Visit to Uganda, January 2009

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The Board of our Society sent me to Uganda in January to assess the projects realised in 2008. Important meetings concerning the development of the Primary School were also scheduled. I was accompanied by Peter Preisig, chairman of Preisig Ltd., in Zurich, a firm specialising in sanitation and roofing. Our new sanitation project was financed by this firm, as part of their seventy-five years Preisig AG jubilee. The UNO also declared this year to be „The Year of Sanitation „. The aim is to provide clean drinking water for third world countries.

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Thanks to the generous support of our donors we were able to realise the following projects:

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• eight toilets, eight showers and a 12,000 litre-water tank were installed.

• a small sewage works was built, and  in addition water was supplied to the school kitchen and also made available to the surrounding village.

• Because the rainy season was delayed the crops on our farmland are growing very slowly. Nevertheless, we expect to harvest cassava at the end of August.

• our newly acquired banana field will also help to supply the needs of the school.

• a high wall cum fence has been erected to protect the orphans living on school grounds. There is a high procentage of rape in Africa, and the Ugandan State is taking measures to deal with this crime. There is also the danger of theft.

• the school has been supplied with electricity.

• we have begun to enlarge one of the dormitories.

• we have been able to cover all the running costs for 2008.
   

We provide for five hundred people, including children, teachers and other employees. The whole concern, including food, salaries, supervision and medicines (151 children are HIV positive and receive retro viral treatment) costs us 4500 Swiss francs a month. Building projects, tools, desks etc. come in addition. At the moment we have one child with elephantiasis, one has a tumour, a third has a skin disease (goitre). We are looking for sponsors willing to pay the operation and hospital costs for these patients.

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We are grateful to our donors for their continued support. We can truly say that every franc is well invested.

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Highlights

On the way back to Kampala we drive through many villages, both big and small. Daily life takes place outside in East Africa. Furniture, metal gates, bedsteads, tables and chairs -everything can be found on sale at the roadside, or on the grassy patches in front of the houses. On the way from Namaliri, where our school is, to Mukono I notice many coffins lined up for sale. They range from simple plank coffins to a luxury model with a viewing panel. The driver explains that many people die of Aids in that area.

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We admire our  headmaster Murenzi and his team of teachers. They are committed to caring for their pupils and spend much time with them, both during and after school. It is essential that these children have a basic education,  learn a trade or, if possible, go on to further education. There is no other way for them, especially as orphans, to become integrated into society. Education protects them from illegal child employment and prostitution.

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Our commitment to the children, and the fact that we have provided water, also for the surrounding population, is certainly the reason why the villagers identify with the work in the Primary School.

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Transparency

We are always pleased when donors can accompany us on our visits to Uganda. So far eight of them have taken advantage of this possibility. They were all deeply impressed by their visit, and were able to see with their own eyes how their contributions had been invested to provide practical help.