian Odonatological Group and has raised funds for the tsunami and drought victims all over the world. He remains actively involved in the Chitrakoot Project in India whose mission is to help villagers attain financial self-sufficiency through a series of locally inspired projects. Saiffudin believes in helping economically disadvantaged children so that they can contribute to the welfare of their society and their country. His belief stems from personal experiences when his family’s finances were jeopardized in the early 1970s.
Saiffudin lives in London with his wife and his parents. He has 3 grown up children and 3 grandchildren.
Suresh Desai was born in Kampala in 1949 and attended the Old Kampala Secondary School from 1964 to 1969. He was the headboy of the School in 1969.An active sportsman, he captained the School cricket team to a number of memorable victories.After completing his A-levels, took up the position of the School librarian.“My heart is in that School as it has given me too many lovely memories”, he fondly reminisces.Suresh recalls the time when his family could not afford to pay his school fees andthe humiliation of being asked to stand up and be identified amongst his classmates.He is, therefore, extremely keen to help the current crop of Old Kampala students who are in a similar predicament.
Suresh has two grown up children and lives with his wife in the UK.
Jitendra(Jit) Davda, B.Sc. (Hons.)
Jitendra(Jit) was at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School from 1964 to 1969 .He graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Computing and Statistics in London and in 1976 immigrated to Calgary, Canada.Jit is adamant that his six years at OKSSS provided a very solid foundation to his successful career in Information Technology.
He is an Information Technology Management Specialist, and attained a Project Management Professional (PMP) designation, in 2004.
After a very successful career in the IT profession Jit retired from work but continues to be involved in a number of volunteer projects.Having volunteered and taken up numerous highly responsible duties including starting a Gujarati School in London,
Jit and his wife Mangla are the rightful recipients of “Life Time Volunteer Awards” from Gujarati Mandal of Calgary.
Jit and his wife, Mangla (also a former student of OKSSS, 1964 -67) now live in Calgary, Canada.
They have two grown up children and a grandson.
As helping others has been on his agenda since growing up he says“I am honoured to be a trustee of the Old Kampala Alumni Scholarship Fund organization and would like to see some of the basic needs of education (text books,supplies, computers, fees etc.) provided to the current students of OKSSS.”
Dinesh D. Dattani studied at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School from 1966 to 1969.
He has many fond memories of the School, and considers this period of his life as tranquil, carefree and cheerful. Some of the friendships he cultivated during these formative years still endure.
He moved to Canada in 1972.
He graduated with a degree in computer science and started his own consulting practice.
He has worked for several corporations in Canada and the U.S.
He is the author of, IBM Mainframe Security: Beyond the Basics (MC Press, Oct 2013).
He is now semi-retired and likes to write about charitable causes.
He has written several pictorial reports about charities in India, after visiting these institutions and observing first-hand the good work they are doing.
Dinesh is honored to be appointed trustee of OKAS Fund, a charity that benefits the needy children of the same School that gave him so much joy and pleasure not to mention immense academic success.
In the 1969 GCSE exams Dinesh was placed first in the entire School with 7 A *stars.
Dinesh is married, and lives in Toronto, Canada. He has two grown up children.
