Walakuba West lies in the industrial area of Jinja town and this is the first 'non rural' school we have worked at. Our attention was brought to this school because of the Deaf Unit. There are a very limited number of schools with special needs facitilies and they are nearly always in need of assistance. The special needs children in Uganda are seriously marginalised and disadvantaged so we jumped at the chance to be able to assist these children.
The school provides boarding facilities for some of the special needs pupils and it was these buildings (above) which prompted us into action. They are in an awful state with a bat infested roof, asbestos roofing sheets, no natural light and damp conditions. We are lucky to enjoy the support of Lewis Silkin and they are holding a Charity Auction at Bonhams, London for us with the aim of raising £15,000 to enable us to renovate and refurbish these dormitory facilities.
We welcomed our first group from Middlesex Univeristy this summer and they spent two weeks refurbishing and painting the deaf unit classroom with some incredible sign language teaching aids (above) The photo below left is our group from Middlesex as well as two long termers Nathan and Adam. Photo below right shows a group of our long term volunteers who we sent out to live on site at the school to carry on with the work the Middlesex crew started.
Work is on going at this school but so far we have:
- Refurbished and painted the special needs unit including Sign Language teaching aids on the walls
- Painted another 8 classrooms inside and out including teaching aids on the walls
These are just some of the incredible teaching aids they have been painting
Please email sharon@softpowereducation.com if you would like more information about The Charity Auction at Bonhams, London on 15th September 2008