Most Isolated Swing Set in Uganda
I was recently in Gulu, Uganda, an area that has only recently become safe. At a village about 70 kilometers north of the city, a friend and I installed a swing set at a primary school that the parents are working hard to keep going. The nearest school is over 5 kilometers away. So a village school would be a definite plus.
To get to the school we took a very rough mud and gravel road about 65 kilometers. Along the way we passed signs that said beware of landmines, and a truck that had been destroyed by a landmine killing many. The area is now safe, and the villagers are returning to their homes. Along the route we stopped for gravel at a small rock mine. There men, women, and children were hammering rocks to a very consistent size for use as aggregate in concrete, etc.
After a 3-hour brutal truck ride on the “highway,” we turned off on a small 2-track road . . . which degenerated into a bicycle path . . . which degenerated into a people path . . . which was about to disappear when we finally neared the small, 3-room, thatched-roofed school.
The villagers were waiting for us. They had cleared a spot for the swing set and collected some sand for concrete. Unfortunately, on the last few miles of the journey, we had damaged one of the legs on the swing set’s frame. So the villagers set about straightening the bend. They then attached the chains and seats, and dug 4 holes for the legs of the frame. We then up-righted the swing set, and villagers hand mixed the concrete, pouring it into the 4 holes. Voila, a fully function, 2-seat swing set. Unfortunately the kids had to wait 24 hours for the concrete to set.
Many of the kids were fascinated to see “white” guys or Mbazungu as we are called. We had a great time with the villagers and it was a fun day.
The Gulu area was, until recently, racked by war. A rebel group calling themselves the Lord’s Republican Army (or LRA) has made a mess of the population and the area. Hopefully with the swing set and school supplies that we left behind, things will improve a little bit.
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:40 am
Trying to haul a large fully manufactured swing set to a distant location in Uganda is obviously a problem (ie. you have stuff hanging over the side of the truck, you need a large truck, etc.). So in the future, I going to design something that can be easily transported in a small truck or van, and assembled on site with simple tools. This should not be difficult.