Uganda Revisited

As we travelled from Kampala to Jinja a few days later, we were able to meet up with another ex-pupil, Elizabeth, at the children’s nursery, Active Angel, where she now works. The clue was in the name; 3 classes of happy Ugandan children as adorable as only 4-6 year olds can be in their uniforms of baggy green shorts and bright yellow T-shirts!! They were full of fun and energy, but from their work books and the teacher’s lesson plans, they were making real progress with reading and writing English.

Once in Jinja, we met up with Sam (HYT General Manager) and the others at the HYT house/office and were straight out on the job with him: brick presses needed moving between sites. You have to experience the roads here to appreciate why the 4x4 pick up is essential; roads are dirt tracks, deeply rutted by the rain. As we bumped along we passed small hamlets of mud huts with straw roofs, corrugated shacks and occasional brick single storey homes, none with running water and rarely with electricity.

School was out by the time we arrived, but many pupils were playing outside, football with a ragged ball or chattering, eyeing us curiously. It was muddy, the children poorly dressed, some in uniform but happy and healthy with infectious grins and dazzlingly white teeth. The Headmaster showed us proudly round the 5 bare classrooms equipped with only benches and blackboards. He showed us their work books piled up in his office for marking and the standard seemed high and the writing neat, but there were few textbooks. One of the blackboards was full of relevant learning about the causes of diseases, headed by of course, mosquitoes! Free schooling is now available to all under 12s although may still have to travel 10’s of kilometers to reach one. A midday meal is prepared albeit cooked on an open fire partly screened by 3 wooden panels. No wonder burns were such a problem for patients at Mulago Hospital. HYT are moving the water storage tank closer to this cooking area.

This year's graduates proudly presenting their first piece of ISSB work without HYT's supervision.

The ISSB press was loaded and we set off through miles and miles of sugar cane plantation to the next HYT project site. Sugar is one of Uganda’s main exports, mainly to Kenya and seems well organized with camps for workers and families. But we were told it’s hard and sooty work as the canes are burnt to help cutting.

As we drove past more and more scattered villages, there was an evening bustle of cooking the evening meal outside and trading of modest provisions, tomatoes, cabbage, apples. Water is carried by hand and head from the well and washing is in communal areas complete with pit latrines. A basic, simple and tough life by anyone’s standards but with curious trappings of Western life, particularly the need to own a mobile phone!

The second school was a senior school and so was much bigger with 3 long, low buildings plus separate space for the teachers. The work done here by HYT was impressive and included a brick kitchen with metal roof, energy saving stoves and a chimney plus 2 large water storage tanks to collect rainwater running off the roof.

The nearby Nursery building had also been completely built by HYT, an L-shaped building smartly rendered and painted yellow. The female Head walked over to talk to us followed by another gaggle of giggling, shy tots barely dressed in rags but full of life and fun…. Heartbreaking!

as HYT should be rightly proud of its success not only in delivering vital projects in remote locations but in creating sustainable employment for skilled people. The heads of schools were all full of praise and thanks for the work done and the consequent improvement in facilities. Education is the only hope for the children of Uganda, as testified by the young people we met from Lord’s Mead School and elsewhere, and HYT is making a demonstrable and very practical contribution.