Dr. John Maitland

As you know, we recently lost our founder, Dr.  John Maitland, who died peacefully at home on 13^th November after a short illness.

Sadly,  John’s passing came just a few weeks before 31 December 2012, which will mark the 50^th anniversary of John and his wife Hilary arriving in Uganda to work as doctors running a rural hospital.  It was that experience which directly led to them founding  Uganda Development Services (UDS),  with the aim of helping the poorest uplift themselves.

John and Hilary worked in Uganda from 1963 to 1976.   They  registered UDS as a UK charity in 1994,  and as an NGO in Uganda in 1997.

The UK arm of the charity was originally based at Dr Maitland's home in Cheshire, UK.  In 2006 the office moved south to West London,  but that did nothing to diminish John’s involvement in the organisation and its work.

In the autumn of 2010, John paid a two-week visit to Uganda. It was to be his last visit to the country.  He visited what he called “the ‘front line’ – the place where UDS gives people the means to climb out of their prison of poverty.” He recorded his impressions from that trip in a booklet, “What The Founder Found.”  There is a link to an online version of the booklet below.

When news of John’s death reached Uganda we received many messages of tribute. 

Rita Epodoi,  Executive Director of UDS Uganda wrote:  “We grieve with family as well as celebrate John's life. He lived in obedience to God's calling on his life and is certainly with Him in glory.”

Dr Paul, a  board member,  wrote:  “John’s was a remarkable and inspiring life! Not only because of the so much he achieved but also (and even more so I think), because of the mind-boggling amount of faith he had in God, his gracious belief in people and their potential, and the ability to hold on to the fact that ‘it can and will be done.’ “

John was a man of God, and it was his faith that inspired him and his good work for the people of Uganda, whom he loved.

One of his favourite passages from The Bible was from 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5. It seems appropriate to recall it now:

“If we are ‘out of our mind,’ as some say, it is for God;  if we are in our right mind, it is for you.  For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

See a selection of photos of John Maitland during his visits to Uganda

Hear a talk given by John Maitland at St John's Ealing in October 2011

Read "What The Founder Found," the document that John wrote after his final visit to Uganda in November 2010 

We have established the  Maitland Fund - to commemorate John's life - and to uphold his vision.  Donations can be sent to the UDS office (click here to download a form) or made online here.    

Kamuli rural youth engage with ICT at first workshop

UDS is moving swiftly forward with its programme to encourage the rural youth around Kamuli to engage with ICT training.

After meeting local youth leaders back in September (see earlier blog), our Kamuli office decided to set up a one-day workshop to present both ICT theory and practice, in order to show rural youth how useful computer skills would be in advancing their lives.

So one Thursday in late November 36 young people – some of them deaf – from around Kamuli district gathered at UDS for a day of discussion and demonstration.

One of the main points our instructors put across is the benefits ICT can bring in accessing information – whether educational or general information.  The workshop showed the young people attending how access to the internet can help them network and interact with each other and the wider world.

Of course very few of these young people have a computer – to use one they have to visit our cyber cafe. But it was agreed that mobile phones are very useful for accessing the internet, even though the signal around Kamuli is intermittent.  

The day engendered a lot of enthusiasm, and at the end of the session our participants came up with a number of recommendations to advance the use of ICT among rural youth, including: better promotion of ICT in agriculture, improving opportunities for youth in rural areas using ICT, providing funding and policies that support young businesses and young companies engaged in the development of ICT solutions, develop online and traditional mentorship schemes for young people, and competitions and online scholarships.

A second session was organized the following week, when the participants were due to return to be set up with email and Facebook accounts.

Book box project review

Book Box Project Review

UDS has been carrying out a review of its Book Box Project, to identify areas

of development and improvement as the project grows.

The Book Box project began in 2006, with boxes for four schools containing 31 books per box.  There are now book  boxes in 18 schools – meaning that pupils have access to reading materials without having to travel to the library in Kamuli town. 

But of course it’s not going to end there. Our review has concluded that we need to supply a variety of books on each subject, not just one, so that students can compare information given by different authors on the same topic.  More books are also needed for senior level students.  We also identified a need for more books on agriculture and science.

In general , many schools with boxes agreed that they are a welcome addition to their resources , as the school books supplied by the government aren’t  sufficient.  Teachers at one school – Bupadengho Secondary – even told us that getting a UDS book box prompted them to create their own library. And their students’ exam results have improved as a direct result.  The books are very popular with the students. The boarders take them away with them at night for further reading too. 

And it’s not just the students. The teachers too find the books extremely useful to help prepare lessons and expand the curriculum.   

At one college the head teacher went so far as to say that UDS’ book box contributes  50 percent of the knowledge  his students need for their  exams.

The conclusion is that the Book Box Project is providing an extremely valuable service, and that UDS hopes to be able to provide many more books to many more schools in the coming years.

ICT Rural Youth Project

 

Youth leaders meet to promote UDS ICT Rural Youth Project

At the end of September, Robert Ssebuliba, UDS’  I.T. Project officer in Kamuli,  got the youth leaders together from the major areas of Kamuli district, and from Kamuli town itself, to discuss UDS’ ICT Rural Youth Project and ways of expanding it out into rural communities. 

The Ugandan government has recognised that the lack of I.T. skills in the rural communities, and access to computer equipment are holding back progress in this area.  UDS is seeking to fill this gap by increasing IT awareness among the rural youth and encouraging young people to train with us in our Kamuli centre.

The aim of the meeting was twofold – first, to brief the youth leaders themselves on what UDS could offer them, and second to discuss how best to attract the involvement of the  local youth.

The leaders are all aged between 18 and 35 years old, and the majority of them are teachers.  They were all very enthusiastic, and agreed UDS’ ICT Rural Youth Project  could bring great benefit to their communities. But they all expressed the reservation that many young people are concerned only with “food and money”, and it would be a difficult job convincing them to participate.All agreed that they would have to work hard to change the young people’s attitudes.

Finally, Robert took the youth leaders on a tour of UDS’ offices and facilities so that they could tell the young people what UDS has to offer. 

A UDS wedding in Kamuli

UDS recently celebrated the wedding of long-time library volunteer Peter Kagoda and his bride Fatuma Birungi.   Peter is well-known man in the community, and very popular, and so it was quite a crowd of UDS staff, relatives and friends who joined together on a colourful, romantic day.

It all took place in Kamuli on Saturday 25 August. According to Ugandan tradition, in the morning Peter’s bride was first introduced at her parent’s home. This is when the bride-price formalities were carried out..  the traditional payment from Peter’s family to that of his wife-to-be.

The wedding ceremony was held at  3.30 pm at Kamuli Pentecostal Church, already jammed with guests who had been enjoying music from a number of  choirs.  As the bride and groom arrived at the church the guests ululated, and danced as they sang wedding songs. 

And there was of course a reception to follow.. 

 

We all wish the bride and groom a happy life together.