Praise God for the European Union

The European Union is frequently the organisation we love to hate. It spends our taxes on dubious projects and perks for the people in Brussels and Strasbourg. It is about endless bureaucracy, euro-sausages (for Yes Minister fans out there) and interminable wrangles about constitutions.

But here in Kuluva, the European Union is a source of thanksgiving and delight. Because an EU grant worth millions of euros gave nine Schools of Nursing in Uganda a chance to upgrade their decaying and unsuitable buildings significantly. Kuluva was one of the chosen few.

So at present we are working in buildings which look rather like they belong in a war zone. Our lectures are interrupted by bangs and crashes, and we have had to vacate our staff offices for a room which we share with bicycles, a oil-leaking motor bike, and sheets of corrugated iron roofing sheets. But its all in a good cause.

At the end of the next few months, we will have refurbished classrooms with higher walls and new roofs which overhang to protect against the afternoon heat. They will be redecorated and equipped with better facilities. We are already enjoying the first computers for student use that Kuluva has ever had. We will also have brand new hostels for both male and female students – at present they are patiently sharing four students to each room designed for two.

So when we meet for morning devotions we thank God, among other things, for the EU. When you next have the privilege of paying taxes, remember where some of the money is going!