A great start!
So I made it back to Uganda in one piece & I have to say it is nice to be back in the warm, although I have found myself complaining that I am now too hot!! Typical British person…….never happy!! But nice to be back & to be able to get on with things again!
Before I left the school for the trip to the UK I made plans with Rose for what we needed to do to the school to improve it the best we can whilst we frantically save for our new school. Its tough because we don’t want to spend any money really on this temporary school, but there were some conditions there that were just not acceptable & whilst it will take a long time to raise this money I needed to at least try & make the current conditions manageable. So we discussed laying some concrete & some building works. I went down to the school immediately on my return to see the work in full swing! School term starts 1st Feb so it was important that we got this underway as soon as possible so that it would not interfer with learning time! I was thrilled to see the work! The teachers have been coming into the school since mid Jan preparing each day for the year ahead! We now have 8 teachers sponsored which is just fantastic! We have 8 teachers remaining without a sponsor and so I hope with all my heart that I can find sponsors for them as soon as possible. This is not just for the teachers benefit but also because the more teachers we get sponsored the more food we can buy for the children.
I have made a committment to make sure that all the children that stay at the school all day MUST have a lunch meal, it has previously only been the upper 4 years. This will take effect from 1st Feb & so Rose & I have been investigating the most cost effective way of buying more maize & beans. It looks like we may have found a supplier in one of the villages & we have hopefully secured some storage near the school so we can buy a terms worth of food in one go! We are still going through the figures so watch this space!!
But none of this could of happened without our sponsors!! They have freed up money that the school was struggling to find to pay the teachers. This meant there was very little left for food. If I can get all the teachers sponsored then that challenge is not longer theirs, it is mine & they can concentrate on teaching & giving the children one good meal a day! It costs approx $15 to feed one child at the school for the whole school year! Which is NOTHING, yet a huge challenge for schools just like Ndeeba.
The atmosphere at the school really has changed the last few months, there is hope in the air & the teachers are so much more up beat! It is like they really believe they have a future now, & I just hope that 2010 can be a year of peace & growth for Ndeeba, unlike the huge hurdles that were thrown at us in 2009. Fingers crossed xx