On this date in 1979, humanist activist and educator Bwambale Robert Musubaho was born in Kasese, Uganda. Orphaned at age 5 and baptized and confirmed in the Anglican Church, he was raised by his grandmother and worked during high school as a barber before receiving a scholarship to attend Kyambogo University in Kampala. He graduated in 1998 with a biology degree.
In a 2017 interview with Phil Zuckerman, Bwambale said he lost his religious faith in the early 2000s when he “started being skeptical about the natural world and things in it,” eventually embracing humanism. He’s the author of the book Orphans of Rwenzori: A Humanist Perspective.
In 2011 he founded the Kasese Humanist School for boys and girls ages 3-14. It welcomes children from all belief and nonbelief systems but is secular in nature and stresses reliance on the sciences and avoidance of “dogmas and indoctrinations which are prevalent in the majority of Ugandan communities. We embrace REASON and belief in things backed by empirical evidence, not myths, fairy tales and allegories.” The school has three very modest campuses and about 700 students.
In 2015, working with the Brighter Brains Institute in the U.S., Bwambale started what was said to be the world’s first atheist orphanage. BiZoHa Orphanage includes one of the humanist school’s campuses and a small acreage on which food crops are grown. An affiliated humanist center offers educational DVDs, documentary films and books and woman empowerment initiatives in tailoring, gardening and craft making.
Bwambale is married and has a son and daughter. He speaks English, Swahili and Luganda.
