Welcome To TGET

TGET is a registered charity involved in the arena of promoting education. As our slogan says, we believe that lives can be changed through education. On this site you can find news and pictures from some of the projects we have chosen to support.

Amongst the links to the left you will find the websites of some of the charities involved in the projects we support. This will tell you far more about the important work they are involved in. In addition by using either the Guidestar or Charity Commission links you have access to background information on a vast range of charities.

The 'latest news' links, again to the left, will bring you up to date with some of the projects we are involved in and other relevant educational topics.

Browse the site to find more details of the sort of thing we will and will not consider for support as well as a bit more about Teachers Group Educational Trust.

Latest News

Read the story of Solomon and Lydia

Solomon and Lydia are just two of the students being supported through the Chello programme. Although they are the same age you can see that they have reached different stages in their education.

STUDENT CASE STUDIES – 1
Scholar case study 1:	Solomon (full name removed by site moderator)
School:	Budaka Primary School
Age:	14yrs	Gender:	Male
Class:	P.5
Status:	Total Orphan
Community:	Butebe village, Kitoba sub county

Solomon is primary five in Budaka primary school. He lost both his parents some time back and he stays with his grandmother who is also very sick. Solomon’s grand mother is a peasant and he also helps out at the farm from which they get food to eat at home. They have no other means of survival and even the only food they grow can only cater for their home consumption. The living conditions at home are so poor characterised with a small grass thatched house, no kitchen, poor sanitary facilities with no income generating activities. The distance from home to the nearest health centre is quite long and the water collection centre is far away. Solomon is the only child who is at home and is the only one to help the grand mother with domestic duties. He has to do some work at home before he leaves home to go to school. He says he wants to be a doctor. “I shall be a doctor if am supported “says Solomon. He also used to fetch water in the village so that he can get money to buy books and other requirements like a uniform which he now gets from the Chello foundation. He is a happy boy because he used not have uniform but now has one bought by the Chello foundation. Solomon was the 54th out of 67 pupils in class this term and says he used to perform worse than this before being supported by the Chello Foundation. He is grateful for the support from the Chello Foundation and says thank you so much and he prays you continue with the spirit of helping vulnerable people and communities. Solomon

STUDENT CASE STUDIES – 2
Scholar case study 1:	Lydia ( full name removed by site moderator)
School:	St Andrews Secondary School – Kitoba
Age:	14yrs	Gender:	Female
Class:	S.1
Status:	Orphan
Community:	Kiteru village, Bujumbura division

Lydia was born in December 1997 in Kiteru village. She is the first born in a family of 4 siblings. Their father passed away in 2008 due to a chronic illness. The living conditions at home are so poor characterised with poor sanitary requirements i.e. poor latrine, no kitchen, a grass thatched house which is almost collapsing. They are peasant farmers at home but can only grow food for home consumption since they have limited land for cultivation. They earn some small amounts of money through helping out in other people’s farms especially during harvest time. She has been in the scholarship programme since 2010. She is a very hard working girl in class and was the 2^nd out of 127 students in class this term. Her teachers say she is social, disciplined, hardworking which makes her perform so well. Lydia wants to become a nurse so that she can help educate her siblings finish their studies. She also wants to help construct a good house in town for her mother who struggles a lot to raise them. She says thank you so much to the Chello foundation that has helped her attain secondary education which she had lost hope for achieving because the mother couldn’t raise secondary fees.

July 7th, 2011

More news from Uganda

Extracts from Chello report for January – April 2011

EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN ORPHANED OR AFFECTED BY HIV AND AIDS IN HOIMA DISTRICT, UGANDA

1. What Went Well

A monitoring and support visit by The Chello Foundation was conducted in March 2011. The visit included meetings with all students. Issues emerging from the visit include the following:

Guardians and parents made a commitment to visit students in school and to encourage them to improve their academic performance. Meetings with guardians and parents of the sponsored students were held in each of the schools visited.

It was reported that the cost of commodities (e.g. food) had gone up drastically in the past couple of months, requiring schools to send students home for more money to run the schools. It was clarified to the schools that it was not possible to provide more money for current students as this would be beyond the amount provided by donors. Most of the Head Teachers appreciated the support provided to students and promised not to send the sponsored students home for fees. ACCOD (the local partner) is continuing to monitor the situation.

There was a general concern about the many children in the district who required assistance to access primary, secondary and technical education. The Chello Foundation GM promised to continue looking for more funding to assist more deserving students as from 2012.

The additional funding provided by the Teachers Group Educational Trust, and some resources provided by The Chello Foundation, has enabled the significant improvement of management systems and the support provided to students.

Two rounds of visits were also carried out by three ACCOD staff members (Executive Director, Project Manager/Child Welfare Manager and Finance Manager) to the villages and primary schools in Karongo, Buseruka and Budaka. The secondary schools in Kitoba and Duhaga were also visited as was the village of Kitoba. Meetings were held with the communities, the parents and guardians of students, and the students themselves. ACCOD held open discussions about the project and emphasised the importance of joint action to persuade children of the value of education and the responsibilities of parents and guardians.

2. What did not go well/ challenges faced

There are very low expectations about the value of education in the community as evidenced by high school dropouts and apathy from the community (as reported by teachers). The educational programme provides an opportunity for ACCOD to establish and strengthen parent support groups and influence community perceptions about the importance of education.

Parents and guardians expect The Chello Foundation to pay for everything. Whilst a high proportion of students may require 100% support, ACCOD will continue encouraging households to contribute to the education of the children. For example, most households with children in the final year of secondary school tried the best they can to raise the registration fees.

As recorded by ACCOD in their termly report their discussions with students, families and guardians and school staff raised background issues affecting the children which may take time to resolve. These include poverty, health, lack of sanitation, poor housing and infrastructure all of which affect students’ ability to study.

3. Lessons Learnt

There is some discrimination and stigmatization of orphans by other students. Teachers are also involved in this since complaints have been received from some students that some teachers say that orphans ‘are lazy’. This is something that the project needs to counter by engaging teachers and guardians in discussions on how best to support students.

Most homes do not have adequate hygiene and sanitation. Most homes have poor ventilation, leaking roofs and many are unfinished. They are ill furnished and most lack adequate bedding.

It is important to have advance discussions with parents and guardians on exactly what the project will and will not cover. This will ensure that expectations are managed and households are aware of their continued obligation to the sponsored children.

Due to the impoverished state of many families, it is not possible for them to provide for children under their care. Poor nutrition and insufficient food affects learning. It is suggested that a family support component should be introduced in future to assist impoverished households to access food, to grow food or to start small income generation activities. This would be in tandem with other projects implemented by The Chello Foundation in Iganga, Wakiso and Lyantonde Districts in Uganda

4. What we plan to do this Term (April to August 2011)

We will continue to provide support to ACCOD to ensure that the project is managed as per agreed standards.

ACCOD will continue to work with parents and guardians and the wider community to ensure:

They support children through education both financially and emotionally.
They improve sanitation and hygiene

ACCOD will also hold further meetings with all stakeholders to ensure that there is clarity about the project and to manage unreasonable expectations.

5. Planning for The Future

Our future strategy would be as follows:

Continuing to support a majority of the children at secondary school while ensuring that vulnerable children at primary and technical level are considered. Girls will get priority at all stages
Continue to build the capacity of the local partner to effectively manage and monitor the project and provide support to students
Continue establishing and building the capacity of Guardian/Parent Support Groups so that they can be more supportive to their children’s education. This will have the added advantage of beginning to influence community attitudes towards education as a route out of poverty.

The Chello Foundation Termly Report

Project name:	Alpha Child Care and Community Development Organisation.



Date (MM/DD/YYYY):	30^th April 2011.
Next report date:	30^th August 2011.

Project information
Intake:	2010 INTAKE
Participating schools:	Primary schools. - Buseruka Primary School - Budaka Primary School - Karongo Primary School Secondary schools. - St Andrews Secondary School – Kitoba - Duhaga Secondary School - Bwikya Muslim High School - Premier High School - Sir Tito Winy Secondary School
Current term:	31^st Jan 2011 – 30^th April 2011
Next term dates:	16^th May 2011-30^th August 2011

UPDATES FROM THIS REPORTING PERIOD

- Overall update

The management of the Hoima project (supported by the Teachers Group Educational Trust and The Chello Foundation) was handed over to ACCOD in February this year by Chello from COFCAWE. 2 visits were conducted by 3 ACCOD staff;

Executive Director,
Project manager/Child Welfare Manager,
Finance Manager.

1^st visit – Familiarization visit with the communities where the students come from.

During the community familiarization visits we were able to meet with the parents/guardians in 4 villages of Kitoba, Karongo, Buseruka and Budaka respectively. During the familiarization visits;

- We were introduced to the parents/guardians.

- We talked about the sponsorship program and why we support the children, the type of children we target to support; the number of children we support in each community; the category of support we give to the children; the role of parents/guardians in this project;

We held open discussions and the parents/guardians were able to ask several questions for clarity about the program. We emphasised parental roles, guidance, and their responsibilities such that we join hands to realise that these children realise the value of education and achieve its benefits. They together with their children told us some of the problems that they face and these are as summarised below;

Problems of children/students:

Poor lighting systems in most of the homes. They cannot afford paraffin for the lamps at night so cannot revise in darkness while at home.
Lack of personal requirements like washing soap, sugar, shoes, clothes among others.
Distant water sources yet they have to collect water at night after returning from school.
Sicknesses especially malaria and fungal infections.
Long distances to school. They reach at school when they are tired and even as they return home, they delay on the way and yet have some household chores to be done by them.
Poor sleeping habits i.e. they have no mattresses, bed sheets, blankets. They sleep on mats and floors.
Poor feeding habits. Sometimes food is served without soup, no breakfast, and one or two meals a day.

Problems of parents/guardians:

They have very many orphans at home who need support.
They insist they cannot afford some scholastics like mattresses for their children in boarding, suitcases, and other requirements.
Sicknesses that make them weak and unable to work.
Limited land for farming. They have small gardens to produce enough food for consumption as well as sale. They rent gardens but sometimes have no money to do this.
They do not have animals to supplement their income and to produce manure for fertilizing the un fertile and withered land so as to boost their yields.
Limited income to set up income generating activities so as to pull out of poverty.

Familiarization visits to the schools where the students study from and a total of 5 schools were visted as listed below;

Karongo Primary School,
Budaka Primary School.
Buseruka Primary School.
St. Andrews’ Secondary School – Kitoba.
Duhaga Secondary school.

During the school visits we discussed with school administrators; we had meetings with various schools representatives and discussed matters pertaining to the sponsored students in their schools. We agreed on various issues including school fees payments, and the general well-being of these students while at school; how they have to be treated, caring about them, guiding them and making sure they are always at school during school time such that they succeed in their studies.

In summary these are some of the other issues discussed;

About the schools and when they were founded;
History of their performance;
General school enrolment;
Number of sponsored students;
We discussed about the sponsorship programs and how many students we intend to support in each school;
The roles and responsibilities of schools towards the sponsored students;
School fees structures of the different schools;
We physically met with all the sponsored children for clarity with the lists that we had.
Settling students in schools. We found the student schools, paid their fees, provided them with scholastic materials. All the secondary students were settled in boarding and the primary students in day schools. A total of 62 students were settled in Hoima and among these, 34 are in primary while 28 are in secondary.

a) 2^nd visit

During our 2^nd field visit;

We majorly settled all the S.1 students in schools and supplying them with scholastic materials and paying for their school fees.
We also met a few parents of all the students in secondary schools to air out some issues that we realised during the 1st visit.
We visited students in all the schools to establish how they were fairing in school.

The Social Worker’s findings after education monitoring were as follows:

Students complained about stigmatization and discrimination from other students who are not orphans or part of the project.
Sicknesses especially malaria was rampant this term.
Failure of guardians to raise registration fees for candidates.
Students especially in Kitoba complained about some teachers saying they were lazy and discriminated them.
Some students have improved while others are still weak in class as progressive reports show.

Home monitoring;

A home monitoring and assessment exercise was carried out in 20 homes and these were the results ;

Most homes portrayed poor hygiene and sanitation methods including; poor toilet facilities, no bathrooms, dirty compounds, no tip taps, no drying racks.
The homes have poor housing conditions characterised by poor roofs that leak, others are grass thatched, poor ventilation, and most of the houses are semi permanent and un finished.
Poor feeding habits were rampant in almost all the homes probably because of the famine in the country.
Poverty is rampant in most of these homes making guardians un able to meet their children’s needs.
Poor beddings in almost all the homes.

Challenges in this reporting period.

Failure of parents/guardians to meet requirements of students. They leave a big task to us in that we had to meet their registration fees even after being told it’s their role.
High expectations of students, parents, and school administrators due to misconceptions.
One student dropped out due to pregnancy. ACCOD requested the school to allow her to do exams but the student was not interested. She has since been replaced.

Way forward.

Continued sensitization of guardians on their parental roles and responsibilities.
Sensitization of guardians on the importance of improved sanitation and hygiene in their homes while advising them to set up sanitary facilities like toilets, bathrooms among others.
Discussing with concerned parties on what they should expect from us and what they should not expect from us.

- Indicate whether there have been any student changes this term and list the names of students concerned

One student dropped out due to pregnancy. ACCOD requested the school to allow her to do exams but the student was not interested. She has since been replaced.

July 7th, 2011

Extracts from the latest progress report of the Chello project in Uganda

The Chello Foundation Termly Report

EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN ORPHANED OR AFFECTED BY HIV AND AIDS IN HOIMA DISTRICT, UGANDA

1. What Went Well

Project implementation started in September 2010 after a visit by The Chello Foundation General Manager. Student selection was undertaken using a selection criteria that prioritised students who had lost one or both parents, girls made vulnerable, and those from the poorest households.

This project is the first direct intervention meeting orphans at the point of greatest need and the students, guardians, and teachers are optimistic that the long term impact of the project on the children and the community is remarkable.

For instance, all those children who did their Class 7 exams in November 2010 passed exams and are joining secondary schools in February 2011.

2. What did not go well

The implementation of the project has been transferred to a Chello Foundation partner in Uganda, which has already provided support to all the 54 students that were supported as from September. The remaining 9 students are starting school next week.

We are happy to say that all children supported by the Teacher’s Group Educational Trust are still in school, their school fees have been paid, and educational materials provided.

The Chello Foundation has secured funding to support an additional 225 students in Hoima District and it is hoped more will be supported once a new partner is identified in April.

3. Lessons Learnt

We learnt that in-country partnerships with NGOs can at times be tricky and necessitate termination. By having a specific in-country Account for a project such as this one, it is possible to monitor exactly how much money has been used, the balance in the account and therefore ensure that all funds are secured in case the relationship does not work.

Having more than one reliable partner in Uganda also means that it was possible to quickly transfer the implementation of the project thus ensuring that the children still received the support required. This quick response is affirmed by The Chello Foundation’s readiness to directly go and pay the fees for the students.

Above all, even though it is just a few months into the project, there are remarkable changes in the children’s attitude towards life and education. Hopelessness has been replaced by hope and we are also optimistic about the future of these children and the project.

4. What we plan to do this Term (January – April 2011)

Visit in March 2011: The Chello Foundation Project Manager and two colleagues will be visiting Hoima District towards the end of March 2011 as part of the monitoring and technical support provided to all partners. Meetings will be held with teachers, sponsored students as well as guardians and community based organisations in the community.
Identification of a new partner: With over 70 students currently supported in Hoima, there is need to identify a strong, reliable partner that can implement the project over the next 4 years and beyond. We will be conducting due diligence on at least 3 organisations in Hoima District.
We will continue monitoring student performance closely, ensuring that appropriate records are collected and analysed – and ultimately used to support students to perform better in their studies.

The needs of children in Hoima are immense and there are over 500 other children requiring help.

…Read on… »

June 9th, 2011

Extracts from latest progress report from Nepal

Project Name – Education in Palpa district of Nepal (Project Palpa)

Location – Pipal Danda, Laharepipal, Basantapur

Termly Project Report

Current Term

January – March 2011

Pipal Danda and Laharepipal– Thanks to the recent support of MCWFN and Manisha UK volunteers, the number of children has risen to current levels and remained constant throughout the last term, with little seasonal decline.

Pipal Danda – 125

Laharepipal – 66

Basantapur – 45

Early indications are that the number of children will increase by around 15% in the term starting April 2011.

1. Overall Update

Progress at all schools continues well, good weather and determined local labour forces have enabled progress to be maintained, with the occasional unforeseen hold-up, of course.

At Pipal Danda: The Engineering team continue to make regular visits to the school to ensure the building work complies with the design and specification. During excavation of footings and levelling of surrounding land it was discovered that the roots of a nearby tree that had earlier been removed needed additional extraction to remove any concern over weaknesses that could have developed as the roots decayed over time. Engineers also determined that the supports and internal walls of the first floor of the new building needed to be further reinforced to properly withstand the pressures of surrounding hillside, into which the school is built.

These amendments to plans meant a 3 week delay in building and the ground floor was completed towards the end of March. Architects were commissioned to propose plans for the development. These plans were approved by the school development committee and all necessary authorities.

The ground floor of the new build was to be used merely as a method of creating a level platform on which to build a further 2 storeys of classroom. However, a positive impact of the additional walling within the ground floor has been to create a facility that can now be used for 4 local shops and tea-rooms that can be used to generate income within the local community. This is a significant step towards self-sufficiency for the local community and the possibility of building community shops into major school building plans will now be a standard design option for future projects.

All work is undertaken manually with absolutely no power tools available for use. All materials are manually moved to site and the many tons of concrete used in construction is mixed by hand in a fascinating show of community spirit when gangs of local men and women will work tirelessly to complete each phase of construction in very difficult warm and windy conditions, which make working with cement and concrete a real challenge. All steel reinforcements for the concrete structure are fabricated by hand on-site, in itself a remarkable achievement.

The school development committee is responsible for health and safety on site; there have been no reports of accidents or significant incidents to date.

The school now has two of its full complement of 5 teachers funded by this project.

Having budgeted for school meals for 125 children, it has been found necessary to supply around 30 extra meals per day. This over supply against budget is due to younger siblings of school pupils attending for lunch, a practice that has not been discouraged as it will have a positive influence on school attendance in later years. The importance of this simple measure cannot be underestimated as a major step forward in nutritional supplementation to the children’s daily diet.

At Laharepipal: The Engineering team continue to make regular visits to the school to ensure the building work complies with the design and specification. Work on the foundations began on time in January and building work on this extension to the existing school is planned to complete in April.

As with Pipaldanda, all work is undertaken manually with absolutely no power tools used.

The school development committee is responsible for health and safety on site; there have been no reports of accidents or significant incidents to date.

Confirmation is awaited on whether this project is now funding a teacher and a support teacher as planned. At this point in time there is no reported understaffing so it is assumed that the planned funding is being utilised. Until confirmation is received, this deliverable is shown as in amber status.

School meals for approximately 70 pupils started in January as planned. As with Pipaldanda, the importance of this simple measure cannot be underestimated as a major step forward in nutritional supplementation to the children’s daily diet.

At Basantapur: Architects were commissioned to propose plans for the development. These plans were approved by the school development committee and necessary authorities. The Engineering team specified the work required to complete the plans and will make regular visits to the school to ensure the building work complies with the design and specification.

Building work commenced on time in February with the footings being completed in March in spite of the severe restrictions on space in which to work caused by the location of the school adjacent to surrounding buildings. Building work on this extension to the existing school is planned to complete in April, after which, the roof of the existing school building will be repaired and the boundary of the school property will be re-established.

Confirmation is awaited on whether this project is now funding a new teacher and a support teacher as planned. At this point in time there is no reported understaffing so it is assumed that the planned funding is being utilised. Until confirmation is received, this deliverable is shown as in amber status.

Given the complete lack of facilities in which to prepare any school meals prior to completion of this project, it has been decided to delay the introduction of school meals until May.

Infrastructure and Assets

Building Construction:

Pipal Danda: Ground floor complete and building on first floor is underway, due for completion in April, second floor due for completion in May..
Laharepipal: Foundations complete and building underway, due for completion in April.
Basantapur: Foundations complete and building underway, due for completion in April.

Case study of Pipaldanda School Rebuild Project

Pipaldanda – October to December 2010