The Liverpool Humanist Group presents:-
Supporting Humanist Schools in Uganda
a talk by Chris Wright
Date: Wednesday 14th April 2010
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: The Crown (upstairs room), 43 Lime Street, Liverpool L1 1JQ
Cost: Free!
Richard Jacques, Chair of Liverpool Humanist Group, says:
There is no entry charge for this event, but there will be a voluntary collection in aid of the Uganda Humanist Schools Trust (UK). There is no obligation, but do please give generously. This is a reschedule of the event we had to cancel in January because of the snow.
Moses Kamya and students at the Mustard Seed School
The introduction of Universal Primary Education in Uganda in 2000 has created a huge follow-on demand for secondary schooling, which the government has only partially been able to meet.
The residual need is being addressed by private groups and organisations, the majority of which are religious bodies of various descriptions, be they Church of Uganda, Catholic, Muslim, Seventh Day Adventist or sundry extreme sects. This raises concerns about indoctrination, fundamentalism, sectarianism, and the propagation of ignorance, irrationality and superstition.
The Uganda Humanist Schools Trust (UK) was established in November 2008 as a charity to raise funds to support the efforts of Ugandan Humanists, who have founded three schools which offer students the alternative of liberal secular-humanist education:
* Isaac Newton High School, Masaka – founded by Peter Kisirinya in 2006
* Mustard Seed School, Kamule – founded by Moses Kamya in 2006
* Humanist Academy, Mpigi – founded by Deo Ssekitooleko in 2008
Chris Wright is a trustee of the Uganda Humanist Schools Trust (UK) and a member of South Cheshire and North Staffordshire Humanists. Chris visited two of the schools in November, and he will be describing the achievements so far as well as the many challenges remaining.
The schools will be holding an “International Friendship Week” next summer, where supporters of the trust can visit and take part in activities with the staff and students.
Working guests will be able to contribute in accordance with there own interests, skills and talents. They will have the opportunity to combine their working holiday with a photographic wild-life safari or gorilla trekking. Chris says:
Meeting gorillas close up is awesome!
2010 will be the third year in which Liverpool Humanist Group has raised money for Ugandan schools. Having previously supported the Mustard Seed School directly, we are now channeling our efforts through the Uganda Humanist Schools Trust (UK), which we have adopted as our principal charity.
Chris says:
You can make a donation of any amount, or sponsor a child for £120 pa. (which covers tuition, uniform and a midday meal!), or if you want to sponsor for 4 years @ £120, which is a child’s secondary education, we can get you a named child, photo etc. The school year starts in February. The schools are trying to recruit now, and obviously if we can provide funds, more parents will be able to send their kids to school and more infrastructure projects can be built. I was amazed and inspired to see how much progress they have made so far, the enthusiasm of the students, teachers and local community. A little money goes a very long way. 100% of the money we raise goes to the schools and if you fill out a few details the tax man gives us another 20% under Gift Aid.
Please come along and learn more about this wonderful project. All Welcome!
Quotation
Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.
E M Forster, Howards End (1910)
Quotation
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
Bertrand Russell
Quotation
Three words you will never hear a religious person say to their offspring: “Think for yourself”.
Anon.
Filed under: charity, events, meetings, schools, Uganda | 1 Comment »
In all the political discussion about peace in the Middle East the lives of the Palestinians and their suffering has tended to be forgotten and Hilda Reilly’s book brings out these human aspects so clearly and vividly, making the reader understand what it is really about. Tony Benn 
