...bajjo update
Due to the ‘magic’ of the internet and mobile phone technology we are able to maintain regular contact with Vincent and the rest of the team in Bajjo, and we want to make sure that you have an up-to-date picture too!
Latest News...
August 2009: The second Community Party of 2010 was held on August 8th. It was a great day with strong participation in the ever-popular sports tournaments and over 200 people in attendance. Clinicians from St Lukes (local Catholic Clinic in Bombo town) were on-hand to relay some important health messages to the community.
August 2009: The schools have just had end-of-term exams and the children in the community are now enjoying a few weeks of holiday. This means one thing in Bajjo – the wannabeamazin programmes are in full swing!
July 2009: Numbers in the Adult English lessons have increased slightly – we now have 7 regular members, and Vincent has been very pleased with their progress.
June 2009: The latest reports sent by Vincent indicate that in the first 6 months of 2009 the Resource Centre is averaging over 200 people per month and is becoming a real focus and meeting point for the youth in the community. This is great news, however we are still looking to encourage more adults in the community to use the facilities available.
June 2009: We have graduated 168 more children through our HIV/AIDS prevention programme (Whizzkids) in the first 6 months of this year. We continue to work in all the three main secondary-schools in the nearby town of Bombo.
May 2009: Many books have continued to arrive for the community since we left, so thank you to everyone who continues to send them over in good faith! We now have a great library, full of both educational and story books.
'Amazin' News...
August 2009: Vincent recently informed us of a new Youth Health Group he has helped to set-up in Bajjo with the help of AMREF Uganda. We are still waiting for the full details, but it sounds like an exciting development – a group of youths in the community have received basic health training from AMREF and will be running peer-education workshops for other youth in the community. This is a proud moment for us as Vincent has coordinated this initiative completely independently of the team in the UK.
July 2009: We have just received news that Kato, a severely disabled boy in the village, is now attending Bajjo Community School on a regular basis. This is great news – Anna spent a lot of time with Kato in 2008, teaching his family simple exercises to improve his mobility. Wannabeamazin also donated money to purchase a specially built wheelchair so as Kato could leave his house – which is now bearing fruit as Kato attends school twice a week (previously Kato was completely house-bound, having no contact with other children).
April 2009: The water tank was finally completed and is now providing clean water for the children at the school. This is really good news, as the tank will not only provide clean drinking water, but also a source for the children to wash their hands after going to the toilet (failure to do so easily disease quickly).
...Thank You!
We just want to say a massive thank you to our close friends in Uganda, SPAU, who are providing 'on-the-ground' support to Vincent, our programme manager in Bajjo.