Chrissie’s love affair with one of Africa’s poorest areas

Chrissie’s love affair with one of Africa’s poorest areas

25 October 2017

A DOWNPATRICK woman who is working on behalf of refugees who have fled to Uganda was home last week to give a talk to students at her former school.

Chrissie Thompson (30), who works for the In Communications charity in East Africa, was at Down High School to provide sixth form students with a flavour of what she does in a part of the world she has admitted to falling in love with.

Students heard Chrissie’s work with organisations like Habitat for Humanity and Tools for Solidarity  when she lived at home and was studying for her A-levels, not only took her out of her comfort zone but sparked her interest in helping others which she is now doing in Uganda, a decade after leaving Down High.

After completing a degree in textile design in Manchester which included a year working in  industry which took her to London for a few years, Chrissie decided to go travelling early last year and met up with a friend in Africa.

“I had been living in London for a long time before I arrived in Uganda and I just love the place,” she explained. “While it is a poor country, it is incredibly rich culturally and very friendly. I have been involved in different festivals and arts events out there and I suppose it was this kind of stuff which took me there in the first place.”

Chrissie revealed there are thousands of refugees fleeing into Uganda and neighbouring Kenya, and the charity she works for is focusing its efforts on providing educational opportunities for people of all ages.

“The refugees come across the border,” she said. “Uganda is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, with Somalia and Ethiopia slightly further afield. We are talking about thousands of refugees coming into the country.

“Uganda is the same size as the UK geographically but has half the population. There are an estimated 1.4 million refugees in Uganda which is pretty huge, living in various settlements. In fact,  Uganda has become home to the world’s biggest refugee settlement in the last year and with the continuing crisis in South Sudan, several thousand refugees are flooding into the country every week.”

While a lot of international aid is pouring into the country and many organisations are concentrating on providing food, water and shelter, In Communications is looking after one aspect of refugee aid which is often overlooked — education.

Chrissie initially planned a three-month trip but has now been in Uganda for over a year describing East Africa as “magical region of the world.”

She continued: “When I arrived in Uganda I totally fell in love with the place. I fell in love with the people and the culture and found the country an incredibly generous spirited place. The country was so full of warmth and I love being there.”

A typical working day involves the former Down High student speaking with financial donors in the UK, working on the charity’s social media outlets, providing updates and writing for newsletters, helping the charity get its message out.

While her day-to-day work does not involve a hands-on roll with the refugees, Chrissie gets a lot out of helping put the building blocks in place so they can improve their education, in particular, learning English.

“While many charities are rightly focusing on the provision of food, water and shelter, our focus is on helping provide education which in the long term will be particularly significant for the refugees. We help sponsor children and have a library in our office so children can come in after school to do their homework and get extra support in reading English. A lot of the refugees have come from Francophone countries but there is an English school system in Uganda. 

“This is a huge issue if you are 15 and have performed really well at school in your own country and suddenly discover the Ugandan school system is in English. Improving education for refugees may only be a small thing, but providing access to this will be hugely significant in the long term,” suggested Chrissie.

The Downpatrick woman said her charity also helps with teacher training and revealed her job, while not without its challenges at times, is rewarding, paying tribute to her colleagues who are all Ugandans, describing them as “amazing and talented people.”

Chrissie is also involved with some mentoring work with secondary school age students and before he return to East Africa this week, admits she sees herself staying there for the foreseeable future.

She added: “I moved to Uganda to try new things and am loving it. I have also been working on extra curricular arts projects out there and am also doing some set design for a forthcoming festival. For now, it is home.”