WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A CHILD IN AFRICA

Pupils arriving at Boma ground after a procession around Bundibugyo Town

It took approximately four hours for a team of RWECO CU, the staff and pupils of Rukoki Model School to drive from Kasese via Fort portal to Bundibugyo. It was a very tough journey, mostly for the young ones but it was a worthy journey due to the learning environment that was at BOMA Grounds, Bundibugyo. It was the day of African child and the western regional celebrations were in Bundibugyo District at Boma grounds. The theme of the day was eliminating harmful social and cultural practices affecting children; Our collective responsibility. So many children put up so interesting performances ranging from Music to drama. Their performances were all advocating sounds of the little children seeking for the redress in the way the community, teachers and also back to the households treat them.

Day one started as different teams arrived from different places. After most of the teams had arrived, they made a community outreach and decided to clean up some wards thereafter made a procession around town to alert the people on the days celebrations. 

Pupils cleaning the pediatric ward - Bundibugyo hospital 15th June 2013

Day two, 16^th June, 2013 started with a procession around Bundibugyo town and back to Boma grounds where speeches and performances were held. There was a parliamentary session held by pupils and in this presentation, they talked about child labor and its consequences on the growth of these children affected. They also talked about early marriages and put up good recommendations on how to overcome this device in relation to their causes and effects on the children and these include supporting orphans in terms of education, encourage family planning so that to avoid unwanted pregnancies that could be a burden to the parents and that government should cooperate with other stakeholders to fight against child neglect that result in to child labor and that corporal punishments should be abolished to encourage children keep at school.

A pupil's parliamentary session 16th June 2013

Rukoki Model Primary from Kasese District who put up a touching presentation. This was led by three impaired children who used sign language to communicate their massage to the audience. The other pupil who was disabled with no arms showed the world that disability is not inability.

 A disabled pupil with no hands from Rukoki model showing his skills in knitting 16th June 2013

 

God Bless us all
Gilbert Masereka

CFSU MEETS HEAD TEACHERS, PTA AND BOG TO RAISE AWARENESS AND SUPPORT ICT ENHANCED LEARNING (17th June 2013)

To ensure a smooth and successful implementation of the projects, head teachers, PTA and BOG membershad to be brought on board with the project. It is on this note therefore that Computers for Schools organized a meeting inviting all head teachers, PTA and BOG members of all project schools in Kabarole district. The meeting took place at Kaalya courts on 17^th June 2013.

The purpose of this meeting was to ensure that the heads of schools, PTA and BOG allowed the C4C project activities to be implemented within their institutions. Further on, administrative support is needed to ensure sustainability of the project even after the project life has ended. As a ripple effect of the project, administrators had to be fully aware of the project activities within the school so that it does not only benefit the English department but also other departments. Issues that were discussed in the meeting included the following among others;

• The project brief, activities involved and responsibilities of the stake holders especially school administration
• Discussion of achievements in the schools so far and challenges faced

     The ICT project officer discussing the brief

The heads of schools discussed the achievements and challenges that they have been facing since the project inception to date. The heads of schools each discussed what was happening within their respective schools with regards to the project. After looking at the achievements, challenges faced were also brought up and solutions to mitigate the challenges were pointed out and below are some of the issues that were discussed;

Achievements

• The set up of the English language resource room; Canon Apolo core PTC, Ruteete secondary school and St. Leos and Kyebambe have set up English labs with resources like the laptop, projector and the speakers. Now with the two desk tops and flash disks that CfSU has added to the department, these institutions have worked on these resource rooms making them more student friendly and as safe as possible. The teaching and learning process can now comfortably take place in these rooms.
• Development of more interesting and fascinating lessons using Power point and Photo story; the head teachers of these schools were proud to mention that the teachers are developing more interesting lessons as testified by their students. Learners are more eager
• Computers in the resource room; with the availability of these computers in the English resource room, teachers are now able to develop their lessons and type exams freely in their free time without competing with students which was the case previously. It has even helped them practice more, getting a grip on computer usage thus erasing the computer phobia of students being better than them. The learners have also adopted a research culture where they can accomplish projects on their own.

 

    Mr. Otigo Evans explaining the benefits and challenges they face 

The representative from the DEO’s office of Kabarole district Mrs. Harriet Angwena finally urged administrators and PTA members to fully embrace the program and give the much needed support to the teachers and implementing organizations. She also pledged to be supportive at the district level by offering the necessary support like inspecting and lobbying at the ministry.

     Administrative members listening to the DEO

BUNDIBUGYO COMMEMORATES THE DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD

 Going by the common agreement of rotating the celebration of the day of the African child, this time round the event was held at Bundibugyo Boma ground on Sunday 16^th June 2013.
 

The day of the African child was established by the African union (AU) IN 1991. It is recognized globally in memory of the brutal massacre of black children who courageously marched on 16^th June 1976 in Soweto Township protesting against the substandard way they were being taught, their demand was that they be taught in their language.

The theme this year was Eliminating harmful social and cultural practices affecting children: our collective responsibility.

The day drew children from in and around the Rwenzori region. Kabarole, kasese and Bundibugyo represented the regional participation. About 1100children are believed to have participated.

Among the activities carried out that day were essay writing competition, a procession through Bundibugyo town, music dance and drama and poem reciting

Computers for schools Uganda and RWECO participated in essay marking, contributed towards a general grand lunch for the children and their teachers and participated in music and poem reciting.

    Also one pupil with special needs from Rukoki model showcased his talent on a sowing machine

 Bwambale Andrew with no full hands on a sowing machine

In her speech, Madam Barbra the country director save the children (guest of honour) thanked her staff for all the good work done in the Rwenzori region. She also elaborated on the day of the African child and its importance to the children of Africa today. She finally awarded prizes to those who had excelled in the essay competition.

The commemoration came to an end with the serving of a grand communal lunch.

   

RWECO/RIC-NET CONTUNES TO EMPOWER SCHOOLS THROUGH ICT

RWECO / RIC-NET staffs visited the Secondary Schools in Kasese District on 10^th - 11^th June 2013 in order to get feedback on the progress of ICT enabled Teaching of English language in Schools. The team that included John Silco, Strida and Jimmy visited St. Charles Secondary School, Bwera Teachers College, St. Theresa Girls’ Secondary School and Kilembe Secondary School under the theme of “empowering schools through the use of ICT”. The meetings were attended by the head teachers/ Principal, one ICT Teacher and the Head of the English Department.

STUDENT IN THE ENGLISH LAB AT ST. CHARLES VOC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

 During the discussion, the parties agreed to share information across all schools through interactions and open discussions, agreed on training on 4^th and 5^th July 2013 of English Teachers on design and development ICT enabled methodology/ Skills in teaching of English and offer maintenance backup support. The issue of students’ actively participating essay writing competitions under three categories of: corruption, service delivery and the love for English as a language was stressed.

AT ST. THERESA GIRLS SEC SCHOOLS

 The schools were encouraged to setup a language library, procure readers or novels in order for students to improve on their vocabulary and students reading skills. Most of the Head Teachers promised to make use of the career days like parents days, sports days, and independence days to encourage students use their skills. Schools were encouraged to the use of bulky messages in order to make communication with parents very easy and visit the www.eduvoice.ug .

NOTING ISSUE OF CONCERN AFTER MEETING AT KILEMBE SSS

Conclusively, RWECO promised additional equipments to Schools which included laptop, two desktop computers, speakers, Projector, Projector screen, Generator and Internet modem. By Muhindo strida 

SCHOOLS IN KABAROLE DISTRICT RECEIVE ICT EQUIPMENT

     Following the training of teachers and tutors of English in innovative ICT enabled methods; Computers for Schools Uganda organized a meeting to officially hand over ICT equipment to the institutions whose teachers/tutors had been trained. The institutions that received computers were Canon Apolo Core PTC, Ruteete secondary school, Kyebambe girls’ school and St. Leos College Kyegobe. CfSU also contributed one computer for the DEO’s office for inspection purposes. The ICT equipment that was received included;

• Laptop
• Projector
• Projector stand
• Generator
• Speakers
• Desk tops

    Some of the equipment ready for hand over to the schools

The hand over occasion took place at Kaalya courts in Kabarole district on 24^th June 2013. Heads of schools attended to receive the equipment and the DEO as a representative from the local government was present to hand over the equipment.

Mrs. Harriet Angwena(DEO) as she welcomed membe

  The ICT officer in charge of the project Nekesa Stella gave a brief about the project and reminded the schools heads about their responsibilities as project stake holders. She further on noted that teachers and learners still needed support from the school administration in order to make the project implementation more successful.   The executive director RIC-NET John Silco made a presentation on the SMS and HUDUMA platforms and also urged administration to take advantage of these platforms to connect with the rest of the of the stake holders like the parents and the local government.

      Mr.Otigo extending a token of thanks to CfSU

On behalf of all head teachers, Mr. Otigo Evans, the head teacher of St. Leos College Kyegobe thanked CfSU staff for their tremendous efforts in contributing towards the improvement of the quality of education through ICT enabled innovative methods.  He talked about the trainings, the onsite support and the ICT equipment and he pointed out how it has added value to the teaching and learning of English language within the different schools.

The executive director of RICNET invited the DEO to receive the computer on behalf of the DEO’s office and then later on hand over the rest of the equipment to the heads of schools.

    The DEO representative Kabarole district handing over the equipment

As the final activity, head teachers signed the Memorandums of Understanding as a way to ensure that the equipment will be kept in a safe and friendly environment. This was also done for the schools to handle and use the equipment with care. To have a feel of ownership of ownership of the equipment and ensure sustainability, CfSU ensured that the school heads read and understood the terms and conditions of the M.O.U before they discussed and signed it.