NEW Project Uganda Friendship Bracelets

Support the Project Uganda cause by buying this stylish Project Uganda friendship bracelet, woven by a member of the team in the colours of the Ugandan flag, Yellow, Black and Red.

Buy one for just £1.50 including postage and packaging (UK only sorry)

All your money will be put to good use to help in the refurbishment of the Kiringo Secondary School in Uganda.

What Project Uganda means to Oli Watson

This trip for me is going to be life changing, as it gives me the opportunity to see and experience firsthand the contrast between my life and the lives lived by the children of Uganda. It’s difficult to imagine what life can be like for children who have absolutely none of the normal day to day opportunities, school equipment, books and in most circumstances, normal daily comforts that I take for granted.

I know that I will be affected by so many contrasting emotions during the forthcoming trip to Uganda and I know even though it will be hard in some ways, I will come out of the journey with a enhanced and balanced view of life.

I know on our short journey we won’t be able to change the world and the terrible statistics that are the measure of the lives of ordinary Ugandans. We will, however, be able to make a lasting and meaningful difference to a small number of Ugandan children and from our humble beginnings let’s hope that bigger things will grow.

Please give us all the support you can.

What Project Uganda means to James Whelan

My awareness of African poverty was brought about when I was just 8 years of age from TV. That made me think. The scenes I saw drove me into wanting to help them.
I talked my mum into a monthly donation to Oxfam knowing that there are people not as privileged as myself.

When the Uganda Project came about I thought I could play my part. I knew that their situation was in need of our help - so why not make it better?

Having met the rest of the ProjectUganda.co.uk I think we will be brilliant as a team and everyone will benefit from it.

Year 10 were all given the opportunity to say why they wanted to be involved in Project Uganda.

This was my contribution…

Ode to Uganda

I want to see how the Ugandans live,
I know that i have plenty to give,
I want to experience their deprived life style,
I know the trip would be really worthwhile

What is it like living in a dark shed?
I wonder as i lie in my comfy bed,
Good food, clean clothes, a nice warm room,
My privileged life compared to their gloom

In order to understand how the third world lives,
Show me a life of poverty - let me want to give.
Send me to Uganda and make me realise,
The troubles they have through my own eyes

I’ve lived a short life of fourteen years,
Enjoying my life with no real fears,
I want to live their life; I want to share their pain,
If only for two weeks I’ll have so much to gain

It’s a life time chance that I can’t pass,
I will be the envy of the rest of the class
The experience will stay with me for the rest of my days,
I want to help, assist and understand their ways,

To help them improve their standard of living,
I will rely on people to be generous and giving,
I’m set for hard work and eager and willing,
To raise some funds and Ugandan shillings,

To help them build their concrete walls,
I’ll play my part and run some stalls,
I’ll fill some buckets full of gunge,
And invite some teachers to take the plunge,
Beware Sir Alan you’ll be on my list,
And I’ll make sure that i don’t miss!

I would be an ambassador for woodlands school,
Educating them in our customs and rules,
Telling them that I’m a big football fan,
Playing for Allestree and supporting the rams.

So when you fill out your voting slip,
Remember it’s me for this life changing trip,
Look down at the list checking out the names,
And put a big tick in the box next to James.

What Project Uganda means to Fran Walker

A lot of people would describe an experience like this as ‘once in a lifetime’. I would love to agree with that, but I’m afraid I can’t. It’s not a matter of it being a once in a lifetime opportunity, because charities such as Project Uganda cannot just be a one time chance, especially to the people that we, as a team, intend to help.

In 2007, I was given the offer to travel to Uganda and represent Woodlands school for Project Uganda. Since then, the impact in which the Project has had on my life has been immense. There isn’t a day which goes by when I’m not discussing of fundraising ideas with others, or reminiscing of the memories from the previous trip. I still find it hard to grasp the concept that poverty which I have once witnessed is still continuing, and it’s even harder to realise that to the people we are trying to help identify these harsh conditions as every day life.

When we first visited Uganda, we visited a small fishing village nearby the school we were helping. I remember thinking how difficult it was to comprehend that the conditions we have in England and the conditions we were currently trying to trample through were completely contrasted; and yet the people who live here were more or less the same as us. While we were there, we had children running after us, trying to hold our hands and laughing at us, because we were the different ones, they were completely adapted to the poor conditions in which they have lived in all their lives.

It wasn’t until a few weeks after we arrived back in Derby that we realised how much our previous fundraising did for the school we helped. Pauline Latham showed us photos and video footage of Mirembe School of when she returned back to Uganda. The improvement of their conditions was astounding. Instead of raw brick walls and broken tables, the classrooms had plastered walls and repaired stationary, and the Science classroom actually had apparatus and other necessaries.

The reality that the previous trip bestowed upon myself was astonishing, and the first hand experience that I went through will stay with me for a lifetime, as it gives me a deeper insight into what other charities want and try to do. I hope that this year, now that we have a bigger and even more eager team, that we will be able to raise more money than we did last time, and hopefully when I return to Uganda I’ll be able to use my previous experience and make a bigger and better impact to the people I hope to aid.

Thank you!

What Project Uganda means to Shelley Reynolds

I know that going to Uganda will be such an amazing, life changing experience; seeing the huge contrasts in the way Ugandans live and we live.

We take so many things for granted, such as our health and our education. In Uganda 66 Infants die out of every 1000, whereas in the UK only five infants out of a 1000 born, will lose their life. The average life expectancy in Uganda – male or female - is 52 years of age; in the UK it is 78 years. In the UK we spend 16 years in school - sometimes resenting it - when in Uganda each child has chores to complete before walking for miles to get to a school that is badly equipped and poorly maintained. We are privileged to have the chance to be educated and to grow up, in a safe environment. This is our time to give Ugandan children the same chance.

Although I realise I can’t increase Uganda’s life expectancy or decrease infant mortality, I know that giving a student simple things like pens and pencils, allows them more access to knowledge, and therefore a chance to improve their lives and achieve what they want without being held back by poverty.

This trip already means so much to me and as I hear more and more about what it’s going to involve, I know that the whole experience will really affect me and influence me and I promise that everything I learn from the people that I meet will be used to the absolute max to help others in the future.

I am so happy to have the chance to go to Uganda with great group of people, to a totally different culture and in some small way make a difference.

Thank you for visiting our blog and please help us by donating whatever you can.

What Project Uganda means to Amy Wicks

Apart from being one of the most emotionally draining weeks of my life, it was incredible to have the chance not to just put the money in the collection box, but to see where it goes and how it helps people.

At first it didn't seem fair that just because these children lived in Uganda, they couldn't have an education. However knowing how much we contributed to their future and well being made all the fundraising and hard work worth it. It puts into perspective how careless we are with our possessions in England. Moaning at home about not having the next upgrade on your phone, compared to an African child cherishing the pencil that you have given them was extremely touching.

Experiencing firsthand the suffering of Ugandans, and having to walk away is the main reason for me wanting to return and thankfully this year we will with a bigger team, more experience, and therefore more help for these people.

What Project Uganda means to James Raynor

I became involved in the project over two years ago, and the impact it’s made on my life is profound. I got involved in the project, through the good graces of my School Year; it’s given me the chance to see other cultures, to put my own life in perspective, but most importantly to actively and effectively help people in Uganda. These people, now friends, due to their place of birth, have a totally different existence to my own.

I met students the same age as me, who in order to be educated, woke up at five o’clock in the morning, fetched water for their family, walked up to six miles bare foot over horrendous terrain to arrive at school at nine o’clock. They would then have an eight hour day of sitting in dark rooms, without water, decent equipment and in some cases food. They were sharing pencils, one between three and were two years behind on their course.

We managed to change all this; we delivered materials in order to build and equip a science lab, without which the school would’ve closed. The project delivered a stock pile of equipment ranging from more pens and pencils than they knew what to do with, through to books, through to a globe, these students finally knew where they were on the planet. We bought a water butt for the school so all children can drink whenever they need to. We plastered the school buildings and painted them white; this combined with solar energy and lighting means that students are working in a brighter happier environment. All this is sustainable for future generations, and because of the outside help the school received, it’s no more expensive for students.

When you stand with a group of small children around you, holding your hand and not wanting to let go, you begin to understand the huge impact the project’s work has achieved. What hit me the hardest was knowing that the money we raised really did change people’s lives, that without us these people could have had a totally, brutally different existence, and that through a bit of work and the kind donations of people from the U.K. a community is much better off.
A man in Uganda said to me “Education is a way out of poverty”, that stuck with me through to today. We want to extend our work to other school’s in Uganda and help as many as we possibly can. So please give as much as you can, it truly does make a huge difference.

Thank you.

First team picture

Today the Project Uganda team got together to discuss fund raising activities and to have their first group picture taken !

From left to right we have Pauline Latham, Shelley Reynolds, Oli Watson, Ciara Nation, James Whelan, Fran Walker, Simon Hollingsworth, Amy Wicks, James Raynor and last but not least Becky Jepson.

Over the coming months the team will be participating in many different events to raise funds to help the Ugandan schools they will visit in July.

If you would like to help today simply click the donate button on the web site

THANK YOU !

Project Uganda team to run the Derby 10k

On the 19th April a team of enthusiastic runners will be donning their Project Uganda T-shirts and lycra running shorts and attempting to complete the Derbyshire Building Society 10k race. From left to right in the picture, Duncan Watts, Dave Judge, Matt Pluck, Martyn Fisher and Michael Booth will also attempt to raise a much money as possible for Project Uganda.

The boys are already training hard to ensure they complete the 10k in as short a time as possible.

To encourage them to train harder and run faster they need your help and support in the form of a donation.

So please please help them to help Project Uganda by clicking the donate button and making a donation using either a credit card or a Paypal account.

Thank you - every little helps!

Project Uganda- the story so far

Project Uganda began in 2006 when Pauline Latham approached Woodlands School in Allestree, Derby and The Ecclesbourne School in Duffield, Derbyshire to see if they would like to become involved in taking aid out to a school in Uganda. The plan was to take two students from each school plus a teacher to show them how students and their parents value education as a way of getting themselves out of poverty. Both schools were enthusiastic.

Following that the selection process began with all pupils in both Year 10’s invited to prepare a presentation to give to the School Council at Woodlands and to their whole year group at Ecclesbourne. The presentations were voted on and the students selected. This was a wonderful lesson in democracy. Those voting were told to vote for the person who would best represent the school and be their ambassador, not necessarily their best friend. Those elected were James Rayner, Joe Biggs, Fran Walker and Amy Wicks. The teacher selected by non democratic means was Alan Brady who is the headteacher from Woodlands School

Once selected the parents became involved and the fund raising began! The group were given some grant aid from various trust funds to start them off but the task of raising around £10,000 was a daunting one. Bag packing was done at Asda, Morrisons and Somerfield supermarkets, with a car wash at the drive through MacDonald’s, a Hip-hop dance was organised, sponsored running by James, designer bags were made, ribbons were made with the Ugandan flag colours for students to buy, muffins were sold, non-uniform days organised and many more activities organised to raise money. It was all hard work but great fun giving the students plenty of time to ‘bond’ before their life changing trip to Uganda.

Many more lessons were learnt than expected. Students from each year group helped in the fund raising which brought together students from the two schools which have a traditional rivalry. This divide has now been broken down in the year groups involved with long standing friendships now established. It wasn’t unusual for 40 or more students to go into town to the cinema after all helping with the car washing or the bag packing. The heads of the two schools exchange ideas and have learnt from each other which may well not have happened before.

As well as the hard work of fund raising, the students, their parents, Jackie Roe, the enthusiastic Year 10 tutor at Ecclesbourne who didn’t go to Uganda but was always there to help and Sir Alan as he became known went to the Mayor Making ceremony when Pauline Latham became the Mayor of the City of Derby.

The students went with Pauline and Sir Alan to London to organise their visas at the Ugandan Embassy then went onto meet David Cameron for a short discussion about their trip followed by tea with Lord Sheikh, in the House of Lords, himself a Ugandan Asian who had been thrown out by Idi Amin in the 1960’s. The students went with Pauline onto Radio Derby to explain what they were doing and to appeal for old hand sewing machines to be donated. They were then serviced by Cllr Sean Marshall who has a business with sewing machines. He did this free for the project.

A businessman, Neville Baxter of RH Group from Nottingham who has a freight business flew all these plus some computers and other donated articles out to Entebbe without charge.

Once in Uganda the real life changing trip began.

Mirembe Secondary School was the real focus because the group had taken a lot of cash out to spend on things that the school wanted which would improve the educational chances of their students. Mirembe is a school which the local community built because they wanted all their children to have an education. It is situated in between other government funded schools which are too far for children to walk to. As it is the Mirembe students have to walk up to six miles each way a day, after doing their chores at home, to get to school. There is a Primary School next to it which is government funded.

On the first visit to Mirembe the group met the Headteacher, Kyobe Petersen, his two teacher colleagues, the PTA, the governors, the pupils from the primary school and the Mirembe pupils. The welcome received was quite overwhelming. Many of the adults had travelled through the bush to meet the group and waited, in the hot sun, for several hours until the minibus arrived. Everyone else was sitting in the heat but they had erected an awning for their ‘VIP’ visitors to sit under. In front of the awning was a huge banner welcoming Pauline as the Mayor of Derby and everyone with her.

The school had organised singing by the Primary School, speeches by their various dignitaries, poetry and most impressive a play written and performed by the Ugandan students. The subject was ‘Corruption in the NHS’, not ours but theirs. Of course, Pauline as the then Mayor of Derby had to respond to the speeches as did Sir Alan. Then a huge meal was served for about 400 people, which had been cooked on an open fire by some local women. The large stew contained chunks of meat which they probably didn’t usually eat because it is a poor community. Fried plantains, potatoes and a mealy type of dish accompanied the stew. It is difficult to imagine how anyone manages without any water on site to produce a meal for so many. This was the first meal that the group had eaten that was truly local. Some of the students managed to eat more than others but it was good to have a meal because it was the first since breakfast and the time was about 4pm.

Before going to Mirembe Secondary School the group visited a school called Standard Jack’s Primary School where the pupils were crammed into what looked like small cattle sheds but were their classrooms. The classes were large with no books and just a blackboard for the teacher to use. The most impressive thing apart from the wonderful smiles from the children was the school uniform. All pupils in Uganda wear a uniform which is usually clean and very smart. How they keep so clean with so little water sometimes a mile away from home is difficult to imagine.

Apart from several visits to Mirembe Secondary School the group were taken to meet some Aids orphans and Aids widows, who were mostly HIV positive with little hope of survival because there is an acute lack of drugs. On the same day the trip also went to the ‘Landing site’ which was a settlement on the edge of Lake Victoria. The community were the poorest anyone had seen because the bosses who owned the fishing boats where most of the men in the village were employed paid them a pittance and they struggled to survive on the money. The students were particularly affected by the extreme poverty but Pauline and Sir Alan found it very moving as well.

Whilst in Uganda the group from Derbyshire visited Ngamba Island, a chimpanzee sanctuary, at feeding time proving an entertaining time. A journey by speed boat was the way to get to the island, which is in Lake Victoria. This proved very popular with James and Joe particularly.

Another day was spent going to Jinja where many of the displaced Ugandan Asians had lived before Idi Amin turned them out of Uganda. It is easy to see the difference in the style of building because there is a definite Indian influence. Lake Victoria is where the source of the Nile can be found not far from Jinja and it is where Mahatma Ghandi’s ashes were scattered after his death.

Everyone has there own special memories of Uganda but no-one could fail to be moved by the friendliness of the pupils and the gratitude of the local community for the help and support from the two schools. Most of the students and both Pauline and Sir Alan keep in contact with people they met over there.

It was a humbling experience and if they didn’t appreciate the lifestyle that is enjoyed here in Derby and generally in the OK, before going, it was appreciated whilst there and on reflection on the return to a comfortable existence here.

Everyone that went before is looking forward to returning to see those they met before. For those that are going for the first time there is a real sense of excitement and anticipation.

What a shame that all young people can’t have the same or similar experiences.