April 2010 - The Boys' Brigade

Down Battalion returns BB
to BB School in Uganda
In March 2010 the Down
Battalion celebrated
the 10th anniversary of
building a Primary School
in Uganda as part of its
millennium celebrations.
The school is out in the
Ugandan bush, 30 minutes
drive from Nakasongola,
which is about 120 miles
north of Kampala. The
school has become
known in the area as
‘The BB School’.
When we went to build the
school in 2000, 97 pupils met
under a tree, (now the BB tree) for shelter
from the sun and the rain. In three weeks
the team of 29 men had constructed two
brick buildings with three classrooms in
each and over 100 desks, which would
seat up to 300 children. This would be
more than enough for the forecasted
numbers of children who might attend
the school. Ten years on and the school
now has over 750 pupils (aged from
5-15) and a staff of 15 (10 of them
Christians) led by a wonderful Christian
headmistress called Annet.
When a doctor from Northern Ireland
visited the school in 2006, with a BB
Company, he found that all the children
suffered from dysentery and other
illnesses due to drinking dirty water.
The Battalion, on hearing this, raised
funds to dig a borehole. This provided
the school and community with clean
drinking water.
Last summer a team of 34 BB leaders
and seniors, including the doctor and a
nurse, went back to the school to do two
weeks of outreach (Holiday Bible Club
teaching) and maintenance. They were
greeted by over 300 children singing “we
are very thankful for our visitors –
you are very welcome.” Some
of the children held up hand
painted posters welcoming us
home to the BB school; it was a
very emotional time for us all. We
held 28 sessions, many of them
outdoors as the classrooms were
being painted. We told them about
ourselves, sang, learnt a memory
verse and a Bible lesson. Some of
the classes had up to 200 pupils and
although the children learn in English,
the teachers interpreted for them.
The work done by the team included
making 100 desks which would seat 300
pupils. They painted the classrooms
inside and out and in both of these
tasks members of the team taught the
senior boys in the school basic painting
and joinery skills to help them gain
experience in the workplace.
The senior girls and teachers were
taught how to use the ‘Singer’ treadle
sewing machines, which were provided
from funds raised. The Battalion gave
£10,000 to provide solar panels for
the school resulting in power for the
teachers’ two accommodation blocks
and four classrooms. Three laptops
and data projectors were also taken out
and the teachers were taught how to
use them.
Time was spent playing games and
sports with the children and judging from
the noise, excitement and enthusiasm they
thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
The money for the cost
of a site, and other essentials to enable
a High School to be built
in January this year by a
team from Hope builders in
Northern Ireland, was raised
by two officers from the
‘Mourne Men’ BB company.
This
will enable more children
to have the opportunity of
High School education.
The children live in very
basic homes; some of them
still live in small mud huts,
mostly used just to sleep
in. All cooking and eating is
done outside, and they have
no running water unless it rains. There are
no televisions and very little furniture. The
school provides them with one good meal
each day. If it is the dry season there will be
very little else to eat. There are no X-Boxes
or PS3s, a bicycle is not a toy but a valued
means of transport used by all the family.
Shoes are an unnecessary luxury. Even so,
every child is very happy. Is this because
they have not forgotten to praise and thank
God, not for the abundance of what they
have, but for the real value of what they
have – their faith, their family, their food and
their friends of which the Down Battalion
are humbled to be part of? Are we really
millionaires in comparison?
In conclusion, please pray for Annet and
the teachers of the Primary School and the
new High School. We give thanks to God
who has enabled Down Battalion to have
the privilege of helping a community so
much in need.
Mervyn Murdock
Battalion President on behalf of the Team