Dear sponsors and friends,
In the December 2020 newsletter, we referred to the presidential election in Uganda. This took place in mid-January this year amid protests from the opposition. There was intimidation, rioting with fatalities and massive election rigging. Under these circumstances, the previous dictator Museveni, in office for 35 years, has proclaimed himself as elected president for another term. Regina and many of her compatriots are immeasurably disappointed and saddened that hopes for a new Uganda have been dashed.
There are no consistent instructions on school openings from the First Lady and Education Minister Janet Museveni. While exam candidates have been taught since mid-October, other classes are scheduled to come to school on a staggered basis, and others when the final exams are over. In future, the youngest children will enter Year 1 of the primary school at the age of five. It is expected that their parents will encourage them through play and prepare them for school. An absurdity when you think of the conditions among the rural population!
With regard to school activities at BSSK: the exams for the two graduating years 4 and 6 will take place in March. Senior 3 and 5 are already being taught, while Year 1 and 2 students are expected to be allowed to start school in April. This presents Regina with teacher recruitment problems. They want a 100 percent full-time job, but cannot be fully utilized at this time. Most of them are not prepared to take on other work temporarily, because as a teacher you are a “white collar worker”. Over the course of the next few months, new students will be joining BSSK on an ongoing basis, Regina reckons. So classes will fill up and teacher quotas will increase. As it turns out, the road to normal school life is long and arduous.
A storm water problem that has existed for a long time is currently being fixed on the school grounds. Because the land slopes gently, soil is washed out and across the site during heavy rains. This means there is red earth everywhere, slippery, soggy paths, and discoloured building walls. Now canals are being built through which the water can flow off in an orderly manner. These will remain open. Regina will plant bushes around the edges to prevent animals from stepping in them.
The masonry work on the new Annina Hänny school building is finished. Now Reginas own large trees are being felled, from which beams are being hewn for the roof construction.
Regina made several virtual appearances in the first quarter of this year. She gave a lecture on entrepreneurship to business students at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and she took part in a discussion, also organised by the FHNW, on International Women’s Day (8 March). In the Kingdom of Buganda, she did a television programme on the occasion of Women’s Day. As a successful entrepreneur in an African country, Regina’s experience is in demand.
In all likelihood, Regina has contracted the coronavirus. She had a very severe cough and lost her sense of taste, and helped herself by ingesting and inhaling a decoction of leaves of various healing plants. Fortunately, Regina is going to be fine.
With this positive message, we wish you a happy Easter and an exhilarating spring.
The Web Team
