AFRICA/UGANDA - Buyuma gets a new school in 30 days thanks to Swedish and Ugandan student builders

Wednesday, 28 September 2005

Rome (Fides Service) - A new school has been opened on Buvuma island on Lake Victoria, where the people, about 20,000, are mostly fishermen and food is scarce. The school was built by Swedish and Ugandan students in only four weeks. Preparations began a year ago in 2004 in Stockholm when a group of students at Lärkstadens Studiecentrumm anxious to promote an initiative to help Africa decided to build a school.
The ambitious projected needed material support and funds. The students began to contact factories, families, friends. They asked for help and any kind of help was more than welcome: building material and tools, money or furniture. The students themselves gave time and energy to the project and also paid some of the expenses.
When the arrived in Uganda they were met by a group of Ugandan students at Opus Dei Bugala Study Center who had volunteered to work on the project.
In the four weeks spent in Africa the students learned a lot from the local people. Every day they made a thirty minute truck journey to the building site where they worked for 8 hours. The new school was opened in the last week of July with a Mass celebrated by Father Anatoli, parish priest at Buvuma and the only priest on the island. It was a day of rejoicing for the whole community. In his homily the parish priest thanked the European and African students for the testimony of Christian love. (AP) (28/9/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:25; Parole:295)


Share: