OH Harry Hughes-D'Aeth (E06) Visit to HYTUganda

My friend, Ed, and I did not quite know what to expect before coming to Uganda and specifically Jinja, however having said this Uganda has surpassed all expectations we could possibly have had.
The past month has mainly consisted of visiting the different sites and checking on how the guys are getting on, its great to see the work that HYT does first hand and witness the pleasure that the teams take from their work. Pointed in the right direction by 'Mr Phillip', 'Mr Johnny' and 'Mr Freddo' all the different sites have made outstanding progress since we have been here.


The most recent experience we have had was interviewing the prospective new team for the next 1 Village at a time. This process involved a fairly large interview panel, with Phillip and Freddo taking the lead and helping with the language barrier. From here the prospective employees were divided into teams and were given 3kg worth of old newspapers each, with which they had to build a freestanding tower as high as they could get it, not an easy task, especially with no sellotape one group managed to build a tower that measured 6'3''! which is the highest that has been seen by anyone at HYT. However the task gives great indicators of individuals ability to work in a team and also allowed us to spot any leaders from the group. At the end of the day the group was whittled down to 10 individuals who will be working from October on the new site at St Andrews Senior School in the Kamuli district. 

Jinja in itself is very different to what I had imagined, a quiet and slightly old fashioned city with so many opportunities from a civilised round of golf to white water rafting on the Nile or even bungee jumping. There are a considerable amount of other charities out here also, who form a significant community in Jinja and have a very welcoming and open environment. 

Having visited recently finished sites such as Makoka, about 2 hours outside of Jinja, it's slightly bizarre to see plaques with many of the different houses at Haileybury on, above the classrooms or kitchens of very rural and simple Ugandan schools, a stark contrast to the similar plaques outside of the houses of the same name in Hertfordshire. Its great to see all the fruits of the labour that Haileybury pupils have put in over the years and it is an excellent opportunity to see the effect that Haileybury pupils have had on Uganda. At school all the school charity events seemed slightly removed from leafy Hertfordshire, so it's very nice to witness the good that Haileybury pupils and staff have had out here. All the bike rides, sponsored walks and chapel collections seem much more relevant and telling here.