Hello lovely friends...

A little update...Myself and my husband have BOOKED OUR FLIGHTS and head off to Uganda on the 4th March for 2 weeks.

So, with our skills it looks like a placement in the South District of Uganda, not far from Ntungam, in the hills, where a rural school sits, was the place for us. We will stay in a little purpose-built volunteer hut on site next to the school.

Check out pictures here... https://www.facebook.com/ugandalodge/photos/

Check out a video by a previous volunteer here...

Whilst we are there my husband has been asked to create scaled drawings of the site on his laptop. It is hoped this will support the school and medical centre apply for government grants to extend the site. Furthermore, in his free time he hopes to teach the children Karate!

I on the other hand hope to do some teaching on Mental Health difficulties for the children and their families. In Uganda the stigma around people with mental health difficulties means when things go wrong they often have no safety net. Uganda's mental health services are considered inadequate as there are only 30 psychiatrists working in Uganda. With a total population of more than 35 million people, that's less than one per million. The World Health Organisation estimates that 90% of those with mental illness never get treatment. This is likely due to poor understanding of mental illness, as the psychiatrists at Butabika estimate that 90% of Ugandans believe that mental illness is linked to curses or demons.

So, what are we asking from you??

Well, the school needs resources. They need children’s school uniforms, sports equipment, toys, stationary, and picture books. All these are collected together and can then be sold cheaply at the school’s mini-market to raise funds for free medical equipment for the new clinic. Also, it costs just £5 per month to sponsor a child to attend school (£60 a year). Furthermore, the school need money to build a new toilet block for the girls, and render a new assembly hall.

So, we are continuing to fund raise so that we can bring as much money and necessaries out to Uganda. When we were home at Christmas loads of people asked to donate to our other fundraiser which we closed, so we've started another one!

We have hundreds of friends and colleagues; please donate, however big or small, it all adds up! Your contribution will go directly to the source and provide the people of Uganda some much needed support.

Thanks for reading :)