Arlington academy under the weather

May 23, 2004

WHEN residents of Arlington City in the American State of Virginia last year undertook to build and maintain a modern primary school in Manjiya County, Mbale District, they did not expect tropical rain to present them with a great task.

By Geresom Musamali
WHEN residents of Arlington City in the American State of Virginia last year undertook to build and maintain a modern primary school in Manjiya County, Mbale District, they did not expect tropical rain to present them with a great task.
Four months after the Arlington Academy of Hope (AAH) opened at Bamwalukani on the slopes of Mt. Elgon however, the sponsors are getting alarmed by the rate at which the rain has destroyed the children’s school shoes.
They intend to pull down some of the walls of the school buildings in order to put in place better dump-proof material, following the seeping of large amounts of water from the foundation high into the walls.
Arlington local director Sam Bwaya, in his end of April report to the sponsors, said, “The rainy season has finally come and matters will only get worse. Children have one set of uniform which they have to wash regularly because they get dirty easily when it rains.”
Bwaya also pointed out that the children would have to depend more on posho, rice and beans because meat diet is rather expensive.
But Patricia Jackson, one of the sponsors, wrote back saying, “I’d be happy to sponsor a one day meat lunch at the school for two months. It makes me sad to hear that a lunch with meat is a rarity. ”
Bumwalukani is in Bulucheke sub-county where landslides have been causing a lot of havoc. When President Museveni visited the area, he walked across River Manafa on a two-pole bridge.
John Wanda, a Ugandan resident in Arlington, has been co-ordinating efforts to build the school for one of the village communities affected by the slides. Other Ugandans in Arlington who have helped Wanda co-ordinate the efforts are Moses Dombo and Joseph Wangota. The school currently has 171 registered pupils.
Ends

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