The death of Jean Davies was widely reported in the national press last weekend. Jean had fought an active campaign in support of assisted dying, and had published a book on the subject in 2007.

Jean was a strong supporter of UHST and of the Humanist Schools in Uganda.

At the British Humanist Association Conference in Leeds in 2013 she made a remarkable intervention on behalf of the charity. She interrupted one of the final meetings of the conference and said that instead of “just talking” the conference members could make a real difference to the world by supporting the endeavours of the Humanist schools in Uganda. She organised an impromptu collection using buckets and boxes, saying she would match any sum of money donated by the conference delegates. This she did and the appeal raised almost £1000, which went towards the construction of hostel accommodation to improve the living conditions of students at the schools.

Jean was a highly principled and feisty lady with an endearing nature. What she did has helped to make a difference to the lives of generations of young people at the Humanist Schools in Uganda. She has a warm place in our hearts and we will remember her as a very special person.

In my September 13^th News Blog I asked if supporters would like to help Mustard Seed School’s Girl Scouts who, following their success in a national scouting competition, have been asked to represent Uganda in the East African Jamboree in Kigali, Rwanda. The cost is £2,200 and, so far, we have received no offers of support. This is a difficult one and I have already indicated in the blog that I felt it was difficult to justify paying other than a small part of this from existing funds (see https://uhst.org/latest-news/)

We are used to dealing with difficult decisions. Whenever we decide to send money to the schools, we know that we are using funds that could have gone on some other pressing need. When we started the charity we said we would aim to always make the immediate improvement in education for the children in the schools as our priority. This puts a strong weighting on resources to improve teaching and learning for current students. However, we soon realised that children who are thirsty do not concentrate well. So ensuring that each school has good supplies of safe and palatable drinking water became an important educational priority. There is also a constant tension with the need to improve the infrastructure of the schools so that students have a better learning environment.

To set the £2,200 for the girl scouts in perspective, we give each secondary school £800-£1000 each year to buy books, £400-£500 on science materials and a similar amount on such things as maintaining computer networks, art, sports and music or meeting shortfalls of money to pay staff wages. The same sum would bring one or two of the school Directors to Britain to undertake a speaking tour, which would inform our supporters and Humanist groups around the country about the work of the schools and, in the process, help with fundraising.

That said the opportunity to build on the success of the girl scouts would bring a huge psychological boost to the students and staff at Mustard Seed School, raise its standing within the community and undoubtedly aid recruitment. Already news of the girls’ success has boosted the school. The latest email from Moses Kamya says:

“Last Friday, the District Education officer of Kamuli awarded our scouts with certificates acquired from the last national competitions at school, he promised them Uganda Shillings 500.000= (£120) towards their expenses to attend the Jamboree. The presentation was covered in both local radio stations and in the “Daily Monitor”, a Uganda national newspaper. This has prompted the woman member of parliament for Kamuli district to invite us to her home at the end of this month; hopefully she will offer a further small contribution.

Our girl scouts moods are upbeat; are you having any success in raising funds for them to go to Rwanda? We need to confirm whether they can attend very soon. The picture below shows the press visit to our school for the presentation of the certificate.”

UHST reserves are low at moment, because it is our policy to hold minimal reserves and to get money donated by supporters to the schools as soon as we possibly can. In the savings account we have sufficient funds to pay for 130 scholarships for one term and we have £7,000 in our current account, but £5,000 of this is already committed to meeting the final payment on the boys’ hostel at Isaac Newton High School (Kateera) and we need to find money for solar power for the new hostel.

If you feel you would like to help the girls go to the Jamboree then you can donate through the website www.ugandahumanistschoolstrust.org/donate (please add a note to say the money is for the Girl Scouts), alternatively cheques can be sent to: UHST (Girl Scouts Appeal), 31 Greenmeadows Road, Madeley, Crewe CW3 9EY.

I should like to thank everyone who has helped UHST to support the Humanist Schools in Uganda. Establishing good schools is a long-term challenge, but they are making good progress and I want to give you an idea of where your money has been going during 2014. I attach a list of Grants awarded by UHST 2014 and a small selection of pictures which I think indicate that development is proceeding apace.

As a result of the funds being provided by our supporters:

1. Scholarships have been allocated to 129 bright children from the poorest backgrounds to enable them to attend the schools. A new development in 2014 has been the introduction of full-boarding scholarships, which enable single and double orphans to make the school their home during term time. We try to provide 10 new first year scholarships to each school each year. This requires us to raise 30 new scholarships each year. Day scholarships are £120 a year and boarding scholarships cost £300. If you would like to provide a scholarship please email Hilary Hurd at: scholarships@uhst.org.
2. We are able to pay for a range of learning materials including textbooks, chemicals and science materials, art materials and maintenance to keep the computer networks in good order. As the schools’ facilities have improved, and exam results too, there has been a large increase in the demand for places in the Humanist schools. This creates a constant challenge to keep up with the demands for learning resources. However, as Humanists, we value the possibility of students becoming independent learners so materials for independent study are given high priority.
3. Gradually we have been able to help the schools with resources to foster out-of-school activities such as sports, music, choral singing, scouts (for boys and girls) and to take part in inter-school competitions e.g. debating. At Mustard Seed School work on levelling the land we purchased last year for a playing field has been completed and grass seed has been sown to create a playing surface.
4. Improvements are being made in health and welfare. A new borehole, pump and gravity-fed water tank has been installed on the upper school site at the Mustard Seed School. Clean drinking water is essential for health and also, as we have found, to enable students to concentrate in class. In 2014 we worked with a Ugandan NGO to provide re-useable sanitary pads to the girls in all three secondary schools, and to provide a one-day training course on how to use the pads and to enable girls to understand the menstrual cycle. Fencing the school sites at Mustard Seed and Isaac Newton High School (Mbute) has also been completed. This is essential to prevent theft but also to create a secure environment for students in boarding.
5. Boys’ Hostels are under construction at Isaac Newton High School (Kateera) and at Mustard Seed School. When completed, they will make a huge difference to the welfare of some of the really needy children and give them much better access to learning resources throughout the week and at weekends. The two hostels should be finished by mid-October.
6. The Mbute Campus of Isaac Newton High School has had to contend with witchcraft rumours during the year. Most of the fears held by members of the community have been allayed by an education programme conducted by the school with help from outside experts. However, it has accelerated the need to progress work to improve the site which has now been securely fenced and trees have been planted to green the school site. Work is currently being undertaken to improve the quality of the access road to the site and also erecting poles so that the school can be connected to mains electricity.
7. Mbute School is the least developed of the schools and it is a long way short of covering its basic running costs. It relies upon the extra funds that we provide to cover its periodic arrears on staffing costs.
8. At Isaac Newton High School (Kateera) the school hall has been refurbished with new floors, walls, windows and doors so that it now meets the requirements of Uganda National Examination Board for becoming and Examination Centre. This means that students will be able to take their exams in school instead of going away to another centre miles away from where they live.

All three secondary schools have made progress in 2014, but there remains much to do. Further infrastructure improvements are necessary. All three schools need staff housing, more classrooms, work on paths and access roads, more learning resources and help to develop field trips and extra-curricular activities. Mustard Seed is required to have a medical centre now it has a substantial boarding section. Kateera needs access to mains electricity. Mbute needs hostels for students and improved water provision.

You will see from the attached list of grants awarded that, in the first 9 months of 2014, we allocated £80,000 to the Uganda Schools, distributed as follows:

Isaac Newton High School (Kateera)              £ 30,880

Isaac Newton High School (Mbute)                £ 17,958

Mustard Seed School, Busota                        £ 30,410 Kasese Humanist Primary School                    £     400

Our aim is to raise similar amounts over each of the next two years. If you would like to help us you can donate here.

A certain amount of our income comes from regular standing orders. This allows us to plan essential spending on learning resources. In 2014, the flow donations from new supporters fell due to the negative press coverage given to the Uganda government’s proposed introduction of anti-homosexuality legislation. Fortunately the legislation was successfully challenged in the Uganda courts and it has, at least for the time being, been shelved. UHST income held up, in the end, thanks to the generosity of a few individual supporters who made substantial donations. We are grateful to these and to all other regular supporters for helping us through this difficult year.

The exciting new development involving all three secondary schools and Kasese Humanist Primary School is that they have agreed to work together, through the Uganda Humanist Schools Association, to develop the Humanist ethos of the schools. Inevitably, in the schools’ early years it has been a constant battle to pay teachers, meet other essential costs to ensure the minimum acceptable level of education to students in the schools. Thanks to the combined effort of the schools and our supporters many of the basic essentials are now in place and attention is beginning to be paid to improving the quality of teaching and learning and to developing the Humanist ethos of the schools. UHST and UHSA have submitted to IHEU a proposal for funds to enable teachers in the schools to come together to develop materials which embody a distinctive Humanist approach to teaching, learning and management in the schools. We hope to be able to announce the launch of this project before the end of the year.

In the meantime, we would like to thank all supporters for making this unique experiment in Humanist education possible and we hope you will feel you can continue to help the schools in coming years so that we can together create institutions of which students, teachers and the Humanist community can be proud.

Sincerely

Steve Hurd
Chairperson
www.ugandahumanistschoolstrust.org
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 all donations from supporters are used to help the schools in Uganda.

PS Here is a copy of our . We would be very grateful if you could circulate it to members of groups to which you belong and help us to recruit new supporters. Should you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me: Steve Hurd +44 (0) 1782 750338 stevehurd@uhst.org.