Help secure lab equipment for the school
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Recently 4 students from the school had to travel 105 miles, by taxi, in order to take National Exams because the school lacked the necessary lab equipment.
All students are required to take National Exams after their senior four year. This year, Notre Dame High School had their first students, 24 total, who sat for National Exams. In Uganda, students study and graduate with certificates in primary seven, after senior four and then again after their senior six year. They then are then able to advance and join university level studies. These 24 students had to be transported by bus to a different location to take their National Exam. The school had to take out a loan to cover the cost and they are still working toward paying back that loan today.
For this task we are looking for volunteers to help us secure the necessary lab equipment for the high school so that students can take their exams there instead of having to travel.
Christopher has provided a list of the items that are required, which can be found here.
Project: Help Improve Notre Dame High School
Christopher will be emailing me a list of the needed lab equipment. Either he or I will post it here as soon as it's available.
Jennifer
As with books, I would also suggest that you try contacting companies within Uganda who sell or produce such equipment, and see if they are prepared to donate some to the school.
One international possibility is
LabAid
http://www.labaid.org/
"Why LabAid?
Many secondary schools around the world do not have any science equipment. Therefore few of their students pass compulsory practical examinations.
What can be done to help?
Schools, colleges, universities and companies in the UK often have suitable equipment that could be donated. LabAid can supply this to requesting schools in Africa and other developing countries."
Application for assistance via simple form at
http://www.labaid.org/aidrequest.html
"Application form for aid request
LabAid aims to provide students in developing countries with the chance to see and handle apparatus essential to their course work and practical examinations in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. LabAid can supply, free of charge, small quantities of many basic items of science equipment. Note: we cannot supply chemicals."
It does not give any information on shipping costs.
From reading the form, you might need a reference from a school/charity in the UK, but as you have links with both, I would think you would be able to get one without too much difficulty?
Mary
Hello,
Mary,we sent our request last year and they had promissed,sending the items with vocational tools,but we did not get them.
The whole process had been handled by our Uk friend together with Blessed Thomas Holford School.our twinned one.
They have promissed that they are going to try this yaer.
We hope this time it will be a success.
However,this shuold not prevent us from making further search for items,as they cannot provide all even if they are to donate to us.
lf we had a volunteer who can do this-helping to going arround schools and collect for us used lab equipments.
A friend who as in Europe told us that many school may be having old lab equipmenta not being used and that if approache they are willing to donate.
Yours
Christopher
Local Rep
Masaka
Hi Christopher
When you have the time, please provide more details of exactly what equipment you need.
Hope you are successful with LabAid eventually! It can be a slow process as organisations like this get a lot of requests, so it can take them a long time to respond.
Have you tried contacting manufacturers or suppliers within Uganda to see if they are willing to donate equipment, or let you have it for reduced cost?
Do we have any neighbours who are able to follow up on Christopher's suggestion of contacting schools in their area? I suspect that it may be relatively easy to find the equipment, the challenge will be paying to get it shipped to Uganda. So if anyone has ideas on that, they will be gratefully received!
Mary
As promised, Christopher sent me a list of the required lab equipment with the associated costs to purchase this equipment in Uganda. I have attached it to this task.
Jennifer
Dear friends,
Thank you so much for contributing.
Mary,l have not seen any company making Lab equipments in Uganda.
However,the idea for volunteer collecting lab equipments for us is great.
If they collected ,in one place then we can look out for some one to help fund the shipment
Christopher
Dear friends to humanity,
Thank you very much for you have done for our masaka village.
But as the saying goes in economics 'solve one problem,you create many others'
There is some commendable work done at our masaka village,but now a problem of Lab equipments at the school is very very urgent.
Like last year,our senior four candidates will have to be transported to over 100 miles for the National Exams,if we fail to put in place the Lab equipments.
The minisrty of education is not granting us an examination centre because we are lacking lab equipments.
I appeal to all well volunteer wishers to work out a way to search for us in neibouring schools in the Developed countries for some used lab equipments.
We do have information that many schools in the developed countries have used lab equipments and books that they no longer use nor want.
Please,friends just help and ask from the school near you and we shall have these used items to help to educate the needy humans.
We had some hope from Labaid,we have sent applications now for 5 times,but we have not had any responce yet.
Your comment on this matter is urgently awaited
Wamala Christopher
LR
MASAKA
Dear friends,may you shear what has been achieved with us
1.A certain Bank here in masaka,earlier contacted,and by noting what has faithfully been done at school.has offered to donate all the iron sheets and nails and labour costs for roofing as a charity donation to the school.
We now have the hope,that the girls dormitory will be roofed,bearing in mind that we are also having all the needed timber on site.
2.We last week recieved 2 boxes of books { containing 31 books } from lnternational book project.
The books are for the library,for reading.
Thank all that have had a hand to the developing of our school-the sheared advices,idaes.
Yours
Christopher
LR
MASAKA VILLAGE
Hi Christopher
That is great news, you are very good at finding local support. Well done!!!
Mary
Dear friends,this our suggestion,
If we can have volunteers to this work for us.
HOW ?....Going to school by school,soliciting for lab equipments.
We have some information,that they are many school in the developing countries with older lab equpments that they no longer use and may be will to donate to us.
We did post our request to labaid ,but we haven't had good news from thrm and again labaid cannot donate all and enough for us if at all it will.
Please,advise us on this urgent matter.
This lab equipment issue is so important that needs urgent attention.
If its not given a urgent attention will hinder very much the school as candidates have to travel for over 100 miles to the center where to sit for national exams,like last year -- this is very very risky and costly for us to transoprt children by tax to and from not mentioning caring while ther and feeding.
Yours
Christopher
LR
MASAKA
Hi Christopher
I can see that this is an urgent need for the school.
I can think of several ways that we may be able to solve it. And would welcome ideas from other neighbours too!
1. We find used lab equipment from schools in other countries and get it shipped to Masaka. This will mean that, as well as finding the equipment, we will also need to find money to pay the shipping costs. And you will get the items that people have, which may not actually be the ones you need. And some items may be fragile, so difficult to ship safely.
If anyone knows any schools that may be able to assist please let us know, especially if they would be interested in fundraising to cover shipping costs.
2. We find lab equipment in Uganda. Either through finding funding to buy it, or persuading Ugandan companies etc to donate it to you.
We do have a list of organisations who might be able to provide funding, but I don't know what you are planning to do with it.
3. The school starts to look at more ways to generate income for itself.
Starting these businesses may (or may not!) require some outside funding e.g. you may be able to do something using the equipment you already have for vocational training.
Then it will have money to buy equipment, books etc, and will not always have to look outside for donations. This will take longer, but will be a more permanent solution, enabling the school to have much more control over its future. We can discuss that further under the Income Generation task if it is something you want to do.
Christopher, what do you think about the various options? Can you talk to other schools, find out where they got their equipment. Maybe (as posted under the Project Room task) you can cooperate with other schools close to you who already have lab equipment.
Also, does the school have a budget/financial plan that shows current income (from all sources), ongoing running costs (wages, food etc), as well as money required to improve the school (books, lab equipment etc). If you have that, and a set of priorities for the various extra items, then it will make it easier for you to plan for the future.
Mary
Dear friends,
l agree with all suggestions,but in Uganda,the ministry of education requires that any school must have its own lab equipments enough for the national exams when taking place and enough for the lest of the classes in the school at the same time.
We can only borrow some items for some time from other schools,but it requires us to have our own lab equipments if at all a centre for the national exams is to be granted to any school.
As the saying goes 'one by one makes a bundle'such lab equipments can be shipped to Uganda if at all donated.
We request for Volunteers to go school by school asking for such items,at atime.When they are collected at certain location,then we can plan further for ways to making then shipped to Uganda.
We have done fundrising here,but its not at all easy.We have not come to any company in Uganda manufacturing lab equipments so that we can request for a donation.
Yes are on the right truck,we have so far rebbits,and pigs and when it rains we shall go digging by the beginning of term.
Again we are still new in the systen but we hope we shall be trying and trying all various ways to make our school selfsustaining.
Yours
Christopher
Hi Christopher
I am now a little confused - do you mean that you already have enough lab equipment to teach students in class, but not enough to do exams? I know you posted a very long list of items, but although it would be great to have all of that, you may need to reduce it to a small list of the items that are absolutely essential.
Funding - I posted a list under that task at the beginning of December. We could research which of these may accept an application for the equipment, but I don't know if you have done that already?
On ths subject of sustainablilty - we have a task on that. Is this something you are interested in discussing on Nabuur? If so, please post an update under that task and let us know how we can help.
Mary
hi,
I'm confused too, when the students are doing exams can you not change the timetable around, so that no other student is doing science and then if any student missed a science class you can have extra classes after the exams. What exactly was the correspondence with labaid?
Sinéad