February 2018 – Gerry's Uganda Projects

Dear friends, I mentioned in my last post that I would make enquiries about providing facilities for hand washing at the school and as soon as I spoke to my wonderful friend Innocent about it, no sooner did I get the information. And, within a week of asking he had bought the materials, constructed, delivered and installed three sets of handwash facilities, one at each latrine block and one in the kitchen area. Everyone was so pleased with these gifts especially the children who may not have even seen or used a tap before! As you see by the photos and the two video they were very excited! Innocent was taking the video and I noted that he instructed them to turn off the tap between use. After all they will have to collect the water from the borehole each day! So a good job has been done by all, especially Trust Greenbelt who provided 80% of the cost and Innocent Kayondo who justly deserves the title of Project Manager – I couldn’t do without his dedication, hard work and honesty! Particularly honesty as it is not always easy to find in Uganda! Innocent doesn’t see this website but I have thanked him on WhatsApp and will be thanking him in person when I return to Uganda in June. ENJOY THE VIDEOS!

Containers bought, labelled and taps added.

The boys salute their friends in the UK for the gift of the new handwash facility!

The girls are excited to be able to wash their hands

The cook who provides a meal for every child every day,can now keep her hands clean in the schools outdoor kitchen

From this….

To this…….

What a difference! The children and teachers at Brain Trust Primary and Secondary School had a lovely surprise when they returned to school at the beginning of their new school year at the start of this month, February. They not only have new latrines but also their school hall which doubles as a community church has a strong new roof supported by concrete posts, a big improvement from the bits of sacking attached to unstable tree ‘poles’! I want to thank Trust Greenbelt, the charitable giving side of the music festival held at Boughton House each August Bank Holiday weekend, once again for financing both the latrines and the hall roof. Both have added a lot of relief and pleasure for all members of the school. I look forward to sitting in comfort while teaching under the new hall roof instead of chasing the shade or shelter around as I had to do during my last visit in October 2017! These simple improvements also better the status of the school within the area and encourage teachers to come to work there. http://www.greenbelt.org.uk Thanks must also go to my young friend Innocent Kayondo who has organise all the work and seen it through to its conclusion. Innocent is now looking at the cost of simple hand washing facilities which are so important.

The recent changes at Brian Trust in photos x 2. Firstly the latrines, then the hall roof: Please click on first photo of each set to move through slideshow and to see captions.

341 children and six teachers use these latrines!

School latrines to be rebuilt

Men at work

Boys Latrines completed!

Pit for the new latrines for the girls

Slab for new latrines drying in the sun

Doors arriving at Girls latrine block!

The boys outside the renovated BOYS latirne block

The girls outside the brand new GIRLS latrine block. The girls had never had a toilet before!

The hall/church roof as it was in October

Sat in the shade reading to the younger classes

Getting the whole school in the shade or under cover when it rained was impossible

The sun was never far away! Here I was being given gifts of oranges!

The builders measure up and work out where the new poles should go. Note the bent poles cut from trees often having to be replaced because the termites ate through them!