Day 8 - NVI, Gospel Cross and Spire Road Primary School

Today was a day of options for everyone.  One group taught around  30 Textile students to crochet using the hooks and wool they had been given from home.  Tony fixed the light fittings in the Motor Vehicle Mechanics classrooms and another group went with the Gospel Cross organization -  led by Betty, Harriet, Agri and Sam – to a local village school.  We used materials from the Healthy Eyes Activity Book to teach about the importance of a healthy diet, immunization against measles and face washing.  We had lots of fun playing a related snakes and ladders game which reinforced the key messages.

Later another group visited Spire Road Primary School in Jinja.  This school has provision for 52 blind or visually impaired children who are fully integrated into their year group classes each of which has over 50 children.  There are also 7 teachers of braille (6 of whom are visually impaired themselves).  The children learn by using a pre-brailler frame before using a full brailler. 

The head teacher is truly inspiring and has a big heart for these children.  We were met there by Pastor Alfred, who is the Chair of Governors.  We were told that there is insufficient funding for these children – who are all boarders at the school – and they rely on donations from well-wishers even to provide enough food.  They have no canes and there are insufficient braillers and braille paper.