Uganda

St. Balikuddembe's in Kisoga, Uganda is a senior school which serves a large rural community. The school is run by an extremely hard working head teacher and is supported by the local Servite parish. St. Balikuddembe's is severely limited back its lack of the most basic educational resources. Most sadly, a third of the school's students are orphans. For many the school offers a lifeline by providing full time education to over 500 students aged between twelve and eighteen. In addition, St. Balikuddembe has a large primary school.

Kisoga is a rural village that has a strong sense of community. Two of our trustees have visited the area at their own expense. They were struck by the kindness of the people and the tireless work of the Servite parish. The hard work is paying off and means that the quality of life for many of the people is good compared with other areas of Africa. Moreover, the students are beginning to excel at their studies. However, Kisoga still suffers from many of the problems created by the HIV virus and a lack of funding for education and health programmes. The north of Uganda is still struggling to find an end to a prolonged civil war which has massively affected the economy of the whole country.

Through the help and donations of the parents, teachers and students at St. Philips R.C. Primary school and the parishioners of Our Lady of Dolours, the Trust has been able to provide ten computers to the school in 2008. Our strong links to the local parish priest and the head teacher has allowed us to ensure that the computers will be put to good use and have been a huge help to the students. The new computer facility has been named after Andrew.

The school, with its strong management team, is an ideal place to ensure that any external support and donations would be used to maximum effect. It is our intention to continue supporting the school by working closely with the school to provide books for the library and equipment for the school.