Since the start of the “Friends of Toowa” group in 2018, so many projects have been completed, some small and others very large. All of which are just as important as each other.
Select the project to find out more about each of them:
In February 2021, the main classrooms were destroyed by heavy winds and rainfall, this left nowhere for the children to attend classes. In less than a year these new classes were built, the are of a flexible design and the best amongst the schools in the area, all this was possible with the support of all the supporters of the charity,
Toowa school has a number of places available for girls to board at the school, these are usually girl who live too far and walk home. For these safety this is one option. The previous dormitory was over crowded and needed updating. This was built with the supporter of the Charity.
This was one of the first builds at the school. The previous kitchen was just a basic shack and could not be used to cook in bad weather, this meant the children would go hungry. Read our fundraiser (Tony’s) story that helped in making this build happen.
Prior to these being built, it was very hazardous for the children to get from the baby classes to the kitchen. It was compounded further when the rains came. These steps made for ease of access and above all a safe passage to get meals.
One of the earlier builds to improve the classroom for the younger children, the previous classroom was very basic with gaps in the walls and roof. This more solid structure makes it safer and warmed for the little ones.
One of the trustees (Bill Pitt) is a skilled carpenter. During his initial visit to Uganda he made the desks for the school. He also supervised and passed on his skills for Elijah and his team to make more in the future.
A new office (solid build) was built so that Elijah can have a place to meet parents and new admissions but also somewhere for administration team to work from.The team in this room are responsible for the day to day running of the school. The room is also used to store parcels and used to split food into smaller packages to give to families.
Little Shirat (like many children in Uganda) was orphaned at a very young age and she lived in a little shack that was open to all the elements and unsafe for a small child and an elderly lady. With many generous donations from the supporters we were able to build them this lovely little home.
This incinerator was built in order to help the girls dispose of their sanitary towels safely and be able to attend school. In the past girls would stay at home during their periods and it was quickly identified and a group was setup to assist with specific issues to help the girls including the ability to make re-usable sanitary towels.
With the help from a water charity “Ugandan Water Project”, we were able to finally give the children the ability to have access to clean, safe and purified drinking water. This is such a big step at the school and will benefit the children to keep well hydrated.
The women’s group started in 2017. when we first identified a need for the young women at the school. Girls entering the age of menstruation did not have any access to appropriate support they needed. Kathleen soon realised that many girls during their monthly menstruation were absent from school, they didn’t have the proper protection and were often ridiculed because of the blood stains on their clothes.
Since the classroom rebuild and the construction of the girls dormitory some additional work needed to be carried out in and around the school.
- A new school perimeter fence
- Retaining walls for safety and prevention of mud slides
- Shower block behind the dormitory
- Level walkways around the dormitory leading to the shower rooms.
