Summary
Uphill Junior School Director in conversation with The Uphill Trust, sharing stories about some of the children at his school and how they have progressed in their next schools
We are lucky to have really good communication with the Elius, the Uphill Junior School Director, via digital messaging services. This blog gives you a flavour of our regular chats…
Team Uphill – Elius with trustees Liddy, Belinda and Max
Background to this conversation
Towards the end of the COVID lockdowns the Uphill staff asked if we could afford to buy them a satellite TV for the staff room. They wanted to be able to watch the news and documentaries, and to bring classes in to watch programmes to help with their English language skills. We had funds available and were able to help.
Football matches were also enjoyed from time to time!
This month Elius asked if they could move the TV into the new school hall and help to fund the relocation…
Director posting on Facebook (23/7/25)
“Wow, I think this machine is now up for what was meant for! After many requests from the prefects and older kids for us to move the television set to the new Hall, they all gathered to watch! I think it’s well placed now! Lots of happiness for all our kids!
Only 10% of our kids can watch television at home because about 70% of rural homes don’t have electricity, while 20% use small solar systems that can’t power television sets!
This is the best moment for them! We thank the Uphill Trust for such a privilege that we don’t take for granted! May God bless you all!”
Trustees (T) in conversation with the Uphill School Director (D) (24/7/25)
T: It’s great to see the TV being enjoyed by all, Elius.
D: It’s a dream come true for kids. I am so, so glad that we listened to their request. Some times kids speak and we don’t pay attention to their cry or look at their faces, but they need us to do so. You know, televisions in rural area are only found only in trading centres where kids are not allowed by parents. The kids want to take the chance to enjoy what television has to offer. Thank you so much for making this happen!
T: It is great that the ethos at Uphill embraces listening to the views of the staff and children, and finding a solution that is right for the majority.
D: That is always my dream, to empower rural children stand on their own, face the challenges of life, especially the girls. There are still issues that hold back the future women from Uphill, but the trend is changing.
D: If their parents can pay, or a sponsor can be found, the girls do well:
- J – the top performing pupil in the district in the 2020 primary leaving examination( PLE) – is now sitting her Senior 4 exams at Nyakasura, one of the biggest and oldest Scottish-founded and high performing secondary schools in the west. She is the Head Girl and a great performer. Read about J’s PLE success here
- Her sister, T, is at the same school and is on the School Prefects Board
- C, who left Uphill last year, has been named as Best Debater at Nyakasura School and is likely to replace J’s position when she gets into Senior 4
- V is excelling in all grades at her secondary school
- T, who also started her school life at Uphill, is a great performer and is focused on her future law career
- J, is also amazing. A supported pupil at Uphill, she now heads up the Writers Club at her secondary school and lost out by only few points to take part in the coming National Debating Championships. Her school fees are paid by a sponsor
- Another Uphill supported pupil, M, is also doing so great at St.Francis of Assisi Secondary. She is a scholarship student
- One of our first cohort of girl pupils attends Kyebambe Secondary, a top girls school, got the best grade in her Senior 4 exams and is now studying for A levels. Her fees are paid by an NGO.
D: Boys too are doing well but very few from Uphill get the chance to get to a good secondary school if they don’t have a sponsor. We have one boy who attends school locally, another in Entebbe and one in Kampala – they will become great men.
Elius with R, a former Uphill supported pupil who has a sponsor for his secondary education
D: We are so excited that all top schools in Fort Portal and around western Uganda will take our kids when their parents can afford it. That was always my dream – to build rural kids to compete with urban kids, no matter what!
D: This has happened because of you all (uphill trustees). Your sweat, hard work, kindness and generosity has given us a better school, including by paying all our teachers. We cannot repay all the Scottish children, adults, teachers and old folks who have given their heart to us, but we will pray for them.
D: Sometimes I wonder where Uphill would be without The Uphill Trust. Our small school with dusty classrooms, unpainted wooden walls and open roof! You have worked so hard to make this school a reality and we shall always be grateful. The Iruhuura community feels that you are part of them – there is no Uphill without The Uphill Trust! There are things that we have achieved as a school that Iruhuura would not get in 50 years – you made it happen in 10 years! It is such a blessing to have met and been part of you all.
D: Your vision and mission will be a corner stone when former pupils who have become successful tell their stories about how they began at Uphill Junior School. We hope the old boys and girls reunions will start in a few years as they share their memories of their schooldays and their meetings with the trustees at Uphill.
T: Lovely words, Elius. Thank you. So great to hear the success stories of the kids that have been at Uphill. That news gives us encouragement to keep going!
T: There is a very special person who has been at the centre of the Uphill story…you! Without your dream, gift of communication and talents it wouldn’t have been possible. Team Uphill rules!
D: I am proud of all we have achieved together. Rural kids rarely get the chance to attend better schools and their future can never be bright. I am glad that the Irish girls gave me a future (secondary school and university support).
D: Young people don’t want to live in rural areas – I was told many times by my relatives that I am wasting my future building opportunities for rural people – but now everyone appreciates that my staying in Iruhuura has been meaningful. This world needs change makers. There are young people of my age who are earning well, but they have not changed any lives. When I see J, a girl who never had hoped of success, R, a boy who was living on the streets and many kids like S, who have grown up here without any hope for the future, I feel very proud that I am helping local people rather than working for a big company. There is no better world than one where you can help change lives. Telling stories about people who would never have had the chance to tell their own story!
D: We will keep doing our best to empower these children, no matter the background of their families. I feel strongly that everyone deserves an opportunity and that there must be someone to hold a hand or light a candle. You have lit candles showing us the best way! Your guidance and advice have made the whole journey easy.
D: I always tell people that this journey has been grounded by Max’s parents, Jock and Eileen Macdonald. Their desire to work in this country (in the 1950s) put down a permanent footprint. We will keep sharing the history of the school with the Uphill pupils: That a Scottish man came to trace his parents’ lives and his own roots in Uganda, got himself arrested, became a friend, took stories about the small wooden school back home and that was the start of The Uphill Trust! Jock and Eileen are our grandparents, and the school is part of their story too.
Jock and Eileen Macdonald in Uganda in the 1950’s and with their son Max (Uphill Trust Chairman) in 2025
D: Prominent people who visit the school always ask, “How did you meet Max?”, and I tell the story.
D: It is important that everyone knows Uphill didn’t come from Rotary, or on a sliver platter, but from the hard work of people who have fallen in love with Uganda over two generations.
And at that point we said goodbye so we could all get on with our day!
Tags: helping rural children to succeed, teamwork, The Uphill Trust, Uphill Junior School
