King Alfreds Charity - Uganda Project

A message from Alan Keane.

 Hi Everybody, Some of you may remember me as I was on 3 TEECH trips in 2005,6 and 7,and for the last two I travelled out by motorbike.  Due to a clash of dates I was unable to come with you this year,but then I saw an advert in my local paper asking for volunteers to go on a charity trip to Uganda with a charity called King Alfreds Charity Projects.  A local school had been working out there in 2007 and was returning with a small group this year.  I went with them, and gemma has asked me for some details as she thought what we did might be of interest to TEECH volunteers. 

The way the trip was run was broadly similar to TEECH trips. We did various fund raising events before our departure and everyone paid for their trip, which included transport, accommodation and food.  The fact that we were flying out meant that we couldn’t take truck loads of equipment as on TEECH trips, but we did have a big baggage allowance that enabled us to take some items of equipment and toys and gifts.We stayed at an adventure camp (the same one used by Ewan McGregor on his Long Way Down adventure) so we had good food and comfortable accommodation in either tents, dormitories or cabins.  We travelled by bus for about 45minutes on dirt roads to reach our work site each day,  which was a primary school for 700 children in a village called Bituli. 

Our group was split into three,  a cooks team to provide us with meals, a resource team to purchase equipment, and a build team.  As there was no running water or electricity in the school we didn’t have dripping taps and dodgy wiring to contend with as on Romanian trips.  Instead we were helping the local builders who had already built the foundations and made the building blocks before we got there so our task was to help with the construction and we all got chance to lay a few courses of blocks as well as mixing cement, pushing wheelbarrows, and generally getting in the builders way !!We were building a kitchen to enable the children to have a lunchtime meal of porridge, and by the end of the week the building had reached roof level. It has since been finished and equipped and is serving meals every day.I formed a special bond with the children of one class and was invited in to watch and help with their lessons.  The next day I was amazed when some of them brought me presents. A carrot, an egg, a mango and all kinds of exotic fruit. The following day I had armfuls of gifts and I found it a very moving experience.  The children had so little but wanted to share whatever they had and I felt it was a real privilege to know them.On our final day there was a big celebration with over 1000 people present. We had a big feast with lots of singing and dancing .It was probably the biggest occasion the village has seen for a long time, and it was great to be part of it.As well as building and equipping the kitchen we were able to provide lots of other things to help the community.

There were educational gifts for every class, mattresses, blankets and cooking utensils for some of the poorest families, gardening tools so they can grow crops to supply the kitchen, carpentry tools so the boys can learn a trade, and sewing and knitting machines and material to make school uniforms.  There were also some bicycles for the health visitors and finally a couple of cows!! Through the wonders of email we have managed to stay in touch since our return and know that what we managed to achieve in one week has made a big difference to the community there.           

For 2009 the same group will be tackling a project in Nepal and I have signed up to go with them again as it makes sense to be working with a group near my Oxfordshire home.  There is a website and you can check out www.kacharityprojects.org.uk  Because of this commitment, I won’t be with you again next year, but will be keeping an eye on the TEECH website to see what is going on and I wish you every success with your fundraising and project in 2009. 

Alan Keane

2008 Project & News - 2008 Masquerade Ball