UK Friends of Nyakasura
Current projects
Click here to see a report on UKFON projects completed, in progress or planned
The waterfall, next to the swimming pool
The electrician installing new lights in the dining hall
The dining hall freshly painted
Classes in progress in the computer lab with the new machines sent in the container
Plan view of the new library and computer block
(Click the image to see a larger one in a new window.)
Throughout 2006, UK Friends of Nyakasura are funding numerous projects mainly involving rehabilitation of existing school buildings and improvement of the academic facilities such as the library, classrooms, science labs and computer lab.
Pat Heathcote has been working at the school since January and has been able to carry out an assessment of the school’s most urgent needs. The upshot of this assessment is that for the immediate future, plans for the new computer and library block have been put on hold. Priority has to be given to the safety and health of the students, followed by the upgrading of current academic facilities and finally the building of new facilities.
Health and safety
Water
The water supply to the school is inadequate and unreliable. The large ram pump has not worked for some time and the small ram pump needs spare parts. The ‘gravity feed’ system coming from the Ruwenzori mountains (installed in the 90s) is unreliable and apparently the school tank is too high for the water to flow into it most of the time. Consequently the water supply from the main school water tank is closed off for most of the day, with only the kitchen receiving a limited water supply in the middle of the day. The students fetch water from the river for their own use.
None of the dormitories had any running water in January 2006. Sinks were smashed and all taps were either missing or broken. The shower areas had not been painted in years and the shower doors were missing, hanging off their hinges or rotting away.
Action taken:
- Spare parts have been obtained for both ram pumps and these should be working again by the end of May. A large water tank has been purchased for the girls’ compound to act as a local reservoir.
- Showers and taps have been installed in all dormitories, plumbing reconnected and shower areas renovated. (See Recent News for photographs.)
- Kitchen taps and plumbing have been repaired.
Much work remains to be done. The flush toilets and septic tank systems will be renovated later this year.
Power
The power situation in Uganda is awful. The mains power is on only every alternate day, as there is simply not enough power being generated for the country’s needs. The school is therefore without power during the day on alternate days, and reliant on an old and unreliable generator to provide light after 7pm in the evenings. The wiring in the school is at best inadequate and at worst dangerous. As there are no locks on any doors (the doors and windows all being so old they will not even close) the villagers come in during the holidays and steal the light fittings, switches and wiring.
The new Joan Perrens dormitory was gutted by fire last November, caused by a girl using a candle at night. Fortunately there was no loss of life. In March a fire (again started by a candle) destroyed a dormitory in a primary school in Fort Portal and more than 20 children tragically lost their lives.
The Joan Perrens dormitory has now been rebuilt and will be reoccupied in May. In order to lessen the likelihood of another fire being caused by a candle, solar lighting is being provided to every dormitory. However, before this can be done, every single exterior door to every dormitory has to be repaired or replaced, and locks fitted, or the batteries and inverters will simply be stolen. This work is now in progress.
Plans are progressing for rebuilding the micro hydro generation plant that used to operate at the school in the 1930s-50s (near the swimming pool).
Academic environment
Morning prep (5am-6-30am) and evening prep ( 7pm-10pm) takes place in the dining hall and classrooms. There was only one working fluorescent bulb in the dining hall at the beginning of term. When the mains power is off and the school generator is not working, the school is in total darkness after daylight hours. Therefore, the dining hall wiring was repaired, nine new fluorescent tubes fitted, and a small generator purchased to that light could be provided in the Dining Hall (which can seat up to 500 students) when there was no other power. This has worked brilliantly. The dining hall has also been painted and the roof repaired.
A second small generator was purchased for the girls’ compound, where they have a ‘reading room’ for prep, (though this lacks furniture) and this also provided light to the dormitories. The new solar power lighting will probably make this generator redundant but it will be very useful in other areas of the school.
The computer room has been set up with 20 computers donated by Thurston School, Suffolk, which arrived on the container, and this is proving enormously popular. It will enable many more computer classes to take place – when there is power…
Six blackboards have been repainted, display boards provided for the Art room, and tables and benches are being made for the girls’ prep rooms.
New computer and library block
Plans are being drawn up for this building, which will go below the main building between the existing classrooms. This is a very exciting project - currently on hold - which will be a great morale booster for the school. Computing is on the curriculum in Uganda, with an 'O' Level syllabus not far removed from GCSE in the UK, and Mr Ocan the headmaster has already introduced the subject at Nyakasura, using a few computers in the classroom below the staffroom.
The Suffolk-based architect, Sandy Inglis, went to Uganda on July 21st 2005 to visit the site and talk to the Headmaster, our project manager Adolf Kahuma and other interested parties. He is currently drawing up detailed plans and when these are completed, costings can be calculated.
We will need to consider the best way of furnishing the computer lab. Ideas welcome!