In March this year, under the watchful eyes of the trustees and with great ceremony, the ground for the first of Uphill’s three-classroom blocks was broken.

Since then, the local builders’ efforts have seen the block rise steadily from the fertile soil.

The foundation base and walls shot up very quickly, followed by the roof, the verandah and the entrance ramps for each classroom.

Once the roof was on, the workers could pour the internal concrete screed floor; the best surface for withstanding the daily wear and tear of busy classroom life.

Now that the chalkboards and storage shelves are up, the Primary 4, 5 and 6 classes will be moving in next term.

There’s still some final plastering, painting and glazing to be done but that will wait until the long school holiday in December and January – for now everyone just wants the children to benefit from the hugely improved facilities.

Although headmaster Elius has some moves, no-one will be doing a Gene Kelly dance number when the rain comes to Iruhuura, but at least they’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that the water falling on the latrine roof is being collected in a monster 1000 litre tank.

The gathered rainwater will give the children on the new school site clean water for hand-washing and drinking.

As well as being ecologically sound, in an area with no mains water, this means fewer back-breaking trips to the well down the hill in the heat.

Once funds permit, even larger collection tanks will sit beside the classroom blocks doing the same job.

All we need is the money.