The Modern Primary school in Rukungiri houses 900 children. Many of them are orphans - often due to the epidemic of AIDS in this region and are fully looked after by the school. None of the children who attend Modern School would have any hope of an education otherwise.

Our involvement:

Mission Direct began supporting the project in 2006. In that time we have worked to transform an already successful project further, by

- building 8 new classrooms (including 4 making a hall) in the junior school
- building new accommodation blocks for children and staff
- building another 8 classrooms such that the pre-primary children can be re-housed complying with local law.

Outcome:

- Class sizes have fallen from around 120 to around 60, making teaching easier and more successful.
- The nursery facilities mean that children as young as two can be prepared for learning, including, crucially a grasp of English.
- New dormitory facilities have meant many more children who live too far away could join the school.
- The school has been equipped with many bring educational supplies
- Teachers have provided input for local teachers and classes
Mission Direct continues to work with Modern Primary School.

Our involvement:
Since 2010, Mission Direct has been working with the Water4 Foundation (http://water4.org/) to bring water to the most needy communities. Via a very low cost pump system and hand drilling, local men have been trained to dig boreholes and create wells in communities where clean water was previously a luxury for those who had money to buy it. Wells have so far been created in the Rukungiri and Kumi districts.

Outcome:
Communities now have clean water for a very minimal cost and local men have been given training and employment drilling wells in their local area.

We plan to continue the water project throughout Uganda in the future.

Our involvement:
Mission Direct has worked in Kumi since 2010 alongside the charity Children of Hope and Dignity. We are working to build forty homes for orphans of AIDS and civil war. Each home houses eight to ten children and is tended to by a local widow who acts as "house mother". She provides food, education, healthcare and nurture - giving the children back some semblance of family life that they are desperate for. Crucially, it gives them hope for the future. So far, Mission Direct teams have helped to build three of these homes ready for the new "families" to move in.

Outcome:
The three houses we have built will enable up to thirty children to live at COHAD, receive education and medical treatment and experience family life.

Our involvement:
In 2011, volunteers made Kahengye Primary School in Rukungiri "fit for purpose" again. The school buildings  - many simply made of mud and thatch - had been badly battered and in some cases flattened by flooding and high winds. Volunteers assisted in the building of five new classrooms and toilets for the teachers, constructed a well and our specialist teaching team gave the harrassed teachers extra training and support. Like the wise man's house that was build on the rock, Kahengye School is ready to withstand the next onslaught from the elements.

Outcome:
Since adding the five new classrooms, students have transferred to Kahengye Primary School from surrounding schools, impressed with the new facilities. Basic scholastic supplies have been provided and our teachers team worked with Kahengye to offer the teachers support and encouragement. The school now enjoys continuing links with and support from some of the volunteers who visited in 2011.

This clinic is a local facility for the people of Kumi and receives very little in government funding or support.

Our involvement:
Mission Direct teams have redecorated various parts of Kumi Health Centre including the wards and the Outpatients Department. We have also emptied, cleaned and repainted the toilets on site and provided medical supplies, mattresses and mosquito nets.

Outcome:
Redecorating Kumi Health Centre is a real witness to the local community. It is a facility in the middle of Kumi and used by many of its citizens. By working alongside local people to improve the most basic of facilities, we have been able to really show God's love in action.

This hospital is the only facility for many miles, offering good basic care and the ability to offer limited surgery.

Our involvement:

Each year Mission Direct sends medical teams to the Hospital. They listen carefully to the needs local medics need and offer support, advice and training. We have also provided important equipment. Volunteers have also been involved in refurbishing some parts of the hospital

Outcome:

The training and equipment has enabled local medical practitioners be more effective in their roles. Village clinics have also highlighted priority cases for attention, thereby saving lives.

In Uganda the state is providing teachers and offering free education but there is little money on offer for facilities. Nyakagyeme is a state school where five of their ten classrooms were close to collapse. Many pupils are taught under trees.

Our involvement:

Mission Direct volunteers have now built 2 classrooms, partnered by a school in Nottinghamshire

Outcome:

Children can learn in a safe and effective environment, especially when it rains.