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How you can help
Children praying as
they prepare to start the farewell concert for a volunteer
- Volunteer at Kyabirwa Primary
School
Read on to learn about
volunteering at the Kyabirwa Primary School Volunteer Project near
Bujagali Falls, Jinja, Uganda. All profits from the
very small volunteer
fee will help to develop the
school.
Volunteers can undertake a variety of work at the school from every form and
subject of teaching
or sports coaching to building work, carpentry - constructing much needed storage cupboards
and shelves, buildings maintenance, electrical wiring, painting, etc.
You can simply make a
donation to the Project which will be added to the fund until there is
sufficient to
pay for one of the items on the long list of things
the school needs.
Donations may be sent via
Western Union or directly to the school's project bank account.
For full details of how to
transfer money please look for the 'How to make a Donation
Document' on the Volunteer Documents page of this website.
100% of donations will be spent on providing
equipment and developing the school. There aren't
any middle men.
Prior to
making the donation, donors will agree with staff how their donation will be
spent and be
provided with photographic
evidence of the completion of their project.
Some volunteers raise funds prior to coming. They then use
these to buy items for the school or
even to initiate a big project. In the case of a big project such as the
water tank, kindly donated
by Gemma Rickman , the initial arrangement work can be achieved prior to
the donor coming out
to the Project. The donor is then more likely to see the fruits of their efforts completed during
their time with us. Ask the Project Manager if this possibility might apply to something you would
like to provide.
Volunteers don't have to
fund raise and it isn't a criterion for acceptance or being valued when
you're here. We value all our
volunteers, equally.
We recommend that before you fund raise for something you would like to help us with, you discuss
it with Moses just in case someone else is already raising money for it. It's probable that no-one will
be, or that even if they are it will still be good if you can help if the amount needed is large. As we
need so much, there are sure to be other things we badly need so you will be able to fund raise for
something worthwhile and hopefully see it in place during your time with us.
Examples of what your money could provide:
Accommodation for 4 teachers £4,500 this has been started but badly needs completing
and their families. Each teacher and family would have a unit of 2 rooms.
Block of 3 classrooms £6000
Extension of electrical
wiring £pro rata depending on extent of extension (work only to be
undertaken by qualified electricians)
Filing cabinets for office £100 each
Cupboard for store/office/class £70 or
more depending on size - badly needed for most
classrooms. May be built against existing walls for stability
Chairs for teachers in classrooms £8 each - 15 are needed so that all teachers may be seated
Padlocks for classroom doors £5 each
(large size - essential for security)
Story
books £1/£2 each
Blu Tack for wall mounting charts £1
(protect our walls - we often use glue as Blu Tack is dear)
We also need printer inks for the new school printer, plus reams of A4 paper - which due to its
weight is best bought in country.
Teachers have compiled lists of the current needs for
their subject areas.These lists are also on the Volunteer Documents page of our website.
It's a good
idea for volunteers to accompany staff when they make purchases with their
donations as it provides insight into the commercial life of Uganda and helps
volunteers to feel totally involved.
Please, don't bring text books from other countries as the
Ugandan curriculum will be different. Please, also don't bring culturally
inappropriate or out of date reading books.
It's impossible to
send items by post as they weigh too much. Airlines are now resistant to giving
extra luggage allowance or making space
available on flights.
Therefore, there is a limit to how
much can be brought from abroad. In fact there are good arguments for not
taking most items.
Many items are better bought in Uganda where their manufacture and purchase provides local
income
and employment. Kenya Airways has an excellent luggage allowance of 2 x 23kgs p.p.
The
following items could be taken out by volunteers going to the school  so that the children (and teachers) can receive ICT instruction:-
1. Second hand laptops
with their chargers - working
2. Second hand digital cameras with chargers - working
3. Second hand mobile phones with charger - working
4. Data sticks - second hand, working order
5. Trailing multi-point electrical sockets - these
must be
surge proof due to the
volatile nature of the supply in
Uganda and also to the electrical/thunder storms.
Uganda voltage is 220 volts - the same as the UK
6. A DVD player and a TV - both of which would
need buying in Jinja - where there is a PC World now! A computer lesson with a volunteer's notebook
7. Blank DVDs and CDs, Educational DVDs and CDs. Films must not be a higher rating than 12+.
Items for the staff room
These
items would be wonderful for staff to have as a staff 'library' in the
staff room. Teachers only earn £55 a month from which they support
their vast unemployed extended families. So they can't afford to buy a newspaper let alone a magazine.
Consequently, they know very little about the world at large.
If you took secondhand magazines such as New Scientist, National
Geographic, broadsheet newspapers etc. teachers would read them avidly and
learn a lot which would then inform their teaching. Perhaps someone
might find free standing bookshelves in Jinja to put them on or
plastic baskets to sort them by subject or title.
Moses has a very old DVD player which he can use when his generator is working. So, you could take DVDs for him to play. Please only take DVDs with content suitable for small children.
No sex, violence, drugs or anything else that might frighten or
corrupt. David Attenborough type documentaries are ideal. Staff and
neighbours would come to watch these too.
Most of the items listed on this page, are small enough that they can be packaged to
go as an extra luggage allowance for which you will need to apply to the
airline, or carried in volunteers' backpacks as part of carry on luggage. Some airlines
actually allow you two suitcases in addition to carry on luggage - for example:
Kenya Airways and KLM - 23kgs x 2 per person checked in luggage plus 10kgs carry on!
IT items would make a big difference to the
teachers ability to make teaching resources, keep records, track progress etc.
Pupils would be able to learn computer skills including making
documents and data presentation.
If you
have any such items or can collect them before coming everyone
at the school would be very grateful.
The school now has limited
electricity installed in several rooms and the office, thanks to the
hard work of volunteers. Volunteer funds help to pay for the electricity
supply. Even with only seven laptops (which are completely ancient) and
limited electricity, teachers are learning to use computers and are
passing on their skills to the children. You too can help with teaching
both adults and children. The more equipment is donated, the more
children will be able to access it. So please donate even old laptops if
you can!
In your enthusiasm to help us we ask that you do not approach
other organisations
and NGOs in Uganda to ask them for help for our school. Whilst being
very poor and accepting help when appropriate, we are keen to retain our
autonomy and our ability to be self - determining. So we do ask our
volunteers not to do this without fully
consulting Moses Owino in the first instance. Moses will then consult
the Head Teacher, school staff and the School's Management Committee
after which he will communicate their response to you.
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