  Although the major landslide occurred several months ago, there is still a pressing need for aid and assistance for the displaced residents of the affected areas. Arlington has continued to support the IDP camp in Bulucheke by donating items, building structures, and distributing goods.
This past term, before students departed for term break, the upper classes (P6 and P7) organized dozens of large sacks of clothing and shoes into smaller bundles for individual families at the camp. Then all 100 students and over 15 staff members spent all afternoon until evening personally walking from tent to tent distributing the items. These items had been donated by Bukumbale Primary School, Kampala City School, and Buyobo Women Microfinance Initiative. Donations included: maize flour, soap, salt, clothing, shoes, and other food items. Each of these institutions asked AAH to do the job of distributing their donated items because they trusted that AAH would get the task completed efficiently. That same day, AAH also supplied two truckloads of firewood, since this was an urgent need at the camp for cooking.
It was a job very well done by all staff and students of AAH. The residents of the camp were very grateful to all oh AAH’s hard work and commented on the direct efforts AAH has made. It was also a powerful learning experience for the Arlington students. They learned how important it is to give and to take time to help others in need.
Photos taken by AAH Director: James Nabitawo
Sadness and frustration sets in with survivors who are unable to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones and give them a traditional burial.
Bududa Survivors Still Hope to Bury Their Relatives a Month After Landslide
Daily Monitor newspaper in Uganda: Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Dear AAH fraternity,
 Joyce Wanda visits camp for landslide survivors It has been gratifying speaking on phone this morning to Mrs. Joyce Wanda who is in Nametsi, Bududa, the very place where the land slide occurred!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you very much for your concern and efforts to support the people of Bududa and this particular time, the landslide victims!
As a representative of Bududa district in the parliament of Uganda, I have no words to express the gratitude for all the assistance that you have marshaled towards this cause!! I have visited the displaced peoples’ camp and found AAH, FIMRC and Save the Children in Uganda running the health unit, and constructing kitchen sheds among the many other activities going on at the camp.
Putting a system in place to cater for all the emergencies has not been easy. The Government of Uganda together with many well wishers including the Red Cross Society which is at the forefront of the humanitarian aid, Development Partners are grappling with the medium and long term solution to the issue.
Once again thank you and have a Blessed EASTER.
Wonekha, Olive MP
April 2, 2010
 Please follow the link below to review our recent report with photos showing AAH’s progress in the temporary camp in eastern Uganda that has been set up for survivors of the Bududa landslide. Thank you to all who have supported these efforts and made it possible for AAH to respond swiftly and effectively to the urgent safety, security, health and nutrition needs of the survivors.
AAH Emergency Response for Landslide Survivors
The response to our emergency plea for help for victims of the Bududa landslide has been truly amazing. In less than one week, AAH has received more than $13,000! The AAH Board and staff are grateful beyond words for the generosity of our donors and the sincere expressions of concern for those affected by this tragedy. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
 More than 400 people died in the landslide which hit on March 1st and affected four villages located about three miles from the AAH primary school. The government is urging approximately 10,000 people to relocate due to threats of additional landslides and continued heavy rains. Two temporary camps for displaced persons have been set up within a 40-minute hike of AAH. All AAH students are safe and accounted for and the AAH school building and other facilities are not under threat. Thankfully no immediate family members of AAH students or staff were lost in the landslide as originally feared but our children did lose extended family members and neighbors and the entire community is shaken.
The AAH Executive Committee met on Sunday, March 7th at the home of John and Joyce Wanda and agreed upon several immediate actions:
- AAH will support a temporary health center being opened near the landslide site by our partner the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) and will coordinate closely with FIMRC throughout the emergency response to the landslide.
- An AAH emergency response task force will take the lead in planning and implementing AAH’s response to the Bududa landslide. The task force will include representatives on the ground from the AAH staff, from AAH PTA and from the area affected by the landslide.
- The mission of the task force is to develop and carry out a response plan that addresses short-term and long-term priority needs that are not being adequately met by other groups with primary focus on education and healthcare of children from the area affected by the massive landslide.
 The AAH Emergency Response Task Force is being led by AAH Program Director James Nabitawo. James traveled to the site of the landslide on Monday and on Tuesday and Wednesday, he and other task force members – AAH Volunteer Coordinator Carolyn Edlebeck, AAH Teacher Patrick Wasswa and AAH PTA member Michael Wanditi — traveled to the temporary camps where they met with representative of the Red Cross, Save the Children and other relief agencies. Carolyn reports, “there is plenty of food and basic need supplies for the time being.” Currently, the government and major NGO’s have committed to providing food and temporary shelter for 3-4 months. Children, as you can imagine, are especially vulnerable at this time. Carolyn noted, “Many children were wandering around lost and crying.” Temporary classrooms are being constructed by Save the Children and are expected to open on Monday. AAH is coordinating on the ground to support this effort and fill urgent gaps and ease some of the immediate feelings of helplessness that children are experiencing. Continue reading Landslide Update: Thank you AAH Supporters!
It is 3 days now since the tragedy in Bududa. In those three days, people who survived the landslide have been living in a stupor – wondering why they survived, and where to begin. The survivors know they are lucky. An AAH student survived only because she was still on her way home after a late day at school. We fear that her family, including 6 siblings, were not so fortunate. Another local student survived because he refused the entreaties of his friends to take shelter in the local clinic from the torrential downpour. He wanted to reach home quickly to get something to eat because he was hungry. His friends who took shelter in the clinic all died. A husband who had stayed late in a bar was the only person who survived in his family. A shop owner who heard the first sound of the rolling soil ran away from his house. Unfortunately, many children were at his house and all perished. And we have seen pictures of a compound split into two – people who lived in one half survived, the other half died.
Those who survived are now being asked to move 12 miles away to live in a camp site. The government is worried that more landslides will follow as the rains keep coming. Twelve miles may not look too far for our friends in America, but in this village there are many people who have never left the village or traveled that far. Everyone they know lives in the village, and their lives center around it. They are reluctant to leave it all and go to a “foreign” place to start anew. But government has directed they must leave, so they will. About 10,000 people will evacuate, according to government estimates. They expect the resettlement to take 3 months.
The needs of these communities are enormous. They will go into the camps without any personal property. The most urgent needs are for food, basic utensils and cooking equipment, blankets and clothing, water purification equipment, and first aid kits. A number of local relief agencies are working in the area and delivering some of the supplies but of course there can never be enough. Delivering these supplies in itself will be difficult because according to reports, flooding rivers have cut off some of the small roads in the villages. One report today said vehicles stop about 7.5 miles away and relief workers walk the rest of the way.
Torrential rain continues to fall in the eastern portion of Uganda and more landslides continue to be a risk. We are in constant contact with the school. Although it will take a long time for the full ramifications of this tragedy to become evident, AAH staff is committed to working with government and community leaders to find a way to help the community.
- John Wanda
 Yesterday we woke up to the news of a devastating landslide in Bunametsi village. Bunametsi is about 3 miles from the village of Bumwalukani where the AAH primary school is located. Both villages are located in the foothills of Mt. Elgon in eastern Uganda. After two days of continuous downpours, the hills of this area were saturated with water. The landslide took in its wake a church, a healthcare center and a school. Initial estimates indicate that over 400 people have died, with many more injured and homeless. Among the dead are believed to be 100 children who were attending a local school. Because of the continued rains, further landslides are possible and the government has advised people to leave their homes and move to safer ground.
The communities of Bunametsi, Bumwalukani and neighboring villages, which were already vulnerable with very few resources to fall back on, have sustained an enormous loss. Although the AAH school building has not been affected, our community of students, families, staff and teachers has. The family of an AAH student, who was on her way home from school, is missing and feared dead.
AAH is committed to supporting its students, teachers and neighbors during this tragedy and as they recover. We have been a long-term partner of the local communities and plan to continue doing so long after the immediate emergency relief operations end. The next few weeks will be critical. Emergency relief workers are going to have to address injuries and emerging illnesses from unclean water and unsafe living conditions. We’re in close contact with our partners on the ground and are coordinating our efforts. We need your help as we reach out to this devastated community. We ask you to consider donating to the “AAH Emergency Fund” which will go toward immediate relief aid, support for children impacted by the landslide and strengthen our community development initiatives to help with the recovery.
- John and Joyce Wanda
Last night, there were massive mudslides approximately three miles from the AAH primary school (located in the village of Bumwalukani). CNN is reporting that there are at least 100 dead and 245 people missing. The school building was not affected. We are currently talking to staff and volunteers in Uganda and will publish updates as soon as we are able to. Please keep local families in your thoughts.
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/03/02/uganda.landslide/index.html?hpt=T3
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Although the major landslide occurred several months ago, there is still a pressing need for aid and assistance for the displaced residents of the affected areas. Arlington has continued to support the IDP camp in Bulucheke by donating items, building structures, and distributing goods.
