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Partnerships - Excerpts from a visit to Uganda

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"On the Wednesday we arrived very late as was our custom, indeed we became increasingly "African" in this regard as the days went by. Only a few people were present by St. Andrew's church, as most were apparently stationed at various wells awaiting our tour of inspection.

Then it was off round the wells. We saw 6 in all spread out over 3 sub-parishes. The reception at each location was enthusiastic - even ecstatic!! The eople genuinely appreciated the clean water which has been made possible by the financial and prayer support from our parish. I was showered with gifts: bags full of ground nuts; maize kernels; fruit of every shape and size and 3 chickens!! As I couldn't possibly consume all of this myself or take any of it out of the country, the spoils were divided up between the water technicians and the drivers, who were all far more deserving cases than me anyway. I was left with some fruit and a live chicken!! No prizes for guessing what was served up at the Guest house for the evening meal! Anyway, on my return to the parish on the sunday, I was able to report that their gift had indeed proved very tasty, a remark to which was met with great applause by the congregation.

Later, I was shown round the school which is situated adjacent to St. Andrew's Church, by the deputy headmaster, Isaac Wataabi. In recent times it has established a very high reputation and now caters for around 1500 pupils, both boarders and day students. By our standards the facilities are very poor. Due to the lack of space, the boarders sleep in classrooms. New dormitries paid for by the parents are under construction and will help to alleviate this problem. There are few text books and most learning takes place from the blackboard. The nearest hand dug well is 2 kilometres away, so a great deal of time is taken up with fetching and carrying clean water for the large school population. Not suprisingly, top priority for Isaac is a borehole to be situated next to the school. A hand dug well is out of the question, as the land is far too high for this technology to stand a realistic chance of reaching the water table. Isaac also mentioned that assistance would be appreciated with a 2-phase transformer to supply electricity, and with the construction of an aid post."

05/09/02 - Andy Taylor

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