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I have just returned from visiting 10 schools in Uganda , the films will appear on www.aroundtheworldin80schools.com over the next few weeks ... follow my journey in the blog below.
I would like to say a big thank you to all the people listed below for making my visit to Uganda such a fantastic experience !
http://goldstarcommunities.webspring.org.uk/
Blog: Uganda East Africa
Butisye Primary School
Butisye School was the first school that I visited on my journey around Mbale Uganda East Africa. The school is situated in a village of approximately 400 people and is one of the schools supported by the Pont- Mbale project
http://www.pont-mbale.org.uk/
PONT stands for Partnerships Overseas Networking Trust. It was originally set up to link the town of Pontypridd with a town in Uganda called Mbale by linking professionals and organizations in Pontypridd with their counterparts in Mbale. The purpose of this is to build a multitude of direct personal relationships with the express purpose of increasing the capacity and governance of individuals and organizations in Mbale to accept and distribute aid to the poorest communities. At the same time we believe the Ugandans have much to teach us about family and community values along with a rich cultural heritage, so the partnership is very much a two way link.
I arrived at the school with the Pont party. The school had recently been fitted with a solar panel and the community had turned out for the inaugaral switching on of the lights by Dr Hilary of the University of Glamorgan . The village itself has no power so the new light will mean that the school and the community will be able to use the school building during the evenings and in periods of darkness. Butisye is participating in a number of projects with Pont and the University of Glamorgan under the guidance of Dr Hilary. These include the use of solar energy, carbon offsetting and weather recording. I look forward to seeing these projects progress.
Musiye PS
Musiye primary school is a large primary school. We were enthusiastically greeted by the children and staff. We arrived in a torrential downpour but sheltered with the children in the classrooms waiting for the storm to abate. The children showed me their lesson on "the interdependence of living things" and I couldn’t help but think how apt their lesson was.
Uganda has over 30 different dialects and languages and the children were keen to teach me Swahili and Ugandan, but I am not a natural linguist and whilst some of these students could speak up to 5 languages I struggled with my ageing brain. Nevertheless I took some time out to teach the children some Welsh and we had great fun in doing so.
Salem
Salem is a compound offering child and health care. It houses a hospital, orphanage, eco tourism accommodation, craft centre and school. Uganda has 7.5 million orphans and vulnerable children, I spent an amazing week at Salem with the staff and orphans that reside here. The complex offers assistance to children that reside in the orphanage and also does outreach work in neighbouring communities. Every baby and child that I saw had a sad story and there are far too many stories to tell here in this short film so I have focussed on just two. A young baby that was brought in to the orphanage weighing only 1.4KG when her mother sadly died during childbirth and a young lad who had been in the orphanage for four years, at the age of 16 he was about to start school for the first time and was very excited to be able to do so. I am meeting some amazing people on this journey to 80 schools around the world and there are some amazing people here in Uganda who are giving their all to try to improve the lives of others. Resources are very limited and in some instances non existent so if you would like to help in any way then please contact Pont- Mbale..... Get involved - as I saw from my time in Uganda every little act of kindness counts.
Namatala
Namatala is a large township on the outskirts of Mbale. The population is estimated to be in the region of 28,000 - 36,000 it is difficult to say for sure as the population changes and there are no definitive records. There is no electricity, running water or sanitation so disease is rampant here including malaria, cholera, aids and hiv. There are 12 schools scattered around the compound and a number of volunteer organisations work here. There are a large number of orphans here, national Statistics show that in Uganda over 4 million households have orphans and 46% of them are orphaned through aids and hiv, so there is a massive drive to educate schools and communities on the importance of combating aids and hiv. In addition to poverty, disease and death, child prostitution is also an issue here. I was shown around Namatala by volunteers from Jenga and Pont-Mbale. The people of Namatala were warm and welcoming, what little resources they had they were happy to share.
Mbale School for the Deaf
Mbale school for the deaf is a brand new school under construction. The school will officially be opened in August 2008 catering for students with hearing difficulties. The school will be furnished with a computer suite and internet access and are keen to link with schools in Wales and around the world. The school are great fans of Man Utd and are hoping to develop a school football academy with football for hearing and non hearing teams so Man Utd if you fancy a visit to Mbale ;0)?
The school already boasts a netball team and the girls are keen to hear from other netball teams around the world. So if you would like to partner this rapidly developing school then please contact Mbale School for the Deaf, Uganda and don't forget, this school will have internet access from august 2008. Welcome on board ! :o)
Nauyo PS
Nauyo Primary school is a large primary school with over 2100 students. Classroom space is limited and classrooms have between 98 and 142 children per 1 teacher. The school provides a range of curricula activities and boasts a music club that actively participates and wins in local and national music competitions.
Funding issues abound here and the school have limited resources and funds, unfortunately the schools water supply has been turned off because the school has insufficient funds to maintain their water supply, this means that many of the children that come to school do not have water to drink during the day which runs from 7.00am to 5pm fatigue and dehydration sets in and many become weary by lunchtime.
The school has a dedicated staff and the children wowed me with their traditional song and dance, so thank you to everyone at Nauyo primary school for such a warm welcome.
Namali SS
Namali Secondary school links with Hawthorn high school, it is a growing school, that is developing both a new science lab and a new hall where the students and staff hope to develop a stage and drama workshop . I have seen for myself how important drama and music is in the campaigns to educate about fighting disease like malaria aids and hiv. As you know I am an advocate of using multi media and the internet to link children around the world, so if you have a drama, or music department in a school, college, university or community that would like to work in partnership with these schools then please do get in touch with the school or via the Pont - Mbale partnership.
Bukuhoma SS
Bukuhoma was a hard school to find, we trekked through banana plantations and corn fields to get there as the road stopped and the mini bus could not get any further. We arrived to find the classes hard at work, but during our visit were surprised to see some very young children ill with malaria. The teachers told us that this area is prone to malaria because of the crop growing. There are approximately 250 students absent from school due to malaria every week. I was shocked to find out that in Africa a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds and that malaria is the biggest killer of children under 5 years of age in Uganda. Malaria can be combated with the use of mosquito nets and repellents, unfortunately there are not enough mosquito nets out here. Let's change that !!!!!!!!
Bubuto SS
Bubuto Secondary School is linked with Pontypridd High school. Both schools are actively involved in a number of projects including developing a school magazine, a weather recording project, the green mapping project and the " something for something love" campaign to try to combat aids and hiv. The students from Bubuto school watched the film from the students on my laptop as they yet do not have computer facilities and were keen to make this short film to share not only with their friends in Pontypridd but with all of you watching from around the world.
Bunghoko SS
This was my final visit to the schools in Mbale region and again I was overwhelmed by my welcome to the school. I had a guided tour to meet staff and students in this developing school. The school is participating in the weather recording and carbon offsetting program with the University of Glamorgan and are keen to make new partnerships with schools around the world.
I was presented with two gifts a carved Uganda plaque which I have sent to a sister school in Tonyrefail and a " Charline Tree" which I was asked to plant in the school grounds. The tree will provide shelter for the children and will allow lessons to be held outdoors. This was such an honour, at the moment the tree is just a young sapling establishing roots for growth, a bit like this project I hope, the new friendships that are developing from this journey to 80 schools around the world is too just a young sapling establishing roots, as the tree grows from strength to strength so will the links and partnerships being developed around the world. So thank you to everyone at Bunghoko the I look forward to returning to your school to see the tree and our new friendships grow.
If you would like to get in touch with any of the schools here or suppory any of the work supporting the following issues
- Stopping child prostitution -
- Supporting children in education -
- Wellies for midwifes -
- Providing Goats to widows and orphans -
- Combating Aids and HIV -
- Supporting Child Soldiers -
- Preventing Malaria -
- Campaigning against Poverty -
then please get in touch with Pont - Mbale:
Thank you to everyone that I met in Uganda, Life is a long road and I learned so much from my new found friendship with you. I look forward to returning to you in 2009.
Together we can make poverty history !
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