HUGE visit - April 2016

Mel Batten, one of the HUGE trustee has written an update on the latest trip to Nabugabo, a fantastic insight into all the work happening in the community.

On the 29th March, with 250kg of bags packed with very generous donations including baby clothes, school shoes, school uniform, sports kit, football boots, home clothes, African reading books and medical kit we made our HUGE Easter trip to Nabugabo, Uganda. Our team included Marc and Simon Batten, brothers of Dave and both teachers, and Dylan, Dave's son.

We received a wonderful welcome from our friends and the community with a fantastic opening assembly by the children.

Throughout the week, we achieved much including:

Meeting the village health team to discuss how HUGE can assist on ongoing health issues

Painting of a new latrine block for the school

The building of speed bumps in the immediate vicinity of the school and painting of road signs to enhance road safety

Cutting down and preparing eucalyptus trees for fencing

Weighing and measuring all of the children at the school

Supervising and running PE sessions giving new ideas and initiatives

Unpacking and handing out all of the uniform, home clothes and shoes kindly donated by friends in the UK.

Listening and discussing with staff daily challenges and new ideas for staff training and learning objectives.

Holding a HUGE meeting to discuss and agree the business plan for the year and goals for the longer term.

Participating in the local drum and dance session!

The school has just had its third anniversary and 3 years on we were all struck by the confidence and spirit of all 100 children and the academic progress that has been made. There is a very strong ethos of fun, friendship, and caring for each other. These values are nurtured and reinforced by a fantastic team of staff currently standing at 8 full time teachers and assistants, 2 handymen, Justine the cook and Isaac the Community Liaison Officer.

Many thanks to them all for their dedication and commitment to the children, the school and wider community and most importantly to Dave and Judy Batten for their ongoing commitment, energy and guidance which is making such an enormous difference to so many.

As the school flourishes and grows we have an ongoing need for child sponsorship. Just £16.70 a month will provide one child with education for a year, two meals a day and access to health care.If you are interested please visit our website and you can find more details on how to donate. If you do decide to sponsor a child, importantly you will receive details of your child and regular updates on their welfare and progress.