Update after a long silence

Dear all,

I have been forced to neglect updating this blog for several months because of lack of internet for my computer in Nimule.  I have only been able to keep up with emails on my phone; anything needing a real keyboard has had to wait until now, when I am in Uganda. It has been very frustrating, but that is the way life is in a country with very poor infrastructure.

The new temporary classrooms.

Firstly, a big thank you to those of you who have remembered the school and the deaf children despite my lack of contact.  We managed to build two temporary classrooms out of bamboo poles and free up space in the room where the construction materials are kept, so that we have classrooms for all pupils.  We were also able to buy ten 3-seater desks, greatly alleviating the pressure on seating arrangements.  These desks are now in our Primary 4 class (see photo).

The new desks in situ.

Our Primary 8 class (the first in our school’s short history) got off to a good start and I am hoping that they will do well in their Primary Leaving Exams at the end of the school year.  There are only eleven pupils in the class, so they get quite a lot of teacher attention.  The PLE is crucial, as getting a pass mark makes all the difference between being allowed to proceed to secondary school or not.  I have decided that rather than starting a whole new building programme, which is unrealistic at the moment, I will look for a local secondary school willing to accept them at a reduced rate and then look for help for individual pupils.

We once again had problems with late information from the Ministry of Education, which caused us and all other schools, to be completely in the dark about term dates.  We were therefore taken by surprise by the need to produce exam papers for end of term exams with almost no notice.  The timescale was unrealistic, so we ended up putting exam questions on the boards, and buying lined A4 paper for their answers.  It was all rather messy.

The next priority in the way of expenses is for construction of shelving.  We have a lot of books, but nowhere to put them.  We really need our textbooks to be in a more organized and accessible fashion than they are at the moment.

Just before the end of term, two teachers left us, so we are going to start the new term next week with two new faces, one for lower primary and the other for nursery.  We have recruited several new teachers in the space of four months, some replacing those who left and others adding to our number to cater for Primary 8.  We now have 15 teachers altogether, including myself.  This is part of a general problem in South Sudan of instability caused by poverty and war.  It affects the pupils too, who also have a high turnover as families move around due to their personal circumstances.

I am now in Uganda, and have visited the deaf children in Mbale to check that they are doing well and to pay their school fees and for other necessities.  The oldest primary school pupil, Alice, is due to start secondary school next year so she is doing her PLE this year.  I was told that she is the top deaf student in the school and that the school is confident that she will do well.  I did not see her because she was away as a member of a school sports team who are competing at a national-level competition.  Her two followers in the year behind, Lillian and Paul, are also high achievers.  Aluma, who is in the next class down is also bright, but struggles with his health.  As well as being deaf, he is epileptic, for which he has medication, and he also has a paralysed right hand and leg.  All of these problems are due to meningitis.  The younger pupils are also doing well at their different stages.  I barely recognized Jackline, who has just completed her first term at school.  She is so happy and wreathed with smiles.  When I brought her to the school last term, she was very tearful and had no means of communication at all, not even a basic homemade sign language.  Now she is signing away with the best of them, and the school says she is a fast learner.

Classrooms at Lira.

On my way back, I visited a deaf secondary school in a town called Lira.  Lira is closer to South Sudan than Mbale, so that pupils will be able to go home for all school holidays.  The school seems fine, and has electricity which enables them to have a computer lab.  Their Director of Studies boasted that a lot of their pupils go on to have nursing or other medical careers, as well as teaching.  The reason for looking at this school is that the school where Alau went has not been satisfactory.  In the end Alau has left and come back to Nimule, where I have found a local secondary school with small classes where he can have a sign language interpreter.  Alau’s ambition is to be a teacher for the deaf at Cece Primary School.  This is still a long term plan because he will need to do special educational needs training after completing secondary school.  I want to thank Alau’s sponsor so much for his willingness to continue to assist him.

From left to right: Bernard's mother, Mary, Alfred
(headteacher), fellow blind teacher and Bernard.

Today I paid the school fees for Alafi and Joel, who attend school in Gulu.  They are both doing well.  My next stop on the way back to South Sudan, will be at Firefly, the blind school, where I will pay Bernard and Mary’s school fees.  Their first term at Firefly was difficult, especially for Mary, who had not been taught any self-care skills at all at home.  It is very common for disabled children in South Sudan to be neglected, sometimes even to the point of no medical treatment for curable illnesses.  This has been the case with Mary and also some of the deaf children.  It is even harder for blind children because they are unable to copy the actions of others, such as tooth-brushing, dressing or using the toilet.  Bernard is in the lead at the moment academically, but hopefully Mary will catch up.  In spite of her difficulties, when she returned to Nimule for the holidays, I asked her how she was finding school, her response was, ‘When can I go back?’  That seems a good sign.

If you can help with monthly donations towards teacher salaries, sponsorship for the disabled children, or fundraising for shelves, please contact me on rebeccamallinson1@gmail.com and I will send you a gift aid form.  Please do pass this message on to any other people who might be able to assist us.