Rahab project & Nakulabye School, Kampala

Friday 25th March 2011

A short drive for us diehards - only 14km! - took us out of Kampala on the Guyaza Road to visit Rahab, a project rescuing and rehabilitating young girls living in the poor slum areas of the city and involved in prostitution. It was good to meet up with Annette Kiribiri again (see photo), she is married to Bernard and travelled to Buvuma island with us last year to visit the school.

Annette and a group of women wanted to help the vulnerable girls and began to enter the slum areas to visit and make contact with them in 2005. In 2006 they rented a house and began to invite girls they'd got to know to come and live in a safe environment where they would be cared for by a "mother" and receive counselling and the opportunity to go back to school. Annette makes contact with their families so that the girls can be re-settled wherever possible. There are now 30 girls living in a rented home located in a quiet neighbourhood outside the city; the youngest is only ten years old.

Annette told us of her heart-rending experiences in the slums trying to be-friend the girls and build their trust. Sadly, things don't always end happily as the girls are earning well from the trade and some are tempted to return to their old life. During our visit we spent some time with some of the girls - two of whom recently finished secondary school and hope to go on to university, fees permitting. They proudly showed us some crafts they were making to sell - paper bags, baskets and attractive paper jewellery - and it turned into a bit of a buying session!

Afterwards Annette took us to see the chicken sheds - another way the project is trying to acheive some sustainability. Despite this we learned that Rahab has a constant shortfall in funding. The whole visit was a bit of an emotional roller coaster for us all, but we also realised that this would not halt Annette's incredible determination and vision to help change the lives of as many vulnerable young girls as possible.

We drove back into the city to make a final stop-off for this trip - at Nakulabye Junior School. When we visited last year a highlight was a football match featuring Rianna's Fund versus the Nakjus boys. However, the weather this morning was stifflingly hot and I didn't detect too much disappointment when we saw a tag rugby match in full swing as we arrived! The mixed boy/girl team were practicing for a 'friendly' on Monday against another school.

We met with Moses the Headmaster for a catch-up chat in his office and afterwards asked to say hello to the children Rianna's Fund sponsors at the school, who appeared content and are reportedly progressing well. It was a short, but relaxed visit and a timely reminder at the end of our trip of how projects like Nakulabye can bring hope and help to transform the lives of children living in poverty.

Postscript: 4 trustees, 1 bus, 2,200kilometres, 11 projects, 9 days.....it's been great

Riannas Fund

Buvuma Island school

Thursday 24th March 2011

The ACET team picked us up early on Thursday morning to make the hour and half drive to the lake shore where we met up with Bernard Kiribiri who began the Buvuma school with his wife, Annette. We learned our lesson from last year's trip in the open boat, and whilst watching the fishermen mend their nets, we slapped on suncream by the bucket-load!

Being carried out to the boat went without a hitch, and an hour or so later just after 11am we landed on Buvuma and were making the short walk through the bush to the murram road leading to the school. Lessons were still going on as we arrived, so the Headmaster, John Bosco, and his deputy, Robert, accompanied us into each class to exchange greetings with the children. They certainly seemed very excited to see us and also fell about laughing at the novelty of being greeted in luganda by a muzungu when Tanya tried out her smattering of the language!

As we walked around it was great to see the work going on on the new classroom block being supported by Rianna's Fund. As Jon and Steve inspected the building site, JK was very taken by a large impressive-looking building a short distance away....before realising it was the recently completed new girl's dormitory! Bernard invited us inside where around 60 of the parents had gathered for a formal welcome. The school is growing - there are 280 children attending this year. Bernard explained that the dorm will allow more girls to attend from the outlying islands. It is impressive on the inside, too, with bunkbeds for 70, a solar panel to run the electricity, and glass windows protected by decorative iron grills. Bernard told us it will be in use as soon as a perimeter fence is put up around the school site. Afterwards one of the parents spoke of the community's appreciation for the new facilities and Bernard made the formal request that the dorm might be named after Rianna, to which Steve agreed.

Afterwards we spent time mingling with children, all vying to have their photo taken. They were particularly delighted when we presented the headmaster with some colourful posters for the classrooms, and other learning materials and skipping ropes. As we said our goodbyes and headed back to the boat, a stream of giggling children walked along side us and waved us off. It was a really enjoyable day for us all, although the hundreds of kilometres we've travelled this week are finally taking their toll....and for the first time all four of us fell asleep on the long drive to Kampala, our base for the remainder of this trip.

Rianna's Fund

Namaira village school & Mawagala

Wednesday 23rd March 2011


On Wednesday morning we headed north of Iganga in the opposite direction to Malongo. After a journey lasting one and a hlf hours we arrived at Namaira village in Kamuli district. The area has a rural peasant population who live by simple cultivation of the land, selling their excess produce to get by.



We were greeted by Pastor William along with other local pastors in the CFE network. William began a church here in 1997, first renting and then building on church land. He found there were many disadvantaged children in poor dysfunctional families and began to encourage proper care, nurturing them via a Sunday School. This led to a child development programme where children could come for pastoral care and life skills each fortnight. The existing school grew out of this and now has 60 children in nursery and primary one and two classes.





We toured the site with Pastor Paul and William and discussed their plans to grow the school in future. They are particularly keen to provide a high quality of education for the many children within a 2km radius.




We were delighted to receive the typical warm welcome from the children themselves, who sang for us in the welcome shade of a tree at the end of their school day. We left were left with much to chew over as we headed south again, pausing at Mawagala to catch up with members of the child-headed families that Rianna's Fund has been supporting for a number of years.





As we got out of the bus a group of the local mothers, mostly widows greeted us in colourful traditional dress, again in song! Pastor Paul spoke of their appreciation for the support from ACET and Rianna's Fund and JK made a sterling answering speech on our behalf. Later we were able to speak with the 'child-heads' who are now 17 and 18. We were delighted to learn that Mukama Afan has achieved his independence and is now a primary school teacher at the Mawagala school. Another of the boys, Bamutaze Saad has just finished his 'o' levels and cares for his siblings by selling milk from 6 cows he has now owns, grown from an initial donation of one!





It was great to hear from the boys first-hand the difference Rianna's Fund support has made in their lives.

Riannas Fund

New school at Malongo & Tumaini Home - Uganda

Monday 21st March - Tuesday 22nd March


On Monday afternoon after our rendez vous with John and the Acet team we met up with Pastor Paul Lubaale and travelled to the Gombolola district to visit 3 communities at Namusiisi, Kasimbika and Kabitende who are looking to build new schools. At the moment children have to walk several kilometres to attend classes and standards suffer from huge class sizes and a lack of investment. We were welcomed by the local pastors and members of the three communities who had been waiting patiently for our arrival and explained their aims to us. After leaving the team travelled to Jinja where we would be based for the next three days.



Tuesday morning saw our return to the Tumaini Childrens Home located in the sugar-growing area of Kakira, near Jinja. Riannas Fund have been supporting the Home in a small way for a number of years. There are 72 children in the Home & there is now a small school on the site where 22 of the home children attend. There are 3 classes in the school and two use the main hall of the children's home. (see photo below).

Pastor Nicholas who runs the Home with his wife Maria told us of the desperate need for food for the children living in the Home. Recently one of the main supporters of the Home has stopped providing for the food & also the cost of food prices has increased over the past few months. We learned that there are a number of children who have medical needs, including one girl who has recently been in hospital and that these necessary expenses are not being met. It was very difficult to hear and we were all struck by the urgency of the situation.

After leaving Tumaini the team from Riannas Fund set off to Malongo, which was about a 2 hour drive into a very rural area south of Iganga. Luckily the murram road had been significantly improved so it wasn't the bone-shaking experience of last year!

We visited Malongo last year & subsequently agreed to send funds to build 8 classrooms (initially 3 classrooms followed by a further 5 classrooms which are nearly completed).

It was amazing to see the transformation with one block completed and in full use - very different from last year when we met the children under a temporary structure in a huge downpour. This year there were 11 classes going on in the brand new buildings & and the old shelter, with the primary children in the middle of their mid-term test papers..and the sun was shining!

We met the children & teachers at the school. There are now 413 children registered in the new school, which increased from 150 when they had no proper facilities. We visited each of the classes & the children greeted us with a song.

After taking refreshments with the Headmistress, Jennifer the children sang and danced for us expressing their appreciation for their new school. It was a great afternoon, 100% positive and we set off on the long journey home feeling very upbeat.

Riannas Fund

visiting Rianna's Furaha Childrens Home - Yala, Kenya

Saturday 19th March - Sunday 20th March 2011

Steve, Jon, Tanya & David (from ACET) spent 2 days with Mama Eunice, Patrick, Lillian & all the children at RFCH in Yala, Kenya.

After being woken in the early hours of Saturday morning by a torrential tropical rain storm, Steve, Jon and Tanya were picked up by David (of Acet), and set off on the four and a half hour drive to the Kenyan border at Busia. Patrick came from RFCH to meet us and we drove to the Home arriving in time to have lunch with all the children & workers at the home. Afterwards Lillian introduced every member of the staff individually and we exchanged greetings, whilst the Rianna girls lined up outside ready to perform their songs and traditional dances.

During the afternoon we toured the compound with Eunice and Patrick and also reviewed the current plans to add more classrooms to the school on the Yala site. Two new classrooms have been added recently & there are plans to add more.

On Sunday we spent the whole day with the children at the Home. We took a gift of brightly coloured t-shirts (see Photo) and were greeted by a sea of colour as we entered the compound! Sunday afternoon is the children's time to relax and we joined in their ball games and David introduced them to the rules of cricket. It soon became clear that Eunice already knew the game when she leapt up, grabbed the bat and slugged a few impressive balls! It was later discovered that she used to play cricket at school!

It was great to spend quality time with the children and have the opportunity to talk informally with Eunice, Patrick and Lillian. We were delighted to see Betty who had recently graduated when we met her at Yala last year. She is now working as a teacher, teaching geography and ki-swahili in a boys secondary school in nearby Mumias. Betty was supported through her school & university fees by Rianna's Fund.

When we headed back to Uganda the following day we also gave a lift to William who is currently being supported through school fees. William recently passed his 'A' levels and was on his way to register for an IT degree at Makerere University after collecting his certificates from his secondary school in Iganga, eastern Uganda.

It was fantastic to spend time with the children at RFCH & they all looked very healthy & happy. We were told how Linda has now become the first of the children to pass her exams to enable her to go to Secondary boarding school. The staff & children were so proud & told us about how all the girls in the Home went to the bus stop to see Linda leave for her new school carrying her new umbrella & dressed smartly in her uniform. Recently, Linda went back to RFCH for the school holidays & all the children wanted to know how she is getting on. It has inspired the other children to study & pass their exams.

On Monday morning Steve, Jon, Tanya & David travelled back across the border to Uganda to Jinja to meet up with John K & other members of the ACET, Uganda team. The next week will be spent visiting the current Rianna's Fund projects in Uganda & also looking at new projects to support. The current projects will include visiting the new schools at Malongo & Buvuma island following last years trip to Uganda.

Rianna's Fund

March 2011

Rianna's Fund - projects visits

Over the next couple of weeks Riannas Fund will be visiting some of the projects we are supporting.

Steve, Jon & Tanya will be going to Rianna's Furaha Childrens Home in Yala, Kenya & will then be joined by John in the east of Uganda. The team will then visit the projects in Uganda including the new school buildings at Malongo & Buvuma Islands.

In addition they will be looking at some new projects to support in 2011/12 in Uganda.

In addition Jo & Terry will be leaving for India at the end of the month to visit Rianna's Fund projects in Chennai, Bangalore & Mumbai.

We are hoping to post some updates of the trips via this blog.

Many thanks to all our supporters who enable us to continue to support Riannas Fund Projects in Africa & India.

You can see details of our Project visits last year on the previous blog entries:

http://riannasfund.blogspot.com/

& more details can be found on the Projects page of our website:

http://www.riannasfund.org/Projects.htm

Riannas Fund

http://www.riannasfund.org/

http://twitter.com/#!/riannasfund