A summarised Report on the visit to Hosanna Primary School : November 12th – 22nd 2006

This is a summary of the report. To see the full report click here.

"The five people who represented Chipping Sodbury Baptist Church were, Sue Pearce, Sally Pettipher, Jason Reynold Williams, Roger and Maggie Maclean. We visited the school on four occasions, staying for the morning. We spent time with each class and did various activities: made simple kites, friendship bracelets, bookmarks and prayer pyramids. We taught all the children Christian action songs, and did a puppet show. We spent time with the older children talking about the differences between UK and Uganda.

"Hosanna Church own the land and the buildings, originally built as a mission church. Since the adults showed little response but the children flocked to the church the school was started. The Church still meets in the building on Sundays and we went to the morning service, which was a very cheerful and informal time of worship. We enjoyed the singing and drum accompaniment. Sue and Sally spent a short time with the children when they went out to Sunday School while we listened to the Pastor’s sermon which was delivered in English and Lugandan.

"Sue gave a short address to the congregation and we presented the Bibles in Lugandan, and the photo montage of Chipping Sodbury and the Baptist Church. The School Speech Day was brought forward in our honour, and took place at 2pm the same day

" Dancers at the Speech day At the time of our visit, there were approximately 500 pupils, 12 teachers and Anne the Head. Also employed are three kitchen boys and the lady seamstress. Pastor Hannington, the pastor of Hosanna Church is the Director of the school. As our visit was in was the rainy season, it was useful to see how this affects daily school life.

"There is one permanent brick building which is separated into four classrooms by thin wooden partitions, which are removed on Sundays. There are two offices at one end, and a small room with a hand sewing machine for the lady who makes and repairs the uniforms. One of the offices is used by the Pastor, and is a secure store, having a big padlock on the door. The other is the Head Teacher’s office.

"There are two temporary wooden buildings with uneven earth floors, each containing two classrooms. The new brick ‘storey building’ has been started, and the first phase completed. The two older classes are housed in the basement part of this building. Nothing valuable can be left in these rooms overnight as it will be stolen.

" One of the classrooms with desks There are some desks for the older pupils, but mostly the children sit on benches, and kneel on the floor when they have to write in their exercise books. Each classroom has a blackboard on the wall. There are not enough text books to go round; so much of the work involves copying from the board. The subjects taught (mainly in English) are: Maths, Science, English, Social Studies and RE, Current Affairs, PE, Singing, Story telling, Local language (Luganda), Arts and Craft.

How can Chipping Sodbury Baptist Church Support Hosanna Church and School?

"As a result of visits to the school, discussions with the staff and among ourselves, we have drawn up a list of the suggestions for the church to prayerfully consider.

Hosanna School

More land – the most suitable piece of land adjoins the school site and is used by local brewers. The head teacher is going to contact the owner and find out if he is willing to sell and the cost. Estimate £5,000 +
Finish the storey building. Money to complete the first floor is on account and work is being done during the school holidays – December and January. Two more storeys are planned. Approx cost £3,000
Furniture – more desks and nursery tables are needed. The head teacher has suggested that this is something people from our church could do, and also teach some of the older pupils woodwork skills.
More toilets –
Courses for teachers. Support for the teachers is much needed. It could take the form of pen-friends, undertaking to write regularly to a member of staff, and giving prayer support. Also people could consider topping up the teacher’s salaries on a regular basis.

Support for the school in general: - As many of the parents cannot afford the fees the financial resources of the school are very limited. There is little money to spend on books or equipment. Small sums of money could be given specifically to provide books/equipment for each class. Also there is the possibility of sponsoring individual children, paying their school fees, about £7.00 a term, and buying their uniform, about £2.00 -£2.50 depending on the size of the child. Anne would organise a photo of the child and an annual school report.
A fence for the school grounds and a guard. This would give security to both the equipment and the children. We were told by staff that children are sometimes stolen from the playground. Further enquiries revealed that this may be so that they can be used in ritual sacrifices. Fencing would be expensive and is not an immediate priority.

"Anne, the head teacher has suggested that a group from Chipping Sodbury combine a mission to the area with some practical woodwork for the school. "

This an abstract from the full report. If you would like to read the full reportclick on this link.