On Thursday the 3rd October our forth
one village at a Time project at Makoka primary school held the opening
ceremony for the buildings that HYT constructed thanks to fundraising from
Lower School, Batten and Kipling houses.
We arrived at Makoka along a pothole-ridden
track well before the ceremony was due to start. We exited the car and were
soon being given a guided tour from a very proud new resident of the Lower
School teacher’s accommodation block. In total, two teacher’s accommodations
had been constructed as well as seven classroom blocks that have been renovated.
All the school’s tables and chairs had been
moved to the centre of the school so that the ceremony could take place. We
were then ushered to our seats after being greeted by many of the staff. The
guest of honour was the District Chairman who was also accompanied by other
local government officials.
Members of the School performing a Traditional Dance
After a fashion the ceremony began, there was a
huge list of speakers all celebrating the generosity and kindness of HYT and
thanking us for providing the facilities. I could really tell that they meant
all of the kind words said. The speeches were regularly interrupted with
outbursts of clapping and cheering from the local community whom
The children of Makoka Primary School had
written a poem about HYT and the impact that the changes in the school would be
having on their lives. The children also performed a number of traditional
dances during the interludes between speeches, Henry and I had been given a
crash course in these dances whilst staying at our new one village project.
Around three-quarters of the way through the
ceremony, the congregation moved to the two new teacher’s accommodation blocks
and proceeded with the cutting of the tape to formally open the buildings. The Kipling-Batten
block was opened by HYT’s Treasurer Sally Flanagan and the Lower School Block
by HYT’s Country Manager Wyndham. This was not however the culmination of the
ceremony as we had expected!
Wyndham Opening the Lower School Block
The ceremony continued with further speeches
from the District education officer and LC 5 both of whom spoke of their
respect for the work HYT is doing in the area and desire to partner the government
projects with HYT’s in the future. Following this HYT was able to introduce the
trainees to the collected digintaries and were able to show our gratitude for
all the work and assistance the local community had given us throughout the
duration of the project. In turn the school gave HYT a number of gifts including
3 live chickens given to a very surprised Sally.
A Small token of HYT's Appreciation
After four hours of speeches, performing and
receiving of gifts the ceremony finally ended. The vast majority of the
ceremony was conducted in Lugandan (the language local to the Busoga region)
which went straight over our heads however, it was very clear that, despite not
understanding most of what had been said, there was great appreciation from the
community for the work done by HYT.
The District Education Officer Takes his turn addressing the crowd
The school kindly laid on lunch for all those
who had attended the ceremony, we were able to sample some of the local food
which until now we had managed to avoid! I was amazed how much I enjoyed much
of the food, the Matoke (Savory banana) and G-Nut sauce (ground peanuts) were
particular favourites of mine.
Robinah HM 1v4 and Samuel HM 1v5 at the ceremony
I found the day fun but a bit long having taken four hours of talking.
Similar to Haileybury’s speech day even with the long drawn out speeches and lengthy
clapping. However it was very humbling to witness as it was so very obvious that
HYT had made a great difference to the school.