Iganga Uganda Child Development Center
In 2007 the primary project was a primary school of Child Development Center. This project in a remote village about 7 miles outside of Iganga is the start of hope for hundreds of local children and young adults whose families have been devastated by the effects if AIDS. Many of the local families are "child headed" this means both parents have died of AIDS leaving children behind. Normally extended families will assist here they are living with the same problem. Children as young as six have been left behind to care for siblings. We have been working with an Igangan relief worker named Paul Lobale to provide a primary school and development center for these families.
A day of mixing cement
The project budget stretched a long way in Iganga. Paul the project manager from Iganaga has been the most resourceful individuals we have had the opportunity to work with in Ugnada. We came to Paul with the budget of $15,000 for a two room school in Jan 07 by the time of our trip in June the funding had grown to $25,000 for the project. With this Paul was able to construct two buildings containing five classrooms.
Roof trusses and purlins go up
The plan for the school was a modification of a standard Uganda government primary school plan. The dimensions were slightly narrower than the school buildings in Tororo. This made the truss construction much simpler and faster. Timbers are in some regions becoming scarce and finding ways to make more efficient.
Hard core for the floor
Here the lime stone for the base of the flooring is now ready for use. The walls were built on the footings and the floor added later to give the students some REAL WORK. The rock had to be carried into the building and arranged evenly then tamped into place prior to the pouring of the floor.
Iron sheets for the roof
With the narrower building the roof sheeting works out better than a wider foot print. Limited resources and tools in Uganda make construction difficult. In the U.S. it is easy to have a building any size you want, but in a place where you don’t have thousands of choices for materials and limitless tools to modify those resources much time and money can be spent trying to make things fit. The plan used for this project fit the materials available and made way for surprising results.
Flush toilets?
No these are not flush toilets but the addition of a latrine house is a convenience not often seen in the remote village.
An inside look
The Mbale group gets a look at the progress of the Iganga project. Here the floors have recently been placed in the classroom. Remember all this cement has been mixed one bag at a time on the ground and then carried in small wheel barrows that may as well have been made out of soup cans. What a great job the local masons can do with the resources they have to work with!
The project plus...
The location of the project took the group on a 12 mile drive each day through the bush. Along the way several families would greet the transport with smiles and children yelling “Muzzungo” or “I am fine how are you?” One such family was a family of eight children being raised by their grandmother due to both parents dying from aids. The picture above shows the original home to the right. Our group saw this each day and decided to help the family. The students took $1000 from their own living resources and built a brick house for this family.
Local Habitat for Humanity
Assisting in the brick laying for the family house.
Roof trusses and purlins
The size of this house seems more like a small garage or even a lawn and garden shed in the U.S. In Uganda this will be a very functional and substantial house for this family.
Almost ready to move in
The roof is on doors and windows are next. It would be tough to explain the appreciations of the family for the gift of this home. Much sacrifice has been made by the grandmother and the Iganga group felt honored to be able to help her with her circumstances.
The group in Iganga
In the final days the group posed for a photo. Some of the group has gone home and some have gone to join the Mbale group. The memories and this experience will remain with the individuals both those in Uganda and those who travel back to the U.S. This is why Life to Life Global Building Group is here. To assist in giving a life changing experience to people from places that are separated by more than a vast distance.