Who would you choose? International development charities have different ways of dealing with construction projects, especially in rural areas. Some like to use overseas volunteers to build schools, clinics and other capital projects; others use local tradesmen. The Uphill Trust is firmly in the second category. We celebrate our local build team – all of whom are […]
At the end of January each year we pinch ourselves to check that we are not dreaming – has another year gone past already? Oh yes, it has! The past 12 months have zoomed by and now The Uphill Trust is six years old! 2020 was a very odd year for everyone involved in the […]
Towards the end of 2020, Uphill Junior School hosted a team from Kirabo Africa Foundation, a US-funded non-profit organisation partnering with community-based organisations in Uganda to effect grassroots change. The visitors were particularly interested in learning about water harvesting systems, the new Uphill handwashing station, making liquid soap and to find out how to raise […]
In December 2018 we launched the Uphill Farm Appeal, to fund a programme of hands-on agricultural experiences for the pupils (and staff) that would, in time, become a source of additional income for the school. This is an ongoing project that began with vegetable growing around the school grounds in odd corners, raised beds and […]
The early years classes at Uphill are often the biggest and, up to now, children in the Baby, Middle and Top kindergarten classes have been crammed into their small wooden classrooms like smiley tinned sardines. We decided to take action… We have been fundraising for the last 2 years to build a permanent Kindergarten separate […]
Looking for something to do to keep myself busy during lockdown, I started sorting out my fabric store, and my thoughts drifted to “What can I make with this stash of fabric?” So it was convenient that, almost at the same time, the government announced that wearing non-medical fabric face masks was advisable to help […]
Earlier this month, while posho (ground maize) and soap bars were being handed out to the Uphill Junior School families (see COVID 19 Food Relief 1), it became clear that other households in the wider community were also in need of food relief. School bursar Ramuel and Director Elius travelled around the neighbourhood and found […]
We received a fabulous response to our COVID 19 food crisis appeal in April, both in donations and as sponsorship for the Uphill 2.6 Challenge, which enabled us to send £1467 to the school to purchase essential food supplies plus hand washing soap for the Uphill families.The COVD 19 food relief project was overseen by […]
COVID 19 Food Crisis Uphill Junior School has been closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic since 20 March 2020 and, as in the UK, the Ugandan lockdown has been extended – with a strict travel restrictions and a night-time curfew in place. This is causing great hardship across Uganda. Even those who can are […]
With COVID 19 lockdown measures firmly in place in the UK and now also in Uganda, we feel it is important to let you know what is happening at The Uphill Trust and Uphill Junior School. Trust News You may have heard that many charities have been badly affected by the huge downturn in income […]
Esther Isobel Searles, nee Duncan, 1931-2017 Isobel met Jock and Eileen Macdonald, our Chairman’s parents, at Dollar Academy and they became life-long friends. When she learned about the fledging school in 2013 she started to support the project with one-off donations and was always eager to hear updates on progress and see pictures of the […]
Event Report by Fundraising Trustee, Liddy A year after my inaugural Kiltwalk with the fab bunch of Uphill supporters who made up Team Uphillya, I signed up for the Dundee Kiltwalk again. This time I wasn’t able to do a huge amount of pre-walk training so I opted for the Wee Wander, 6 miles, starting […]
If you live in Uganda it is very likely you will suffer from malaria at some time in your life. It is as if “getting malaria” is expected – just as “normal” as we consider suffering from a common cold in the UK. However malaria is much more serious – it can be a killer. […]
On Sunday 26 May 2019 Liza Lakey (affectionately known as ‘Legs’ to Uphill chairman, Max) donned her running gear in readiness for her very first marathon, in Edinburgh. In November 2018, in her home country of Sweden, she had decided that running a marathon would be a suitable challenge in the year she turned 60, […]
Do you remember learning how to knit? Knit one, purl one, drop several and invent a few… As an avid knitter since a child, having learnt to knit from my Mum, I couldn’t resist the chance to share my knowledge of knitting with the kids and teachers at Uphill. A request on Facebook at the […]
As we all know, you can never have too many toilets in a school! Thanks to a generous grant from the charity Meeting Needs, Uphill now has a new 5 stance latrine block which has been designed for the girls at the school, with a private washing area at one end. The new latrine also […]
As The Uphill Trust approaches it’s 4th birthday we are delighted to be starting another year of building at Uphill Junior School. Thanks to the fabulous fundraising from our supporters last year, plus a very generous grant from the UK charity, Meeting Needs, we are building another block of Ventilated Improved Pit latrines plus 4 […]
The Uphill Trust has a special relationship with Dollar Academy. Three of the trustees are former pupils and, when Chairman Max approached the Dollar Academy Charities Committee in 2013 after his first visit to a fledgling school in the crater lake hills of western Uganda, they were happy to help. Since then the Trust has […]
In Ugandan rural communities, being able to raise food and livestock on a small scale is an essential life skill. For many children attending primary school, this will be the only formal education they receive, so any practical experience in agriculture and animal husbandry is extremely helpful. These topics are included in the Ugandan National […]
Did you know that only 0.05% of Ugandan rural school children have access to hand washing facilities? This means that over 99 % of rural school children do not wash their hands after using the latrine. Did you know that only 30% of rural schools clean their latrines with soap every day? Did you know […]
