Ugandan schools need bigger HUGS

Stalybridge GP Richard Bircher has recently become the chair of the Manchester-based charity, Helping Uganda Schools (HUGS). 

He says in these difficult times it has helped him, and many others, find a simple and easy way to help make the world a fairer place.

The GP, a familiar voice offering advice amid the pandemic on Tameside Radio, has also appeared on BBC Breakfast TV as their guest GP during the crisis. 

The GP says the recent events this year have shown us just how interconnected the world is, and it’s brought out some of the kindest acts of human compassion.

“Many people have been counting their blessings during the Covid lockdown,” he said. 

“They have realised the importance of having friends and family, a back garden, local shops, savings and, for some of us, a job to go to where we can mix with ‘real people.’

“I’ve heard people say, ‘when this is over, I hope we put things back together in a better way’. For many this means finding ways to make the world less unequal. Can we share things better?” 

The GP adds: “In the UK, the pandemic has hit the people in society who have the least, the hardest. We are now seeing families who make their livings from poorly paid jobs starting to struggle. But this is the same all over the world.

“Helping Uganda Schools is a charity which has been running for 25 years. It does what it says ‘on the can’.” 

GP Richard Bircher

The doctor explains: “The charity helps fund and build quality schools in Uganda. 

“We sponsor poor or disabled children to receive an education, and help find treatments for children who have hearing and sight problems so that they can keep up with the other kids in their classes. 

“It is an amazingly simple charity. We use the money from UK donors and transfer it to trusted, honest, hardworking representatives in Uganda who spend it on the schools and the children without risk of corruption.” 

There are now six HUGS schools that are self-sufficient, educating 1,500 children a year and 65 sponsored students. Some previous students have gone on to become midwives, engineers, doctors and teachers.

“It’s a direct way of moving resources from the people who have, to the people who have not. It gives hope and helps us feel part of something bigger,” said the GP.

This year Helping Uganda Schools needed to use some of its school monies to pay for food. 

“We received reports from our trusted representatives that the school children, in lockdown at home, were not receiving their school meals, their parents had lost their jobs, and there is no benefit system in Uganda. The need to stave off hunger was urgent,” explained Dr Bircher.

“Thankfully, six weeks later this pressing need has passed for many, and we can now begin to invest back in the schools. 

“We are part way through building a school for deaf and disabled children. In Uganda a child with hearing loss is often left without an education, and then they do attend school they receive no special help. 

“They soon drop behind and lose confidence. We are starting with the nursery block so that children aged four to seven can learn sign language, become confident and be playful and happy. So we always need help and new donations.”

If you would like to help and be part of this amazing charity you can visit the website www.helpingugandaschools.org