Jeffries teaches in the global village
by Ana Watts
The global village is more than a catch phrase to the Rev. Paul Jeffries. He lives and works in Uganda where the electricity is supposed to rotate on and off every 24 hours. Sometimes it even does it on schedule. He is headmaster of a school with 35 computers, four of them connected to the Internet at dial-up speed. Many of his students pool their resources to buy affordable pay-as-you-go cell phones. Some come from the northern part of the country where there is little except war and poverty.
"One day they live in mud huts
without any electricity, the next day they come
to school and
discover the Internet," says
Paul. "In Africa we are no longer catching-up to
you, we are joining you. Things that are no
longer any good to you are no good to us either.
The young people now know why the western world
is so great; they want that standard of living. I
just hope some increased ambition comes with all
their increased expectations."
Every step along the way to the Coca-Cola East Africa Championships this year, everyone who presented the Bishop McAllister College (BMC) boy's football (soccer) team with a trophy wondered aloud how a team from a small rural school in Uganda managed to make it to the podium.
Paul had no answer for them. He was happy enough when the boys and girls teams were district champions. He was delirious when, for the first time in history, a school their size made it to the final eight. He was over the moon when they advanced to the medal rounds and on to the finals.
He credits good coaches and athletes so talented that five of them were named in a national newspaper as potential players for the Ugandan national team. They have since attracted the attention of cash-in-hand recruiters from big school
"I hope they will stay at our school, but I can't be angry if they are attracted by the money," says Paul. "Some of these boys are from the north where there is a lot of war and poverty."
As proud as he is of the school's athletes, the canon of the Diocese of Ankole and a long-time missionary priest from the Diocese of Fredericton, is even more proud of the school itself. During a visit to this diocese earlier this fall he shared his pride in the school and his enthusiasm for the work he does there at about 30 speaking engagements. Many of the invitations came from ACW branches. "I tried to thank as many people as I could for making a difference, for dreaming with me, and helping to make some of those dreams come true."
Paul went to Kenya in the mid 1990s, the fourth and last to teach in our companion diocese of Eldoret. A year and a half later, when the theological school in Eldoret fell on hard times, he moved on to the Bishop McAllister School in Uganda, another struggling (read bankrupt) diocesan seminary with mud buildings, 35 students, a few unpaid teachers and a benefactor in Bishop McAllister of Oklahoma.
"What the area really needed was a secondary
school, so we began to take younger students,
including girls."
Now the school has 525 boarding students (100 of them, including many AIDS orphans, are supported by people in the Diocese of Fredericton), 26 teachers and 60 staff, all paid monthly.
"Actually, we are a month behind, but we do pay regularly. We continue to juggle debt, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel."
The school continues to teach theology students headed for ordination and to train people to become layreaders, but these students are not boarders.
"We have done a lot of building, thanks in great part to donations from this diocese (Fredericton), so now we have 11 classrooms and none of them fall down in a storm. We have two science labs that are very valuable because the government now compels students to study science."
"We also have expanded our computer lab. We were the first school to introduce computers to western Uganda and last year our school was one of only five in the region with computers. Our students use the Internet for research and to work with a group of students in Oklahoma on a global warming project."
Conscious of the needs of the wider community, the school offers computer training to Mothersí Union workers in the region so they can stay in touch with their headquarters.
"When the board decided the school was so crowded we could no longer handle girls, a widow with two daughters asked, "Where can I take them without paying higher fees than I can afford? Where can I take them that they will have science labs and computers? Where can I take them that they will have access to sponsorships like they have here?" This woman felt education was important to her girls and she paid their school fees by growing and selling beans and bananas.
"It was the concern of parents like her and the financial help from this diocese that enabled us to build a girlís dormitory so they could stay in school here," says Paul.
People from the diocese of Fredericton who have time and talents to share join Paul from time-to-time. Michael and Anna Caines spent nearly a year at the school. This young couple taught, shared their musical and athletic skills, and generally related well to the students. Michael also shared his engineering abilities. He and some students built a rock retaining wall for the school, which is built into the side of a hill. The project was as practical as it was educational.
Some Bishop McAllister students go on to university, others go to trade schools. A student sponsored by people in this diocese went on to earn a diploma in business and is now employed by the school. A new pantry building, funded by someone in Oklahoma, is the schoolís latest project and there is a lot more to be accomplished.
"I stopped talking about 'extensions' to my leave from this diocese the last time I came home," says Paul. Now I just focus on the job. I will come home when the school is stable and/or when I have had enough. For now I feel God called me to the school and continues to want me there."
The Diocese of Fredericton Missionary Society enables Paul to volunteer his time at Bishop McAllister College. Donations to the Paul Jeffries fund should be made through Fred Scott, the diocesan treasurer. Cheques, payable to the Diocese of Fredericton, may be sent to him at 115 Church St., Fredericton, E3B 4C8.
