Jolly Children Academy, Bbika

Tuesday 9th February 2010

Our last day in Uganda & in the morning we visited Bbika school in Wakiso district, 25kms north of Kampala. The school is called the Jolly Children Academy and is named after Jolly Nyeko the founder of Action for Children, Uganda. Riannas Fund has provided funding for additional classrooms at the school & we were accompanied on the trip by Alex & Jessica from Action for Children.

After turning off the main road we travelled along a narrow track through the rural area. There had been a storm earlier in the morning & we had to get out of the vehicle at one stage to ensure that we could pass along the muddy road. We arrived at the school and were greeted by the 192 children attending. The school currently has 6 Primary school classes & we were met by the Headmistress Janet Koote & some of the children.

We visited each of the classes and John took over from the teachers and asked the children some questions, the children in the Maths class were especially good. It was great for us to see the children being taught in 2 of the classrooms provided by Rianna's Fund. A further classroom is also very close to completion, which will allow the youngest 2 classes to have their own room as they currently share the main hall which is divided in two by a bamboo screen (and can be very noisy).

We then visited the Action for Children 'transition' centre based on the school grounds. There are currently 10 babies or small children being looked after by Alice (the 'mother') and the home is linked to a freephone Helpline operated by Action for Children in Kampala. The children receive food & medical help until they are well enough to be put up for fostering in the local community. The baby Tanya is holding in the photograph below is a recent arrival who the staff have named Moses. He is around 4 months old & was found abandoned, nothing is known of his family.

After looking over the site of the school we had some time to play with the children during their lunch break & leave some small gifts for the children with Janet, the Headmistress.

We then headed back to Kampala for a review of the week with David & Emma from ACET, Uganda. We have seen some great projects during our time in Uganda, including a number of existing & new projects. We hope to be able to support some new home & school projects in the near future!



Steve, Tanya, Jon & John
Rianna's Fund


February 2010

Buvuma Islands

Monday 8th February 2010

A 6.30am pick up from the hotel saw us heading back east for a trip out to the Buvuma Islands. At the Lugazi sugar factory we left the main road & drove 45 minutes to the lake shore. There was much discussion in the car about the mode of transport to take us to the main Island.

We were accompanied by Annette Kirabira (who initiated the school project with her husband) & Francis the Headmaster of the School. As we approached the shore Annette broke the news to us that we would be individually carried out to the boat, along with supplies of banans & charcoal for the islanders! When we saw the boat we were pleased that lifejackets were available for the one & a half hour crossing! Half way across it started to rain but it soon passed and was pleasantly hot on arrival.

It was a short walk to the school through the bush and along a murram road that runs around the island. As we approached the school the children were playing outside. Francis the Headmaster then banged a gong & all the children immediately dropped to the ground (including Jon). The children then went into their classes and we went into each class to meet them. Due to the shortage of space most classrooms are divided in two by bamboo screens.

The school started in a temporary structure in 2008 with 2 nursery classes & 3 primary classes. Currently there are over 150 children who will attend this year (from 40 when the school started). This is impressive as in the past the local people have not considered formal education necessary because they could earn money fishing everyday. Most of the children in the school come from the main island, however, there are many children in the outlying islands who require an education. The plans for the school are to build more classrooms & dormitories so these children can stay on site during term time.

It is the only school on the island & is situated on a large plot of around 5 acres of mostly tropical vegetation stretching down to the shore. There was a really peaceful feel to the place. We met Pastor Collins who was busy helping out with some building works to some classrooms. He and Francis live at the school, along with the other 7 teachers. At the moment the living quarters for the teachers are inadequate. Annette & her husband Bernard have plans to increase the number of classrooms, provide accomodation for the teachers & start an income generating project on the site.

Before we left we took a photograph of all the children & teachers outside the temporary classroom block. We then headed back to the shore and spent a peaceful 20 minutes sitting by the lake surrounded by birds & cattle. We were then carried on to the boat for a scorching hot trip back to the mainland. Although we were only at the school for a couple of hours the journey was a 10 hour round trip!

Rianna's Fund

Mityana Best Hours Primary School

Saturday 6th February 2010

We drove west out of Kampala for a couple of hours to Mityana. After driving down a narrow track for a further 20 minutes we arrived at Mityana School. We met up with Bishop Johnstone & Headmistress Alice Hope.

The school is on a site of about 2 acres and there are currently 6 classrooms for the 150 children. They are looking to build more classrooms, one for each Primary year & to build a main hall. The local area is a very poor rural area with a high number of AIDS orphans. There are very few jobs and most people exist by cultivating the land & collecting fire wood, so many families find it hard to pay school fees.

We walked round the site which included a temporary nursery class & the kitchen (a wooden shack) had just collapsed. Up until 4 years ago the school consisited of a papyrus (thatched) shelter.



As we left the school we saw the children enjoying their break on a large field in front of the school, including makeshift netball posts & a game of football. On the way back we stopped off in the town to buy some local snacks called kabalagala, a cassava & banana fritter! Some of the boys preferring their geo-bars.

The school was a long drive from Kampala & we spent more time in the vehicle & the joys of Ugandan traffic.

Rianna's Fund

Nakulabye Junior School, Kampala

Friday 5th February

After staying in Jinja overnight we travelled the 2 hour journey back to Kampala & went straight to the Nakulabye Junior School. It was the first time we have been back to the school since the opening day in March 2008. We walked down to the site and could see how the garden around the school had matured, including a number of banana trees (which the children eat for a snack).

We met Moses the Headmaster who explained that there are 640 children registered at the school. There were fewer than this here today, as it is the first week of the new school year, however it will be full next week. We dropped in to all of the childrens classes from the Kindergarten/Nursery up to Primary class 7 (when the children are 13 years). We gave the children some small gifts including pencils, ink stamps & bouncy balls. We also took a number of educational maps & posters for the new Resource centre. The children greeted us politely as we moved from class to class talking with them & asking questions as they worked.

At lunctime we saw the children queue outside the kitchen for their maize porridge (posho). It was then playtime & the boys from Riannas Fund produced a football & challenged the Nakulabye team. The boys in red team joined with Steve, Jon & John as Tanya videoed the match. The highlight was John Kelting scoring a superb goal & celebrating by running round the pitch with his Rianna's Fund shirt over his head. The pitch was more or less flat except for a smouldering bonfire down the left wing!

Meanwhile in the background the women from the community were washing and hanging clothes over the fence, whilst the younger children fetched water from the community well on the site of the school. We were pleased to learn that the school site is now regarded as a safer environment & consequently people are starting to build houses in the immediate vicinity. We felt so encouraged after visiting the school as it seems to have had a positive impact on so many of the children in this poor community.

After leaving the school we checked back in to our hotel in Kampala and had a couple of hours rest before heading in to town to meet up with Robert Nsibirwa to learn some about local microfinance initiatives.

For more information on Nakulabye Junior School please see the website;
http://riannasfund.org/Nakulabye%20Junior%20School.htm

Steve, Tanya, Jon & John

Rianna's Fund in Uganda

Wednesday 3rd pm & Thursday 4th February

After a quick lunch Steve, Tanya, Jon & John, together with David & Emma from ACET, headed to Tumaine home in Kakira on the outskirts of a large sugar plantation. Rianna's Fund has been contributing to the food costs for the 80 children for the past 3 years.

We were greeted by the children singing outside the front of the Home. Inside the hall we were entertained by more of their amazing singing after which Pastor Nicholas & his wife Maria greeted us and introduced us to the workers in the Home. After some short speeches Tanya spent time with Brenda, age 16, Jessica & Ivan, both 8 years, Sheila, age 12 & Natasha 11, talking about their life at the home and their aspirations for the future. Meanwhile Steve, Jon & John produced a new football (surprise surprise) & promptly arranged an England v Uganda game. Jon is still talking about his masterful strike in the first half (scoring past the 6 year old Uganda goalie).

Afterwards we went around the site with pastor Nicholas hearing about his plans for a new school for nursery and primary age children from the home and surrounding community. We said goodbye to the children and went with pastor Nicholas to see the nearby Kakira slum village. The community is extremely poor with many women and children who have been abandoned by their husbands/fathers when they have completed their contracts at the sugar factory. In the middle of the slum we saw the youth centre run by pastor Nicholas & Maria. The children are able to go here to receive food and some counselling. Most of the families have no income and survive by brewing Waragi, a rough spirit distilled from cheap molasses from the sugar plant, whose distinctive smell permeates throughout the slum.

It was a pretty gruelling end to the day which provoked much thought and discussion that evening.

The following day we had an early start and headed 20kms east to Iganga. We spent the day with pastor Paul of CFE, first heading to Mawagala village. Rianna's Fund have supported over 30 children's school fees in this area, including a number of child headed families. Some of these children were there to meet us, including Afan, Mohammed, Fred, Brenda & Saad. We have met Afan twice before, he is now 17 and in his second year of teacher training college (whilst looking after his 4 younger brothers). Most of the young people we met are now at secondary school & Mohammed has just completed his studies.

Pastor Paul then took us to a very rural area near Lake Victoria to visit a potential new project in Malongo. We travelled for 2 and a half hours along a murram road in a thunderstorm. The community is made up of many tribes and fishing was the main source of income, until it was recently made illegal. Most of the families are very poor and survive by cultivating the land which is fortunately fertile.

We were greeted in the pouring rain by 185 children (all under 9 years of age) who were gathered in their temporaray school shelter. This was a corrugated iron roof supported by simple wooden poles. The noise of the rain made it impossible to hear anything for the first 15 minutes! Still the children continued to sing and crowd round us while we all tried to keep dry. We discussed with pastor Patrick & Fred, the Community Development Centre officer, their plans to build a permanent school on the site. This school is much needed as there are only 3 schools in the entire parish & classes can be as many as 800 children to 1 teacher. The community are very keen to have their own school and raised the necessary funds for the temporary structure between themselves.

After a return journey to Jinja (fuelled by the bananas given to us by the Malongo community) we headed to the hotel for a cup of tea and a lively de-brief & discussion with David & Emma on the projects seen so far.

Link to details of Tumaine Home & 'child headed' families on the website;
http://www.riannasfund.org/Child%20Headed%20Families%20and%20Tumani.htm

Rianna's Fund

Rianna's Furaha Childrens Home

Monday 1st - Wednesday 3rd February

Steve & Tanya spent 2 days at Yala visiting Mama Eunice and the 42 children in the home.
We arrived at 2pm after a long drive from Kampala, Uganda with David Kabiswa from ACET. It was our first visit to the Home for nearly 3 years.

The children were there to meet us, having been given permission to take the afternoon off school. After lunch the children sang for us & the gilrs performed traditional Luo dances, wearing Rianna's Fund t-shirts and grass skirts. Eunice introduced us to the children & the workers at the Children's Home. It was a really relaxed afternoon & amazing to see how much the children had grown up since last seeing them. Cedric who was the smallest & youngest when the home opened has grown up strong and healthy.

We returned the following day and discussed future plans for the Home and how the children are progressing. We then did a tour of the Yala site including the Nursery school children in their lessons & the poultry project with over 100 chickens. Later on we met up with some of the children in the School Fees programme, including Betty who graduated in Education last month from Makerere University.

In the afternoon the children came back from school & we all had lunch together. After lunch we showed the a scrap book and read out letters from some children in the UK, with Mama Eunice explaining to the little ones in Luo. We then gave the children some gifts, including pencil sets, skipping ropes & bubbles. These were put to immediate use!

It was good to have a chat with the older boys, James, Mark & David (now 14 years old) & to hear about the Rianna's Dynamos football team. They are hoping to enter their second tournament later in the year. We spent the afternoon chatting with the children and taking group and individual photographs of them all. The photography session took longer than expected due to interruptions by Mama Eunice tucking in the boys shirts and turning over the girls collars!

On Wednesday we called in to the Home on the way back to Uganda. It was very quiet with all the children at school and we took time to say goodbye & thanks to Mama Eunice, Patrick & Lillian for their hospitallity and great work with children. The children in the home all seem so healthy and contented - one big extended family!

Afterwards we headed for the long drive (5 and a half hours) over the border to Jinja in Uganda to meet up with Jon & John who had arrived the previous evening.

Link to Rianna's Furaha Childrens Home on the website;
http://www.riannasfund.org/Riannas%20Furaha%20Childrens%20Home.htm

Steve & Tanya.

Rianna's Fund trip to Kenya & Uganda

Rianna's Fund are going to visits projects in Kenya & Uganda in early February 2010.

Steve & Tanya are going to see the children at Rianna's Furaha Children's Home in Yala, Kenya. They are looking forward to seeing the children & Mama Eunice. The last visit to see the children was over 3 years ago & it will be great to see how the children are progressing.

http://www.riannasfund.org/Riannas%20Furaha%20Childrens%20Home.htm

They will be joined by Jon & John in Uganda & will be visiting the Rianna's Fund projects in Uganda, aswell as looking at potential new School Projects. they will also be visiting the Nakulabye School in Kampala, the last visit was at the opening of the school in March 2008.

http://www.riannasfund.org/Nakulabye%20Junior%20School.htm

More details of the other Rianna's Fund Projects in Uganda can be found on the Projects page of the website;

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

Rianna's Fund