Our last few days here have been sadly frustrating for several reasons. We returned from Pallisa to discover that the cleared section of the site had been burned to remove all traces of vegetation. Although this left the site half cleared, but we had hoped more might have been done in our absence. We were also disconcerted not to find any of the villagers working on the site.
It turns out that there is a boundary dispute and work has completely halted. Nobody seemed to quite know what was going on, so we went to see the chairman of the village. He explained that the landowner is disputing the area of land Building Tomorrow has bought. We then went to the home of the landowner to try and discuss the problem. Unfortunately he wasn’t there, but his wife was lovely and gave us some fresh eggs!
We had to leave the matter with Building Tomorrow as boundary disputes can get complicated. An article in the newspaper the other day said they can turn nasty and end in machete fights (though we’re sure this one won’t!). However, in typical Ugandan style a meeting between the charity, the landowner and surveyor was pushed back, then back again, then back some more!
We did have the opportunity to talk to the villagers about the school and what it will mean to them. Currently, a lot of them cannot afford the school fees for the private school nearby, and are eager to educate their children and ready to build the new school! We also met some of the children who will be attending, who don’t currently go to school but are very excited about starting!
Unfortunately, we have also been hit by illness this week which hampered our efforts. Hayley, Joseph and Jimmy have all been struck down at some point, and Metrine had to miss a computer ‘lesson’ due to sickness. We went to the surgery in Kampala to visit the very good English doctor who has served out here for 30 years and knows all possible Uganda-inflicted ailments and bugs!
We have introduced Metrine to the internet and set up her first email account – we hope she will stay in touch with us. We have also organised a computer training course at John’s facilities in Pallisa for a number of staff from the Crane Paradise.
For our last day today we visited the completed Building Tomorrow Academy at Gita, north of Kampala. We were encouraged to see such a well built school, although there are some problems with rain ingress, noise transfer and weld durability! We donated exercise books and pencils to every student who were pleased and excited to have visitors!
We can’t help but be disappointed with the lack of progress on site during our time here – but we have certainly learnt a lot and feel the knowledge we have imparted and the contacts we have made will assist Building Tomorrow’s future work. We finalised the classroom design and site layout based on the construction capabilities we have experienced first hand, although current estimated costs are inexplicably more than a little over budget! Something to pick up when we’re back in the UK.
We’re sad to be leaving. We’ve made many friends along our journey and are already planning a return trip next year – hopefully to coincide with the opening of the school. In the meantime, two other members of our award-winning team, Farah Naz and Chris Soley, are hoping to come out to Nakaseeta and to visit some of Building Tomorrow’s other Ugandan projects in August of this year.
It turns out that there is a boundary dispute and work has completely halted. Nobody seemed to quite know what was going on, so we went to see the chairman of the village. He explained that the landowner is disputing the area of land Building Tomorrow has bought. We then went to the home of the landowner to try and discuss the problem. Unfortunately he wasn’t there, but his wife was lovely and gave us some fresh eggs!
We had to leave the matter with Building Tomorrow as boundary disputes can get complicated. An article in the newspaper the other day said they can turn nasty and end in machete fights (though we’re sure this one won’t!). However, in typical Ugandan style a meeting between the charity, the landowner and surveyor was pushed back, then back again, then back some more!
We did have the opportunity to talk to the villagers about the school and what it will mean to them. Currently, a lot of them cannot afford the school fees for the private school nearby, and are eager to educate their children and ready to build the new school! We also met some of the children who will be attending, who don’t currently go to school but are very excited about starting!Unfortunately, we have also been hit by illness this week which hampered our efforts. Hayley, Joseph and Jimmy have all been struck down at some point, and Metrine had to miss a computer ‘lesson’ due to sickness. We went to the surgery in Kampala to visit the very good English doctor who has served out here for 30 years and knows all possible Uganda-inflicted ailments and bugs!
We have introduced Metrine to the internet and set up her first email account – we hope she will stay in touch with us. We have also organised a computer training course at John’s facilities in Pallisa for a number of staff from the Crane Paradise.
For our last day today we visited the completed Building Tomorrow Academy at Gita, north of Kampala. We were encouraged to see such a well built school, although there are some problems with rain ingress, noise transfer and weld durability! We donated exercise books and pencils to every student who were pleased and excited to have visitors!
We can’t help but be disappointed with the lack of progress on site during our time here – but we have certainly learnt a lot and feel the knowledge we have imparted and the contacts we have made will assist Building Tomorrow’s future work. We finalised the classroom design and site layout based on the construction capabilities we have experienced first hand, although current estimated costs are inexplicably more than a little over budget! Something to pick up when we’re back in the UK.
We’re sad to be leaving. We’ve made many friends along our journey and are already planning a return trip next year – hopefully to coincide with the opening of the school. In the meantime, two other members of our award-winning team, Farah Naz and Chris Soley, are hoping to come out to Nakaseeta and to visit some of Building Tomorrow’s other Ugandan projects in August of this year.
Hayley Maxwell and Jessica Robinson
Hayley and Jessica work for Gifford and are part of a four strong team currently in Uganda. Hayley is an ICE member and won an ICE Quest Award to assist with her trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment