85 Maria’s Care pupils of KPPS Primary School took part in the five days of Final Competitions at The National Theatre Kampala in early August, and were delighted to be  placed 3rd out of 31 entries from all over Uganda!

Maria's Care pupils performing in competition

They had worked so hard practicing for hours after school and at week-ends with Supervisor Jacky Oba, their music teachers and their new Headteacher, Henry Waikere.
The competition covered a wide range of skills including speech, drama, poetry, creative dance, Traditional dance and singing. Their enjoyment is obvious from their faces! Some of the best selected soloists were CRU sponsored children.
The first rounds of the competition started weeks ago and there were various rounds through to the regional round of Busoga, and  Maria’s Care children came 1st in all of them. The five day exciting experience in Kampala for the Finals  was the first visit to the capital for nearly all of the children.
Donations from Kamuli District, parents  and generous Ugandan donors helped to pay for accommodation and food and transport.
The final marks were close. 1st = 855; 2nd = 837; 3rd = 835. The winning school was Namilyango Junior School from Kampala.

Receiving the award

The 2011 Festivals were sponsored by UNICEF and 6 of Maria’s Care children were selected for sponsorship by UNICEF for their education  from primary to University level.
This is what it means to give opportunity to Maria’s Care children- and look what they achieve when they get the chance!

As in some of the surrounding countries of East Africa, there is drought and increased hunger in Uganda, hand-in-hand with escalating food costs.  Please spend a few minutes reading this blog – we really need your help, if at all possible.
Uganda might not be at the epicentre of the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, and hence not on our television screens, but it is being very badly affected by events there.  N.E. Uganda has been through a lengthy drought, which has caused crops to fail and children to go hungry.
In an emergency, international relief agencies import food from the surrounding countries, as well as from further afield. Not surprisingly Ugandan traders are crossing the border to Kenya to sell their grain and other foodstuffs at inflated prices, leaving a shortage in Uganda where prices are continuing to soar as a consequence.  To add to the problem we are informed that lorries arrive regularly in Kamuli from South Sudan to buy food for that new country – further reducing availability and forcing prices up in Uganda.
The cost of feeding the children at Maria’s Care has shot up in recent months and so, as a consequence of the spiralling cost of food, have the boarding fees of our secondary school children.  With inflation reported to be running at 18% nationally, but higher in drought affected areas such as Kamuli, people are struggling to find the money to pay for children’s school fees and requirements.  Teachers, and others, are struggling to cope with rocketing prices on their fixed salaries.  How do you cut back when all your salary goes on everyday basic necessities?  The concept of ‘disposable income’ does not exist in rural Uganda!
Translating the price of bread into its British equivalent, imagine if you went to your local bakery to buy a large loaf and you found that, instead of costing its usual £1.30, the price had shot up overnight to £3.25!  That’s a 250% increase!  Imagine supermarket prices here going up by 25%, or more, in less than a year!  That’s what is happening in Uganda.
In order to ensure that the children that Maria’s Care supports are properly fed, and that they continue to receive a good standard of education appropriate to their needs and talents, we need our income to increase in line with inflation.  We know that times are hard in the U.K. but they are so much harder in and around Kamuli.  Please could we ask you to help if you possibly can?
You can make a one-off donation through this website via ‘Donate Now’ using ‘Just Giving’.  Better still, if you wish to become a regular donor, or to increase your present level of giving, please contact the Treasurer, Mike Collett, for a Standing Order form.  If you could also Gift Aid your donation that would make an enormous difference.  Thank you.
Mike Collett, 13 Bladon Crescent, Alsager, Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 2BG.
Email: crutreasurer@hotmail.co.uk