Welcome to the February edition of the Luwero newsletter
Gabriel’s Travels
Gabriel has been very busy over the month of January, locally and further afield. He was invited to speak and lead at many camps and conference engagements in various parts of Uganda but is now safely back in Luwero.
Gabriel is in the process of trying to renew his visa with the UK authorities in Kampala and Nairobi. His current 5-year visa has expired, and he is seeking to get a renewal for at least 5, and possibly 10 years. Obtaining visas can be notoriously difficult so please pray for a smooth, successful process. Plans are also afoot to enable Gabriel to visit Germany this year: the Trustees have been assisting friends in Germany to establish their own Trust for supporting Luwero.
Naming ceremony for Luwero Community Secondary School
The naming ceremony for Luwero Community Secondary School (formerly Luwero Brilliant High School) took place just before Christmas. It was a joyous occasion and marks the start of a new chapter in the life of the school. To see photographs taken on the day and video footage of the celebrations, go to the News section of the website.
New School Session
Pupils started back to the nursery, primary and secondary schools on the 2nd of February. Another year of study and hard work commenced, with the hope of good grades and success. Last session’s P7 and S4 pupils performed very well in their final exams. In P7 the pupils obtained 15 first grades, 21 upper second grades, 3 third grades and 1 fourth grade. In S4 the pupils achieved 4 first grade passes and the others managed passes at second and third grades. The pupils of P7 and S4 gathered together to be congratulated on their successes and to hear the recommendations for their next levels of study. To see photographs taken on the day, go to the News section of the website.
A negative note about the return to school is that not every pupil managed to make it back. The economy is not favourable at the moment because of the lack of rain and the effect this has had on crops and earnings. The Board of Trustees has launched a Bursary scheme to support pupils whose parents cannot afford to send their children to school: please pray for its success. Please also pray that as many pupils as possible can last the full year and devote themselves to their studies, regardless of the hurdles they have to overcome to be there.
On other school matters, the slab for the first floor of the boys dormitory is finished and work will commence soon on the plastering of the ground floor. Work on the construction of the first floor of the girls dormitory has had to be halted due to the high costs of building materials: the materials will be purchased when prices fall to a more realistic and affordable level.
Drought
Please pray for rain. Everything has dried up and the country has a terrible shortage of water. The animals are suffering, and their futures are not secure. The crops have not yielded the return that Gabriel and the team were looking and hoping for. The (only) borehole at the secondary school is so crowded that it causes long delays during lessons and eating times. The team are all praying for the rain but also for an additional water source, eg a borehole at the primary section.
Visitor to the Project
Marion, a former ICC Glasgow student with Gabriel, is travelling to Luwero next week to spend a fortnight visiting the project. Please pray for a safe journey for her.
Team Luwero 2019
In July of this year a team of 20 people, including me (team Luwero 2019), will be travelling to Luwero to help at the Project. As well as going over to lend our brain, brawn and skills as required, we are also attempting to raise as much money as possible in sponsorship to give to the project. We have not set a specific target but, given the news about the lack of accessible water, we would like to raise £4,000 to fund the drilling of another borehole: any additional money raised could go towards completing the construction of the girls dormitory or buying food to compensate for the poor harvest. We are all taking part in the Glasgow Kiltwalk and would be grateful for any sponsorship we can raise through the Facebook team page. If you would like to donate, please click on the following link:
https://glasgowkiltwalk2019.everydayhero.com/uk/luwero-2019/members
If you have any news that you would like to share with other supporters,
please email it to the Luwero CP offices.