|
Uganda is one of the friendliest countries in Africa, but is also renowned for its poor economic status and the vast numbers of orphans and young children living below the poverty line. At this project you will provide invaluable support to the teachers at a rural school in southern Uganda. The school was established in 2003 with the aim of providing a higher standard of education to the local youth, including free schooling to orphaned and vulnerable children who have been identified and assisted through our Outreach scheme.
Project Age Limit
Minimum 18 years (with a parental letter of consent), maximum decided on potential participants’ health.
Your Volunteer Project
You will volunteer with a community based organisation, which was established in 2001 to improve the welfare of disadvantaged children through the promotion of children’s rights, provision of education and important vocational skills and the improvement of their environmental conditions. This organisation is relying upon volunteers to help provide them with ideas and support for development.
Uganda has the lowest levels of income in Africa, with an incredible 85% of the population earning less than US$1 a day. Approximately 48% of the population of Uganda is below the age of 15. In 1998, the number of orphaned and vulnerable children was estimated at 1.7 million, which is one of the highest figures in the world. In the local project area, estimates are that 50,000 or 25% of the children are orphans. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of street children in large towns and vulnerable youth. The problem has been further exacerbated by the AIDS epidemic in Uganda leaving behind a vast majority of orphaned children.
The Teaching Project
The secondary school was set up with the aim of offering quality education to children from the surrounding communities who come from extremely vulnerable backgrounds or are orphaned with no homes in which to live. Many of the students live at the school in crowded and under resourced dormitories, receiving free education through sustainable funding. All students are taught a wide range of subjects and practical vocational skills to improve their career prospects and enable them to reach their full potential.
The school now has a total enrolment of almost 300 students, around 40% of whom are AIDS orphans, who have been taken into the school through our Uganda outreach scheme, which targets those families who are most vulnerable. These orphans are afforded free education to try to provide them with a better start in life and a brighter future. There are still a large number of academically promising children in the region who have not been able to exploit this opportunity, due to the already overwhelming number of children at the school and limited space and resources.
The children receive a lot of support from their teachers and friends, together with valuable counselling each month to help them come to terms with their difficult backgrounds. Students are also given 2 meals of porridge a day, while those living at the school are fed breakfast and dinner. The school has seriously limited resources and is in desperate need of your help! You will be able to spend your time teaching basic subjects whilst also being creative in developing after school activities, helping in various workshops and even taking part in local community development schemes.
Your Role as a Volunteer
On this project, you will have a variety of subjects to teach at the school and other activities to become involved in out of school hours. Schools in Africa tend to start at around 8am but finish in time for lunch between 13.00 and 14.00. Therefore, you will be responsible for using these afternoons to involve the children in wider learning, by developing extra curricular activities, sports and numerous workshops. Thus it is important for you to arrive into Uganda with a creative and flexible approach and lots of ideas for the children.
Teaching will take place in the mornings and afternoons at the school – please be prepared to teach your own classes: This will be a fantastic experience which you will really enjoy as children in Africa are extremely polite and eager to learn! The subject areas where volunteers’ help is most needed are Maths, English, the Sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) French, fine art and literature. It’s also worth remembering that just chatting with the children in a ‘typical’ English accent can be of huge benefit to their own use of the language.
Your help would also be very welcome initiating or developing vocational training and skills for the children, which will improve their prospects of gaining employment in the future. You could teach skills such as carpentry and joinery, computer science, tailoring, office skills, knitting and pottery.
Please note: There is also a nursery and local primary school nearby with a lot of children who would love your help. Please speak to your coordinators upon arrival to discuss the opportunities of working here and assisting the teachers.
Sports: Sports are also very important at the school and in the afternoon, starting at about 16.30 - 18.30, you may be involved in teaching and playing the various sports that are offered. Football is the most popular sport in Uganda, as in much of Africa, and netball is also played by many of the girls, with the school running teams for both sports. Other sports, such as athletics and volleyball are also available on an informal basis, due to a lack of equipment and knowledge of less mainstream sports. Sports activities generally end at about 17.00 – 18.00, or whenever you and the children decide you have had enough!
Extra-Curricular Activities: You may also like to teach music, drama, dance or art, contribute to debating or HIV/AIDS awareness groups, or become involved in other school clubs. The school encourages volunteers to use their initiative to develop these programmes and motivate the children to participate and learn something new.
Building and Construction: For volunteers with a specific interest or skills in building or labour work there are some excellent opportunities available at the school, depending on financial resources and materials. The dormitories have not all been completed and the current accommodation is insufficient for the number of students who require boarding at the school. The land for the sports activities is overgrown and undeveloped and help is needed to clear this area and establish the playing fields and areas for crops.
School Holidays: In Uganda there are three school terms each year. During this time, the project becomes less structured and you will need to be a lot more flexible and creative in your approach. Although many of the students leave the school to visit family members in other areas of Uganda, many orphans remain behind and require a great deal of attention to stop them becoming bored.
You can organise extra activities, informal classes, sports and games, thus keeping the children off the streets and out of trouble. During these holidays, you will need to remain flexible, motivated and open to different activities, implementing your own ideas each day.
Project Funding
This project is in great need of funding. Many of the schools are seriously under-funded and the children are extremely impoverished. Therefore, we recommend all volunteers take part in some fundraising schemes to help raise money to take with you to Uganda. You will then be able to personally spend this money on vital materials for the school, projects and those pupils who are most in need.
Your funds can be channelled into short or long-term projects, such as the building of local schools and dorms to house orphaned children, buying beds for the dormitories, planting crops, constructing toilets in villages and developing care centres in rural areas. However, these take time to develop and are costly, so any support in this development would be much appreciated, especially upon your return home.
Real Gap will be happy to support you in this, by providing you with personalised fundraising information. Please ask one of the Africa team if you would like further information about this.
Project Support
Throughout your stay in Uganda you will have the support and guidance of the Ugandan project director, James, and his team of project co-ordinators based in Kyotera. They will provide you with competent assistance and help you with any questions or advice you may need during your stay. The house staff will also be on hand throughout the day to ensure your comfort and safety.
In addition, we will provide you with a 24 hour emergency contact number before you depart, so that you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.
Project Orientation
On your arrival in Entebbe Airport in Kampala you will be met by our project staff. Depending on the time of day that you arrive, you will either spend one night in Kampala, or be transferred straight down to Kyotera to begin your orientation for 2 days. The orientation will include:
- Registration at the British Council
- An introduction to the area, organisation and staff that you will be working with
- An orientation of Kyotera town, visiting the local police station, RACT offices and internet cafes etc
- An introduction to Ugandan culture and values
- A basic local language lesson, given by Annette at your house
- A visit to the school and also our Outreach and Vocational Skills projects
- Time to relax, acclimatise and get to know your fellow volunteers
Accommodation and Meals
You will stay in a comfortable, but basic shared volunteer house with up to three other volunteers in each room. By western standards, you will find the house very rudimentary at first, but will also find it a luxury, in comparison to those you will be visiting on the project. The house does have flush toilets and showers, but there are often water shortages in this part of Uganda, so your water may have to be collected in buckets and used to wash. Power cuts are also not uncommon, so be prepared for this; it is Africa!
The house is situated in a safe area on the edge of the town, close to a small children’s group and not far from the project offices. The property is fenced and gated and has a large garden with a covered outside dining area. There are staff at the house who act as housekeepers and cooks, though volunteers are also expected to do their bit to keep the house clean and tidy. You will also have a night watchman for your security. You will be taking local taxis, accompanied by your fellow volunteers and a member of staff, to rural locations. These will be an estimated 10 – 25 minute drive away from your accommodation.
Three meals per day are provided. Breakfast is usually on a self-service basis, consisting of fruit and breads etc. Lunch is usually a large hearty meal taken at the house, though packed lunches can be provided, while dinner will be a hot meal, prepared for you by the cook.
You will also be given the option to move into another rural location approximately 2 hours away from Kyotera. Here you will be housed with local host families, who are directly connected to the project staff and carry out the outreach work to vulnerable families in this area. Please speak to the Africa Team if you would like to work in this region, which is a more challenging and independent project option.
|
