A very big thank you to all our supporters

I do apologise for the length of time since I last wrote.  I have hardly paused for breath since returning from the UK at the end of March.  I ended up collapsing with chronic fatigue, quite literally unable to move.  However, I am much better now, just in time for the new term at school!

While in England I met up with many people, some of whom were already supporters of Cece Primary School, and some of whom are new.

I want to say an especial thank you to the Catenians in Reigate for their fundraising activities on our behalf last year, and also for their enthusiastic reception of my talk.  I was delighted that they decided to make Cece Primary School their charity for this year as well.  Some of their members have also made significant contributions towards the building work.

I also want to thank Father Rupert of the London Oratory for agreeing to ask the families taking part in this year's First Holy Communion programme to support us in a special project, to supply desks and chairs for all the children.  Up until now the children have been sitting on mats on the floor, which is far from ideal.

A big thank you to St Augustine's in Hammersmith for allowing me to speak at all Masses one weekend and also to their ABC group.  Especial thanks to Peter and Mary Hickson for their great help in organising this.  Collections were taken at both events.

Thank you to good friends of mine, one of whom has given me a laptop, another children’s reading books and another a cash donation which I used to buy some educational games.  Another friend paid for professionally produced leaflets to distribute.  I was offered other things as well, but travelling with too much baggage would have been a big problem.  Thank you anyway for the generous thoughts.

Literally the day before leaving the country I met the founder of a charity called Pencils for All, who have kindly offered to fundraise for school uniforms for all the children.  The children currently come to school in very torn and shabby clothes and have repeatedly expressed the wish for a school uniform.  From a safety point of view, parents have pointed out that if the children should have an accident on their way to or from school, a school uniform will immediately identify them to any passers-by.

I also wish to thank Sean Devereux Children's Fund, who have been kind enough to let our donors funnel their donations through their account so that we could make use of their tax status.  They also made a very generous donation at the start of our building campaign, to kick-start the work.  This arrangement will come to an end soon, as the administration required is now becoming rather too onerous for them as the needs of the school expand.

From my own point of view, I have been very conscious for some time that one fundraiser, based in South Sudan, makes the school very unstable.  It is very hard to communicate long-distance with poor network coverage and a poor supply of electricity.  More seriously, if I am knocked down by a car or become completely incapacitated in some way, that will be the end of all publicity and support for the school.  As the school is a charity school, providing education for the poorest children in the community, that would be the end of the children’s education.  Their families would not be able to pay the school fees demanded by all the other schools.  We now also have several deaf children attending school in special schools in Uganda, who would also have their education and life chances curtailed.

While in England I met a woman who is also supporting the education of some children in South Sudan, fundraising completely on her own.  As in my case, she is very concerned that the support will ‘die with her’ leaving children high and dry.  We agreed to look for a way to start a charity specifically for our projects.  If you are interested in getting involved, please contact me on rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk.

The main areas currently needing financial support are:

• ·     Daily school running costs such as stationery, firewood (for cooking a meal for the children), teachers, cooks and a guard’s salaries.
• ·    Construction work on new classrooms.  The donations from the Catenians and St Augustine’s have given a significant boost, so that the new block of classrooms is now almost complete.
• ·     Sponsorships for four deaf children to go to school in Uganda.  We now also have a blind boy in the school.  We are arranging to take him for medical assessment in Uganda.  If an operation is not feasible, he will also need a school for the blind in Uganda.
• ·    The project to provide desks and chairs for all classes (through the London Oratory, as mentioned above).
• ·     School uniforms for all children (through Pencils for All, as mentioned above).

If you would like to donate to the school, please contact me on the same email address as above.

I came back to Nimule to find that work on the construction of the new block of classrooms was well underway.  The first classroom in the block is already in use by our Primary 4 class.  We look forward to using the rest of the rooms

The last day of work before the roofing begins

very soon.  The photo shows the current state of progress.  The veranda and disabled ramps were finished today.