Buheesi
We visited Buheesi on 6th March and had three additional meetings with Patrick Akora. Patrick is rightly very proud at the developments at the school. In addition to previously reported additions/ improvements, there are now two new classroom blocks, a rebuilt kitchen, a computer room with solar panels and a new lab and further latrines are currently under construction. There are now 670 students on roll. The first A level cohort is now in S6 with 8 subjects being offered. O Level results show some progress from last year although there were fewer Div 1and 2 grades awarded. The very low passes 7/8 and fails 9 reduced this year. More disappointing were the English results which as in 2010 showed a high number of 7/8/9 results. This was attributed to a new and inexperienced English teacher.
Patrick put forward many ideas as to how we could focus our help in the coming years.
He feels that in terms of buildings, infrastructure and books, they can now manage quite well. Where they are struggling is in helping students with progression beyond S4. Vocational courses are expensive and yet that is where most students need to proceed He applauded Jean’s support of Vicent Nyakahuma and urged her to stop supporting him, now he has a job and consider sponsoring Violet Nyakasiki, who is now in 2nd year at Canon Apolo and has no money for the fees. She is a very able girl who has achieved excellent results in her first year and comes from a family even more destitute than Vincent’s.
I think Patrick would ideally like the Trust to offer bursaries to a certain number of S4 leavers so that their education to that level is not wasted.
Lucy Byahurwenda the girl we currently support in S6 complained of several problems in a brief interview. She can’t afford medical treatment and her family has no money for the paraffin they need to provide light for her to study. Patrick says this is a common problem and particularly affects those in S4 and S6. We briefly discussed the idea of a “hardship fund” for cases in those classes in the run up to exams. I said we’d discuss at our meeting. (2000usx could provide paraffin for one family for 1/2 weeks)
Because of the home circumstances and long walking distances endured by the majority of students, Patrick feels the next priority is to build dormitory accommodation. (we didn’t go into the costs of having boarders at the school, staffing, food,water etc.etc.)
As you know, we agreed to fund lunches for an extra 20 S1 orphans bringing the total to 95. (10 replacement and 10 new) we paid the fees for Lucy, allocated funds for a printer and for 33 A Level text books. Money has already been sent for the first two items.
The two prize winners for 2012 Jannesta Kiiza and John Isingoma are now on A level courses. Jannesta at Kibiito and John at Masika?
Patrick was particularly proud of the fact that this year’s top A Level score at Nyakasura was earned by an ex Buheesi boy.
All in all Buheesi appears to be thriving despite the ongoing/ increasing economic hardship of its pupil base and the lack of progression opportunities beyond the school.
Glorious
We visited the school on 7th March and met with four members of the Board of Trustees, Ben and Jonah as well as other staff and pupils. Glorious was the only school where we were actually in a position to hand over cash. We gave 120,000 for mosquito nets, having failed to locate any in Fort Portal and 600,000 to increase class sets of text books. We made a further immediate commitment to send 6,500,000 for more books.
Glorious now has a roll of almost 500 pupils between nursery and P5. The dilemma the school faces is whether to focus on these year groups and send children elsewhere for P6/7. This is what happens at the moment but parents are putting pressure on school to offer this provision at the current site. 3 pupils from the first Glorious cohort in 2009 are now in S1 one having gained 14 points in PLE taken a year early in S6.
The problem is space; the site is already too small and options for acquiring more land are limited. If another classroom block is built on the current site then the modest playing area would be much reduced. Please see Ben’s recent report for further details of their plans. Obviously, the scale of help required for building and land acquisition might be beyond our resources. The school is definitely a victim of its own success. Ben is very reluctant to raise the age at which children can start the school as he sees it as a major part of the mission to offer crucial early child care which is much needed in the poor neighbourhood. It is significant that the biggest classes in the school are the nursery classes.
We joined the staff for a reportedly delicious lunch and watched two games of football . Two members of staff have young babies who are cared for in their mothers’ classrooms and Ben and Jonah are expecting another child in June.