Uganda, Rebuilding the Local Christian School /Dormitory 

Kinoni/Buikwu Village, Lugazzi Province

Article by Dr. Prince Nigwe

We have Christian schools in two different locations, where the Orphans live and attend school. The schools are open to all the children in the village. The one at Kinoni has over four hundred and twenty kids. And at Biukwu over Two hundred and fifty. 

The non-orphan kids are supposed to pay, but their parents are never able to do so because of deep poverty. Almost everybody in the village is a farmer. In Kinoni, about 80 students can meet the minimal tuition, 200 or more are from very poor homes, that cannot afford to pay the minimal tuition and the rest about 150 are orphans, some from HIV parents and don’t pay anything to attend the school. Some of these orphans leave and feed at the school every day. In Biukwu, out of the 250 students, about 150 are orphans and the rest are from very poor homes. only very few parents can the minimal tuition. The school has a staff of about 14 teachers, two matron, two cooks, a bookkeeper, and an administrator. Due to lack of resources, the teachers/staff never receive any compensation or wages for months. It’s only when the parents of the few students that can pay, sell their farm produce and pay the minimal fees. The school is used as the church also.

CMM was able to put a water well for community use and a water flushable (male/female) toilet at the school this year summer, thanks to CMM donors. Most of the people in this village never saw a flushable toilet before now. Their old latrine was terrible, there was great excitement when the toilet was opened last September. The main School is still in a very bad condition as you will see from the photos attached and need immediate rebuilding with basic hygiene.

School and Classroom Upgrading in Biukwe/Kinoni Village

CLASSROOMS/OFFICES:

The wall of the structures are in naked wood plank and roof in aluminum zinc , that’s all they have. The classroom and office floors are naked earth no cement plastering.

In the dry season, the earth floor is dusty and kids suffer from allergy due to dust and have chiggers’ parasites on their foot from the dust.

In the rainy season, rain enters the classes and offices at will because the wooden planks are porous and no walls. The toilets are in bamboo covered with banana cane. 

The good news is that these students (some HIV Orphans), withstand the difficult school environment and make the best result every year in the province.

Immediate Help Needed For:

cement and plaster the classroom floors/teacher’s offices. $8,000

• Raise brick walls in the classrooms $7,000
• Purchase Black boards $ 300 USD
• Purchase classroom benches and tables. $ 1,800 USD
• Solar panel for electricity $ 1,750 USD
• Total Cost For School Renovation =  $17,100.00
• Teachers/Staff Salaries Per Month About $ 1,500 USD per month

Orphans Hostel

The orphan home needs urgent upgrading, but more importantly, we need double-decked beds, mattresses, bed covers and baby beds for the male and female dormitories. Toilets are urgently needed as they still use latrines. Some of the kids sleep with mats on the bare floor. All these articles can be purchased locally.  

IMMEDIATE HELP: We need financial help to purchase beds, mattresses, covers, children beds and to build toilets in the dormitories and school.

Unit Cost: Double deck bed + mattress + cover = $ 50.00. We need a minimum of 15 units.

TOTAL COST: $750.00 USD