Uganda Schools Trust.

Uganda Visit 2013 Part 2  Buheesi and Glorious

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.

Uganda Visit 28th February to 13th March 2013.

Liz and I were unable to visit our friends this year but the Trust was ably represented by Anne Harrison and Ann Harry who was also a taecher at Kyebambe but had not been back for forty years or so. Below is their account of their visit

Ann and I flew overnight with Kenya Airways via Nairobi and arrived bleary eyed in the sweltering heat of Kampala on the morning of 28th Feb. It took several hours to negotiate the traffic jams and the increasing complexities of getting a mobile phone registered before we could get to Sarah’s house in Ntinda to have a rest. We spent three nights there during which time we met up with former Kyebambe students Lilian Kazigati, Esther Komweru, and Esta Kesiime and former colleague Ronald Kalyango We also enjoyed a swim at the swish Kabira Club and a visit to Sarah’s pineapple plantation in Mukono as well as dinner with Sarah’s family.

On 3rd March we travelled to Fort Portal in the company of Sarah and her driver Juma. We arrived in plenty of time to make a visit to Kyebambe , Ann’s first in 41 years. We were given a tour by Milly Abibi which we then followed this with lunch at the Travellers where owner Robina turned out to be a long lost friend of Sarah’s from their days as exiles in Kenya

We then spent nine nights at the Rwenzori View  followed by a further night in Kampala before flying back overnight on 13th March

Visits and Meetings

Kyebambe

We made a total of five visits to Kyebambe and had a separate meeting with Richard  Balinda at the guest house. Our general impressions of the school were extremely favourable with the overall appearance, especially at the front being very smart and manicured. The new teaching block is now complete and in full use though some structural problems have been noted. ( Interestingly the structural engineer involved in the project was Ben Muhindo’s friend David who later drove us to Kasese )  The school now has around 1000 students and as a result dormitories and classrooms are very overcrowded. Each year group from S2 to S4 is now divided into 4 ability streams: D (Distinction), C (Credit) B Average and A Weaker / requiring help. Richard claims that this streaming idea emanates from his visit to Banchory in 2010. He feels it is very successful as more teaching time in certain subjects is directed at those in B and A streams. As evidence he cites that not only were a large number of distinction passes achieved by the top stream but also by the lower ones . This year’s UNEB results were not as strong overall as the previous year’s with 41 D1’s as opposed to 59 in 2011 but equally there were fewer low passes and no grade 9 fails in Maths and fewer than previously in Chemistry and Physics. A Level results also scored some notable successes particularly in Biology where the school’s first A Grade in 30 years was achieved. There is now a strong team of 4 Biology teachers led by Charles ? who joined the staff in 2008 The lab now has a good water and gas supply and repaired windows. Ann visited the Computer Lab in the new building and took some photos (to follow) She was in the company of the new head of computing Donald Kanuma. The internet connection is only partially operational as it seems to reach only one of the two banks of computers. Donald feels the box housing the connection needs replacing at a cost of 100-120,000 usx.  He would also like a projector and screen so as not to have to borrow from the Biology Lab. He also finds the dusty floor to be a problem and requested funds for treating the surface. In terms of books we agreed with Richard that Humanities subjects had been rather neglected in our previous offerings, so this year we focused on Geography, Ki Swahili, Literature and Entrepreneurship. The money to purchase the required texts has already been sent. An Atlas was ordered to commemorate Rosemary Reid’s commitment to the school (Rosemary was  a teacher at Kyebambe who sadly died recently. )A sticky backed plate was produced in Mugasa’s to be stuck in when the atlas arrives..

Girls’ Sponsorship

As a result of poor O level results, three girls we had sponsored were recommended not to return for A Level courses and instead to enrol for nursing. It was not entirely clear how these courses (much more expensive than A Level) were to be funded. We were not directly asked to help.

The seven remaining girls were invited out to tea .


Future plans/requests for funding

As well as paying the fees for the girls described, we were asked to consider the following projects.

Increase pocket money allowance to keep pace with Uganda’s rampant inflation

NB this was suggested by students not staff!

Sports equiment for cricket, badminton rackets, funds for a fixed table tennis table and a much bigger project of a separate Basketball court for which space has been earmarked

Computing;see previous section

Improvements to Chemistry and Physics labs to boost performance here to equal that of Biology.


All in all we spent quite a few enjoyable hours at Kyebambe and formalities were mercifully kept to a minimum.. no clichés required.

1 – 11 APRIL 2012

Greetings to all my old readers and welcome to any new ones.

As usual we flew KLM to Uganda- except it wasn’t ‘as usual’. Normally we go direct to Entebbe via Schipol but this year we went from Amsterdam to Kigali before turning back north to Entebbe. Interestingly the captain announced that any one leaving the plane should not take any plastic bags as they are banned in Rwanda. Famously Bob Geldof said the most common tree in Africa was the ‘plastic bag tree’ but perhaps Rwanda has taken steps to eradicate this menace.

After an overnight stop in an Entebbe Guest house we travelled up to Fort Portal, giving Kampala a miss, and once again we were disappointed to see even more evidence of deforestation with more and more patches of scorched earth and the many, many bags of charcoal waiting by the road side to be collected and sold. More encouraging however was the marching line of poles ready to carry power lines. These were in evidence pretty nearly all the way from Kampala to Fort Portal. But as we were to find, electricity is still frequently cut off and often the power supply is too low to even run computer.

Another piece of good news is that the road is now complete except one very short stretch just east of Mityana and a slightly longer bit on the outskirts of Kampala. Regular readers will remember the 140 odd speed bumps we endured last year. There are still a great number but these are now confined to the many trading stations on the route. Sadly however the road out of Fort Portal south  to Mbarara which was being constructed by the Chinese in 2007and was finished in 2008 is now showing considerable wear and tear and bits of it are reverting to the potholes we know and love. Meanwhile the road west from Fort Portal to Bundibugyo and the Semliki plain is well under construction. Let’s hope it lasts longer than the Mbarara road.

Fort Portal itself continues to look good and much of it now lives up to its map description of a ‘nice town’ with the trees planted last year flourishing to give the centre of town an attractive appearance.

For the first time we sensed a growing dissatisfaction amongst our friends and acquaintances with President Museveni and his government. One evening in the Guest House a young, very eloquent Ugandan lawyer from Makere University led a long and at times heated discussion on what is wrong with Uganda. But, we pointed out, he was free to do so which would not be the case in many countries and that the future of the country was in the hands of good people like him. However, I fear that Museveni has simply been in power too long and that like many powerful men he cannot give it up. In addition his son has had rapid promotion through the army, his wife is in the cabinet and there all the signs of a budding dynasty. We heard stories of unrest in Kampala but in the far west in Fort Portal life carried on as usual.

This year we hired a car to get us about. It was the usual Toyota with a cracked windscreen but for the first time ever we had a car with Air- con that worked. On the way down to Kasese to Glorious we were flagged down by the Traffic Police, something that is in many ways quite reassuring because Ugandan vehicles and Ugandan driving can be quite awful. He prowled around the car as policemen do and then said “Your third party is out of date.” This is displayed as our tax disc would be.

We told him it was a hired car.”You should have checked” Then we gave him the number of the guy, Mustafa, who hired it to us all the while wondering how big a bribe he would demand. But he phoned Mustafa who said he had a brother in Kasese who would meet us and get the insurance. And that was all it took. He smiled and waved us off. He was still there when we returned six hours later, with new third party, but he just grinned and waved as we passed. So don’t believe everything you hear about bribery and corruption n Africa.

On Good Friday there was a procession around town ending at St John’s Cathedral. Thousands of people took part with many of them carrying crosses and singing hymns as they went. Unfortunately just as the procession reached the Cathedral there was a tropical downpour-the rainy seasons has just begun- which lasted for two hours. Everyone would have been drenched in seconds but I am afraid I did not stick around to find out, having seen it coming.

We had arranged to meet four former pupils for lunch at that time. They ordered, as they always do, liver and chips. After more than an hour waiting we enquired if it would be served any time soon. “Oh,” said the waitress, “we are looking for the liver”. We ordered chicken instead and only had to wait another half hour

We visited Margret (our former colleague Tum’s widow) and children, Denise, Diana and Derrick. They seemed to be coping very well and Margret had returned to work almost immediately. She took us to show us the house that she is building It has been built up to the roof level and she has most of the materials to continue. Richard told us that many people had contributed money in memory of Tum. Margret also sold the car to raise money. She gave us 2 DVDs of the service at St John’s cathedral and burial in Kabale: harrowing footage.

 We have agreed to sponsor Denise (11 yrs, P6) and Diana (8 yrs, P3) at Kyebambe should they wish to go.

We met a very interesting young couple at the Guest house. They have set up a company called Afripads, selling reusable sanitary pads. They are trying to target schools and are dedicated to the health and welfare of young girls. Richard was with us for dinner and met them and was very enthusiastic so they have exchanged particulars and, hopefully, they will become a requirement at Kyebambe. Coincidentally a week after we came home we heard an item and interview on Radio 4 about this very product.

We met Diana who is completing her last term of teacher training and is doing very well.

We also saw Phiona several times and went out to the United Pentecostal University Campus. It looked good and Phiona’s results are encouraging. Irene Mukyala is also there and we saw her and Agnes and Vicent. Agnes is completing her course at Kichwamba and Vicent(Buheesi) has completed his first teaching practice and attends Canon Apollo.

Richard talked to us about Brenda Kebirungi who was the top student in Uganda in 2010 results. She is now at Makere studying Law. She has no family and no means of support and he is concerned that she may be drawn in to dubious jobs in order to make some money. He encouraged us to think about giving her 100,000 shillings a term. We also spoke to her on the phone and she told us she was doing very well in her studies.

One other visit we made was not strictly on Trust business. A silent auction at St Machar’s Cathedral raised £265 for Fairtrade. We took a trip out to the Aberteraine Women’s Group who make baskets and the like for sale through Fairtrade. They had laid on a demonstration of dye making for us but unfortunately the minute we arrived the Heavens opened and 24 of us were driven inside a tiny mud hut. But in a way this was good because we were able to see the conditions they would have to work in. The hut had no windows, the only light coming through the doorway and gaps in the roof. We had already decided to use the money to buy small individual solar lamps for some of the women and to pay for training in new techniques. The downpour demonstrated how useful the lamps would be. To ensure a sense of ownership we said that each woman who received a lamp should make a contribution so that is was theirs to be taken care of.

We had a shorter visit this year and planned a busy schedule, visiting all three schools we support, as can be seen below.

BUHEESI      We visited Buheesi on Tuesday 3 April. We were met by headmaster Patrick Akora and chairman of PTA George Karamagi.

They now have 714 pupils and 13 in S5. The Government has introduced “Universal” A Level. This seems to us to be a laudable aim but since they have not yet properly sorted out Universal Primary Education, let alone Secondary it appears unlikely to be very successful. As far as we could gather UNEB contributes 150,000 shillings per pupil per year (less than £40) with pupils having to pay approximately 120,000 shillings per term.

On the whole the results for 2011 O levels were an improvement but we commented on the very poor results in Chemistry and History. In both subjects there had been problems with staffing and the pupils were left on their own for a considerable length of time. Patrick assured us that the situation had been remedied. The school has 24 teachers and has been given 5 more for A level work, one for each of Chemistry, Physics, Biology, CRE and History. One S5 girl, Byahurwenda Lucy, had left because she could not afford the fees of 120,000 shillings. We agreed to sponsor her for her ‘A’ level course. We met the 2 prize winners, Mwesige Peter and Kemirembe Janet. Peter is now at St Leo’s studying Maths/Physics/Economics and hopes to do engineering. Janet has had a lifelong ambition to be a nurse and has various options in the pipeline including Virika, Central Uganda Nursing College and Mulago Para Medical School.

There are 248 pupils in S1 coming from 13 primary schools. They have had to put a cap on numbers being admitted. At the moment in one S1 class there are 148 pupils. They have now got land for staff quarters and every pupil is contributing 30,000 shillings towards this venture. There are now 80 orphans at the school so we agreed to pay for meals for an additional 35. Last year S3 had 127 pupils and this year S4 has 110, there is always a problem with pupils dropping out at this stage

The government is building more classrooms to address the overcrowding and a lab is being prepared for 11 solar powered computers. There should be power to Buheesi by the end of April. But bear in mind the previous remarks about the electricity supply.

Pupils who left from S4 last year are at Primary Teaching College at Canon Apollo near Fort Portal.

We again met Juliet, the head of English, who gave us a list of books. We ordered these books and also some for A level subjects amounting to about 2.5 million Uganda Shillings.

Patrick is to look again at costs for water harvesting and this will be considered when we know the details.

KYEBAMBE We visited Kyebambe on Wednesday 4 April. We were met by the new headmistress Mrs Mpairwe Karungi Night Joy (Night) who has come from Kabale and is an old girl of Nyakasura. Also, of course, we were greeted warmly by Richard Balinda.

The basic fees have risen inevitably to 430,000 shillings with UNEB costs etc being added at S4 and S6. We decided to take on 2 new girls at the moment 4 having left from S6. The two are Phiona Karungi in S1 and Elizabeth Kiiza in S2. Phiona is the seventh of nine children born to a lame mother, all 9 children having different fathers. Richard is, rightly, very concerned about the welfare of this girl and may take her to help in his family home during the holidays. Elizabeth is a very bright girl having been first in the year every term in S1. We agreed to pay the Geography trip fees for the sponsored girls concerned. All the girls were interviewed and all expressed how happy they were at Kyebambe. The only sad news is that Prilla whom we have sponsored for the last three years, and is HIV positive, is unwell and is at home with an aunt at the moment; we have asked Richard to keep us posted. We did see her but it was after the Music, Dance and Drama Festival that she felt unwell; she had been determined to take part. Most girls were progressing satisfactorily although not outstanding. Worth mentioning are Mercey and Phiona in S6. Mercey is Chairperson of the School Council, Vice Chair of Students for Kabarole District, President of Debating, President of Peer Club, Vice-President of SU and in a Science and Technology Competition she came 2nd at Regional level and 6th at National level. Phiona is the student member of the Finance Committee, President of SU, Vice Chairperson of Human Resource Management and President of GEMU club ( Girls Education Movement Uganda, set up by UNICEF)

We ordered A level books for Maths, Physics and Chemistry (over 5 million Ugandan Shillings) as the numbers in S5 and 6 have risen considerably.

Water and gas have been brought into the Biology lab but some work needs to be done to the flooring to complete the job and UST have funded that. UST has also repaired the windows in the Lab which had been broken when we were there in 2007.

Another project funded by UST has been the introduction of the internet to the school which can be accessed by the girls in the computer lab and we will endeavour to continue to support this

Richard, Sandy and Atejeka (the manager at the Ruwenzori Guest House who does a sideline in Solar Power) toured the compound to assess the possibility of solar power or using invertors. When power goes off they have to use a diesel generator and the cost of this is horrendous.  Atejeka will cost this and forward estimates to the Trust for consideration. A greater problem, however, is the lack of water. The girls are limited to a small supply for limited periods during the day and clearly in a girls’ boarding school this has serious implications for health and hygiene. The girls regularly have to be taken to the Mpanga River to collect water. I have seen the Mpanga River and I would have reservations about using the water to clean my car. The school has investigated various options including water harvesting and even a bore hole. Both options are very expensive.

On Friday and Saturday, the exciting Music, Dance and Drama competition took place. We were not asked to be involved in any way this time but were merely visitors. It was all done with the usual enthusiasm and noise and in the end the winning house was Clayton. My old house! (Liz)

GLORIOUS   We visited Glorious on Thursday 5 April. We were met enthusiastically by all the pupils and by Ben Muhindo, Director, and his wife, Jonah, Headmistress.

In the morning we had the usual Board Meeting and then tour of the classrooms. The school roll is now 430 pupils, (56 in 2009) or as Ben puts it “shelters 430 pupils”. 12 of these are refugees from the Congo. There are 13 teaching and 2 non teaching members of staff. They are very grateful for the water tank, financed by UST, which has made such a difference to the pupils.  The building of the latrines is in progress and we gave Ben the balance needed to complete the work. He also mentioned the gate which we financed. This is demanded by the Government for security. At the moment there is a substantial hedge surrounding the school but eventually this will need to be replaced by a wall. Another demand is the need for latrines. 2 schools in the area have been closed down because they did not meet requirements. Ben feels strongly that the surrounding community trusts the school.

At the moment the school has a ‘Baby’ class and P1 to P5. 2 members of last year’s P5 who went to other schools were promoted to P7.

In the afternoon we attended their Easter Service and singing of “Easter Carols” It was very enjoyable for everyone and the children performed very well.

We had brought some clothes, sandals, footballs, skipping ropes and lollipops, all of which were received with the usual wild enthusiasm. Thanks to St Machar’s Cathedral we were able to purchase a further 30 mosquito nets

You will be pleased, no doubt, to know that this will be the last such bulletin for some time, from me at any rate, as we do not plan to go out to Uganda next year having been there for 6 years in a row.

But watch out for 2014.