Sunday 30 April 2017

The History of Lutengo United School, Mukono






In September 2005 the children helped make the bricks and build the walls.














Iron sheeting was laid in place on the roof.



Then the students leveled the floor to start using the building in September, when the pupils returned. 








Inside the new classroom on 15th September 2005.

















Form Four students with their teacher at the blackboard. 

The brick walls are not yet plastered.













Form Five Advanced ("A") level students in their new classroom.








Saturday 22 April 2017

Bridget Namagambe's Nursery School in Kireka, Uganda

Birthday party at Bridget's school 



Bridget Namagambe was one of the first students we sponsored through university.


After a year's teaching she set up her own nursery school, called Crane Academy Infant School in the town of Kireka. 












Bridget started with two very small rooms but the number of children has grown and she has built two more classrooms. Another classroom is partially built. 







The children always seem very happy and Bridget and her teachers take the children on trips to the zoo. 

Children's birthdays are a chance to celebrate. These are the birthday celebrations for one of Bridget's pupils, Karungi Muhumuza who is now five years old and in the top class.

Happy Birthday, Karungi!


Sunday 16 April 2017

New Photos!

Sally in the chicken house
Three children


























Children holding their toys in their classroom

               
Children with a football and toys we sent out
At their desks in the classroom

























Tennis balls arriving


Playing tennis

Band in readiness

Throwing and catching

Thanks to Sally for these photos, which really catch the feel of the children and schools we support in Mukono, Uganda.


Wednesday 12 April 2017

Guildford Mukono Link - the pulse of Mukono

Colline Hotel, Mukono, Uganda
We met at the Colline Hotel and all of our members were eager to update us about the developments in their schools, as well as in other areas of development.

It was overwhelming to learn how much has been spent on projects in Mukono during the past ten years. It is a total of £110,000!

The Guildford Mukono Link is a community-based organisation that emphasizes friendship as well as supporting the development of Mukono schools.

The accomplishment of the Link cannot be measured by how much money and effort has been put in but by the impact all this has made.

The Link is becoming stronger every day, especially when we see the achievements in different services like the Health Centre, schools, farms, seminars and workshops, the Sallie Library and the exchange visits.

Susan Wamala

Our Guildford Mukono Link brings positive change!

Degree students sponsored by the Guildford Mukono Link
As I was travelling with Sally and Tony Edie to a school which is far away from Mukono Town we has a lengthy discussion on the mindset of our Guildford Mukono Link to many schools here in Uganda.

I realized that 'the Link is not small!'.

Our Link schools in Guildford have created the conviction that they have the ability to bring about positive change in the lives of children here in Uganda.

The Sallie Library is a great source of knowledge. And we all know that knowledge is power!

The Guildford Mukono Link changes lives through education. The students who were sponsored to go through university here are a gift to the community. 

You in Guildford provided all that was required, enabling these students to complete their degree studies successfully.

Susan Wamala

Workshops and Seminars

The teachers in Mukono who have given up their time to attend the workshops, and the seminars have made great changes to their teaching. They have learned new strategies and better approaches to teaching. 

The good results in the national exams testify to this.

Whenever I share with some of those who have taken part - teachers of primary school science - they tell me that they have tried to use Pete Baker's approaches. As I smile back, the 'inner' in me realizes what a powerful impact the training has had.

I strongly believe that it was worth investing in these teachers.

Likewise, for the High School workshops the aim was to continue to raise the standards of teaching and to promote excellence in the classroom, along with high grade results.

The school farms have put us off the song of 'many children studying on an empty stomach'. Food is a crucial incentive for the children to continue their education.

Many thanks to the Guildford Mukono Link for funding this project.

Children have found joy in the sports they take part in. Most of them have learned to interact and work with one another.

They have learned a strong sense of time management and self-discipline.

Susan Wamala

Some wonderful achievements!

At the Health Centre the Guildford Mukono Link has boosted the services by providing dental and other medical equipment.

With the teddies and clothes, the mothers realized that there is someone out there who cares. With this contribution their lives don't remain the same.

We know the limitations of government in service delivery. So Guildford comes in to bring 'a smile' on people's faces through these acts of kindness.

I do pay special tribute to the sponsors who have enabled these projects to grow.

At the end of our resent meeting on behalf of the Mukono Committee, I handed over a certificate of appreciation to Jim Rattray in recognition of his good service towards the Guildford Mukono Link.  It was not a farewell! I do hope Jim will remain sharing his great ideas with us.

Thank you, Guildford Trustees fpr the great and life-changing opportunities you give to us Ugandans. You have shaped me and you continue to be a great part of my life. I shall forever be grateful.

Susan Wamala

Saturday 8 April 2017

Mukono population growing by 20 a day!

Mukono Health Centre
Hello everyone!

Just arrived back in Guildford from Mukono, Uganda, after a very busy twelve days. We joined a local Council meeting sharing information about the Guildford Mukono Link and how much Guildford and Mukono have in common, especially the size of our two populations, along with each of us having a university.

But luckily our population in Guildford isn't growing by 20 a day! 

The Mukono Health Centre caters for 50% of the births. Half the population is under 18 and the unemployment rate is 70%. It makes our problems in Guildford seem quite small.


In the operating theatre

It would be wonderful for some local people working in Mukono to visit Guildford to see how Guildford Council manage things, especially recycling and refuse.

George Kagimu, the new mayor of Mukono, wants to make Mukono a town to be respected because of its innovations to benefit the community. He and Gordon Jackson - the mayor of Guildford - want to find ways of working together.


Mothers waiting with their babies
We visited the Health Centre and saw the new maternity block which is bright and clean, even though each midwife has to deliver about six babies each day.

Caesareans are also carried out daily and hardly any mothers die in childbirth. 

The two doctors showed us around the nearly completed new surgical wing. It was very clean and the doctors were rightly proud of their achievements.

It would be wonderful if we could find ways of supporting the Health Centre. I took 25 teddies, ten of which were given to young children. I asked for the rest to be given to children suffering from malaria.

Tamsy Baker