Uphill Junior School is located in the village of Iruhuura, in the crater lake hills 35km south of the town of Fort Portal in western Uganda and 5km off the Fort Portal-Kamwenge Road. The remote location is one of the challenges facing both the school and The Uphill Trust. The route to the school from Uganda’s capital city, Kampala, involves a 4 to 5hr drive to Fort Portal on tarmac roads, followed by a drive of 45 minutes or more to Iruhuura on dirt roads. The dirt roads vary in quality, especially when wet!
The village is on the boundary of the Kibale National Forest — a biodiversity reserve perhaps best known for it’s large population of wild chimpanzees. The community of Iruhuura is predominantly made up of subsistence farmers growing maize, beans, matooke bananas, ground nuts, sweet potatoes, ‘Irish’ potatoes and coffee. The shambas (small farms) in the locality are routinely raided by animals that make their home in the Kibale Forest – including monkey, elephant, baboon, chimpanzee and forest antelope. Their raids can have a serious effect on the local economy.
The following series of maps will give you an idea of where you can find the school (look for the red outline):
1. Uganda – world view
2. Fort Portal region – see on a political map of Uganda
3. Crater Lakes region, south of Fort Portal, on a map showing the major roads
4. Iruhuura village, with the location of Uphill Junior School marked by a star
UPDATE: The school moved to a new, permanent, site on the other side of the road in January 2017.
You can now find the school on Google Maps
Tags: Uphill Junior School
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