First of all I would like to say a big thank you to those of you who supported a sponsored walk that I did in the Yorkshire Dales in August. This was to raise money for a small charity that my mother, Mary Wood, set up about 5 years ago, to help provide scholarships at, and enable the development of, a girls' secondary school in a rural area of S W Uganda.

In September this year I was fortunate to be able to pay a return visit to this area. My first trip, in 1995, was to visit my younger brother, Peter, who was a doctor with a Christian organization, called Mid Africa Ministry, at Kisiizi Hospital. He had gone there with his wife, Gill, and their two young daughters. At the end of their 7 year tour they had four daughters! It was his involvement with Uganda at this time that inspired my parents to start helping and supporting various individuals who were struggling to give their children an education.

Eventually this involvement grew, and in 2002 my mother was approached by Bishop John Ntegyereize, the Bishop of Kinkiizi, to become one of his commissaries. He then asked her if she could help with his vision to empower the ‘girl-child’ through education and training beyond the primary level. The government provides a basic primary education for all but when it comes to secondary education parents or guardians will often choose to pay for educating boys rather than girls. Some girls are even forced into early marriages in order to get dowries to pay for their brother’s education. Bishop John had earmarked a very poor girls' secondary school at Nyakabungo to start this, and 5 years ago my mother was the first to start raising money to help provide scholarships at this school. Her criteria was that they should be for girls from the most needy and impoverished families rather than as a reward for academic achievement.

It was this school that was the focus of my trip last month. Kath Smith and myself, (both trustees of my mother’s small charity), flew to Entebbe, arriving late at night. We were met, eventually, by our trusted driver Moses. After a rather restless and noisy night at a Christian guest house, (there were Friday night prayers in the local area that only stopped at about 6am!), we changed some money, stocked up on food from a surprisingly well stocked supermarket (well, this was the capital city!) and then set off on the long drive from Kampala to Kinkiizi. Thankfully Moses was used to the 8 hour drive on the rather pot-holed and often un-tarmacked or ‘marram’ roads. The luscious undulating hills that give Uganda its well deserved title of the ‘Pearl of Africa’ helped to keep our minds off what could have been a rather tedious drive. We stopped occasionally, once to buy sweet pineapples from the side of the road (12 pence each!) and delicious tiny bananas. We broke our journey in Mbarara, where we had lunch provided by Lillian, the sister in law of Reverend Kenneth, who was also making the journey from Kampala to Kinkiizi. Lillian had recently been widowed and left to care for three young children so it was a good opportunity for Kenneth to check and see how she was coping. It also meant that he could take advantage of our tank full of diesel, in a country where the price of fuel is very high! The traveling over the next 12 days also made us realize why vehicles do not last very long in this country! We eventually arrived at Kinkiizi, rather tired and ready for sleep. However we were given a wonderful welcome and immediately were expected to go to the Bishop’s guest house and enjoy some food and company. Our mosquito-netted beds were a great relief when we were eventually allowed to climb into them, although the foam mattresses had a certain ‘memory’ foam-ness about them that did not quite match our bodies!

As I have mentioned before the main purpose of our trip was to visit NGSS to see how it had progressed since Kath’s earlier visit in 2002. The school now has 245 students, 41 of whom benefit from the Bishop’s diocesan scholarship program.
Our small charity now sponsors 11girls (having added one girl this term). There is now a generator which provides light for the students so that they can study at night, assuming that there is enough money for fuel. There is a water tap where the girls can go and collect water for washing. The Government of Uganda has recently provided a new laboratory block, and the school is now able to prepare students for A-levels.

Our visit highlighted a number of factors. There appears to be the desire to give the school a facelift, although the office block, which includes offices of the headmaster, the bursar, and the secretary, has not been painted for years, and there are no shelves or storage facilities at all. The Gestetner duplicator which we provided 5 years ago is no longer working as the belt has broken and spare parts are difficult to come by; and the typewriter could easily be an exhibit in a UK museum! Although the school now has a wonderful science laboratory and employs a government funded lab technician, there is a distinct lack of a science teacher. This was made even more obvious when we had the chance to meet our 11 girls and talk to them about their school reports- it was always their science marks that let them down.

The school does have other challenges to face. It is a boarding school in a remote rural area. The increasing number of students has put pressure on the already overcrowded dormitories. Some students have had to drop out because of the low income of their parents. There is no school sick bay. Staff accommodation is still inadequate. There is no school transport. There is no computer or ICT for proper management of the school’s data.

The staff salaries are very low, especially those employed on a local, part-time basis. Despite all this the girls do seem happy and cheerful, and our special girls were only too happy to chat with us and to tell us more about themselves. On our second visit, the day before we left, we were privileged to enjoy their singing and dancing, and to see the joy and happiness on their faces. They were well aware that they have all been given a wonderful opportunity- for an education to make a difference in their own lives, and to be a part of the changing face of Uganda’s future.

Both Kath and I have taken up some of the challenges that we met at the school. We have insisted that the offices be painted and shelves put up so that the school at least looks as if it means business. Once this has been completed, a computer and printer that our charity has bought will be installed, and proper training will be given to the office staff.

The headmaster had thought that he would be able to cope with the pressure on dormitory spaces by installing triple-decker bunk beds in already airless, low ceiling rooms. Kath and I were both appalled at this idea. However, before I left Kinkiizi, I made a personal commitment to provide a new dormitory block, which will be completed by the start of the new school year next February. If I manage to raise more than the 7000 pounds needed I would also like to add solar panels on the roof, so that the girls can have a good light supply at night, and a small shower block. Kath has committed to buying the 30 double bunk beds that will go into the 2-roomed dormitory. We are both stepping out in faith, trusting that the money will come in.

Our two week stay in Uganda was a busy one. As well as going twice to Nyakabungo GSS, we also revisited Kisiizi hospital, other schools in the area, a nursery school which my mother also supports, and we also experienced the largest and longest confirmation service that we have ever been to- 350 candidates and a service lasting 6 ¾ hours!
All in all the whole experience was amazing and we felt so privileged to be there. We also felt a great sense of relief, to have survived the many, many hours of traveling on rather treacherous, un made-up roads, full of pot holes and pit falls. However, it did wonders for my normally painful back!

Many thanks again for the support that we have received. If anyone would like to know anymore, or if you have any interesting ideas for further fund-raising, please contact Clare Ramsden on 0097317691182, at clramsden@aol.com or through the parish office.