After breaking ground in October 2023, there has been lots of progress on a new staff accommodation block at Uphill Junior School, Western Uganda. In 2023, Hazel’s Footprints Trust granted £15,000 to the Uphill Trust. The grant will cover half the costs of a much-needed staff accommodation and sanitation block at the school.
Uphill Junior School has 300 children on its roll taught by 12 teachers. The school is in a rural area and, as such, teachers have to be recruited from urban areas. This means that accommodation must also be provided for teachers. Until 2023, the school’s teachers had lodgings with local families but it was clear that providing staff housing would materially improve their quality of life, and so also help with recruitment and retention.
The grant from Hazel’s Footprints Trust is providing 50% of what’s needed for the staff housing project. Uphill Junior School will build 10 housing units for staff in total, which includes one to be used as a communal kitchen. There will also be a sanitation block.
Since breaking ground in early October 2023, the new extension to the staff houses has gone from foundations to great-looking buildings! The first block comprises a communal kitchen and 4 new living units for individual staff members. Progress from Uphill Junior School’s building team has been superb even with it being a particularly wet, wet season! The teachers who are already living in the first houses of the compound are delighted to have their own quiet space to live, prepare lessons and relax.
We look forward to hearing more updates on progress as the project heads toward completion.
