Recent highlights from Cece Primary School

Dear all,

I am writing to update you on the progress of Cece Primary School.

Laying the foundations

In spite of my previous pessimism about our prospects for building a new block of classrooms, one of our donors came forward with enough money to start work and lay the foundations.  Work has been underway for a week now and is nearly complete.  We are using the same team of workers as previously as they have always been very efficient and hard-working.  To be honest I don’t know how they keep it up in the sweltering heat of the day.  They start work before I arrive at 7am and are still working when I leave at 4pm.  All their work is done manually.  They are sleeping on site and receiving meals cooked by our school cooks.  Once the foundations are complete, we will need to fundraise for classrooms.  We constructed our previous block of classrooms over the course of around two years, building one classroom at a time.    Very likely we will do the same again.

We have also been producing uniforms for the many children who had outgrown their old uniforms.  This cost was assisted by a final donation from Pencils for All.  The actual production of the uniforms has been an uphill struggle because previously there were two tailors working together, but this time one decided not to take part.  This left the remaining tailor struggling to make over 60 uniforms on his own.  To make matters worse, he collapsed at one point and was hospitalized for some time.  Since he measured the children, more children have joined the school, who also need uniforms.  It seems to be a never-ending battle.

One of our two new guards.

I have mentioned the poor security situation in the school compound before.  We have finally managed to find two ex-soldiers to be school guards.  One is a school parent with five children in our school, so he has a vested interest in our school.  They started work last week.  The difference is immense; no more gin bottles and used condoms to greet us in the mornings.  They are also assisting with clearing the compound of long grass and bushes.

Another great boost has come from a donor in Australia, who has started a crowdfunding page to help generate funds for the school.  If anyone else would like to do the same, I can put you in contact for advice on how it is done.  As mentioned in a previous blog post, I cannot easily travel to the UK due to the Covid situation, which makes it difficult for me to fundraise for the school face-to-face as I did previously.  Another reason for being unable to travel is the very short school holidays, which are the South Sudanese Ministry of Education’s way to help schools catch up on the year without school in 2020.  Crowdfunding is a really helpful way of reaching new people, who might like to support the school as it expands.

Alau teaching Alice maths.  She had forgotten a
lot, so this 'private' coaching is a real help to her.

Also as a result of the Covid lockdown in Uganda, Alau, who is the oldest of the deaf students, currently at Senior 3 level at secondary school, has been working with the younger deaf children, so that they don’t lose too much of their education.  We are paying him using some of the school fees sent for the deaf children, as these are not being used otherwise.  Schools in Uganda have now been closed for two terms in both 2020 and 2021, leaving children nationwide completely without education.  In other words, they have only had one term of schooling each year.  Schools are supposed to reopen in Uganda in January 2022 – let us hope it will be continuous education from then on.  Alau has been doing a really good job, which makes me think he might like to have a career in teaching for the deaf.  If so, we might consider starting a Hearing Impairment Unit at our school once he is properly trained.  This would enable us to provide schooling for more deaf children at a lower cost and without the current long journeys.  At the moment this is all speculation however.  It would be a groundbreaking venture, as there is no special needs education in South Sudan at all.

The main needs of the school are for money for more uniforms, the usual teacher salaries and other running costs.  As mentioned, crowdfunding seems to be the way to go forward due to the difficulties with travel at the moment.