Along with several other institutions Halcyon does much to combat the 34% illiteracy rate of the district. It has a committed and tirelessly dedicated head teacher who is attempting an evolution of African attitudes towards time management, not an easy task. With significantly more resources than your average state school, Halcyon can afford its students a relatively comfortable working environment. Classrooms are dry if not spacious, ditto for dormitories and a computer room has been recently furnished with a dozen computers in an effort to address the government’s lofty and somewhat challenging target of compulsory IT education. There are still challenges; some O level class sizes have swollen to 130 due to the schools popularity after its steady rise up the ever so important league tables and water has to be fetched from distant bore holes when the water supply dries up. There is the monotony from a western point of view, of posho and beans twice a day, and the ever present threat of a variety of life threatening illnesses that are part and parcel of everyday life.  You could add to this list a plethora of impediments that do their best to upset a child’s education.

These however, are the lucky few who can be guaranteed a quality education, that is, as long as their parents/sponsors can afford the typical 800,000 Ush (£230) a term.  Not surprisingly the majority of parents can ill afford this and rely upon state schools which are overcrowded, resource poor and staffed largely with untrained teachers. President Museveni has set a noble goal of universal primary education but, despite much promise and growth, Uganda is ranked 154^th out of 177 on the UN’s Human Development Index and thus lacks at present the resources to make this a reality.

For those without family ties to government departments, education is the only means of escaping poverty. Academic success in state schools is by no means impossible, but you can see that the obstacles to such success are gargantuan. Therefore, until Uganda achieves its goal of increasing GDP, tax revenue and thus investment in education, private schools are fundamental to a child’s chances.

The objective of The Halcyon School and the many philanthropic schools like it is to reach children who can not pay the termly fees. In 2012 Halcyon boasted the highest scoring O level girl in the district of Soroti. She is a case in point, orphaned and destined to struggle independently against the tide; she has been sponsored throughout her primary and secondary education at Halcyon. I have no doubt she will make an outstanding medical clinician, if not doctor and do much to alleviate the ill health of her community. There may be similar success stories from state schools but the odds are stacked against it. Until such a case is regularly possible from a non feeing paying school, charitable sponsorship is crucial to help the children of Uganda make their own success. The Halcyon Link Trust and others like it are so very important because they realise that giving a child support through education not only gives that child a chance, but sets a very important example. During my short time in Africa many Ugandans have openly criticised the culture of dependency that blights much of the adult population. Commenting upon the examples would not be wise from our point of view. Supporting a child’s education you might think adds to such dependency, but then think of the responsibility the child has to find their own success academically. They have not been given a financial handout that can be squandered, but a chance to own their success.