The end of the school term in Uganda coincided with our last day of school visits. Susan, the Head Teacher at Mukono Boarding Primary School, organized classroom demonstrations so that we could see how that school uses the supplies and support we send. Mukono has a dedicated librarian for their Literacy Center and she and her young prefect explained how students check out books. Two teachers demonstrated English literacy classes. A group of P 1s repeated sounds and actions associated with letters, such as making a snake movement with their hands as they enunciated “sssss.” They later wrote words on their slates-reaching learners of all types.
Lew and several others on our team sat in on a P7 math class. Lew remarked that the teacher taught the class just as a math teacher back home would, carrying, then sharing, then transferring the intellectual load as those students learned algebra. The fact that it was the last day of the term and that official school was well over didn’t deter those young scholars from working hard and doing their best.
Our day ended with a lovely party, hosted by the proprietor of our guest house, Beatrice and her husband, Fred. Beatrice and Asia invited many of the teachers we work with and it was delightful for everyone to relax and enjoy each others’ company. We learn how to improve our program from those informal times as well as the more formal school visits.
Today is our last full day in Uganda and we will visit two orphanages. At one, we’ll deliver over 100 tee-shirts decorated by young people at Echo Glen, a juvenile detention facility. Many of those children wrote inspirational messages and words of hope and love on the shirts, sending what truly matters.
