Here is his diary so far ...

Monday, February 16

Today we travelled to the sub-county Kakindu. Here, we visited St Theresa Bethany Primary School, and were made very welcome by Sister Noel and her staff. All messages delivered to 402 children.

The children were very perceptive as usual. It is very important that the children observe the message of not fighting fire. We need to get the message across that they must flee and must not tackle a fire.

In Uganda the children are sometimes taught to fight a fire and often they're practices are unsafe, even with the best of intentions. So in the first instance they must evacuate, just as we train children to do in the UK.

Most of the work we do here is to help prevent the cause of fire. If the children are aware of the dangers around them, and how to safely use candles when there is no power, then lots of fires can be prevented.

Most school dormitory fires begin through the improper use of candles in the night. Most children in Uganda have the luxury of a mosquito net which they sleep in to prevent the spread of malaria. The net will burst into flames within seconds if a candle is placed near and falls.

Unfortunately this is very often the case and children are burned, so in order to prevent this we are teaching the children the best method for using a candle at night so that they have light.

Tuesday, February 17

Today we visited St Matia Mulumba Secondary School and were made very welcome. All messages delivered to 174 students.

In Secondary schools we teach the students a little more about the science of fire. Knowledge is power, and with the right teachings the students begin to understand how fire develops on a much more advanced level.

At this standard the student understands much more and we can explain to them the poisons in the gas from fires and how it will harm them if breathed in. We talked through which materials burn quickly/slowly and those that will spontaneously combust. This is so that they are aware of the dangers all around them, at home and at school. We also instructed the students on candle safety.

In the afternoon I have been teaching the students what to do if they're clothes catch fire. When I ask the students to imagine that they're clothes are on fire, and then ask them what to do in the first instance, I often get the reply "run", or "remove my clothes", both of these, in the first instance, are not appropriate and the child/teenager will burn.

Panic sets in and it is not long before they give fuel to the fire as it grows.

In the first instance it is important that anyone should drop to the floor, secondly roll around to extinguish the flames.

If the child/student attempts to remove any clothes then the clothes will stick to the skin and the flames will attack the face. If the child/student should then breathe in the heat then they're lungs will never heal.

So, in the first instance they are taught to drop to the floor to escape the heat. This message is known as Stop-Drop-and–Roll.

We demonstrate this in class with some grass mats purchased locally. Rolling the students up in mats is sometimes amusing to them, and we welcome humour in our class, but we always stress at the end of the day that fire is dangerous and must not be underestimated.

This way the students remember the lesson but they also understand the message we are sending.

Overall today was a good day. However, I have noticed that where ever I am teaching whether it be at home or abroad teenagers are all the same.

Some students today made it difficult for us to conduct our instruction. The students were listening in class but some found it difficult to concentrate for the whole duration. As a result we chose to use more visual aids – videos from the Fire Brigade in the UK – just as our fire fighters use in schools.

There is no electricity in schools so we take a generator with us, a rope to hang a white sheet, a laptop, and a projector to show the film. The films are very graphic in nature. They demonstrate the sheer power of fire, and how fierce when out of control.

Some videos are made purely for educational purposes, others are real incidents and show burning buildings etc. At this point, we explain what a fire fighter needs to fight a fire and the apparatus he/she requires so that they understand what little chance they have if ever involved in a fire.

We have photos of badly burned individuals and devastated buildings that have been reduced to piles of ash and molten metal. Some of which are photos of schools in Uganda that burned down recently. I could tell by the faces of the students that they had never seen anything like it.

They had heard about these local disasters but were never confronted by it as such. Out here without any constant news press or TV coverage it is very much a case of `out of sight, out of mind'.

These shock tactics kept the students interested in class. This way we still get our message across, fires are prevented, and lives are saved.

Wednesday, February 18

Today we visited Malwa Umea Primary School to deliver fire safety training to 180 pupils. I am always overcome by the heartfelt welcome we receive by the people of Uganda.

In particular I noticed that this school has a very well natured headmaster who is extremely conscientious of our work and really helped us to grip the children's attention. We need the support of the school staff if we are to deliver our message successfully. No problems here in that respect.

As with all the schools we designed a special fire drill for Malwa Umea. In Uganda there is no fire drill in practice in any of the schools other than what we have put in place during our visits. This is very concerning for us and we are always stressing the need for fire drill.

For instance, at present if there is a fire in school there is no way of making sure that all children are accounted for. There is a massive risk of children being left behind and very possibly injured during the stampede.

In order to prevent this ever happening in Malwa Umea we practiced with the staff and children and on this occasion everything ran smoothly.

The school promised faithfully to practice the drill monthly to make sure it is maintained effectively.

Also on this occasion we designed another fun activity for the day. We came prepared with blindfolds and each child was provided with one. We then pretended that there was a fire in the building and asked that the children to leave through whatever means necessary. Well, they all ran as fast as possible pushing and shoving (blind) as they went.

This demonstrated our point perfectly that if there were ever a fire in the building then they should WALK - DON'T RUN! Smoke would obscure they're vision and they would have extreme difficulty exiting the building. Especially since there is only one doorway into a room and therefore no emergency exits at all. At this point we had to design a specific evacuation procedure out of each room.

At the end of each session we all had a sing-song in the form of a nursery rhyme to help the children remember the messages. Experience in teaching in the UK tells me that children learn at a faster pace and remember more when messages are translated into music. Music is a language we all understand.

The rhyme was no problem to the children. I wasn't prepared for the expert use of the English language that the students demonstrate. Even from this tender age they are encouraged to speak English in school.

Not much need for my Lugandan Phrase Book!

Thursday, February 19

My birthday - 28 Today!!!

Today we visited St Kizito Nsambia Primary School situated in another sub-county of Mityana. All messages delivered as required – candle safety/stop-drop-roll/evacuation/roll call/growth-spread of fire. Today we delivered training to 380 students – not long before we reach our target of 3,000!

A little surprise was arranged for my birthday.

Phil Stannet who serves alongside me during our stay is a dedicated individual and a very knowledgeable fire fighter of serious substance.

He is responsible for training me in fire safety and has served Cumbria Fire Brigade for over 15 years. Unknown to me he had arranged for the whole school to sing happy birthday to me at the end of the day.

Well, what a lovely moment. I was ever so proud and will remain greatful to him for his efforts.

I was feeling far away from home on this day but due to Phil and the school children's kind gesture, my thoughts were settled and my feelings soothed.

MORE FROM STEVE IN NEXT WEEK'S GAZETTE