Latest News

Updated December 2010

Bookmark this page as we will update it with regular news from Kisoro and details of any fundraising events that have happened or are planned. To get more information about the latest news and events, download our newsletters in PDF form.

Ugandan Diary - The story of the last four months in Kisoro from VSO Volunteer, Poppy Krivine.

June 2010 - Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Poppy Krivine and I am the new VSO volunteer working with PET Uganda.  I arrived in Kisoro at the beginning of March, and have had a whirlwind start to my 12 month placement. I am out here with my husband James and second VSO colleague Carmel Bradwell.   I am a sign language interpreter and community support worker from Bristol and Carmel is a retired principal of a special needs school near Dublin.  Since arriving here, Carmel has been focused mainly on developing a resource room at the primary school, and I have been leading a project to improve the accommodation for the primary age Deaf boys and girls in Kisoro, as well as working with the Deaf secondary school students as a stand-in interpreter. Our first 3 months of work has been fantastic.  It has been such a pleasure working with these children - truly a life changing experience.

July 2010 - Since March, the VSO volunteers have been busy working on various projects to improve the living and learning conditions for the special needs students. One project focused on cleaning up the girls’ and boys’ dormitories and commissioning new bunk beds and mattress so that the pupils would no longer have to share sleeping spaces on the floor. We painted, put in new door handles and locks, and hung curtains. The children helped us clean as we dusted the many, many cobwebs, and we made new bunks so that everyone would have their own place to sleep. At the end of it all the boys had 24 lovely beds, with new mattresses and sheets, and clean walls. The girls had a clean, safe dorm, with new beds, doors they could lock at night, and curtains that they could close when they were dressing. And this made them very happy. We have since started regular training sessions with the house parents, working within the areas of care, hygiene, safety and communication, to ensure that the accommodation building remains a clean, safe environment for the Deaf children.

August 2010 - Carmel’s 6 month placement came to an end last week, but fortunately we have a new VSO volunteer, Chantal, who has just arrived from Holland.  Chantal’s role will be to teach teachers how to support children with special needs - I’m sure she will do a great job.
The primary students were collected by their parents or older siblings for the holidays, and it was very uplifting for me to see all their smiling faces. In the next few weeks I hope to have time to start firming up my programme for next term.

September 2010 - I have had a successful fundraising trip to Kampala, and here in Kisoro I have linked up with one of the local hospitals who have agreed to send some nurses to the school to conduct basic first aid training for the house parents, as well as some health awareness work with the students themselves. The children are now back from their holidays, and we’re all looking forward enthusiastically to the new term ahead.

Kids' fundraising for Kisoro

In 2010, children in Scotland have been doing a fantastic job of raising funds to support the Deaf children of Kisoro. Rebecca Humble (9) went round the classes at her primary school, asking her fellow pupils to ‘Guess the number of Easter Eggs in the jar’. She raised £115.50 from her competition, and the school increased this to over £200 by adding in half the proceeds of the collection at their end of term service. A big thank you to Rebecca and everyone at Newhill Primary School, Blairgowrie.

The pupils of Craigentinny Primary School in Edinburgh have established a link with Kisoro, and made a DVD of school life to send out to Uganda. They also held a Uganda Day in April, when they took part in African drumming workshops, learnt some sign language, and enjoyed visits from people who have worked in Uganda, or who are friends of the Kisoro school. The day finished with a family ‘Gorilla Drive’ (a beetle drive with a Ugandan twist) for both pupils and parents. This was great fun, and raised £110 for Kisoro.

Older news . . .

Kisoro School Update - September 2008

During the last term, the deaf pupils continued to work hard at their studies. They also took part in competitive athletics, excelling in high jump, shot put, and relay races. As well as competing with the hearing pupils of the mainstream Seseme Primary School, the deaf pupils participated in an athletics competition involving a number of other other local schools.

Another extra-curricular activity is debating, and the deaf pupils, especially the girls, participated actively in opposing the motion, ‘to educate a woman is a waste of time’. They put forward the view that by educating a woman you educate a nation, as the mother is the one who lays the foundation for a child from birth, and that women spend far more time with their children than men do. If the girls are correct, then by educating them, the Kisoro Trust could ultimately have an impact as wide as the whole country of Uganda!

However, the school still faces challenging times, as indicated in our newsletters. To start to address the issue of deaf-blindness which is beginning to affect four of the school’s pupils, one teacher travelled to Kampala to attend a workshop on how to teach children who are both deaf and blind. The four pupils are now learning Braille and tactile sign language, in the hope that they will be able to gain good enough communication skills using these methods before they completely lose their sight.

Latest arrival in Primary 1 showing off his new uniform. This boy is slowly going blind.

Another problem is the ongoing conflict between rival factions in the local area, which also has an impact upon the school. Most recently,this conflict has manifested itself in the form of a dispute over ownership of the land on which the accommodation for the deaf children is situated. Tensions have been running high lately, so in order to keep the children at a safe distance from a potentially volatile situation, a decision was taken by those on the ground to relocate the deaf children in a neighbouring school, which accommodates both blind and sighted children.

As the teachers and house parents have been moved along with the deaf children, the pupils are able to continue with their lessons, albeit it in different surroundings, and they continue to be well cared for. It is hoped that this situation can soon be resolved to the satisfaction of everyone involved, but particularly for the sake of the children.

In view of the current difficulties, it is perhaps appropriate that the deaf pupils recently took part in a training workshop organised in conjunction with the British High Commission, which aimed to help keep children in school, empower them with knowledge of their rights, and mitigate the problem of violent conflicts, child abuse and neglect. The deaf pupils were some of the best participants in the workshop, contributing freely and intelligently to the discussion.

Pretty Pictures

At the end of June, we were delighted to welcome to Edinburgh Brian & Sheila Pretty, who had recently returned from a visit to Kisoro. Brian is a retired builder, and he and Sheila live in the south of England. They have visited Uganda many times in the past, doing voluntary work for the Church of Uganda in Muhabura District, where Kisoro is situated. During these working visits they became closely associated with the deaf school, staying in a house close by, and regularly sitting in on classes and getting to know the children. We were especially pleased that the Prettys found the time to come to Edinburgh to bring us the latest news and photographs from Kisoro. Several supporters of the Kisoro Trust were able to join us for lunch, and a very informative and enjoyable afternoon was had by all.

We greatly appreciated receiving some of Brian's photographs for use in our newsletter and on the website, a selection of which is shown below.

Brian & Sheila Pretty in Edinburgh	New shoes being presented by Sheila Pretty
Trying on socks for the first time!	Senior girls and boys giving a dance of thanks for the kindness of all the donors.

Concert/Praise Evening with Ian White, April 2007

Ian White is well known for setting the ancient Psalm lyrics of the Old Testament to modern music. Over the last 20 years, he has travelled the world, and produced more than 16 albums. Ian and his wife Carol also have a Scottish-based recording company, Little Misty Music.

On Saturday 21st April, Ian headlined at a a concert in Portobello United Free Church, Edinburgh, together with Impromptu and the Liberton Kirk Praise Band. Two expert sign language interpreters added an extra dimension to the evening, which raised over £700 for Kisoro.

Louise Holden & Friends: Tastes of Jazz! - June 2006

Recipe for those who like their jazz unpredictable ...

We took a classical pianist, rock drummer and folk cellist, checked first for any signs of normal musical categories and removed. Brought to the boil with organic home-grown songs, free-range jazz standards and a pinch of Schubert (being careful when handling as mix does not cool easily).

We added a jazz singer with a liberal sprinkling of signing, a cappella songs and an ability to handle hot ingredients. Finally we topped it off with the best theatre interpreter in Scotland and simmered for two hours.

A highly enjoyable evening was had in the company of many friends while relaxing at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre Bar. All takings went to the Kisoro School for Deaf Children.

Family Ceilidh with Sporrandipity

On Saturday 25th March 2006, the Kisoro Trust held its first Family Ceilidh, in St Philip's Church Hall, Joppa. Children brought their mums and dads along to enjoy a great evening of dancing, thanks to Sporrandipity ceilidh band, whose caller did a great job of teaching the dances.

The 'summer sunrise' and 'dragon's blood' drinks, complete with fruit and cocktail umbrellas, were probably appreciated more by the children than their parents, but everyone had a good time as well as raising over £200 for Kisoro in the process.

These are just some of our more recent exploits. To read about previous fundraising activities and news, please click here.

The Kisoro Trust
91 Restalrig Avenue, Edinburgh, EH7 6PN
Recognised Scottish Charity No. SC 029384

Email address: info@Kisoro.org