HYT Director
(and Haileybury teacher!) Russell Matcham and Country Manager, Wyndham
Hughes-D’Aeth (OH) recently made a welcome return to the sites of three HYT
projects supported by Lower School parents and pupils since 2011. These
projects were all part of HYT’s ‘One Village at a Time’ programme of training
and sustainable development in rural Uganda.
Children at Makoka Primary School
Kisigo
kitchen, the Lower School’s first HYT project, provides hot midday meals for
hundreds of pupils, many of whom would not otherwise eat at lunchtime. Kisigo
is a school surrounded by sugar cane plantations: the school’s parents grow
sugar and sell it to the estate. The old kitchen was little more than a wooden
shed. The fuel-saving stoves in the new kitchen means that much less firewood
is needed for cooking, school meals are much cheaper and more children can
afford them. It’s win-win for everyone!
WHD and RLM at Kisigo Kitchen
The second
Lower School supported project was at Namaganda, HYT’s ‘One Village 3’. Here
the Lower School helped with the construction of a classroom block, built by
HYT trainees from the village. This block, shown here with its happy occupants,
replaced a dangerous, crumbling building. No wonder the children are smiling!
Some of the Pupils at Namagada with RLM and WHD
The most
recent project was to build units of teachers’ accommodation at HYT’s latest
One Village, Makoka. Here, with HYT trainees again to the fore, the Trust
constructed housing for three teachers, meaning they no longer have to walk
long distances to work in the morning. School starts on time, with fresh and newly-motivated
teachers at the front of the class!
The New Lower-School Teachers' Housing Unit at Makoka
‘It was
terrific to see the Lower School supported buildings in good condition, well
used and making such a difference to the lives and learning of entire
communities,’ said Russell Matcham. ‘The Lower School can be proud of their
support for HYT in Uganda.’