Joseph said ‘We had so much stuff delivered today! The footwear arrived, the school T-shirts and the maize and gum boots for our community farming project. The 3H Christmas 2021 appeal has allowed us to expand our community farming project. We gave out maize seeds today. The farmers are really pleased that we have managed to source the 614 seeds, which do well in the soil of Bududa. We are waiting for the bagagawale bean seeds to arrive on Friday now’
Our trustee, Terri is the main contact with Joseph and she reported, ‘A higher than anticipated number of pupils have returned to school. Bunyanga Bright Primary has 160+ pupils which is more than pre-Covid. The children are eager to learn and improve their prospects for the future. There isn’t enough classroom furniture for all the pupils so some of the younger classes are learning outside – this won’t be possible in bad weather but it’s the only option at the moment. Thankfully the food which has been grown at the school is supplementing meals.
Unfortunately, a small number of the children have returned to school with stories of neglect and mistreatment at home during the lockdown. Namayili has a community committee which oversees the running of the school and other projects, their Community Officer is visiting these homes to see how the situation and family relationships can be improved.’
A further update from Terri added, ’Joseph invited Matanda Vicent (senior education officer) to visit the school. The last time he visited was when we distributed the blankets at Xmas.He was overwhelmed at how much the school has changed visually. He was impressed with the improved second classroom block. He thanked 3H for their help changing the community academically and with the agricultural project that will help and empower the community to be self-sustainable. He has promised to work with us and to support the school to be coded into government programs, by helping us register to receive government support for materials, 2 qualified teachers and a head teacher. He said that we need to begin this process soon and follow the new government curriculum. Apparently we should expect and inspection soon to check that we are able to run the school to the government standards.’
Terri added that the children have now harvested some of the sweet potatoes they had been growing – with not a bare foot in sight!
