|
ACE has received a donation of sufficient funds to build and furnish a classroom as a memorial to Howard and Hilda Budden, the parents of ACE trustee, Phil Budden. Howard and Hilda were married in 1946, soon after the completion of Howard's wartime service in the Royal Air Force. Their working lives were spent in Reading, Berkshire, and, when they retired, they moved to Chideock, Dorset, and later to Horsham, West Sussex. Howard died in 2007 and Hilda in January 2011. |
|
|
|
This picture was taken in 2003 at a family celebration of Howard's 80th birthday. Howard and Hilda were always very supportive of their children's education and they also regularly donated to the educational work in Africa of the Baptist Missionary Society. So it seems very appropriate that a classroom in Africa should be built in their honour. |
 |
 |
The ACE trustees decided that the new classroom should be built at Mukibugu Primary School, where there was an available site in the corner of the compound. In this picture, taken by the party who carried out repairs in 2006, the site is in front of the water storage trank and the new classroom will be attached to the block on the left. |
|
 |
Work
began in mid-April 2011 to prepare the site.
|
|
 |
The
work involved removing some very hard rocks and levelling for the
foundations.
|
|
 |
The
site would be a nightmare for a British health and safety officer.
The protective footwear is particularly interesting.
|
|
 |
Stone
for the foundations and bricks for the walls were delivered.
|
|
 |
By
19th April the footings were in .....
|
|
 |
..... and on 20th the walls had started to rise..... .....and it looked like the first pupil was waiting to be admitted. |
|
 |
On 21st April the walls reached window level. And the sky had cleared so that the volcano was visible in the background. We were fortunate that Luke Pye, who was working for ACE for 3 months, was at Mukibugu during the week before Easter, and was able to send us daily updates. |
|
 |
Luke
returned after the Easter break and took this picture on 26th April.
|
 |
On
2nd May the walls were completed.
|
 |
 |
|
When David Epidu visited in mid-June he found that progress on the building was temporarily halted. The reason is that the timber price has risen dramatically and our builder, Paul, decided to wait for a while to see if the price dropped again. Unfortunately, after a month's wait, the price of timber didn't fall, so we accepted the higher price and work on the roof began. |
 |
Eden Quayle visited Mukibugu on 10th August and found the new classroom roofed and the walls rendered on the outside and plastered inside. You can also see the bars which we now build into each window. They provide security and also protect the glass from being broken by footballs. |
|
 |
Inside, the floor area is filled with rubble and ready for the cement floor to be laid. |
|
 |
David Epidu carried out a tour of inspection of the ACE schools in early September and he found the classroom at Mukibugu nearly finished. There is some more painting and some tidying up to be done. |
|
 |
At
the rear of the classroom, gutterings will be added to increase
the supply of water into the nearby storage tank.
|
|
 |
Inside, the classroom needs a good clean. The desks, teacher's desk and book cupboard are already made at Paul's workshop in Kisoro. |
|
When Angela and Vic Peake visited Mukibugu in late September the classroom was in use. We have asked Paul, our contractor, to paint the exterior to brighten it up a bit. |
 |
|
| Paul is also going to put some concrete gullies around the base to channel rainwater away and he will sow grass seed. |
 |
|
| This picture shows Angela with David Epidu and Ezra, the deputy head of Mukibugu School. |
 |
|
|
Here
is Ezra with some of the pupils.
|
 |
|
| The plaque, dedicating the classroom, was made by Malcolm Pilcher, a craftsman in Newlyn, and Angela and Vic took it out with them. |
 |
|
|
Inside, the classroom is fully furnished and looks bright and cheery ..... except that the blackboard at this end needs either cleaning or repainting ..... |
 |
|
|
..... and, at the other end, the wall, which used to be the exterior of the neighbouring classroom, has not been painted. It will be done. |
 |
|
|
David,
Ezra and Angela try a desk for size.
|
 |
|
|
The
classroom has a lockable cupboard for schoolbooks.
|
 |
|
Further
information will be added here as and when we are sent news and
pictures.
|