UK Friends of Nyakasura
Sandy Inglis, the architect of the new Computer/Library block at Nyakasura School, flew to Uganda on July 21st. He was met at the airport by Patrick Davey, Vice-Chancellor of the Mountains of the Moon University in Fort Portal, who fortuitously was also meeting someone else on the same flight, and travelling back to Fort Portal that day.
Saturday
Adolf Kahuma picked Sandy up at the Ruwenzori View Guest House and they took a taxi out to the school. They met the Headmaster, had a good look at the site and saw the new dormitory and toilet block. They discovered that there is still no water flowing - in fact the main school tank was empty, which is a regular occurrence in the dry season. A walk down to the ram pump (near the swimming pool) revealed that the ram has not been working for some time, and the swimming pool is empty and unused. The problem seems to be that the water flow has become silted up over the years and if it was dug out, there would be sufficient water to get the ram started again and to fill the swimming pool as well. Adolf is now looking into the cost of getting this done.
Sunday
Sandy and Adolf took a day off and visited Ndale Lodge.
Monday
Sandy and Adolf went back to Nyakasura and did a “condition report” on a number of buildings including classrooms and dormitories. Sandy was invited to dinner with Adolf and his family and much enjoyed their hospitality.
Tuesday
The Headmaster David Ocan, Adolf and Sandy went to see Bishop Kisembo, Chairman of the Board of Governors. They toured the Ruwenzori Construction workshop, and later went to the metal workshop at St Joseph’s College where Sandy was able to satisfy himself that the metalwork for the computer lab could be done locally. Mr Kaliba, the owner of Kaliba Metal, who built the girls’ dormitory, took Adolf and Sandy out to a Primary School which they had built to a high standard. Adolf then took Sandy to the hospital to see whether he could offer any advice or solution to a sewage problem there.
Wednesday
The Head took Sandy over to Canon Apolo TTC where he saw paving stones made of local concrete blocks. He plans to use these round the outside of the building. They also looked at Canon Apolo’s 2-storey computer/library block, and saw the solar panels used for background lighting in the event of a power failure. Then the Headmaster took Adolf and Sandy down to Semliki to see the Hot Springs – a very full day!
Thursday
Adolf and Sandy toured the town looking at bricks and concrete blocks to assess what would be the most suitable building material to use, before returning to the school to continue with the condition report. Mr Kaliba unexpectedly turned up to take them down to Mweya Lodge for lunch, a tour of the saltworks and a very fast return to Ruwenzori View where Sandy was expecting Mr and Mrs Ocan for dinner…
Friday
Unsurprisingly Sandy spent most of the day in bed, though this was mainly due to a tummy bug rather than total exhaustion. Ineke (owner of Ruwenzori View) went down with malaria on the same day and an evening party had to be cancelled. Sandy met Craig and Ruth Hampton in the evening - they were also visiting the school.
Saturday
A relatively quiet day, Sandy arranged transport back to Kampala for the following day to catch the flight early Monday morning.
All in all, a most successful and constructive fact-finding visit and we are all grateful to Adolf for taking the whole week off to look after Sandy, who is now working on the detailed plans for the new building. We also owe our most heartfelt thanks to Sandy who is so generously giving us his time and expertise and has made many friends in Fort Portal. We hope he will return for the opening of the building, if not before!