April 2020 Newsletter - Classroom Building
A warm hello to our beloved supporters - we apologise to subscribers old and new for the lack of updates in 2020 - as always we have been super busy with the running of programmes, but with the current situation we have now been able to take stock and fill you in on everything that’s been achieved so far.
This year so far has been construction focused for TUSP, with the building of two brand new classrooms for Bumakenya Primary School!
Currently, the school has four classrooms shared between seven classes, meaning two year groups share the same classroom. This can be noisy, confusing and squashed for the learners and ultimately does not give them a quality foundation for success.
The construction hasn’t been easy. Unusual weather conditions hit the region in early January, washing away a bridge used to access the school, meaning vehicles were unable to deliver materials needed. A total of four delivery trucks got stuck en route within the first few weeks! The construction team feared that the rainy season had arrived early and the project would be impossible to finish, but thankfully the weather eased off and here we are just two weeks away from full completion.
We had proposed a grand opening ceremony, extending an invitation to district education officials, sub county leaders and the community to celebrate the new classrooms, whilst also doubling as an opportunity to lobby the district and sub county for further support! We were also working in partnership with the local government to run a campaign emphasising the importance of regular school attendance, with the aim of creating stronger engagement with the community. Alas, due to the Corona Virus outbreak, Uganda has closed all schools and public gatherings for the time being, so although our construction work continues (following government directives!), we will resume the grand opening ceremony when safe and appropriate.
We have also awarded a contract to a local carpenter to fabricate the school 36 new desks! This will give us the ideal number of desks per student, which has a big impact in these crucial formative years in the development of early reading and writing skills.
Finally, the icing on the cake is the revamp of the school’s water system, piping fresh, clean drinking water from a local spring down to the school, whilst also leaving some at source for the community. Confusion with the land ownership and children being children meant that the source had become damaged over time, but we have carried out the necessary repairs and sensitised the community further on the importance of working together to maintain this vital project.
So although these are testing and uncertain times for everyone around the world, we are hopeful and positive Bumakenya Primary School will be reopened in no time, and we look forward to the smiles that will greet the new classrooms, desks and safe drinking water!
We hope you all are staying safe, healthy and sane at this time. Despite all the hardship many are enduring, one silver lining that’s been really noticeable has been the huge upturn in positivity, resourcefulness, and sense of community on display throughout the world, and we hope that continues thriving long after this bloody virus does!
Love to all,
The TUSP Team