Springs Alive Uganda Community for Orphaned Children

Pupils forge links with children in Uganda

Apr 10 2008 by Moira Sharkey, Western Mail

CHILDREN 4,000 miles apart have forged a life-changing friendship.

Having seen pictures and heard about the lives of youngsters at Springs Alive School in Uganda, pupils from Roath Park Primary, in Cardiff, made it their mission to help.

In one week of fundraising they had £3,000 in their appeal fund – a lottery windfall for the 100 pupils in the village of Seebi in East Africa. Many of the pupils on the school register are orphans having lost their parents and grandparents in the civil war or from HIV/Aids. All are taught in just two classrooms. There is no electricity, no running water and children have to walk more than five miles from their homes to attend lessons each day. But they make that journey as they know that education will give them a way out of poverty.

With the cash from Wales, a new school block can be built and the classrooms refurbished. Roath teachers Simon Ellery and Julian Husband travelled to Uganda to deliver some supplies before helping the staff plan for a new classroom block and a refurbishment of the current building.

They arrived with rugby balls and shirts, pencils, sharpeners and bought books and equipment locally.

Describing the moment the pupils saw the new school supplies Francis Omia, a member of staff at the school and one of the organisers of the Springs Alive educational scheme said: “When the pupils were shown scholastic materials such as sharpeners, pencils, rubbers and books they were thrown into a frenzy shouting at the top of their voices ‘twafunye obusongola ekaalamu, twawonye gilita’ literally meaning we have now got sharpeners, we are saved from razor blades.”

He added: “For us in Africa it’s unbelievable to be given anything in such a manner even the used clothes and shoes sent to Africa find their way to shops where they are sold at exorbitant prices. Thanks to the fundraising efforts at Roath Park, the pupils of Springs Alive are able to build a classroom block and repair the old classroom block. Since the visitors left, we have been overwhelmed by inquires from children wanting to join the school.”

For the children in Roath their fundraising week has been an experience they will not forget and the beginning of a lesson on how children are living in other parts of the world.

Uganda is now a more prosperous and peaceful country than it was a generation ago. It has been ravaged by civil unrest. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a cult group, has been responsible for massacres in the north for almost 20 years. It believes that the country should be ruled by a strict code based on the biblical Ten Commandments.

It is estimated that the violence displaced more than 1.6 million people and tens of thousands of civilians have been killed or kidnapped. It ended in 2006 when LRA and the government signed a truce.

Headteacher of Roath Park Primary Colin Skinner said: “When we launched the fundraising week we had no idea how much we would raise. The children had been told about the school and saw pictures. They really wanted to help. They raised £3,000. That is life-changing money for these children in Uganda. It will make a real difference. The experience was also really worthwhile for our pupils as it gave them an understanding of the lives of children in other parts of the world and gave them an opportunity to do something to help those who are not as lucky as they are.”

Mr Husband said: “On arriving at the school it was obvious it was just worlds apart from anything we are used to in Wales. The classrooms are so dark and there is nothing on the walls. There is no electricity or running water. There are no school dinners and children make do with what is growing around them. The idea of a free lunch here is eating sugar cane and lots of fruit which is growing on the site. Uganda is a luscious green land. It is a beautiful place.”

Mr Ellery added: “They have so little, but they are so happy. These children were all smiles. They were so grateful to receive anything. A local branch of the organisation Teddies for Tragedy, which sends knitted teddies to children in third world countries gave us dozens of teddies to take with us. We did not have one for every child but each teddy came in a bag. The children who received a bag were as delighted as those who got a teddy. It was quite incredible. These children know how important an education is. They know that it is a way out of the poverty.”

It is hoped that the educational links can be developed in the coming years. If Springs Alive gets electricity it can be connected to the internet and pupils and teachers can email each other. Questions pupils have about Wales or Africa can be sent directly and exchange visits for staff are being considered.

Pupil in Cardiff, Wales Raise the Roof on New School

Reporter Moira Sharkey posted an update to the school fundraising efforts to finance a new school for Springs Alive. Please click the excerpt from the article to read it in full.

Now we are the Only School with Rugby Balls!

Praise be to Jesus the most gracious.

Hope you are happy and sometimes thinking of Uganda.

I am sorry for taking so long to communicate , but one thing I noticed is that after your visit, my life was changed and now I see things in a new way.

• I feel important and alive.

• I feel highly respected.

• My zeal for working for the community was re-kindled.

• You may never know what an impact your visit had on us but it was so great.

• The number of children has greatly increased from 80-100 to 150 pupils, though they don't pay but atleast they do come to school.

• In lower classes, we had never been able to do drawing and shading for lack of coloured pencils but now children want to do it almost everyday. They enjoy it so much.

• 90% of our children knew not the pencil sharpeners.

• We used to borrow past papers from other schools and exercise books from pupils of other schools in order to get worksheets and other teaching materials.

• Having been so humbled and touched, I now move around villages searching for the children who do not attend school to come and enjoy school life at Springs Alive although some can not afford to come to the school because they lack clothing, can't afford to buy exercise books and pencils. Sometimes I have to convince their parents to allow them time off their farms to come to school.

• Teachers now enjoy teaching because of the text books we received- although we need more skilled teachers from there to come and share education experience with us.

• The sharpeners, crayons and the pencils, the teddies made us feel special-it was our first time to see them.

• Many professional teachers now come in with their applications for jobs though we have not yet got the capability of paying them.

• The renovations made caused a lot of comfort to both teachers and pupils because we used to move from one shade to another to another and the next, in accordance to what the weather was. We used to sit three classes in one room but now there is room at least room for some classes to sit as one class.

• The balls we received from Roath Park Primary school have brought a big change. We started training ourselves and on Friday 4/April 2008, we are having a friendly match with a neighbouring school-thanks.! We indeed now have some kind of recognition as regards sports competition here in our Town Council-Kakiri, not to forget mentioning that so far according to the survey made we are the only school in our Town Council with rugby balls!

• Thank you for the computer, for I can now do such a work on my own.

Friday 28th march 2008 was the day we received money into springs alive account at Stanbic bank Uganda which you sent on 28th Feb. 2008. We have now embarked on the new school construction; you will see update pictures and expenditures soon. Otherwise we have attached the draft sketch of how the new roath park class is going to look like.

Roath Park Primary school, we have you at heart and all we can say is God bless you.

Yours truly

Nalwebuga Teddy-headteacher.

A commentary from Springs Alive Children's center on the visitors from roath Park

ROATHPARK; A RAY OF HOPE FOR AN AFRICAN VILLAGE SCHOOL

18th Feb. 2008 by Francis omia of springs alive children's centre, sebbi village, kakiri, wakiso district.


The week 17th to 23 February saw a lot of activity in the usually quiet sebbi village in wakiso district. All week long the pupils had been practicing "God save the queen" in preparation for visitors from roathpark primary school and the welcome song, "are welcome our loving visitors, we are happy to receive you, my heart, my happiness………" am sure by now the youngsters from roathpark could have learnt this song from Simon one of the teachers from roathpark he seemly liked it a lot to the extent of singing it along with the pupils of springs alive.


With all the gifts from roathpark, the visitors were not so disappointing however it was not until the pupils were shown scholastic materials such as sharpeners, pencils, rubbers and books that they were thrown into a frenzy shouting at the top of their voices "twafunye obusongola ekaalamu, twawonye gilita" literally meaning we have now got sharpeners, we are saved from razor blades. On translating this to Julian from roathpark, he got visibly moved by the plight of these pupils and went on to ask Francis who is a staff of the school about two youngsters aged around 9 and 10 standing at the school boundary watching all the excitement. When told that these donot not have the opportunity to be at springs alive children's center in their neighborhood is a free school, neighborhood here can mean 5 to 10 kms some pupils walk over 5kms to school every day and if chanced eat sugar cane for break. The visitors had a go at the sugar cane and could not peel the cover; you know Whiteman's teeth are so weak.


Back to where we were, on learning about the two unlucky youngsters at the boundary, Julian immediately picked two jumper shirts and went over to the school boundary, on receiving the jumpers the two youngsters dashed off like they had been sent away. For us in Africa it's unbelievable to be given anything in such manner even the used clothes and shoes sent to Africa find their way to shops where they are sold at exorbitant prices, almost anything goes in Africa because there is so much need.



Thanks to the fundraising efforts at roathpark, the pupils of springs alive are to be built a classroom block, the old classroom blocks have been repaired and painted. You can imagine how much more would do for these hopeless orphans who lost their parents to the civil war and HIV aids that have ravaged this part of the world. Since the vistors left we are overwhelmed by inquires of children wanting to join the school,


In our culture when you are given something the best form of appreciation is to give back so the staff (martin, Francis and Teddy) and pupils of springs alive have become restless since receiving all these gifts from roathpark, mind you this is supposed to be a partnership . The art and crafts class decided that they make banana fiber balls and teddies for the visitors to travel back with to roathpark primary school. Understand they liked the balls. This is just the beginning of the partnership, the pupils of Springs Alive children's center want to exchange letters and share experiences with the youngsters of roathpark. Unfortunately, springs alive children's center is still striving hard to get solar electricity or get connected to national power grid so that they can have classroom to classroom interaction. Can you imagine the children's center could not get the video conferencing equipment as promised by roathpark because of this electricity problem? Staff from springs alive children's center would like to visit roathpark primary shool and learn from their experiences since they are over century old as compared to the 3 year old African school as well as share with them experiences from this part of the world.


Thanks to roathpark primary school, to the pupils, to parents, Moira, Collin, Simon, Julian, Kathy and others for the great love you have shown to our children in seebi village.


omiafp@yahoo.com

A New Voice from Uganda

A new voice can be heard emanating from a small rural village outside of Kamapla, Uganda. It is a voice of hope and a voice of champions. Martin Sebuliba the author of this blog started the Springs Alive Children's Center after a career in the government. Dissatisfied with his ability to impact positive change for his people, he set out to make his dream a reality. He envisioned a place to nurture and educate the next generation of Ugandans who had suffered the ravages of wars and disease. He established a community for these orphans and is using the internet to reach out for help to keep this very important community vital and strong. Martin Sebuliba is a new voice. He is a leader with values, commitment and determination. Listen to what he has to say in this new blog. It will give you a fresh inside look at the problems faced by children on a daily basis in their struggle for survival. You too may be compelled to help. Not long ago, a school in Wales sent two representatives bearing gifts. They took some amazing pictures. Help by spreading the word about Springs Alive Children's Center in Uganda, link to this blog, raise awareness.