Chris Ocowun
8 June 2009
Kampala — PADER district local government has constructed and rehabilitated 34 classrooms in five primary schools.
The district, with support from Zoa Refugee Care-Uganda, an NGO, has also built five twin teachers' houses, 40 latrine stances and drilled five boreholes worth sh500m in seven primary schools in the villages where former internally displaced persons are resettling.
The Zoa programme manager, Wilfred Babanga, said during the commissioning of the facilities on Wednesday at Lukole sub-county that the classrooms were furnished.
He said eight other classrooms were rehabilitated at Anyena Primary School. Each classroom, he explained, was allocated 54 desks, a teachers' table, a chair and two cupboards.
Babanga noted that teachers, school management committees and parent teachers associations were given management training. "In 2009, Zoa is supporting 26 schools in three sub-counties. It will be working with the school management committees and parent teacher associations," Babanga stated.
"We expect to construct 24 new classrooms, six twin teachers' houses, 40 stances of latrines and boreholes." He said Zoa was working with 3,000 farmers to construct 100km of community roads in the sub-counties of Lukole, Pajule, Atanga and Parabongo.
Zoa country director Guido de Vries said they started supporting the population with food supplies, education and water and sanitation in 2007.
He challenged the people to work hard for their economic good, saying NGOs were not the solution to their problems.
De Vries also appealed to the local leaders to help the community identify priority challenges and solve them. Pader LC5 chairman Peter Odok W'Ocheng hailed Zoa for implementing the people's most urgent needs.
"Instead of giving us software, I am happy that Zoa has given us hardware in form of classrooms and boreholes. The roads will link the villages to the rest of the country," he said.
W'Ocheng pointed out that politicking retards development.
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