On Sunday evening, Jess, Jane and I arrived in Ibanda from our incredible weekend at Queen Elizabeth Park. This past week has been great as we have started to orient ourselves with Ugandan culture, seen examples of effective community development in Kitengesa, and experienced the beauty of Uganda’s geography and wildlife. We now begin the most important part of our trip, that being working with the Ibandan community and starting the computer literacy workshops.
Jess and I are in Ibanda for two main purposes. First, we will be seeking out local organizations involved in community development that CASA can partner with. This phase of CASA’s development is exciting as the partnerships we form while in Ibanda are designed to be long term, locally driven, and follow a development (rather than charity) model. These partnerships will form the base of future volunteer programs for Canadian students wishing to volunteer abroad. Second, for the next seven weeks we will be teaching computer literacy workshops to teachers, secondary school students, and a mico-financing business co-operative.
Since arriving in Ibanda on Sunday, we have been fortunate to meet with inspiring individuals and potential partnering organizations that are focusing their energy and time on improving their community. On Monday we visited the Kimunyu Memorial Primary School in Ibanda. 300 students from Baby School (the equivalent of our pre-school) and Primary 1 – 7 (the equivalent of Grade 1 – 7) attend the school (although they are on break until May 28th). Kimunyu Memorial has very basic resources, such as textbooks and teaching materials – as of now, there are only two or three textbooks per class of more than 30 students. What impressed me the most was the administration and Board of Kimunyu Memorial. The school is operated by individuals who are committed and extremely passionate about improving its standards. The first thing I noticed about the school was how dedicated the principal and teachers were to create a better community by improving the primary school.
Jess and I are going to be working with ten teachers at Kimunyu Memorial Primary School, as well as the Principal, teaching them how to use computers. They are very interesting in learning these skills to improve their record keeping, keep track of student progress, and possibly create a website. Also, by having knowledge of how to use the internet, the teachers are able to access a vast amount of information online. In the past, Kimunyu Memorial has incorporated educational DVD’s and TV programs. This shows the commitment from the principal and teachers in giving the students a good education, as they see the value in different modes of teaching.
This morning we sat down with Leboire, the principal of Kimunyu Memorial Primary School, and taught him how to use Microsoft Word and create simple text documents. Originally designed to be taught in a group setting, I actually found that the workshops we prepared work better one on one, as Leboire could practice typing and creating documents as we progressed through the workshop. He was extremely excited about learning better computer skills – he is planning on utilizing them to help his school organize and record student data to better keep track of their educational progress.
Through the very generous donations from our friends, families, and supporters, CASA was able to purchase three laptops, mice, USB sticks, and power bars before leaving for Uganda. When we first decided to teach computer workshops for this specific trip, we struggled with whether to bring computers to donate to the schools, as we don’t want to create the expectation that CASA will be providing technological equipment on a regular basis. We decided that this contribution would be beneficial to the community as long as they were given to the appropriate people, security issues around where to keep them were sorted out, that teachers would continue to have access to them after Jess and I left, and finally that the focus remained on the computer workshops as a tool for teachers and community members, rather than the computers themselves.
I am inspired by Ibanda – the community has been so welcoming, friendly, and most important, the members we have interacted with are dedicated to improving their community! Look for our upcoming post on some other organizations we have met with!
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