Education and Net distribution in Uganda

Organisation: Africa Children's Development Trust (ACDT)
Country: Uganda
Project: School refurbishment and mosquito nets

ACDT is run by Nikki Collinson from the Isle of Wight who has re-located to Kampala in Uganda to run the charity, which was originally set up to provide chiropractic care and malaria protection to the poor. Over many visits to the area Nikki became friends with a local lady, Rose Kibuuka, the director of a primary school in a slum area of Kampala, and as a result has moved to the country with the goal of getting a replacement school for the 545 children at Ndeeba Primary School.

When two schools were forcibly merged one of the school buildings was knocked down and a temporary structure built to be able to accommodate the increase in pupils in the ‘new’ Ndeeba Primary School. The classrooms were small and cramped, the roof leaked and conditions were far from ideal. It was clear to Nikki that a new school was needed and this became the focus of her fundraising.

Through a lot of hard work by Nikki and help from her friends and supporters, of which Adsum is proud to be one, ACDT is well on the way to the total needed to build the school and after a final fundraising push construction is set begin in early 2012.

ACDT also distributes Mosquito nets, in conjunction with the Against Malaria Foundation, at cost price to areas in and around Kampala where the children need it most. Nikki meets with groups to assess need and when the funding for nets comes through she distributes them personally. Adsum matched funds raised by Belfast runner Paddy Turley and together provided over 1000 malaria nets which were distributed to children’s homes in the Wakiso/Pallisa district of Uganda.