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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I made it to Uganda!  After 28 hours of travel time I arrived in Kampala last night and into my room by midnight.  This morning I was fortunate to visit the Peace Nursery and Primary School in the Makarere neighborhood--you may have heard of Makarere University which we drove through this afternoon--established in 1922 with over 60,000 students today.

It is a primary school with 14 teachers from preschool through grade 4 and is funded partly by tuition and donations.  the classrooms had few supplies--- pencils had to be sharpened by the teacher  with a razor blade and each child had their name on a pencil.  All the posters were hand made by the  teachers. I saw no paint, paper, art materials, building blocks, dramatic play.

However, the children were delightful to be with--- they talked with me during their recess and I learned they mostly had at least two siblings, love to play soccer, volleyball and baseball in their free time and have aspirations to be doctors, lawyers, pilots and a rock star!

One teacher I observed reminded me of how important it is to establish meaningful relationships and offer challenging experiences.  The kids clearly knew she enjoyed being with them and put passion into her teaching of them.  She helped them believe learning is important.  She was talking with them about road transport.  Her questions included:  Name at least four methods of road transport.  Which ones are common in our community?  What causes road accidents?  How can you help prevent road accidents?  She went beyond the knowledge and comprehension questions to levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation!  I was impressed!

Obviously, I am struck by the contrast in classroom materials from ours in the US to here in Uganda. How much of what we have do we truly need AND how can teachers teach through relationships and experiences when they have no tools?


I'm not successful trying to load my photos from today.  I'll have to add them through Facebook!


Saturday, July 20, 2013

About to... 

Teach in Uganda

Almost a year ago I was invited by Teach and Tour Sojourners to volunteer to teach child development in Uganda at secular colleges.  The trip is nearly upon me:  I will leave the USA on July 29th and return to Palm Springs on August 18th.  I invite you to travel with me and share my experiences so I will try to post to this blog every day to keep you involved with me! 

I learned just yesterday what the teaching I will actually be doing:  
* You will give one-hour talks, in a public lecture format, to 4 teacher training institutions.  These are students preparing to be teachers.*  Additionally, you will give lessons to several smaller classes in these institutions, on various days of the week.  * You will give 40 minutes talks to primary school teachers in 16 primary schools.*  You will give lessons to primary schools kids in 6 primary schools.*  You will give lessons to nursery and preschool teachers in 6 schools.

I also received an invitation yesterday to bring supplies and mementos to the students, teachers and children.  I have asked friends to help me collect the supplies and I am so grateful to those who are helping me--- being away from home in the desert, I couldn't do this without you! If you can help in anyway, please contact me!
We would like to request you to carry as many textbooks as you can.  Students have limited access to the internet.  Additionally, the program would like to request you to carry some logo items or merchandize.  These can be T-shirts, caps, pens, mugs, tote bags, or anything that bears your school's name.  It can be a banner or flag.
Also, if you have written any manuscript or book, we request you to carry a copy for the program's keepsake.  Lastly, if you happen to be aware of any used laptop(s) available anywhere, please do carry it for our program or for a small college whose students do a lot of online education.  Also, if you think of anything you would like to donate to our program, even from your home, please do so.
More information about the program itself is available through:

Teach and Tour Sojourners (TATS)
Anita Kabikire, Universities Program Director
6 Nekambuza Road, Suite 1, Kampala, Uganda, East Africa
http://www.teachandtour.com

I am excited and very much looking forward to a life-changing experience!  I will appreciate your prayers that I facilitate learning in developmentally appropriate ways:  I will strive to EDIFY and ENCOURAGE in ways that will meet each child, student and teacher's individual needs and to represent America as a compassionate nation--- which I still believe we are....