Visit to St Matia Mulumba School
February 2019
Education is a lifesaver. This is particularly evident in Uganda in the areas in which EVC works. Last November, our Vice Chairman, Gordon, visited Masaka with his wife Philomena (Phil). It was their first visit to Uganda; a wonderful and life-changing trip which they’ll remember forever.
Gordon and Phil would like to share some of their experiences in a series of blogs, starting with their visit to the schools:
It was our great pleasure and privilege to visit Uganda for two weeks in November 2018 and witness EVC operations as a Trustee on behalf of the charity. It was also our first visit to Uganda.
The welcome and hospitality was overwhelming. Everyone repeatedly expressed their thanks for all the sponsorships and donations we raise in the UK.
It was an action-packed couple of weeks, with not a minute’s downtime. We visited the two primary schools we support, St Matia Mulumba and St Kizito. We accompanied the outreach teams who visit the children’s homes and met parents and grandparents. We visited EVC sponsored students at nearly all their secondary schools.
There is so much to write about, but here are a few words on St Matia Mulumba Primary School:
School from the main entrance with the main classroom block on the left and the new girls’ dormitory on the right
Only seven years ago the school consisted of a few dozen children. Through a generous donation, the main classroom block was constructed.
The main classroom block with the children
Currently, 115 of the 345 children at St Matia Mulumba are sponsored. 260 children are in primary education and 85 in nursery. There are 15 teachers.
The children are all well behaved, respectful and grateful for their education, and rightly so as there is excellent teaching in the schools!
In 2017 and 2018 EVC Uganda funded a girls’ dormitory with showers and toilets. We officially opened the dormitory on 24th November at a grand ceremony with the local MP, the Diocesan Education Secretary and also some local TV coverage.
The new girls’ dormitory, now complete
Grand opening of the girls' dormitory, with Fr John Fisher, the Diocesan Education Secretary
Also last year, EVC, in association with St Joseph’s Parish in Bedford, funded a water borehole and pump for the school. The children no longer need to collect water daily from a nearby polluted pond and for the first time they have clean drinking water. Once the pump is fully operational, in a few weeks’ time, we plan to offer clean water to the local villagers of Kyankoole.
There is much more to be done for the school, a new boys’ dormitory similar to what the girls now have, another classroom block to reduce class sizes and provide facilities for vocational and IT training and a dining and assembly hall as currently cooking and eating takes place outdoors.
Phil and Gordon thoroughly enjoyed their time spent visiting the well-behaved children at their schools. They were touched by the generosity, warmth and friendliness of the children and people everywhere.
The next blog in this series will be concentrating on their home visits, showing the extreme poverty in those deprived communities.