Write a commentThis year, Newry High School is supporting teenager Charlene Barr, from Dollingstown, in her fund-raising effort to build a school in Uganda.
Charlene says, “I have been unwell for quite some time now with my Cystic Fibrosis and things have deteriorated to the extent that I have had to give up on school during my A Level year. I have decided to use my time, when I am unable to go to school and am awaiting a double lung transplant, to raise funds to build a school in Uganda. I travelled to Uganda in March, 2008, with my family. I visited a lot of schools as we were involved with Love for Life who deliver HIV prevention programmes to school. I saw how little the children had and how many were unable to get even the primary school education that so many of us take for granted.
I was due to go out to Uganda this summer and planned to pick the school myself. Unfortunately my health did not allow it. I sent the rest of the family to choose the school for me and they found Hidden Treasure Primary School. It is simply one little room made of sticks and mud where all the children are taught together. When I saw the pictures and heard the stories I knew that this was the school I was meant to build.”
Charlene needs to raise £70,000 to allow the school to be built by Fields of Life who have already completed almost 100 schools in Uganda and other parts of East Africa. Newry High School held a Non-Uniform Day on 27th November to raise funds for this very worthy cause and raised £550 and will be looking at other ways of fundraising for ‘Charlene’s Project’.
We wish Charlene well in her fundraising and with her lung transplant.
