Life in Uganda
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Rukungiri is both a district and town in the South-West of Uganda. The school operates in the geo-political and cultural context of life in Uganda. This short series of articles describes one perspective on Uganda and how different factors affect life at the school.
The articles cover geography, crops and food, faith and politics, primary education, health, transport, people and the root causes of the orphan situation.
These factors affect the school in many ways, particularly feeding the children, healthcare and of course education!
Geography
Uganda lies in equatorial East Africa. It was once described by
Winston Churchill as ‘The pearl of Africa’. Uganda is land-locked, with Kenya providing access eastwards to the Indian Ocean. Its other neighbours are: Sudan to the north, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the west, and Rwanda and Tanzania to the south. It is bordered by Lake Victoria on the East and hosts the ‘Source of the Nile’ near the city of Jinja.
Uganda lies on an elevated basin which rises between the eastern and western branches of the Rift Valley. Most of the country is over 1000m above sea level, with a generally flat topography. Rukungiri is in the mountainous south west, and the town lies at about 2000m in altitude.
Uganda’s equatorial climate is tempered by its elevated altitude.
For the most part, daily temperatures are around 
25degC during the day, but fall to around 17degC at night. Surprisingly many people will be seen wearing woollen hats and tops. The temperatures are fairly consistent throughout the year, with the seasons being rainy and dry rather than hot and cold. The dry season in Rukungiri is typically from May to August, and the annual rainfall between 1000 and 2000mm each year.
Crops and Food
Commercial plantations for tea and sugar can be found in various parts of the country, and are often run by immigrants from Asia and India. The majority of the native population lives in rural communities as subsistence farmers. The main crops are various forms of bananas (for cooking, eating and brewing). Matoke is a staple food from a steamed banana.
Where there is opportunity beyond subsistence farming, cash crops are also grown. These include beans, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, coffee, and a wide variety of fruit such as mango, papaya, passion fruit, pineapple and the amazing jack-fruit. Cattle, goats, pigs and fish are also farmed. Produce can be bought directly at the roadside, but for crops like coffee which need processing, the farmer sees only a small part of the profits made on the crop.
With large families, and a continual sub-division of the plots, pressure on food supply is growing all the 
time. In 2008 there was a world-wide failure of several basic cereal crops, and a massive increase in oil prices. These combined to make food both expensive and scarce in Uganda. In some case food prices tripled or even quadrupled. Political troubles in the north, and in the DRC, Sudan and Rwanda exacerbated the situation as refugees came into Uganda placing even more pressure on food supply.
Read on find out how this affects the school.
Feeding the School
The spiralling cost of food combined with the falling value of the pound (from 3,500 shillings in 2007 to 2,700 in 2008) led to a situation at the end of 2008, where it was costing the school between £160 and £200 a day to feed the children. This led to the school facing premature closure in December. Fortunately, through a joint effort from Mission Direct and the members of Sittingbourne Baptist Church, the funding gap was closed. Alice and John travelled over 50km to Ntungamo Rubone to meet traders from Tanzania and buy food for the school.
Since then the school has been loaned land by Rev Kakyusharo on which to raise its own crops, but this is about 250km away at Kyonjonjo-Toro in the Kibale forest south of Fort Portal. The recent provision of a school lorry has made farming this land just about practical, and ex-students have grown potatoes to clear the land. They are now planting crops of beans, maize, ground-nuts, millet and wheat. Since this generous loan, a new projects has been started to purchase farm land identified closer to the school, and to train a new teacher in agriculture for the vocational training centre.
The school diet is very basic and unvaried, it is nutritious and enjoyed by all. It is based on maize from which a bread-like substance and a porridge can be made – both called posho. When the children arrive in the morning they are given a mug of porridge, which Nursery and P1 children also receive at morning break.
At lunch the bread-like posho is provided with beans, and occasionally green vegetables. The afternoon meal is a mug of posho mixed with milk and sugar, which is also given to the boarders again as an evening meal.
When generous visitors come, the bakery will also provide fresh bread rolls (buns) or doughnuts for each child. These are avidly consumed with relish!All of the cooking is done on basic wood stoves. In order to ensure a sustainable environment, the school has created a plantation of 2000 Eucalyptus trees, which take only three years to mature, and provide excellent firewood.
Faith and Politics
Within Uganda, the LRA is an active militia of ‘freedom fighters’ actively recruiting children to their cause, while in the rest of the country there is relative stability. Rukungiri in the far south-west is one of the safest places I have visited. 
However its history, geo-political position and internal struggles give rise to a set of circumstances that are distinctively Uganda, and shape the challenges and hardships felt by many.
The roots of its modern history go back to the attempts largely sponsored by Libya to create an Islamic “United States of East Africa.” Libya provided funding for Idi Amin to build mosques and sports stadia in every town, and although many were never built; Rukungiri has both. Today in Uganda about 11% of the population are Muslim and about 85% Christian, with about equal numbers being Roman Catholic or Anglican (Protestant Church of Uganda).
The regime of Idi Amin was brutal, and left many families without one or both parents. This was followed by the ravages of AIDS from which the country is still suffering, and which has led to a very high instance of children being made orphans. Today however, the biggest killer is neither AIDS nor Malaria, but pre-natal death in expectant mothers. When a mother dies her children become orphans.
Typically double-orphans who have lost both parents will live with a relative. That relative may have six or eight children of their own, so that when another family of children joins them, this creates severe economic hardship. The un-orphaned natural children of surviving parents may therefore also end up in acute need as their parents open their home to orphaned cousins.
The majority of Ugandan’s live in the country-side and are subsistence farmers, either raising herds or growing crops – typically Matoke. If a farmer has sufficient land to feed the family, then cash-crops might also be grown, and the cash used to improve the standard of living for the family. However with so many children, the land gets subdivided with each passing generation, and many plots are now too small to divide further. This generation of children therefore need to find new means of supporting themselves and their future families.
Primary Education in Uganda
Education has therefore become a strategic imperative for Uganda, but the base-line from which they start makes education provision very difficult indeed. Although the government has announced a program of ‘Universal Primary Education’ removing the need for school fees, many families cannot afford uniforms, shoes, books and other basic costs of education. Furthermore, children contribute to the economy of the family, and that contribution is lost.
Most of the population is rural, and children will typically 
have a long walk to school each day, or have to face the costs of boarding. Often children will walk up to 7 miles to and from school. Typically, rural children will speak only the local tribal languages, of which there are many. They do not speak English which is considered to be the common language, and is the language of education in
Uganda.
Even so, there is a critical shortage of teachers, and the government run primary schools are overwhelmed with pupils, sometimes with as many as 200 to a class. In some cases schools are looking at split provision in which half the children attend in the mornings and half in the afternoons. As a result the standard of education in government primary schools is poor, and the teaching staff often demotivated.
To counter this, local parents have begun to establish parentally managed government schools through taking over the governing body. In general this has increased participation, pride and motivation in the school, and has led to better results.
However, by far the best schools in Uganda are private schools, often established by churches or mosques, and often part funded by charities. These are by necessity fee-paying schools, since they do not receive government funding.
Read on find out how this affects the school.
Education at Rukungiri
Rukungiri Modern Primary is a privately run primary school, and 
although the classes are large by UK standards (sometimes over 80 pupils), the school has consistently achieved some of the best results in Uganda. Since it started in 1997 it has been the best primary school in Rukungiri and among the top five primary schools in Uganda since 2002 as measured by the Primary Leaving Exam (PLE) results.
The pre-primary (nursery) school provides two years of education for children between 3 and 5. Beyond primary school, only those who pass PLE and who can afford the fees go on to Secondary School, and potentially to University. For others, they will return to the farms or have to make a new living elsewhere.
The Gables vocational training centre in Rukungiri is also run by 
Alice and John Tumisiime. It provides skills training in such areas as driving, building, metal work, carpentry, tailoring, and catering. Upon graduating from Gables, the centre gives each student a basic set of tools with which to continue their trade. Many of the children who learn skills at Gables come back to help equip and support the primary and nursery schools with their newly acquired skills.
Health
Ugandan people have natural longevity, and in the older generation livespans of between 80 and 100 years or more are common. However, today life expectancy is less than 40 years.
Wherever you go in Uganda you will find clinics and hospitals. These have sprung up in towns and villages largely through the initiative of the church responding to need. Although many have since been taken over by the government, a large proportion are funded by charities.
The three main health concerns in Uganda are AIDS, Malaria and pre-natal care. The highest death rate among adults is from a lack of access to pre-natal care; among children from lack of access to Malaria treatment.
“Lack of access” is both a rural and economic issue. In rural areas it can take a long time to travel to or from a hospital, particularly if you cannot afford transport. In addition, the health service is not “free at the point of delivery.”
Although it costs only about £10 to test for and treat Malaria at the local clinic, the aggressive form found in Uganda can kill within a few days, and must be treated within 24 hours. After simple treatment, recovery is complete, and recurrence unlikely.
However, to sell a farm animal or some crops and raise the £10 will often take longer than the 48 hours available, and so another child dies. Malaria infection rates can also be dramatically reduced by using mosquito nets, but such an investment is very high for a family of 10 in a subsistence economy. The gift of nets to Rukungiri Modern primary School reduced the annual instances of Malaria to less than one tenth.
A stay in hospital has to be funded by the family, who must also provide most of the non-medical care, food and drinks at the hospital. Each day in hospital therefore takes two people out of economic production for the family. With pregnancy, the recommendation is to come to hospital three months before the due date. Such an action is economically crippling for most rural families, who therefore try to get o the hospital at the last possible moment. The rough roads, and long travel times make this a very hazardous decision leading to very high pre-natal mortality rates.
AIDS again takes people out of productive work and leaves them as a burden upon the family. It is not uncommon to find children who are double-AIDS-orphans. They and their siblings will typically be taken in by relatives, creating even greater hardship. AIDS is generally being successfully addressed through teaching programs supported by local clinics. Even so, superstition and rumour abound, such as the theory that having sex with a virgin cures AIDS!
Read on find out how this affects the school.
Health at the School
While the school does not suffer directly from pre-natal mortality or AIDS, the number of orphaned children whose families have experienced these issues is very great. Approximately half the children at the school are either orphans, or from families made very needy through such issues, and in need of sponsorship.
Malaria at the school was a significant problem until the generous donation of mosquito nets for all of the dormitories. This one gift has reduced the incidence of Malaria to less then one tenth of its previous rate of around 30 children a year. Malaria comes with a fever and so there is a need to provide a place for the child to rest and recover.
Basic sanitation is a key focus for the school, leading to a major investment in rain-water storage tanks. Asking 800 children to wash their hands before meals takes a lot of water!
Even so, children will often be found to be suffering from worms. It is a debilitating condition caught by eating with dirty hands or playing with mud. Most cases arise when children return from school vacation, and the school is faced with costs of treatment. Borders are given anti-worm tablets as a preventative measure, but day pupils only when needed. Children happily take the tablets because it restores their appetite!
At the beginning of 2008, the school suffered a measles epidemic, which created key issues around the isolation of infected children. As a result a new project has been started to raise funds for a school sanatorium, which would be built on top of the Abergavenny Hall.
Transport
There is no effective public transport in Uganda. It is a matter of private enterprise – with all of the variety and chaos that that implies!
Basically people walk unless it is too far. A child might walk upto 7 miles to school each day. Often people will carry large or heavy loads on their heads. Walking along the road side is hazardous since people have the lowest priority. Essentially the bigger it is and the faster it goes the higher its priority!
Where metalled roads exist, they are often festooned with pot-holes, so that people drive on any side of the road to get the least bumpy journey. More often though it is the “murram” road (packed red earth and gravel) rutted and eroded by constant use and rainfall. Wherever you are there is a simple rule of the road: if you are big and fast, everything gets out of your way; if you are small and slow you move aside into the ditch!
Scheduled coaches travelling between towns are the king’s of the road,
and will give way to nothing except a petrol tanker – they have a schedule to keep! However the 14-seater mini-buses make up in speed what they lack in size and try to compete for priority on anything less than a coach. The police are continually trying to enforce a maximum of 14 passengers, and if a check-point is spotted ahead, the excess passengers are unceremoniously dumped at the roadside.
Next come boda-boda, low powered motorbikes which act like taxis, with passengers typically sitting side-saddle. Below the boda-boda is the humble bike, providing the same service. Bikes and boda-boda will be seen carrying the most amazing things – especially large bunches of Matoke, mattresses, bedsteads – on one occasion even a coffin! Like a swarm of bees, boda-boda weave in and out of the city traffic as if they owned the road.
The other road-users are open-backed pick-ups, typically filled with human cargo hanging on precariously from every vantage point, and cattle trucks. The long-horned cattle, which have their heads tied to the roof to avoid fights, occupy the truck bed - while people catch a free ride perched on their backs.
People
The rural people are the biggest surprise of all.
Despite their hardships: ravaged by Amin, AIDS and Malaria; impoverished and often below the subsistence level; many orphaned or looking after sick relatives; the people show joy, hospitality, industry and a deep faith.
It is one of the few places in the world where you will be welcomed into a modest hut with the singing of hymns and psalms, or where people will share with you what little they have to offer. Go up onto a hill, and you will soon be surrounded by local people, bringing gifts of bananas, eggs or other food – which you know is a gift of that night’s meal.
The people are industrious – all along the road you see farm produce or fish for sale, brick kilns being fired, charcoal being bagged up, small shops making a living in the local villages. Here you see God’s measure used “A full measure, pressed down, shaken together and flowing over will be poured into your lap.”
From these modest beginnings, a subsistence economy is growing slowly into a liquid economy with currency in circulation in the villages and towns. A variety of foods can be bought and diets improved. Good health is on the increase. Mud homes are slowly being replaced with brick – the wooden scaffolding is a sight to behold!
Craft centres are emerging to gain income from tourism – the innovation in handcrafts, and the creativity of these artisans is amazing. Every now and then a hand car-wash or garage workshop will appear. Home made furniture shops and iron workers shops are seen in many places.
Much of this has been enabled by the micro-finance initiatives that release small amounts of funding for helping to start just such enterprises as these.
Most noticeable of all is their very practical expression of joy and faith which combine to make this an extraordinary place. The offertory at a church may well include gifts of chickens or eggs, or even a pencil sharpener. These would be auctioned, given back to the church and then distributed to the needy!
Many mini-buses will be decorated with praises to Jesus, 
and so too the names of many shops. People have a strong faith and they have learned to depend upon God, and they express their praise and thanks openly and often in words in song and in dance. It is so refreshing! The five school choirs who entertained us show how this open expression of faith comes also deep from within the hearts of the children.