Happy Easter to you all

Dear all,

Happy Easter to you all!  I made a trip to Gulu, taking a much-needed short break from teaching.

The five deaf primary students, Jackline, Vibrant,
Joel, Alafi and Jennifer (L - R)

Over the Easter break I travelled to Lira to see the deaf students at both primary and secondary school.  On my way I bought a live chicken and rice as an Easter present for the primary children.  Their faces lit up when they saw the chicken.  I had previously sent money to do the same to the secondary school at their request.  Nobody buys ready-prepared chicken here.  The climate and lack of regular refrigeration is against it.  It is good to know that a short time ago the chickens were living a completely free-range existence with a natural diet and no growth hormones, reproducing at a great rate.  I apologise to any vegetarians who may be offended.  Here, the basic diet for the majority of people is vegetarian out of necessity, so chicken is a huge treat.

I am glad to say that I was able to pay the remaining school fees for all the students last month, so it was good to be able to give the schools the bank receipts as proof on the same trip.  The schools were both happy with our children’s progress.  They have another month of school to go before the end of term holidays when Samuel will fetch them.  All except Vibrant and Joel.  Vibrant and Joel are now in the final year of primary school and will have an extra two weeks of lessons at school in preparation for their Primary Leaving Certificate exams at the end of the year.

The great news is that my final Primary 8 class got their leavers’ results.  They all passed really well, even those for whom I had had some fears.  Their marks ranged from 87.2% down to 71.8%.  They started at their new secondary school in Senior 1 towards the end of March, except for one boy called Joseph.  Joseph has great difficulties because his father is in the army and completely out of contact.  His mother is dead.  He is a Dinka, which means that he is a member of the tribe warring fiercely against all the other big tribes in the country.  He is nonetheless a very gentle and rather timid character.  I assisted him last year so that he could complete his primary education.  When the results came out, he had gone to his home area, a very volatile part of South Sudan, to stay with an aunt.  The aunt was very resistant to him going back to Nimule, but in the end he won her over.  Nimule is a great deal safer than Bor, so I believe it was the right decision for his own personal safety as well as his education.  There was a lot of fighting in that area, which made travel too unsafe for some time.  Finally he managed to return to Nimule a few days ago using transport money wired to him.  Samuel has put him in the school’s boarding section as he has nowhere to stay.  During the holidays he will stay with an elder sister in Uganda, where he will be safe.  The other boarding student is in Senior 2, a boy with a severely disabled leg, also an orphan.

Jamila, Peace and Lamunu (L - R)

I was in Gulu for Easter Sunday and visited three girls at their boarding school for the first time.  These girls were members of my first Primary 8 class at Cece Primary School in 2024.  They did not go to Kings Way Secondary School with the boys of the class because they were accepted for full scholarships by an American charity called Drop in the Bucket, who specialize in girls’ education.  They are now in their third year of secondary school.  They used to visit me in Nimule in holiday time, but that is no longer possible as I am no longer there.  One of the girls sent me a Facebook message saying how much she missed me.  Realising that I had time to see them at Easter, I said that I would come and visit.  I really appreciate their wish to still be in contact.  I had a very close relationship with all my pupils in that class because I was their classteacher from start to finish.  Like all my Primary 8 classes it was a very small class, so I was able to give a lot of time to each of them.  I have not been responsible for their fees or requirements up until now, but today they told me that the school is requesting smartphones for each of them so that they can learn research skills.  Apart from lessons, the phones are locked away by the admin department.  Their families are too poor to be able to assist and Drop in the Bucket has refused saying it is a parental responsibility. So, naturally enough, they asked me.  The going rate for one smart phone is around 200,000 Uganda Shillings or roughly $55.  Is anyone able to help?

The two blind children, Mary and Bernard

Next month will be holiday time for three weeks.  Schools resume on 25th May and I will need to pay school fees for all at Kings Way and Queensland in Nimule, as well as the deaf and blind children in Uganda.  Based on last term’s school costs from all these schools I can expect to pay around £5,200 for next term.  This includes a deduction for one-off costs for new school uniforms and other costs for new students as these are already paid for.  There is an enormous shortfall: right now Opportunity Through Education has £850, which is nowhere near enough.  If you are able to contribute, I would be most grateful.

Please feel free to contact me on rebeccamallinson1@gmail.com.  I am always happy to answer any questions or give more detail.