From May 2023 to mid-July 2023, our children's choir from Uganda traveled all the way to the Netherlands to raise money for their schools and classmates in Bukomansimbi, Uganda. They have done this by performing throughout the country, giving workshops and selling selfmade 'crafts'. The children's choir comes to the Netherlands at the same time every year, as a tradition. Therefore, for many schools it was not the first time to receive a Ugandan visit.
One of the many places visited was Eerbeek, specifically the Children's Clothing Fair Foundation (SKKB). “Yesterday it finally happened! After all these years we were allowed to enjoy the beautiful djembe, singing and dancing of Up4s again. We are so happy that they came to show us and feel how much energy and strength there is in the youth of Uganda. This is what we do it for!” is written on their website as a result of our visit.
We would like to thank all donors and sponsors, including the Children's Clothing Fair Foundation (SKKB), for their warm welcome and support for the project.

Good morning everyone, I would like to share this update of class s1 and s2 with you. The new curriculum requires students to have more skills, and that's what we started with. The students learn how to make liquid soap. I hope Kids Gear and Hotel Hollandia will become our customers. We have made large quantities already. We also have other packages, such as: 1. Making candles; 2. Vaseline; 3. Jelly; 4. Bars of soap; 5. Bakery; 6. Growing mushrooms; 7. Computer skills and 8. Art and design. We hope that many of our products will be shown so that parents see the added value of the school.

It's been two years since Uganda's economy was put on lockdown due to covid. The education sector has been hit so hard that there has been no relief. This has led to many children/students dropping out of school, others have become angry and have pushed aside the teaching profession. Schools didn't reopen until January 1^st. We are pleased that more new students and teachers have joined. The lessons will now continue as usual and include cultural activities.

After almost two years of the schools being closed, the children are finally going back to school. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the children. They missed their teachers, caregivers and their friends. We are happy that most of them were able to come back to continue their education. The first term runs until April 8^th, 2022. After this, they go home for a short three-week vacation.

On 2^nd May 2019, the children's choir arrived at Zaventem airport. They will stay in the Netherlands until July 18^th. The choir consists of 10 children (5 boys and 5 girls) and 2 Ugandan accompanists. The purpose of the tour is to publicize the work of the UP4S Foundation. The earnings from the tour will benefit the project in Uganda. During the week, the choir visits primary schools, where workshops are given. On Saturdays festivals and cities are visited. On Sundays, the choir participates in church services. The (public) performances of the choir on Sundays can be found here.
In Uganda a video was made of the choir. This video can be found here.

In February 2018, two Dutch people (Egbert Fokkema and Albert Bosscha) went to Bukomansimbi to film the UP4S project in Uganda. They made a lot of photo and film images. A selection of the photos can be found here. In the meantime, a number of films have also been completed. The videos can be found here.

On 3^rd May, the children's choir arrived at Zaventem airport. It will remain in the Netherlands until July 25^th. The aim of the tour is to raise awareness of the work of the UP4S Foundation. Proceeds from the tour will benefit the project in Uganda. During the week, the choir visits primary schools, where workshops will be given. On Saturdays festival and cities are visited. On Sundays, the choir participates in church services. The (public) performances of the choir on Sundays can be found here.
In Uganda a video was made of the choir. This video can be found here.

During the big holiday (December 2017 – January 2018) a new kitchen was built at the primary school. The old kitchen was once intended as a temporary solution, but still served for 10 years. However, the condition of the temporary kitchen had deteriorated sharply recently. In the rainy season, buckets had to be placed everywhere to collect the rainwater. So we highly needed a new building for the kitchen. Currently (end of January 2018) the finishing touches are being made. Just in time for the new school year, which starts in February. In the new kitchen the ovens from the old kitchen will be placed. These ovens have a high efficiency and hardly cause any smoke. The smoke is discharged through chimneys through the roof. This makes it a lot nicer and healthier for the chefs to work than before, when they were still cooking on a half-open fire.

The ovens were donated to us in 2016 by a generous sponsor.

This week the results of the central final exam of the primary school (Kidsgear) of 2017 were announced. All children (24 pieces) who took the final exam finished as first grades (division 1). This was Kidsgear's best performance till today. Kidsgear has thus performed the best of all primary schools in the Bukomansimbi district! Nationally, Kidsgear is in 33^rd place! An achievement we are very proud of. A compliment to the Kidsgear team!

For 1,5 months, 3 students from Windesheim University of Applied Sciences are conducting a study commissioned by connect2uganda into the water situation around Bukomansimbi. They stay on the UP4S project during this time. Below they tell something about their stay:

"We are a group of 3 students from Windesheim University of Applied Sciences who are in the 4^th year of the Civil Engineering study and we are currently following the minor Water management. From the 10^th of November we will be in Uganda for 6 weeks to carry out a research for this minor in the Bukomansimbi district. With this research we want to create more clarity with regard to the water in the area. The climate has been subject to change for some time and this will eventually result in water scarcity. This in turn has a detrimental effect on the agricultural sector, an important source of income in the country and also important to maintain the concept of the school farms, set up by Connect2Uganda (C2U).

The concept of school farms works as follows: In addition to the children going to school to gain the usual knowledge, they also learn to grow and process their own crops. They are also taught how to keep and care for livestock. During our research, we will look at the possibilities of collecting and/or obtaining water and how much this could ultimately yield. But we will also include other issues, such as soil compositions, the depth of groundwater and the water availability at the schools and in the district, in our research. With the collected information we then want to make recommendations for the school farms and for improving the water situation in the Bukomansimbi district.

This is all done on behalf of the organization C2U and Windesheim University of Applied Sciences. The schools, Hoys College and Kidsgear, of UP4S are also involved in our research."