Adjusting to the unpredictable

Trucks of cattle leave Nimule

In the past few weeks there has been major disruption in Nimule and its surrounding area.  This has been largely due to cattle raiding by tribes who have followed internally displaced people (IDPs), who are cattle keepers, to our area.  The result has been a lot of killings of both cattle keepers and local people as well as the theft of cattle.  Thankfully the national and state governments sent representatives to calm the situation down and hold meetings with the locals and the IDPs.  They have left extra soldiers to patrol to stop any more disturbances.  The cattle keepers have been ordered to remove their cattle back to their traditional tribal area.  They are doing so, piling the cattle into trucks.

To make matters worse, some people (I suspect they are local gangs) have having what I can only call a murder spree, killing people with either knives or guns.  The killings have been totally random and usually take place in the evenings or overnight.

Younger children playing with duplo

To cut a long story short, the effect of these happenings has been to close the schools and send a lot of people fleeing to Uganda, where they are being refused admission to the refugee camps and sent away.  As from Monday we have reopened although the majority of children are missing.  We have truncated our school hours so that we are only open during the mornings to try to avoid security issues.  It seems from everything I hear that the perpetrators are all late sleepers – at work in the late evenings and overnight but resting in the mornings.

Last week I and some fellow teachers went through all our extra-curricular games and put together a good supply of jigsaws and various games for literacy and numeracy.  Those children who are attending are having a rare chance to learn through play, and the teachers are learning at the same time how to teach by non-formal methods.  It is very hard to get South Sudanese teachers to use anything but 'talk and chalk' methods, so this is a whole new experience for them.  

Stenciling

I am so glad to have been able to reopen.  It must have been very tough on the children at home to have been living in such an atmosphere of fear, so it is good to take their minds off their troubles a bit.  Since Monday we have divided the children between two classrooms, by age.  The small children have wooden blocks, duplo, simple jigsaws, jenga and outdoor play.  The older children have more complicated games such as Scrabble and a lovely 250-piece jigsaw map of the world.  All ages are enjoying dominos.  For the older children we are having slightly more formal lessons in music (learning the recorder) and painting with stencils.  

Some other schools are also reopening, so hopefully those who have gone to Uganda will hear from their relatives and come back.  Then we will be able to resume normal lessons.

In the meantime, a new classroom has been built and one classroom had been plastered before we were forced to shut.  The workmen came back to resume the plastering work yesterday.

Children play on our only remaining
piece of playground equipment.

Feeding two hundred and forty children

Children queue for lunch in 2018

Since I came to Nimule, in 2013, I have seen endless difficulties with school feeding.  The school where I initially worked provided a small plastic cup of very insipid maize porridge to each child at midday, which was paid for by the parents.  It was a fee-paying school.

In the case of Cece Primary School, we have had our ups and downs.  When we first started in 2015, with only 60 children, we were able to afford to make a very nutritious porridge made with millet flour with added sesame paste.  Those were the days!  As numbers grew this became unsustainable.

At one point, a local US-led mission started to provide a full-scale meal of posho (a large dumpling made of maize flour) and stewed beans for every school child in Nimule.  Unfortunately that plan broke down because of the greed of some schools, who enhanced their figures so that they could give food to the families of their teachers as well.  After a warning, which was ignored, the mission cancelled their feeding programme.

Collapse of old kitchen in freak 
weather

We tried to feed our children through donations, but have never been able to manage completely, leaving periods with no school food.  In some cases this has caused children to drop out of school because the poverty of their families is such that they really rely on that meal.

At the beginning of 2019 the World Food Program, with Plan International as their local partners, stepped in to provide school meals.  We were expected to provide a self-contained food store as well as a permanent kitchen, completely without notice.  At that time, neither of these had been built and we had no funds to do so.  Previously we had always stored our food off-site in HUMAES’s store, which was more secure.  Cooking was done in a bamboo shed, which eventually collapsed in a high wind (see picture).  We asked Plan International to deliver the food to HUMAES, pointing out that security was a problem at the school and that several other schools had lost their food to thieves, sometimes at gunpoint.  Plan International refused.  Our inability to instantly provide the desired food store and kitchen meant that Plan International refused to help after an initial three weeks.  We continued to fund food through donations, but it was a very big struggle.  Money we had earmarked for construction work had to be spent on food instead.  Shockingly, I later saw a report in which Plan claimed to have continued feeding our school right through the year and into the Covid year.

Food store while under construction.

During the Covid lockdown we built a new kitchen and food store, so that we would be ready for Plan International if they should come again.  Luckily enough, when school reopened in May 2021, Plan International came back to offer us food again.  This time the food consisted of maize, sorghum, beans and cow peas (which is similar to dhal).  We really basked in the luxury of variety of food.  Predictably enough, this time there was a demand that we construct a firewood store, which we did, and feeding continued throughout the school year.

Cooking 'hobs' in the new kitchen.

Yesterday I called Plan International to ask when they would deliver the next batch of food, as all our food was finished.  I was told that because of the crisis in Ukraine, the donors had decided to pull out of South Sudan and focus on feeding the Ukrainian refugees.  They hadn’t thought to inform the schools.  We are set for another ‘hunger gap’ until we can find a way forward.  We now have 240 pupils, so the need is great.

Please can I ask for regular monthly donations towards food for the school?  Please contact me on rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk if you would like a gift aid form or have any suggestions of ways in which we can move forward. 

 

A new school year begins - or does it?

We held registrations in the last two weeks of March, ready for the new school year, which began on 4^th April.  Last year the school year began in May.  My understanding was that each year the school year would shift back until it reached its pre-Covid norm of January.

According to the South Sudanese system, pupils move to the next year group using their end-of-year exam results, not according to age.  This is necessary for three main reasons.  One is because there are no resources to give extra help to slow learners.  The second reason is that because of the instability of the country, there is no statutory age for starting school.  Thirdly, families often have no money for school fees and need their children to assist with money-generating activities just in order to survive.  Many children never attend school as a result, but some finally get a chance when the family is more stable. 

Our school is the only one which does not charge school fees in the Nimule area and quite possibly in the whole country.  To give just one example, this year we have an 11 year old girl starting school for the first time.  She is an orphan who previously lived with her grandmother but is now working as a live-in babysitter for one of our teachers, who has promised that she will be allowed to study regularly.  Hopefully we will be able to help her to progress at an accelerated rate, although this will depend on her level of ability.  Across the school the age range is currently from 5 to 18.  Fortunately the majority of those of 17 - 18 years old are fast learners and are in the highest two classes.

After working out who was to be in which class according to the end-of-year results, I found that most classes were full, with the only spaces in nursery, Primary 5 and Primary 7.  Each year since 2015, when the school started, we have added a new class to cater for those at the upper end of the school.  This year is our first year with a Primary 7 class.  Next year will be our first year with a full primary school.  Primary 8 is the final year of primary school in South Sudan and ends with a major national exam called the Primary Leaving Certificate.  Without passing this exam, pupils cannot go to secondary school.

As happens every year, we were overwhelmed with applicants for school places.  Because of the sheer weight of numbers we always have to be very strict with our school criteria of HIV, disability and orphans.  It makes my heart bleed that we cannot help more families, but we simply lack the capacity.  It is also important not to have classes that are too large to teach.

We are not just paying lip service by putting ‘bums on seats’.  It is very important to me that Cece Primary School should have as high a standard of education as possible.  Literacy is a subject that is not taken seriously in South Sudan.  Teachers are not trained to teach children how to read.  Literacy does not feature in the curriculum textbooks.  Up until now I have been the only person able to teach our children to read.  It has become an increasingly difficult task as the school has expanded.  Thankfully, we have four new teachers who have just joined us, two of whom have taught literacy in Uganda.  Assuming all goes according to plan, we will now be able to teach the lower three classes literacy more efficiently, so that they can go up the school smoothly.

Most of those in the higher classes were taught to read by me when they were new pupils.  They are now fluent readers.  This is unheard-of in any of the other local primary schools.  In order to keep that standard in their classes, and to ensure that they pass their Primary Leaving Certificate exams later on, we set entrance exams for those wanting to enter the school at the higher levels.  This year, all those requesting places in Primary 5 or Primary 7 did entrance exams.  The vast majority failed because they were completely unable to read, making it impossible to accept them.  In the end we were able to admit four pupils to Primary 5, but none to Primary 7.  There was one girl who failed the exam for Primary 7, but did not do too badly, so we have squeezed her into Primary 6.  It upsets me very much that all these pupils have been so badly let down by their country’s schools, but even so, we really cannot admit them to a class where they would be completely unable to cope and there is no space to admit them in the lower classes.

The illiteracy rate in South Sudan is 67%, amongst the highest in the world.  When this figure is broken down, 90% of women are illiterate.  Schools are for the wealthy, but even so are severely sub-standard.  It is very hard to find competent, well-trained teachers.  How will this country ever progress if the situation remains as it is? 

As I write, there are rumblings in the capital city, Juba, of a renewal of fighting between the rival government factions.  War has been the major cause of the extreme poverty of the families we are trying to help.  I am proud to say that our school started in spite of war and has expanded in spite of war.  We will not give up, but do need your help.  We are very fortunate that up until now our immediate area has not been directly affected, except by people fleeing from elsewhere.

Cece Primary School is intended to help the most vulnerable and poverty-stricken children to break out of the cycle of poverty by providing a school without school fees or other burdensome requirements.  The school is also intended to give an example to other schools in South Sudan of what can be achieved on a tight budget.  The school therefore has no ‘frills’.  There are few books and no electricity.  This has a side benefit of making the school less attractive to thieves (of which there are many).

The major need at the moment is for regular donations towards staff salaries.  We now have thirteen teachers and three cooks.  The number of children has risen to 250, 50 of whom are new to the school.  Those who are new will need school uniforms.  We receive food from the World Food Program but still need to buy firewood in order to cook it.  There are of course ongoing administrative and stationery needs too.

I am delighted to say that we are in the process of building a much-needed new classroom with a very generous donation from one of our supporters.  This will certainly help tremendously, as currently we are having to operate in two shifts in order to have enough classrooms. 

Having had our first week of teaching, there was a sudden announcement from the Ministry of Education that all schools had to close again until the beginning of May.  It was very disappointing to have to dismiss all the children so soon after starting the new school year.  The reason really only applied to schools in the capital city, which has been experiencing teacher strikes and student unrest.  Yet another stumbling block in South Sudan's education system.

Jennifer, before leaving Nimule

Saluwa came back to Nimule following her operation and did very well in her end of year exams in spite of all her difficulties.  She is now back in Kampala for a second operation.  I did not have a response to my previous appeal and am in severe need of funds to pay for this operation.  Is anybody able to assist?  In the same trip I have visited the deaf children in their various schools.  I also took a new deaf child, a twelve year old girl called Jennifer so that she could join the school near Mbale.  She was very serious during the journey but very quickly settled in as she was welcomed very warmly by the other children.

Visitors are always welcome!  If there are any teachers out there who would like to take a much-needed break from the UK or elsewhere and join us on a voluntary basis, we would love your assistance.  This would suit a person who is very flexible, healthy and able to manage without mod-cons.

Thank you so much for all your help last year.  I hope you will be able to continue to support us.  Please contact me on rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk if you would like a gift aid form or have any suggestions of ways in which we can move forward. 

Saluwa's emergency

I have finally been able to take all the deaf children back to school after two years in which they had only a term each year of education. I am really hoping that this time they will receive a full year’s education with no more sudden school closures. According to Ugandan government policy all of them have to be promoted to the next year of school. This means that they will have missed almost two whole years of the national curriculum. For example, Alau was at the start of Senior 2 in 2020 when the schools closed down. He was promoted to Senior 3 when schools reopened in 2021, but again the schools closed down after only one term. This year he is in Senior 4, which is the O’ level year. Alau wants to become a teacher, which will require him to go on to A’ levels afterwards, but this is dependent on O’ level results. The same rush through the year groups applies to every child in Uganda and is bound to affect standards of education very badly for all children currently of school-going age. I hope that the teachers will take a really holistic approach to make up for the chaos caused by Covid closures. Thankfully this will be easier to do in the case of classes in specialized units, such as those in the primary schools attended by most of our deaf children. 

 At the same time as returning the children to school, I brought a pupil from Cece Primary School as far as Gulu together with her older sister, to act as carer. Her name is Saluwa. She is 17 years old and is in Primary 5 in Nimule. She is an orphan, cared for by her sister, who is not much older than her. Over the past five years she developed a serious eye problem in her left eye. It became progressively more painful until she could no longer see on that side. The eye also slipped downwards making her face a bit lobsided. 

Typically for people in South Sudan it took years for the family to take Saluwa to hospital. The doctor at Nimule Hospital checked her eye and noticed a ‘dark mass’ which he suspected might be a tumour. He made a referral to see an eye specialist in Uganda, but the family lacked the means to take her. Saluwa’s sister came to see me and asked if I could help. I said yes, of course. 

I felt overwhelmed by how much needed to be done. In order to cope, on arrival in Gulu I enlisted the help of a partner organization called Mission Uganda.  Mission Uganda (mentioned in a previous post) assisted me with buying the requirements for the two deaf little boys who were to go to school in Gulu, Joel and Alafi.  Alafi was starting deaf school for the first time. I put the eight pupils bound for Mbale in a taxi so they could continue their journey without me, under the supervision of Alau, with a promise that I would meet up with them at Budaderi Primary School the next day. I also called the headteacher at Budaderi so she was forewarned that they would be arriving unaccompanied by me and without anyone who could hear or speak.  It is a very good thing that Alau is very mature and capable in spite of his deafness.

I then accompanied Saluwa and her sister to Gulu’s referral hospital, which has a very good eye department. Saluwa was referred for a CAT scan, where the tumour behind her eye was very clearly shown. The next appointment was the following day, so I had to leave them and resume my journey to Mbale to meet up with the eight deaf students and complete all their school requirements. 

The tumour over Saluwa's eye socket.

I stayed in contact with Saluwa’s sister as I continued my journey. She put me through to Saluwa’s consultant, Miti Moses, who told me over the phone that the tumour was pushing on her optic nerve and needed to be removed. This would entail a referral to a larger hospital in Kampala for major surgery. As Moses is a consultant in both hospitals and was due to travel to Kampala he agreed to take the two girls with him. The bombshell was that the medical costs would come to five million Uganda Shillings, the equivalent of almost £1,050, which needed to be paid in advance. I had not budgeted for such big expenses. In order to send money for Saluwa’s treatment, which was potentially a matter of life or death, I had to rob Peter to pay Paul. 

I explained the situation to the schools in Mbale and requested that I pay some of the school fees late, although I bought the usual school necessities such as toiletries at once. After saying goodbye to the deaf children at their schools, I travelled on to Kampala. When I arrived at the hospital I found Saluwa’s sister in a very distressed state. Neither of the sisters had ever travelled so far afield. They felt very foreign and daunted by the modernity of everything they saw. Coming from a very insular tribal community they were deeply suspicious of everything, including the hospital staff. A further 3D CAT scan revealed that the tumour was attached to the skull, not the eye as previously thought, and was made of hard tissue. In removing it the eye socket would need to be reshaped. I was due to take a flight to the UK, but the operation had still not taken place. This was a great worry to me. I asked HUMAES, my partner organization in Nimule, to take responsibility for keeping in contact with the consultant and with Saluwa’s sister and also to liaise regarding extra expenses, which were definitely going to be needed. 

Saluwa has now had her operation. A biopsy revealed that the tumour is of a type called osteoma, which is benign. She had another CAT scan which showed that she will need further surgery as some of the tumour is still there.  That will be done in April.  She has now been discharged. Her eye is swollen but she will regain her eyesight. I am truly thankful that Uganda has such good hospitals and especially for the help of her eye consultant Miti Moses. I want to thank Mission Uganda and HUMAES so much for their help for Saluwa and her sister and for me. As you will see, I had a huge amount to do, with tight deadlines, making the whole episode very difficult logistically. I could not have managed alone.

 

Saluwa waits for her operation.

Saluwa is a very bright pupil who has always done very well at school. I should explain that it is quite normal in South Sudan for pupils to start school very late due to both family and the country’s dire circumstances, which is why she is still at primary school at the age of 17. Her great worry from her hospital bed has been missing lessons. I am sure that she will be keen to thank donors herself via the internet at HUMAES office once she is back in Nimule. 

Is anyone able to donate towards Saluwa’s medical care? Because it was an emergency situation, costs had to be taken out of unintended budgets, such as regular school funds and the deaf children’s sponsorship money. All the deaf pupils’ school fees have now been paid. As mentioned, there will be further medical costs as Saluwa will need a second operation in April and reviews. 

We have had a donation of £1,000 from a very generous donor, which has gone part of the way. The full cost has come to a little over £2,000. This is the first time we have had a pupil at Cece Primary School in such need of help. We have twelve pupils with HIV, but their condition is well controlled with drugs from the local hospital and to look at them you would never guess that they had any health problems at all. There are also children with minor hearing or sight impairments, but who are getting on fine. 

I have been reassured by Opportunity through Education (our supporting charity) that OTE’s overarching criteria for assistance is relief of poverty. As nothing could have been done for Saluwa without the help she has received and she will be enabled to reach her educational potential, there is no problem from that perspective. My email address is rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk. Please get in touch if you are able to help.

Christmas Greetings

Dear all, 

 I hope you have a lovely and restful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Looking at the news, I can see that this year in the UK has been a second year of great difficulties with Covid. I do hope this improves in 2022. As far as Covid is concerned South Sudan has been probably one of the least affected countries in the world, so we have really been very fortunate. Of course, objective figures have been masked by lack of testing and general problems of poor infrastructure and logistics. However, it is still remarkable that a country with such poor health infrastructure can be so little affected compared with countries such as Britain or America which have plenty of medical resources. There are always a lot of funerals here, but this hasn’t noticeably increased. Most people are not complying with the Covid regulations, largely because of the far more pressing problems faced by South Sudanese on a daily basis – such as where to find the next meal. If people are living from hand-to-mouth, there is no way they can self-isolate. They simply must cultivate and sell their crops or starve. It is extremely rare for anyone to have the luxury of a room of their own, so isolation at home is not physically possible in any case. Another major reason for lack of compliance is that many people view Covid as ‘Satanic’. Anything to do with it is shunned – Covid testing, facemasks, handwashing, social distancing and vaccines. Some even propagate the myth that the sign of Satan (666) will appear on a person’s arm after receiving the vaccine, or that they will die soon afterwards. This is having a very serious effect on vaccine take-up in Uganda too, which will unavoidably lead to many teachers leaving the profession and stop many older pupils from finishing their education. I have personally seen young people who were mid-course, unable or unwilling to complete their courses because of the mandatory vaccine requirement. Enough about Covid! 

Private maths lesson for Alice

For me, a great highlight of the last few months has been the teaching of a few of our deaf children by the eldest, Alau, who is the only one at secondary level. The picture shows Alau teaching Alice. He has decided that he wants to become a teacher for the deaf when he leaves school. This will involve doing a teacher training course at a specialist training college. He particularly wants to teach in South Sudan because there is no help for deaf children here. I am hoping that once he is qualified we can open a deaf unit in our school and stop sending primary level deaf children to Uganda. We would be able to help more children at a smaller cost and without the long journeys and school fees. We have been paying him out of what should have been school fees for the deaf children if their schools had been open. Thankfully Alau has been vaccinated so he will be able to move ahead with his plans.

 

Foundations for a block of 4 classrooms

Another achievement was the building of foundations for a new block of classrooms. This is just a large slab of concrete right now, but hopefully we will be able to raise funds so that classrooms can be built in the not too distant future. 

Our contribution to the anti-Covid effort has been to have school in two shifts. This has had the added benefit of making the school less crowded and quieter. However, some parents of ‘afternoon’ pupils complain that their children are not attending because they dislike coming in the afternoons. Once we have more classrooms, we will be able to rethink our school day. 

Schools in South Sudan have just broken up for a two week Christmas break. On our last day, the lower school (who operate in the mornings) all did Christmas story related activities. I was teaching Primary 2. We told each other the story of the nativity and then improvised a Christmas play. There were a lot of applicants to be Mary, Joseph and the Angel Gabriel. The smallest boy in the class was the baby Jesus. The sight of some of our boys who are almost street urchins being angels with flapping wings was very funny. In the afternoon, the upper school was very poorly attended and so we played board games together. I had very recently taught some of the oldest pupils to play Scrabble. This is a huge success and very educational for them too, helping with vocabulary, spelling, spelling rules, strategic planning etc. We have three sets of Scrabble and also several of Lotto. They were donated by UNICEF. 

We go back to school straight after the New Year. However, I will be in Uganda for the first week as our school opening coincides with the post-Covid reopening in Uganda. I will need to take all the deaf children back to school. Thank you all for your support for the school during 2021. I am really so grateful, particularly at such a difficult time for all of you. 

Once again wishing you a lovely Christmas.

World AIDS Day 2021

On the first of December World AIDS Day was celebrated in Nimule. This is held every year and is very close to the hearts of many because Nimule is one of the most seriously affected places in South Sudan. The main reasons for this are that Nimule is a stopover for many truck drivers coming from Uganda, who lodge in what amount to brothels, and also because polygamy is the traditional norm in all the local tribes. As families with HIV are the main target group for our school, Cece Primary School always takes part.

Primary 5 and Primary 6, our two highest classes, took part. This year our pupils surpassed themselves. By popular request they repeated a performance of a poem and song which we composed as a class exercise several years ago on the subject of the devastation caused by HIV. This was followed by a new song called ‘AIDS you are merciless’. Our school finished the day by performing a Madi traditional dance in the lyrics of which a girl is warned not to go to the disco because she can end up with HIV. This contribution was our first performance of a traditional dance. It was taught to the children by one of our new teachers, Habiba. Afterwards we were complimented by many people on how well our children had done. I have to say that I was very proud.

You may notice from the photos that the majority of performers were girls. I am finding that as adolescence hits our pupils, the boys have become very resistant to taking part in singing, dancing or drama. I was glad to see that this wears off. One of the secondary schools which took part produced a comedy drama about a schoolboy who went off the rails and ended up with HIV. The ratio of boys to girls was roughly equal. In spite of the subject matter, it really was very funny. Thank you all for making it possible for our children to go to school in the first place. All other schools in Nimule are fee-paying, with a lot of additional financial requirements as well. Our particular children, those from families with HIV, disabilities and orphans, are the least likely to be able to attend school under normal circumstances because these problems all create destitution.

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.