Friday 28th November was the last day of the school year at Mustard Seed School. Cooks were preparing the end of year staff party, and teachers and other workers were waiting to receive their end of year bonuses. This is one months pay provided by UHST to reward teachers for their loyalty to the school and to help them through the school vacation. Ugandan workers do not receive holiday pay. The introduction of the bonus, 3 years ago, has had a dramatic effect. Between 2015 and 2016 only two teachers left the school, both going back to university for further training; whereas, in earlier years, up to a quarter of staff failed to return after the long vacation. Sadly, on this occasion, the bonus was not to be.
UHST transferred the money, roughly £1,500, to Barclays branch in Jinja, Uganda. During the afternoon of November 28th Moses Kamya, the School’s Director, with a colleague Tedeo, collected the bonus money from the bank – 7 million Uganda shillings. Unfortunately, robbers, who must have seen them at the bank, lay in wait along the road. They placed a car across the road and stopped Moses’s vehicle. Moses was told to hand over the money and, to demonstrate their seriousness, they shot Tedeo in the arm with a Kalashnikov rifle. Naturally, at this point, Moses handed over all the money and the robbers fled from the scene.
Moses did what he could to stem the bleeding from Tedeo’s wound and then rushed him to hospital (see picture above). Fortunately, the bullet went through the flesh without shattering the bone and, after 3 days in hospital, Tedeo is now recovering at home. Although treatment in hospital is subsidised, they have been presented with a substantial bill for medicines and for board and lodging. After leaving the hospital, Moses spent hours at the police station filing a report on the incident (see picture of report below). The police hold out little hope of apprehending the gang of robbers. So, a key worker has a serious injury, there are hospital bills to pay and the school has lost its annual staff bonus from UHST.
Every month the school has to collect cash from the bank for staff salaries. Uganda is largely a cash economy so this is normal. Now the robbers know this is a regular occurrence Moses needs to find an alternative. He is trying to persuade all his teachers to open bank accounts so that, from the start of 2017, the school can pay salaries by direct transfer into their bank accounts.
For UHST, like all charities, money is scarce and we do not feel we can justify sending the same money twice, particularly as the same thing could happen again. We are, however, opening a fund so that supporters who wish to help can make donations to replace the bonus money and help the school in more general ways. If you would like to help Mustard Seed School pleased send a cheque made out to “Uganda Humanist Schools Trust” to: UHST, 31 Greenmeadows Road, Madeley Crewe, CW3 9EY (or use the donation form on our website: https://uhst.org/donate/).
It is such a pity that this has happened, because it shakes everyone’s confidence. Moses had just sent us a very up-beat report on the considerable progress the school has made over the past year (see Mustard Seed Directors Report for 2016). In the report, he shows that recruitment is buoyant, staff retention is high, they are making great strides in developing the Humanist Ethos of the school, boys and girls sporting achievements have been high, piped water is coming to the school, the school clinic is making a major contribution to the school and the community and the school has benefited from new computers and a high speed printer. The school management and staff can be proud of their achievements in 2016.
Posted: December 7, 2016 by Steve Hurd
Armed robbers steal Mustard Seed staff bonuses
UHST transferred the money, roughly £1,500, to Barclays branch in Jinja, Uganda. During the afternoon of November 28th Moses Kamya, the School’s Director, with a colleague Tedeo, collected the bonus money from the bank – 7 million Uganda shillings. Unfortunately, robbers, who must have seen them at the bank, lay in wait along the road. They placed a car across the road and stopped Moses’s vehicle. Moses was told to hand over the money and, to demonstrate their seriousness, they shot Tedeo in the arm with a Kalashnikov rifle. Naturally, at this point, Moses handed over all the money and the robbers fled from the scene.
Moses did what he could to stem the bleeding from Tedeo’s wound and then rushed him to hospital (see picture above). Fortunately, the bullet went through the flesh without shattering the bone and, after 3 days in hospital, Tedeo is now recovering at home. Although treatment in hospital is subsidised, they have been presented with a substantial bill for medicines and for board and lodging. After leaving the hospital, Moses spent hours at the police station filing a report on the incident (see picture of report below). The police hold out little hope of apprehending the gang of robbers. So, a key worker has a serious injury, there are hospital bills to pay and the school has lost its annual staff bonus from UHST.
Every month the school has to collect cash from the bank for staff salaries. Uganda is largely a cash economy so this is normal. Now the robbers know this is a regular occurrence Moses needs to find an alternative. He is trying to persuade all his teachers to open bank accounts so that, from the start of 2017, the school can pay salaries by direct transfer into their bank accounts.
For UHST, like all charities, money is scarce and we do not feel we can justify sending the same money twice, particularly as the same thing could happen again. We are, however, opening a fund so that supporters who wish to help can make donations to replace the bonus money and help the school in more general ways. If you would like to help Mustard Seed School pleased send a cheque made out to “Uganda Humanist Schools Trust” to: UHST, 31 Greenmeadows Road, Madeley Crewe, CW3 9EY (or use the donation form on our website: https://uhst.org/donate/).
It is such a pity that this has happened, because it shakes everyone’s confidence. Moses had just sent us a very up-beat report on the considerable progress the school has made over the past year (see Mustard Seed Directors Report for 2016). In the report, he shows that recruitment is buoyant, staff retention is high, they are making great strides in developing the Humanist Ethos of the school, boys and girls sporting achievements have been high, piped water is coming to the school, the school clinic is making a major contribution to the school and the community and the school has benefited from new computers and a high speed printer. The school management and staff can be proud of their achievements in 2016.
Posted: July 28, 2016 by Steve Hurd
Visiting the schools in July
It was good to have time to have a good look around each school and to see that they are both progressing well.
We saw lessons in progress, spoke with scholarship and other students and with members of the teaching staff. In the picture, right, Peter Kisirinya, the Isaac Newton School Director, is leading a Physics practical class, where students are being shown how to construct electric circuits and measure resistance along them.
We also met the school nurses and were told about the work of the new health clinics in each school.
Full reports on the visit to each school can be downloaded from the links below:
Report on visit to Isaac Newton High School
Report on visit to Mustard Seed School
Posted: May 25, 2016 by Steve Hurd
University success at Isaac Newton School
Samuel is naturally delighted by this life changing achievement. He says: “scoring 15 points in my subject combination of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics with subsidiary Information Technology has been the greatest achievement of my life. My scores were Biology C, Chemistry C, Maths B, General paper 4 and ICT 3. This has only been possible due to receiving a scholarship from UHST to study for free at Isaac Newton High School.
I have been admitted to Makerere University on a government scholarship to study Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. However, the scholarship only covers the basics. Fortunately, Isaac Newton High School will allow me to pay my way through university in exchange for doing part-time teaching in the school.
When I graduate I intend to return to my community and help them to improve their agricultural practices and incomes by promoting sustainable agriculture.
I am very grateful to Birmingham Humanists who provided my scholarship and made it possible for me to achieve this in my life.”
Samuel is just one example of how the work of the Humanist Schools in Uganda can completely transform the life chances of the individual students passing through them.