TESS v2

Sponsored students in leadership roles
We were so encouraged to discover how many of our sponsored students have positions of responsibility. This, I believe, is even more important for the future of Teso and Uganda than academic achievement. At least six of our students are Head Prefects in their schools, some of which are very large and prestigious.

UNEB ‘O’ level results
These are equivalent to GCSE and are taken at the end of S4 (ie: after four years in secondary school). The results for the exams taken in November 2008 are just out. The lower the score in their best 8 subjects, the better. An aggregate of 8 is the best possible score, with anything up to 32 being Division One.

As with the Primary Leaving Exam this last year, results throughout Teso are very poor, which reflects on the standard of schools in Teso compared with those in the central and western regions of Uganda. Only one of our students out of 55, Akello Alice Elizabeth, got Division 1 although Amuge Mary and Aacha Rose Mary missed it by only 1 point. 23 got Division 2, 20 got Division 3 and 8 got Division 4 (we are still waiting to hear from three of them). 16 are going on to do ‘A’ levels. The rest are planning to do various vocational courses such as nursing, catering, electronics, tailoring, electrical installation (a girl), fashion design, teaching, agriculture, carpentry, building, etc.

Extracts from letters from sponsored children

Amulen Joyce who is doing a tailoring course: “Thank you for the grace God has given you in your heart. We have some here at school who start late because their parents can’t pay the fees. But me, who doesn’t have parents, my fees are paid early enough – thank you very much. Without God’s mercy, I wouldn’t be at school. I could even maybe have been married by some poor man and I would be living a very hard life. In fact, since I started this term, I enjoy my studies in the Tailoring Department and next term we shall go for a tour to Jinja for one day [where cotton fabric is made]. I know we shall learn a lot – more about sewing and the tailoring trade. I hope to have a prosperous and bright future.”

Aumo Frimina Faith who is at Uganda Christian University (UCU) at Mukono wrote: “I have been a leader since secondary school, especially in the Youth Programmes at Rock View Baptist Church, Soroti. My leadership roles at UCU, especially in Teso Missions Fellowship, taught me the importance of servant leadership. I spend my weekends visiting sick people and on evenings, I do choir practice for Sunday services, both at university and home as well. While at university, I participated in fundraising activities and careful management, where we were able to maintain an excess of 250,000/- (about £85) and clothes which we donated to the Katakwi displaced people in the camps.”

Ayago Betty, who is doing a Plumbing course: “I like my course so much because even in the village, I can still be able to make money by repairing boreholes, hence helping the community to drink clean water and this can prevent them from getting typhoid and diarrhoea that can lead to death.”

Akido Jesca, who is doing a Diploma in Agriculture having completed a Certificate, describes how she is already teaching her local community “how to set up good beds for tomatoes, citrus fruit and zero grazing units for restocking their animals”. She is involved with a NAADS (National Agricultural Advisory Service) programme and goes to markets to treat and vaccinate animals against foot & mouth, Newcastle’s and CBPP.

Alaka Pamella Christine, who is at university near the Rwanda border, was elected Minister of Women’s Affairs. “I also co-operate with the University Administration together with the Guild Government to see that all events at the University are run systematically. I also advise and counsel all the ladies and help them to solve various problems among themselves and also with the University Administration.”

Akello Josephine, who is now about to start ‘A’ levels, wrote: “My brother (in S2 at Toroma SS) has adopted the knowledge I taught him from the 2007 Retreat. When I went home for Term 1 holidays, I was excited that he had started keeping poultry in a free-range style and had even raised money to pay his own school fees.”

No new sponsored children in 2009
Because of greatly increased costs in Uganda and the falling exchange rate, the TESS committee made the difficult decision that we cannot take on any new children this year. All our resources must go to keeping our existing children in education until they have gained sufficient training and qualifications to enable them to earn a living and become independent. We now need two sponsors for every child in post-‘O’ level education (see below about recruiting new sponsors).

FUNDRAISING EFFORTS

Chalet available for holidays in the French Alps

A lovely old chalet sleeping up to 15 people has generously been made available to TESS sponsors to raise funds for TESS. It is suitable for summer holidays as well as for skiing. Instead of paying rent, you are asked to make a donation to TESS (rates are suggested). Does anyone else have a cottage they could make available for a few weeks each year on a similar basis?

Collectibles from travels sold for TESS
One sponsor from Hextable buys interesting and lovely items on her travels and then holds sales at home. She has raised many hundreds of pounds this way.

Monthly Soup and Sweet lunches
If you’re ever near Bournemouth on the second Thursday of the month, you could join others at St Paul’s Throop in supporting TESS whilst having a delicious lunch - or you could enjoy the soups and desserts at home by buying one of Jean Moores’ recipe books (order on the Response Form). She has raised about £800 so far! Well done and thank you.

Thanksgiving for heart bypass surgery
Someone, who is back to good health after having a triple bypass on the NHS, gave £1000 for medical treatment for our sponsored students out of gratitude for all the treatment we can get for free when we need it.

Alternative Gifts for Christmas and Birthdays
We raised over £1,900 by people giving family and friends “alternative gifts” for Christmas such as textbooks, bedding and malaria treatment. With Gift Aid, it amounted to about £2,250 – a wonderful response. A big thank you to everyone who participated.

We are often overwhelmed by gifts, but the children in Teso never have any gifts. This is one way we can share our celebrations and joy with those who have virtually nothing. In one home I visited just before Christmas, Auso Seline’s two young brothers had gone out looking after someone’s cattle to earn enough money to buy themselves a pair of ‘flip-flops’ for Christmas which cost 1000/- (35 pence) – the only thing they were getting for Christmas.

But it needn’t be just for Christmas. What about continuing to order alternative gifts for birthday and anniversary presents throughout the year?

HAC 2 HAC – Horde A Coin to Help A Child
We all get loose change – sometimes too much for our purses! In the UK, we have 8 different coins. Why not decide on one or two particular denominations of coin and save them for TESS whenever you receive them? It will soon mount up - taking those coins out of your purse will make little difference to you but will make a big difference to the sponsored students. Can you give HAC boxes to friends and family and place them at church and at work?

Remembering TESS when you die
A number of people have made arrangements for their sponsorship to continue if they die. Sadly, one of our first ever sponsors died recently, but we are very grateful he left enough money in his will to ensure all his sponsored girls can complete their education.

NEED FOR NEW SPONSORS

You will have read on the front page how we are unable to take on any new children in 2009. This is because of the great increase in fees, especially for those in further education. Of the 255 students being sponsored through TESS, we now have 117 students who have completed their ‘O’ levels, which they take at the end of S4. They have moved on to various schools and institutions to do ‘A’ levels and a variety of practical and professional courses. All these courses cost, on average, twice the school fees for the first four years (S1-S4) – and even these fees have gone up to about £275 this year.

We are committed to keeping all our children in education until they have gained an appropriate qualification and skill which will enable them to earn their own living and so support themselves and their families. We must therefore find ways of meeting the extra costs involved in higher education (an average of about £550 a year). We can only manage this by finding a second sponsor for all 117 students in higher education. This is why we cannot take on any new children in S1, no matter how bright or desperate they are. And paraffin and charcoal (10); taking photographs (using the cameras people gave); crochet; making brick & mud stoves; treating animals; rearing piglets & goats.

We are convinced that the Retreat is a vital part of what we offer our sponsored students to enable them to grow in skills and maturity and make the most of their education. Many thanks to all those who contributed.

we are aware that the world-wide recession is affecting our sponsors as well.

RECRUIT A SPONSOR CAMPAIGN

If everyone who reads this Newsletter were to recruit just one new sponsor in the next month, our problems would be solved! We could allocate a second sponsor to all those in further education as well as take on new children who have been unable to take up their places in secondary school because their families cannot afford to pay school fees. There is an urgency if children are not to miss too much school at the beginning of this year.

Please could you use the enclosed information leaflet, plus your knowledge of TESS and your own sponsored child, to enthuse and encourage at least one other person to become a sponsor.

THE 2008 RETREAT FOR SPONSORED STUDENTS

This took place at Bethany Girls School in Soroti at the end of the school year, from 5 – 13 December. 160 children, mostly from S1, S3 and S4, attended.

Of course there were problems, such as late starts, speakers over-running their time, not enough helpers to organise and run all the activities we had planned, acute illness requiring admission, too many children with significant medical problems to be seen by our doctors.

But there were many highlights: the outing to Sipi Falls and Kapchorwa; time for conversations with students; helping them think through simple projects to earn money to buy essentials for school and then distributing micro-loans of £5; printing their own T-shirts; fun whilst making efficient stoves from mud and bricks; the party on the last night, especially watching the ajosi dance; when they were told that each of them is special; everyone gathered round the new minibus to inspect it and pray for God’s blessing on its use and all who travel in it.

The projects they took micro-loans for included: chickens (25 students); making small cakes (28); buying and re-selling various foods (tiny dried fish, tomatoes, onions, cabbages, sorghum, cassava, groundnuts, sesame etc - 26); “adding value” by cooking food in markets (eg: roasting chicken pieces, roasting groundnuts, cassava chips, frying soya beans, boiled eggs, bean stew, making tea – 11);retailing bottled water, fizzy drinks, clothes,

REPORTS FROM THE LATEST VISIT TO TESO

Margaret Stevens, David Cope and Matthew Perry visited Teso for 9 weeks, 7 weeks and 3 weeks respectively, between 25th November and 25 January. They were joined by five German friends (Hans-Martin, Sabine and Christian Bruns, Anne Hess and Harald Labza) for 2 weeks after Christmas.

Here are a few extracts from what Matthew wrote

We visited students at Nile Vocational Institute on our way to Teso and a slum by a sugar plantation to see Akwi Agnes who is about to start at university. This slum was possibly the most desperate place we visited. The main activity seemed to be distillation of illegal spirits. Agnes’ brothers are being dragged into slum life, away from home from dawn to dusk, hardly helping at all and uninterested in school.

Before the Retreat, we visited more students, at school or home. Many schools had sent students home early whilst teachers marked exams, with no refund of fees…. In some schools, children are beaten for falling asleep in “prep” even though they are allowed only 5- 6 hours of sleep a night, some being woken at 3 a.m.

We had some long days driving out into the bush to visit families in villages, often driving along tracks footpaths. Families live in compounds with two or more thatched huts grouped together. Crops drying in the sun: sweet potatoes on the ground or sim-sim (sesame) on racks.

Other sponsored children live in camps for people displaced by the LRA or Karimojong cattle raiders. Many camps are becoming more permanent slums and the residents are desperately poor. Even the very small amount of money needed to pay for uniforms and stationery for primary school are beyond most families.

The families were all so grateful for the sponsorship of their children. One family had prepared a wonderful meal of chicken, rice, atap (millet ‘bread’) and veg, followed by fresh fruit and tea. Other families gave us gifts of produce or chickens. It is very humbling to be given so much by people who have so little.

The Retreat
There were talks, sometimes with practical activities, in the mornings including a good session on how to build mud and brick stoves. The afternoons were more practical and fun: indoor and outdoor games as well as art and craft activities. Something I often noticed was how hard it was to get them to try new things. A game many enjoyed learning was 4-in-a-row and a few played Scrabble. Margaret showed them how to weave rag rugs with simple peg-looms while David and I supervised tie-dying and decorating T-shirts.

On 4 days, we had a doctor present. Even with Margaret helping, there was not enough time to see more than half. The level of need was, to me, shocking.

At the final party, we gave a set reading book bought in Kampala to each student as well as small gifts to the many who had helped by being monitors.

Some of Margaret’s memories

• The excitement as students opened letters from their sponsors, especially when there were photos.
• Fun as they made mud for the brick and mud stoves - they so rarely play or mess around
• Bitter disappointment for students as we picked just 15 at random out of 80 who signed up for photography.
• Giving de-worming tablets to be chewed, followed by Smarties, + 2 months’ supply of anti-malarials to each one to break the cycle of malaria. (We shall give 2 months of treatment in the second half of each term.)
• The hall festooned with precious toilet paper, candles, flowers & balloons for the party at the end.
• Missing Adongo Immaculate when we visited her home because she had travelled 30 miles to collect drugs for her sister who has AIDS. She came to find us in Soroti the next day, in tears, because she had been asked for £10 for the drugs, which she didn’t have. (ARV drugs are meant to be free and always available – this is rarely the case in Teso.)
• Going home with Atim Scovia (who goes to the Blind School) and finding the three little children under 6 left on their own all day with only a pan of cooked sweet potatoes to eat when hungry. Their mother does casual work to earn a little money as they have no land.
• Visiting Otwele Simon Peter living with his married sister and family. He was so bubbly & happy and there was much warmth, gentleness and love expressed openly in the family, which is unusual.
• Visiting Etimu Benjamin who had just come home from school to find his youngest brother had recently died & was buried in the middle of the compound under a mound of soil with a small cross made of sticks.
• Ending a long day of visits at the home of Akol Patricia, where we had a meal under the stars followed by singing and learning worship songs in Ateso.
• Talking to Apolot Deborah’s aunt about buying and looking after a goat for her from her sponsors because otherwise her father would take it and sell it to buy alcohol while she is away at school.
• Most students need dental treatment, but we could only take those in pain. There is only a partially qualified dentist in Soroti who works in a dirty cubicle with ancient, basic equipment. The most he can do is extractions & amalgam fillings. (TESS has now bought him some more equipment and materials and are setting him up in a new clinic so that he can do a range of treatments and treat all our students.)
• Harriet Amoding leading us in prayer with the paralysed mother of twins Apio Hope and Achen Faith and sister Akello Fiona. Tears ran silently down her face as she lay in bed – not from sadness, she said, but from joy because we had come to see her.
• Spending many days sitting in different hospitals and clinics in Kampala with sick girls, sometimes going from one to another because equipment was broken.
• Sitting in front of a computer screen in Mulago (the biggest hospital in Uganda) drawing Aceko Harriet’s visual fields ‘maps’ for the consultant because the printer had broken.

Later, Aceko Harriet had to be transferred from Mulago, where she was admitted on 27 January to have the pituitary tumour removed, because some instruments were “missing”. Half way through the operation in the second hospital, the microscope “blew up”, so the operation wasn’t completed. She is still waiting. The operation will cost £2000. We hope Apili Scovia will be sponsored by a Korean company for open heart surgery

New TESS minibus

Thanks to some generous donations, we were able to buy a Toyota 10-seater minibus in December 2008 and employ our own driver, Samuel Ocen. We now have a reliable vehicle for the work of TESS and expect to recover the costs of running it by hiring it out.

If you are visiting Uganda and want to hire it, contact Margaret Stevens on mstevens@tess.uk.net

TESS Staff

Rev Sam Ediau, who runs TESS in Teso, has been working with us for about 3 years now.

Harriet Amoding was appointed as Sam’s Assistant in September 2008

Samuel Ocen, a very experienced driver, was appointed in December 2008 when we bought the TESS minibus

Rev Jeremiah Acelun is Kumi Diocesan Education Co-ordinator who provides pastoral care for students in the southern half of Teso

Margaret Stevens set up TESS five years ago but will be retiring this year. She works voluntarily from home in Loughborough