Here is a story of a former Humanist School student who has returned after further training to help his school and community.
Samuel Ssebuline was a former student of Isaac Newton School who has returned to the school as a teacher after gaining a degree in Agriculture. After advising local farmers, who are members of the Isaac Newton Cooperative, on how to improve their yields Samuel has been offered a place on Makerere University’s Masters Course in Crop Science. All he has to do now is raise money for his course fees. This is Samuel’s story:
I was born in 1996 into a poor family of subsistence farmers in Gomba district. We used to produce food for our own consumption and earn an irregular cash income from occasional food surpluses. With 8 children to support and despite my parents’ best efforts, our family struggled to pay our primary school fees. In lower primary I was partially helped by a local leader, who recognised my potential. By the time I reached primary 6 in 2008, my mother became a single parent. Still having 5 children at home, life was a serious struggle. The only option for me was to join a free government primary school under the “universal primary education” program. However, this school and many others of the same category face extreme underfunding and so classes were as big as 150. Notwithstanding, I worked hard and scored a First Grade in my Primary Leaving Exam in 2009. Upon finishing my primary level, my mother enrolled me in a government-aided secondary school but, unable to meet even the half fees required, I was forced to withdraw in 2010.
At this point, Mr. Ezra Mulwana, Headteacher of Isaac Newton Humanist High School, heard of my unfortunate condition and offered me a full UHST boarding scholarship, funded by Birmingham Humanists in the UK. This lifeline removed the burden of worry and enabled me to complete 4 years of schooling and to take O-level examinations in the Uganda Certificate in Education. I was the best performing student in my year and gained a highly sought-after overall First Grade, awarded to only 6% of students nationwide.
Given the above outstanding performance, my UHST scholarship was extended to enable me to take A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and subsidiary Computing and General Studies. My grades of a B in Mathematics and two Cs in Biology and Chemistry made me eligible for a coveted government scholarship to the top university in Uganda, Makerere.
In Uganda, there is practically a year between taking A-level and being admitted to university. As a payback to the school and to help my fellow students during this period, I volunteered as a teaching assistant at Isaac Newton Humanist High School teaching Biology and Chemistry. During this period, l was delighted when I eventually heard that I had won a place at Makerere, Uganda’s top university to study for a 4-year degree in Agriculture. Although the course was full time and in Kampala, I travelled back to the school every weekend to continue with my voluntary work and providing extra teaching assistance to students. The school was facilitating my transport costs to and from the school during such days, but I had to make up the time by studying into the small hours on weekday evenings.
On the 15th of May last year (2021), my efforts paid off. I graduated as one of the top four Agriculture students in my year, with a rare upper second-class honours Degree from Makerere University, Uganda’s top institution of higher education. The final year courses capacitated me to contribute to Uganda’s economic development. These included: entomology, nematology, plant breeding, crop disease, animal nutrition and health, dairying, poultry, apiculture, pathology, soil management, marketing & principles of management etc. My course marks ranged from 71 to 91%, just short of a 1st class honours, which are awarded very sparingly in Uganda. This success delighted my teachers, fellow students, my mother, siblings and indeed the whole community around.
Currently, the Isaac Newton Humanist Cooperative is drawing upon my new-found knowledge to enable farmers in the District to implement various projects to boost their productivity and incomes.
I applied and have just been offered a place at Makerere University to undertake a Masters in Crop Science (MCRP) so that I can qualify for a high-level position in the agriculture sector. All I must do now is raise the fees of 5.6 million Uganda Shillings (£1,200). If I take the course part time, I will be able to pay at least a good part of the fees from what I earn as a teacher at Isaac Newton. In Uganda free education at post-secondary level is only offered to academically excellent students and only at Bachelors (First degree) level. All postgraduate courses are fully privately sponsored. The knowledge and skills from the course will allow me to contribute even more to the sustainable development of my community.
For many, 2021 has been a year to forget. Ugandan schools have been closed more than they have been open. Many have been forced into bankruptcy but, thanks to the ongoing commitment of UHST supporters, the Humanist Schools are still here. Unlike many charities, UHST donations grew in 2021. Our supporters raised their standing orders and responded generously to two appeals for help. Bequests from two donors who had sadly passed away and large donations from an individual supporter have made it possible to maintain forward momentum. When the pandemic started, UHST was providing substantial support to Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed high schools and starting to build new primary schools for the distressed communities of Katumba and Kanungu. Two years later the high schools and one primary school are finished and looking great, the new Katumba School is close to completion, and we have bought and refurbished primary feeder schools for the two high schools.
Children at the new Kanungu Humanist Primary School
Uses of generous donations from UHST supporters
Covid-emergency payments have enabled the schools to keep their heads above water financially.
Schools have retained most of their teaching teams thanks to furlough payments of up to 50% to permanent staff and food parcels to casual staff.
We have made schools safe with hand-washing stations, infra-red thermometers, hand-gel and disinfectant, anti-mosquito paint and improved toilet facilities.
Despite the closures, the schools have had additional money for books, science and other learning materials, to support a humanist-education philosophy which promotes self-directed learning and learning by doing. They have also had specific help to buy home-study materials to enable students to continue their studies from home while schools have been closed.
Peter Kisirinya and a colleague taking home-study kits to Isaac Newton children during a Covid closure
We have continued to provide sanitary pads for girls when they have been in school.
Small sums of money have enabled all the schools to press on with the Humanist Schools Tree Planting Project to make the schools pleasanter and greener places and to heighten awareness of the climate crisis.
We have provided funds to maintain and develop their infrastructure so that the schools are in a good state for reopening:
Isaac Newton Humanist High School: classroom and dining hall furniture, site drainage, walkways and retaining walls, repairs and painting.
Mustard Seed Humanist Secondary School: repairs to ceilings, walls, windows, doors and repainting, emptying of latrines and improvements to pathways and gardens.
Katumba Parents Humanist Primary School: approaching completion of this entirely new school. Current work is being undertaken on a cook house, food store and sleeping quarters for a school cook. All that remains is to fence the site and to carry out finishing and painting works.
Kanungu Humanist Primary School: this new school is finished and in a fine state for receiving a new intake of children in January. The site is looking wonderful.
Parents of Kateera lobbying Isaac Newton Humanist School to take over the failed Evangelical Christian School
New Humanist Schools
We have bought and refurbished two former religious primary schools which could not survive the loss of income during the Covid closures.
Isaac Newton Humanist Primary School has been created from a failed Evangelical Christian School, which might have become a madrasa. In 2021 we bought the entire school for £25,000, paid for new toilets, cook house, the addition of a kindergarten and the complete refurbishment of the site.
A failed Muslim primary school has been purchased and turned into Mustard Seed Humanist Primary School. A fine new kitchen has been added, new toilets and refurbishing work is close to completion.
An encouraging development in 2021 has been the establishment of new Humanist Schools by former students and teachers from our two high schools:
A former student of Mustard Seed Humanist Secondary School, Rogers Muwanguzi, has set up Eagle’s View Humanist Primary School at Buwenge, between Kamuli and Jinja. After attending Mustard Seed School as a student, Rogers returned there as a part-time teacher. He is so committed to the Humanist philosophy that he has now set up his own school based on those principles.
A former student taught by Peter Kisirinya, Joseph Kamulegeya, was appointed as a part-time teacher at Isaac Newton School after gaining a degree in Physics and Chemistry and training as a teacher. He was so inspired by the Humanist ethos of the school that he has established Classical Senior Humanist School in his home village of Nzizi, Lwengo, between Masaka and Mbarara.
We hope to visit these schools on our next visit to Uganda and, if they meet the requirements, bring them into the fold with the other Humanist schools.
BBC Interest in the Humanist Schools
Two days ago, I had a lengthy interview with a Journalist from the Panorama team who is taking a film crew to Uganda in January to make a film about the Humanist School Movement for BBC World Service TVs “Africa Eye” Series. They intend to film at Isaac Newton School, as the first Humanist School in the world; at Kanungu School, as a school rising from the ashes of the horrendous 2000 massacre and at Mustard Seed School, where Christian pastors are choosing to educate their children in preference to a readily available Christian alternative. The BBC’s interest is an indication how the Humanist schools are beginning to make a mark and will help to widen awareness of the work of the schools and the impact of their work which we are all supporting.
Your Donations are Making a Difference
Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Humanist High Schools are gaining growing recognition for their high standards of educational achievement and for being happy places where conditions of welfare for students and teachers are good. They are gradually becoming the schools of choice in their areas. Our aim is to expand support for other Humanist Schools, but at a rate which ensures that each of the schools has a sufficient level of support to stand out as a beacon for humanism in its community.
The job of creating a fine school is never finished. We see no reason why the Humanist Schools should not be able to survive without ongoing support from UHST. However, our commitment to the schools is a long-term one. So long as we have your support, we will do our best to raise funds to enable the humanist schools to achieve even higher standards of education and welfare and, in so doing, to contribute to rising living standards for the communities living around them and to promote the Humanist values of reason, compassion and tolerance.
UHST and the Humanist Schools are very grateful to you for your support, which is transforming the life-chances of many individual children, their families and the challenged communities in which they live.
Steve Hurd Chairperson
UGANDA HUMANIST SCHOOLS TRUST Inclusive education based on reason, compassion, tolerance
All administration costs, including trips to Uganda to visit the schools, are paid for on a personal basis by our trustees, so every £1 donated by our supporters goes to help the schools in Uganda.
Life in the village of Katumba, in Bundibugyo District of Uganda on the Congo border, is challenging in so many ways. The area has been badly hit by climate change, which has brought torrential rains and flooding. Landslides, precipitated by deforestation of the upper slopes, have swept away homes, killed many and destroyed arable land. This all came in the wake of the political unrest in 2016, in which many of the village men died. Katumba is physically remote, and its residents often feel forgotten.
Moreen Nyangoma’s mother, Margret Birra, has found it difficult to make ends meet after her husband was killed in the abortive uprising. With no money, she was forced from the home and land which her husband was buying in instalments. Fortunately, her extended family were on hand to help. They gave her a small area of land to grow crops and where she could put up a single-roomed mud and wattle house in which her whole family, including 9 children, can take shelter. Margret labours on other people’s gardens to raise small sums of money to support her family. She used to earn a little more by hawking spare food around the neighbourhood. However, Covid restrictions imposed by the government prohibited house to house selling, so she lost this additional income.
Moreen, her eldest daughter, remains her only hope. Using funds from UHST and Humanist Aid in Sweden, the school gave Moreen a scholarship, which enabled her to complete her primary education. Despite her challenging circumstances at home, Moreen worked hard and became one of the highest performing children at Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary School, gaining Grade 1 in her Primary Leaving Examination in 2020. She was then awarded a UHST scholarship to continue her secondary education at Isaac Newton Humanist High School, which has a growing reputation throughout Uganda. Unfortunately, Covid closed all the schools to new entrants in 2021 and there is now doubt about whether her mother will be willing to let her go, as she needs to send Moreen out to work to support her family.
UN Refugee Reception Centre, Bundibugyo
The circumstances around Katumba have been made worse by turbulence across the nearby Congo border. Congolese troops are fighting the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), an Islamic rebel force, which is seeking to destabilise the Eastern Congo and the Ruwenzori region of Uganda. The turbulence has made life impossible for local people. Many have been slaughtered in the conflict and a lucky few are escaping to Uganda as refugees. Already, since May, 2,894 Congolese refugees have fled into Bundbugyo District. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is helping as much as it can, but its resources are over-stretched. When refugees reach the reception camps in Uganda, they find that food rations, medical care and clothing are in short supply, and there is a general sense of hopelessness. Adult refugees are desperate to get their children into school and yet they have no money to pay school fees.
Fortunately for some, the Katumba parents are rallying around to help. Many refugees are members of the same Konjo tribe as are many of the Katumba parents. They were divided when the colonial border was arbitrarily drawn. They speak the same local language, Lukonjo, and many are from the same extended families, who regularly move backwards and forwards across the porous international border. With the troubles of 2016 fresh in their minds, local people understand the plight of the refugees and have opened their hearts to them.
In the picture we can see how the Katumba village market is used to provide temporary shelter for those displaced and already 20 refugee children have been offered places in the Katumba Parents Humanist School. Although they share the same local language the refugee children will have to switch from French to English as the language of instruction, and this will require additional remedial support in school. A major worry for the school, which is already struggling for funds, is how to cover the costs of the extra children, when there is no matching income.
The picture shows Swabia Muhindo, one of the refugee mothers with her child, Ester Soki. Ester is one of the refugee children who will be joining Katumba School when it reopens in January. Conditions of life for them in the Congo had become impossible. There was frequent gun fire between the Congo army and ADF rebels and many civilians in their neighbourhood were dying. When Margret’s husband was killed, she had no alternative but to flee to Uganda. Although living in the refugee camp she is earning money from casual labour on local farms. She is trying hard to raise the school fees that her daughter needs to have a decent start in life.
Uganda Humanist Schools Trust is just finishing funding the construction of a fine new primary school for the Katumba parents. We will be visiting the school in January to get a better understanding of the situation on the ground. After supporting 6 Humanist schools through the Covid closures, our funds are at rock bottom, and we need to replenish them if we are to have the resources to enable all the Humanist schools we support to reopen in January. During the Covid closure we have worked with our supporters to maintain and improve the infrastructure of all the Humanist schools. The priority now is to help the schools take in children from poor families who are unable to pay, to make sure that there is money to pay teachers and to ensure that the schools are not held back by a shortage of books and other learning resources. If you would like to help, then there has been no other time when it has been most needed. Donations can be sent by cheque to: Uganda Humanist Schools Trust, 31 Greenmeadows Road, Madeley, Crewe, CW3 9EY, UK. Details for making online payments can be found on our website: https://ugandahumanistschoolstrust.org/donate/make-a-donation/
I am very grateful to Juma Irumba Siriwayo, Director of Katumba Parents Humanist Primary School for providing the information for this report.
Posted: January 6, 2022 by Steve Hurd
Story of an Isaac Newton Teacher
Here is a story of a former Humanist School student who has returned after further training to help his school and community.
Samuel Ssebuline was a former student of Isaac Newton School who has returned to the school as a teacher after gaining a degree in Agriculture. After advising local farmers, who are members of the Isaac Newton Cooperative, on how to improve their yields Samuel has been offered a place on Makerere University’s Masters Course in Crop Science. All he has to do now is raise money for his course fees. This is Samuel’s story:
I was born in 1996 into a poor family of subsistence farmers in Gomba district. We used to produce food for our own consumption and earn an irregular cash income from occasional food surpluses. With 8 children to support and despite my parents’ best efforts, our family struggled to pay our primary school fees. In lower primary I was partially helped by a local leader, who recognised my potential. By the time I reached primary 6 in 2008, my mother became a single parent. Still having 5 children at home, life was a serious struggle. The only option for me was to join a free government primary school under the “universal primary education” program. However, this school and many others of the same category face extreme underfunding and so classes were as big as 150. Notwithstanding, I worked hard and scored a First Grade in my Primary Leaving Exam in 2009. Upon finishing my primary level, my mother enrolled me in a government-aided secondary school but, unable to meet even the half fees required, I was forced to withdraw in 2010.
At this point, Mr. Ezra Mulwana, Headteacher of Isaac Newton Humanist High School, heard of my unfortunate condition and offered me a full UHST boarding scholarship, funded by Birmingham Humanists in the UK. This lifeline removed the burden of worry and enabled me to complete 4 years of schooling and to take O-level examinations in the Uganda Certificate in Education. I was the best performing student in my year and gained a highly sought-after overall First Grade, awarded to only 6% of students nationwide.
Given the above outstanding performance, my UHST scholarship was extended to enable me to take A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and subsidiary Computing and General Studies. My grades of a B in Mathematics and two Cs in Biology and Chemistry made me eligible for a coveted government scholarship to the top university in Uganda, Makerere.
In Uganda, there is practically a year between taking A-level and being admitted to university. As a payback to the school and to help my fellow students during this period, I volunteered as a teaching assistant at Isaac Newton Humanist High School teaching Biology and Chemistry. During this period, l was delighted when I eventually heard that I had won a place at Makerere, Uganda’s top university to study for a 4-year degree in Agriculture. Although the course was full time and in Kampala, I travelled back to the school every weekend to continue with my voluntary work and providing extra teaching assistance to students. The school was facilitating my transport costs to and from the school during such days, but I had to make up the time by studying into the small hours on weekday evenings.
On the 15th of May last year (2021), my efforts paid off. I graduated as one of the top four Agriculture students in my year, with a rare upper second-class honours Degree from Makerere University, Uganda’s top institution of higher education. The final year courses capacitated me to contribute to Uganda’s economic development. These included: entomology, nematology, plant breeding, crop disease, animal nutrition and health, dairying, poultry, apiculture, pathology, soil management, marketing & principles of management etc. My course marks ranged from 71 to 91%, just short of a 1st class honours, which are awarded very sparingly in Uganda. This success delighted my teachers, fellow students, my mother, siblings and indeed the whole community around.
Currently, the Isaac Newton Humanist Cooperative is drawing upon my new-found knowledge to enable farmers in the District to implement various projects to boost their productivity and incomes.
I applied and have just been offered a place at Makerere University to undertake a Masters in Crop Science (MCRP) so that I can qualify for a high-level position in the agriculture sector. All I must do now is raise the fees of 5.6 million Uganda Shillings (£1,200). If I take the course part time, I will be able to pay at least a good part of the fees from what I earn as a teacher at Isaac Newton. In Uganda free education at post-secondary level is only offered to academically excellent students and only at Bachelors (First degree) level. All postgraduate courses are fully privately sponsored. The knowledge and skills from the course will allow me to contribute even more to the sustainable development of my community.
Posted: December 20, 2021 by Steve Hurd
Humanist Schools Review 2021
A year of progress in the face of adversity
For many, 2021 has been a year to forget. Ugandan schools have been closed more than they have been open. Many have been forced into bankruptcy but, thanks to the ongoing commitment of UHST supporters, the Humanist Schools are still here. Unlike many charities, UHST donations grew in 2021. Our supporters raised their standing orders and responded generously to two appeals for help. Bequests from two donors who had sadly passed away and large donations from an individual supporter have made it possible to maintain forward momentum. When the pandemic started, UHST was providing substantial support to Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed high schools and starting to build new primary schools for the distressed communities of Katumba and Kanungu. Two years later the high schools and one primary school are finished and looking great, the new Katumba School is close to completion, and we have bought and refurbished primary feeder schools for the two high schools.
Uses of generous donations from UHST supporters
New Humanist Schools
We have bought and refurbished two former religious primary schools which could not survive the loss of income during the Covid closures.
An encouraging development in 2021 has been the establishment of new Humanist Schools by former students and teachers from our two high schools:
We hope to visit these schools on our next visit to Uganda and, if they meet the requirements, bring them into the fold with the other Humanist schools.
BBC Interest in the Humanist Schools
Two days ago, I had a lengthy interview with a Journalist from the Panorama team who is taking a film crew to Uganda in January to make a film about the Humanist School Movement for BBC World Service TVs “Africa Eye” Series. They intend to film at Isaac Newton School, as the first Humanist School in the world; at Kanungu School, as a school rising from the ashes of the horrendous 2000 massacre and at Mustard Seed School, where Christian pastors are choosing to educate their children in preference to a readily available Christian alternative. The BBC’s interest is an indication how the Humanist schools are beginning to make a mark and will help to widen awareness of the work of the schools and the impact of their work which we are all supporting.
Your Donations are Making a Difference
Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Humanist High Schools are gaining growing recognition for their high standards of educational achievement and for being happy places where conditions of welfare for students and teachers are good. They are gradually becoming the schools of choice in their areas. Our aim is to expand support for other Humanist Schools, but at a rate which ensures that each of the schools has a sufficient level of support to stand out as a beacon for humanism in its community.
The job of creating a fine school is never finished. We see no reason why the Humanist Schools should not be able to survive without ongoing support from UHST. However, our commitment to the schools is a long-term one. So long as we have your support, we will do our best to raise funds to enable the humanist schools to achieve even higher standards of education and welfare and, in so doing, to contribute to rising living standards for the communities living around them and to promote the Humanist values of reason, compassion and tolerance.
UHST and the Humanist Schools are very grateful to you for your support, which is transforming the life-chances of many individual children, their families and the challenged communities in which they live.
Steve Hurd
Chairperson
UGANDA HUMANIST SCHOOLS TRUST
Inclusive education based on reason, compassion, tolerance
https://ugandahumanistschoolstrust.org
https://humanstudies.education
https://www.facebook.com/ugandahumanistschoolstrust
+44 (0) 1782 750338
All administration costs, including trips to Uganda to visit the schools, are paid for on a personal basis by our trustees, so every £1 donated by our supporters goes to help the schools in Uganda.
UHST Book Store link..
Posted: November 23, 2021 by Steve Hurd
Living Life on the Edge
Life in the village of Katumba, in Bundibugyo District of Uganda on the Congo border, is challenging in so many ways. The area has been badly hit by climate change, which has brought torrential rains and flooding. Landslides, precipitated by deforestation of the upper slopes, have swept away homes, killed many and destroyed arable land. This all came in the wake of the political unrest in 2016, in which many of the village men died. Katumba is physically remote, and its residents often feel forgotten.
Moreen Nyangoma’s mother, Margret Birra, has found it difficult to make ends meet after her husband was killed in the abortive uprising. With no money, she was forced from the home and land which her husband was buying in instalments. Fortunately, her extended family were on hand to help. They gave her a small area of land to grow crops and where she could put up a single-roomed mud and wattle house in which her whole family, including 9 children, can take shelter. Margret labours on other people’s gardens to raise small sums of money to support her family. She used to earn a little more by hawking spare food around the neighbourhood. However, Covid restrictions imposed by the government prohibited house to house selling, so she lost this additional income.
Moreen, her eldest daughter, remains her only hope. Using funds from UHST and Humanist Aid in Sweden, the school gave Moreen a scholarship, which enabled her to complete her primary education. Despite her challenging circumstances at home, Moreen worked hard and became one of the highest performing children at Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary School, gaining Grade 1 in her Primary Leaving Examination in 2020. She was then awarded a UHST scholarship to continue her secondary education at Isaac Newton Humanist High School, which has a growing reputation throughout Uganda. Unfortunately, Covid closed all the schools to new entrants in 2021 and there is now doubt about whether her mother will be willing to let her go, as she needs to send Moreen out to work to support her family.
The circumstances around Katumba have been made worse by turbulence across the nearby Congo border. Congolese troops are fighting the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), an Islamic rebel force, which is seeking to destabilise the Eastern Congo and the Ruwenzori region of Uganda. The turbulence has made life impossible for local people. Many have been slaughtered in the conflict and a lucky few are escaping to Uganda as refugees. Already, since May, 2,894 Congolese refugees have fled into Bundbugyo District. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is helping as much as it can, but its resources are over-stretched. When refugees reach the reception camps in Uganda, they find that food rations, medical care and clothing are in short supply, and there is a general sense of hopelessness. Adult refugees are desperate to get their children into school and yet they have no money to pay school fees.
Fortunately for some, the Katumba parents are rallying around to help. Many refugees are members of the same Konjo tribe as are many of the Katumba parents. They were divided when the colonial border was arbitrarily drawn. They speak the same local language, Lukonjo, and many are from the same extended families, who regularly move backwards and forwards across the porous international border. With the troubles of 2016 fresh in their minds, local people understand the plight of the refugees and have opened their hearts to them.
In the picture we can see how the Katumba village market is used to provide temporary shelter for those displaced and already 20 refugee children have been offered places in the Katumba Parents Humanist School. Although they share the same local language the refugee children will have to switch from French to English as the language of instruction, and this will require additional remedial support in school. A major worry for the school, which is already struggling for funds, is how to cover the costs of the extra children, when there is no matching income.
The picture shows Swabia Muhindo, one of the refugee mothers with her child, Ester Soki. Ester is one of the refugee children who will be joining Katumba School when it reopens in January. Conditions of life for them in the Congo had become impossible. There was frequent gun fire between the Congo army and ADF rebels and many civilians in their neighbourhood were dying. When Margret’s husband was killed, she had no alternative but to flee to Uganda. Although living in the refugee camp she is earning money from casual labour on local farms. She is trying hard to raise the school fees that her daughter needs to have a decent start in life.
Uganda Humanist Schools Trust is just finishing funding the construction of a fine new primary school for the Katumba parents. We will be visiting the school in January to get a better understanding of the situation on the ground. After supporting 6 Humanist schools through the Covid closures, our funds are at rock bottom, and we need to replenish them if we are to have the resources to enable all the Humanist schools we support to reopen in January. During the Covid closure we have worked with our supporters to maintain and improve the infrastructure of all the Humanist schools. The priority now is to help the schools take in children from poor families who are unable to pay, to make sure that there is money to pay teachers and to ensure that the schools are not held back by a shortage of books and other learning resources. If you would like to help, then there has been no other time when it has been most needed. Donations can be sent by cheque to: Uganda Humanist Schools Trust, 31 Greenmeadows Road, Madeley, Crewe, CW3 9EY, UK. Details for making online payments can be found on our website: https://ugandahumanistschoolstrust.org/donate/make-a-donation/
I am very grateful to Juma Irumba Siriwayo, Director of Katumba Parents Humanist Primary School for providing the information for this report.