A NEW PROJECT IN ENTEBBE ???

On the banks of beautiful Lake Victoria there are many poor fishing villages. In one such village we found the Lakeside Preparatory School. Like hundreds of other schools we have seen here it has many more needs than we could possibly meet. What we saw there are scenes that are repeated all over Uganda, every day. The conditions at this school are worse than some; better than others.


We are going to try to put a rain water catchment system on the school but will have to slope the roof to one side first.


There are 458 children in the school and 3 teachers. This classroom holds 80 children and the firewood supply for cooking.


Elaine always spends time letting the kids practice their counting in English.


Art gets to just play around with the kids during lunch time.


For lunch, each child has to bring a cup of maize flour from home so porridge can be made.


Those who don’t have flour don’t get porridge and have to find sugar cane or a mango to eat, from the nearby forest.


One of the big needs here with growing children is shoes. Most of the children are bare footed all of the time. This is a school where many cannot afford the uniforms. We are trying to get permission to seal dirt floors with a thin plaster coating to prevent diseases and parasites.


Some of our good friends from the U.S. have sent children’s books, which are received with joy at the schools. Books of any kind are a novelty in schools here. Most of the teaching is done by repeating back, in unison, what the teacher has said. They lack any writing materials.


In spite of circumstances as we see them, the children are always happy and friendly and like to lead us around by the hands.


For the 458 children there are 2 pit latrines and 2 open air urinals. These pose a serious health hazard and we are going to try to get approval to build new concrete latrines at this school.


The school’s “kitchen” also needs some work. We have plans for an adobe brick stove which we can build that uses very little wood and vents the smoke outside.


As we left, we were struck by the contrast of the forest just beside the school. There is much to be done here…

LATEST CRISIS IN UGANDA...

The following article appeared in yesterday's newspapers. Soroti and Amuria are where we took tools and seeds for planting in May. Unfortunately, it has not rained there since then. We are meeting with Cabinet Ministers tomorrow to see what we can do. The Emergency container we had ordered for the refugee camp just arrived here Friday but contains no food items. We will have to see what tomorrow brings...

Two million people at risk of starvation in Uganda

THE NEW VISION | BUKEDDE | ORUMURI | RUPINY | ETOP | SUNDAY VISION | BUKEDDE KU SSANDE

Saturday, 11th July, 2009

BY HERBERT SSEMPOGO


OVER two million people in North, Eastern and West Nile are at risk of starvation, the Uganda Red Cross has announced.

The agency yesterday stated that Kitgum, Katakwi, Bukedea, Kumi, Soroti, Amuria, Koboko, Adjumani, Nebbi, Arua and parts of Kibaale are the worst hit areas.

Michael Nataka, the Uganda Red Cross secretary general, yesterday attributed the famine to prolonged draught, out of season planting, the ripple effect of the 2007 floods that ravaged Eastern Uganda and changes in weather patterns. The statement follows an evaluation tour of the affected areas.

“In some areas where farmers planted early, the crops were thriving. But you find in the same village crops are withering in other gardens because people planted late,” Nataka stated.

“The region has never recovered from the flooding, which affected the cycle of storing seeds. There is also lack of adequate information about the weather. People are relying on seasons that have since changed.”

Children, elderly, sick and the children-headed households are the worst hit individuals, according to Nataka.

The Red Cross, however, noted that all of the deaths recorded in the affected areas were not as a direct result of hunger. For example, in Adwari, Lira district six people who succumbed to HIV/AIDS and another four who died of old age had been attributed to hunger.

Accordingly, the agency has launched an emergency appeal for sh5.6bn to feed 50,000 people. The Red Cross plans to raise 3030 metric tons of food to provide relief in the hunger-stricken areas. Well-wishers may deposit monies on Standard Chartered Bank account number 0108213406906 while others may contribute food in kind.

URCS, he added, had provided its store in Ntinda, a city suburb where the donations in kind would be stored before dispatch. Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Bildard Baguma said that they would first focus on the worst hit areas before rolling out to other areas.

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