Tag: QEPP

MY AWESOME EXPERIENCE WITH CONNECTING CLASSROOM!

Sharing this amazing experience is absolutely the most beautiful thing ever. Whatever thoughts and memories I have about this visit matters a lot to the children, teachers and people who established the twinning project.

Bravo! To QEPP, Bravo! To the British Ccouncil for initiating this awesome global education program for both Uganda and UK schools. You should feel proud, special for starting up and fully funding this educational program that has put a huge smile to many people and children a round the world.

First, it was the plane experience!! My first time to board a plane. I was nervous, scared but again glad😀because this has always been on the list of things I ask God to do for me. The difference is traveling in air but almost the same as traveling in a bus. I’ve been to some airports but not as big as Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi and the biggest Heathrow in London.

Thank God!!🙏We landed safely and being picked by Adam Stanley and his partner Heather Green. Everything was different, the environment, roads, houses, cars, people and weather. What a different world London is!! In 1 and half hours, we were at home, Waterlooville. A warm welcome from the Peach family, these people are amazing!!! Coffee, food, a bath and later to my beautiful room.

Morning Monday 2nd March ready to visit the park! Queen Elizabeth Country Park! My colleague Mr Thembo and I were received by the rangers Ashley and Jan. My first HOT CHOCOLATE and bread was served,very tasty! Later proceeded to the park, I was scared, I thought we were going to see deadly animals like the lions, leopards and snakes as those in QE National park in Uganda, but all in vain. Ashley kept driving us in the park. At some point we couldn’t move outside the car not because we feared the animals in the park like Uganda, but due to too much coldness and mud. We toured different places in the park including the Butser Hill National Nature Reserve. Tourists and their dogs were in as well!. We later went to Petersfield….interesting!!!

Another glamorous day! Hambledon Primary School, a place I knew even before being there! Adorable, brilliant pupils and teachers I imagined! And yes it was an admirable, colourful, charming, and beautiful place than I imagined. I was extremely happy when I was welcomed in the school. Hambledon is heaven!! Imagine going through a day with amazing people, lots of smiles, food, hugs, fascinating compliments, appreciations and even people holding the door to open for you, wow!!!!!! Everything at Hambledon Primary School is unique, the headteacher Paul has a unique friendly personality as well. Friends hold a special place in one’s heart. Thank you Mr Davies for being a friend,mentor and more!! Through the twinning project we met, I’ve learn a lot from you and this whole amazing experience will create a positive impact to me as a head teacher and the entire family of Rihamu Junior School. Lots of thanks to Adrienne, the deputy head teacher at Hambledon Primary School who led the fundraising exercise to rise money for renovating our primary one wooden class.. You don’t know the change you have made to beautify our school and the children who suffered during the rainy season.

For sure, this whole experience is worth sharing. The different places I’ve visited while in the UK are amazing. London city, Buckingham Palace and many more interesting places in London. Bournemouth at the seaside, thanks Paul this place was the best. Chichester University where we shared different experiences on global citizenship, Portsmouth in different shopping arcades and getting to understand how the UK money is used when shopping!! Liss village and Liss Junior, different pubs, the cricket pitch, Winchester and many other places I’ve not mentioned maybe because I can’t remember their spellings😀😀😀. All these places were hilarious!

The twinning project will contribute a lot to Rihamu Junior school in many ways: Through communication and letter exchange, it will improve English speaking at school. Enhancement of global learning , exposure to different learning and teaching contexts, change of perception and attitudes, cultural awareness and exchange through sharing experiences. Increased quality and effectiveness of games like cricket, tag rugby, football, dominoes, darts which Rihamu got to know through the project. Support towards the school projects like the water tank, supporting the orphanage etc. The list is endless.

I don’t have the right words to express my gratitude and thankfulness to the Peach family. They’re my parents,they treated me like their own. I felt at home and more!!!!

Again, special thanks goes to the following people who made my visit and stay in the UK so fabulous. Adam Stanley, Steve Peach, Paul Davies, Jan, Karen Peach,Heather Green, Teresa and the entire family, Jess and the lovely family, Jo Heath , Mary at Chichester university, the brownies, Ashlea, The entire staff and pupils of Hambledon and the education students I met in Chichester.

That’s part one of my UK experience,more still coming. Take care everyone,stay home and stay safe.

Shakilah Huda , Rihamu Junior School.

Christmas greetings from Liss Junior School

Merry Christmas to all our friends at Kafuro Primary School and to all the twinned schools in the UK and Uganda. At Liss, we had our carol service yesterday where we read the story of the nativity and sang Christmas carols. We send to all of our friends our best wishes and the message of hope given through the birth of Jesus Christ.

UK teachers hold cluster meeting

On Thursday, UK teachers met at Liss Junior School for the first time this year. The main throust of the meeting was to get a full report on Miss Duncan and Mr Davies’ trip to Uganda during the summer as well as hearing the latest news on the process to get Stephen and Shakilah, the headteachers of Kafuro Primary School and Rihamu Junior School, over to the UK by the beginning of March. There was also an opportunity for schools to share what they have been doing as well as outlining expectations for the year.

UK teachers meeting at Liss Junior School

Final days and reflections

Uganda Day 14: 2019 


After a comfortable sleep in a room on my own in the motel, woken only by a cockerel at one point in the night, I woke up feeling fresh. We all slept in for a while before breakfast which was where we were staying. 


Then we went to a market in Fort Portal. It was extremely colourful, with a variety of fruits and vegetables being sold. One particular thing I spotted was the way tomatoes were displayed. They were balanced on top of one another like when people balance rocks in a stack on the beach which was very clever. 


For the afternoon we went to Mountains of the moon to use the pool for the day and relax. I finished my book and just relaxed for the afternoon, occasionally dipping in the pool to cool off. We stayed for dinner and I tried the beef fajitas which were delicious, then it was back to the hotel for another good night’s sleep.  

Uganda Day 15: 2019


Paul, Luke, Meg and I went for breakfast whilst Andy and Nick got some extra sleep this morning. We were almost ready for our final part of the journey back to Entebbe. The bus journey wasn’t too long, only 4 and a half hours, but time flew by playing games with Nick, Paul and Luke. 


We shortly arrived at UWEC zoo and were reunited with our huts we stayed in on our first night in Uganda so it felt a bit like returning to our second homes. As we arrived late last time and didn’t see many animals, we went for a wonder around the zoo (along with hundreds of school children on trips!) We saw lions which we hadn’t managed to see properly in the wild, more zebras, and monkeys playing on the paths. The boys were tired so we headed back to our huts but Megan and I didn’t want to rest so we went to explore more of the park as we hadn’t seen the giraffes properly. We found an elder tree, baboons and the giraffe viewing platform and had time to chat and reminisce about the trip.

Joffrey picked us up at 5pm to go shopping. We went to the craft market which was really colourful, full of paintings and souvenirs to buy but it was just nice to have a look around.


Finally, it was time to revisit the beautiful restaurant (Gorettis) on the beach from our first night. We sat back at our table and as it was still light, we could enjoy the breathtaking view of Lake Victoria. Before dinner arrived, we had time to reflect on our time here. We did our top 3 moments for the whole trip and everyone had such different moments which was brilliant. Then we remembered funny moments of the trip and things we will miss. It got a bit emotional before leaving as we prepare to go home tomorrow. Overall, this trip has been an incredible, life changing experience and one I am thankful to have had. 

Reflections

Before taking this trip, I didn’t know what to expect. I was a bundle of nerves, anxiety and excitement at a fresh opportunity to see more of the world and different cultures. Having now been able to experience the Pearl of Africa, I can see why it deserves that name. It’s not just the animals, which are incredible to see in their natural habitats, and the landscape, which goes on as far as the eye can see and changes with every turn, it is the people. I have never been anywhere more welcoming and protective of visitors to their country. Just by meeting someone, you are already their brother, sister or friend. You are treated like family without hesitation just by being happy and polite. The people of Uganda’s happiness has been unfaltering in every town and city we have visited. With those who have little, they are happy. With those who have plenty, they are happy. This joy beams out of them primarily through dance and music which spreads to anyone around as it is infectious. 


My biggest thank you for this trip is to the people at Kafuro Primary School, particularly Stephen Thembo, who made me feel welcome as soon as I entered his school and began speaking to him. I felt like I had known him longer than a few days by the end of my time in his school. I would also like to thank the teachers at Kafuro Primary School for giving me free reign of their classes (and sometimes translating), allowing me to experience different styles of teaching in a different culture and try to show them some of my style. 


I am going back to England with a renewed appreciation for things we take for granted, such as getting water from a tap instantly and without thinking. Having listened to Mr Stanley talk so positively about Uganda for the last couple of years, I hope I can harness some of his passion for the twinning project and continue to ensure that the children of Liss understand how lucky they are to be twinned with such a fantastic school and to remember that they have family, the school children of Kafuro, in Uganda.

Uganda Day 12: 2019

This morning I woke up to see off Steve, Karen, Jan and Ashlea as they set off super early. I managed to go back to bed and have a super relaxing morning. We ambled to breakfast late and tried the hostel which was nice. Andy and Paul were brave and tried the Rolex (omlette in chipati) which I think they liked! It was a relaxing day today as we spent it at the lodge, swimming and (for me mainly) reading, so there is not much else to report!

Uganda 2019 Day 11: The Conservation Cup

Every night of this trip the whole group has sat together and chatted. As part of this conversation we have all nominated our top three moments of the day. Today, I will find it impossible to nominate just three. There were so many amazing moments that made this the perfect day in Uganda.

The Conversation Cup is a competition between all 10 schools in the QE Parks Project on the playing fields at Kyambura School. Ten children from each school participate in Tag Rugby and Football and also deliver a presentation with a conservation message.

Of course I was cheering for Rihamu. The children had only received their tag rugby kit a week ago, but have been training hard since. Many of the schools have been playing for years and Rihamu improved every game. I was delighted that by their final game, the children put up a stiff challenge and managed a 1-1 draw.

At break I handed the children some biscuits I’d purchased at a shop in Kampala on day 1. One little girl reached into the jar and pulled out a ginger nut. “Don’t eat yours yet!” called another child. “I’m not going to eat it,” she replied. “I’m only looking; it’s from the expensive super market.”

Rihamu’s football team are very skilful and performed brilliantly. I was on the side-lines cheering every kick. I must admit that the ecstatic cheer that I let out when their first goal was scored rang very loudly around the playing field. Rihamu went on to win that game and the next! The team qualified easily from their group and progressed as far as the semi-finals. The semi-final was a very tense affair with New Life School. Two very evenly matched teams. At the full-time whistle the scores were still 0-0 and extra time beckoned. Memories of Italia 90 and Euro 96 resurfaced as Rihamu let in the first goal in with literally the last kick of extra-time. This was the first time the children have taken part in a competition and to progress so far is a stunning achievement.

That left the conservation presentation. Rihamu performed a poem written by the Headteacher Shakilah, last weekend. The children had it memorised by lunchtime on Monday and spent the week perfecting their performance. I blogged earlier in the week that I thought they stood a great chance, but this performance brought things to the next level. They took to the stage in costume, having used a nearby tree to manufacture ‘branch’ headdresses. The performance was loud, slick and synchronised and brought huge cheers at the end. For me the result was never in doubt and as expected Rihamu were crowed Conservation Champions, winning a valuable prize of a boat safari in the Queen Elizabeth National Park!

Shakilah and her team are amazing. They achieve so much with so little, making a daily difference to children with extremely meagre resources. In Uganda it doesn’t matter what clothes you wear or what car you drive. Everyone is together and they look out for each other, nobody is judging. It is inspiring.

Huge congratulations to CM Sports for organising an excellent tournament. The sight of the post-presentation celebrations, hundreds of children dancing on the field, brought home to me the difference that a simple sports tournament had made. Then it was time for emotional goodbyes.

I return to the UK with pen-pal letters for the children and staff of Hambledon. Also with a snazzy hat and a plaque for my office. But more than that, I return to England having fallen in love with Rihamu School and the many friends I have made there.

As I went for tea at Tembo there was time for yet another Ugandan surprise. We have to drive everywhere in the park in the evening and night. This is because of the risk from wild animals. As I walked into the garden of Hippo House to board the bus I froze. Literally no more than 10 metres in-front of me, walking through our garden was a herd of elephants! I stood agog as 30 Elephants walked through past us, occasionally stopping to rip some leaves from the trees to eat. Perhaps I got too confident, but to get a better shot on my mobile phone I stepped towards a giant elephant. He decided to remind me who was in charge! Letting out a loud trumpet, he turned and started to run towards our group. Obviously I panicked and hid safely behind the bus. An exhilarating finish to a heart-pounding day.

Uganda 2019: Day 9 – Sanitation, Sanitation, Sanitation!

Up early to visit Katwe Boarding School.  Karen has donated a new first aid kit to the guides group and we popped along to see how they’re doing.  The girls greeted us with two excellent songs and I got to teach them how to play frisbee.
The focus of today’s learning at Rihamu Junior School was the importance of sanitation. Diarrhoea kills more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria and measles combined.  Almost 1 billion lack access to safe drinking water.  More than 2.3 billion people lack access to safe sanitation.


For this reason I am delighted that the money raised by Miss Murray from her Ugandan Marathon will be used to improve the sanitation at Rihamu.  Sometimes the water supply to the school is cut, on these occasions staff and pupils have to carry 20 gallon jerry cans from the neighbourhood.  One pupil, Abigail, explained that this is not only tough, but wastes their learning time.
The project will see the installation of a 5000 litre water tank and guttering to collect rainwater.  Miss Murray’s fund raising will also cover the costs of the cement, sand, concrete and labour necessary for its correct installation.  Thank you again to all who sponsored Miss Murray and to Miss Murray for her fund raising efforts.  I have seen this week the huge difference this will make to a great many lives.


What’s left, will be put together with an anonymous donation to fund the refurbishment of a classroom block. Currently two of the walls of classroom P1 are formed from wooden planks.  The gaps between these mean that when it rains the children sat in class get very wet.  The funding will pay for bricks, cement, sand and marrum.  The work will create water tight brick walls and a classroom environment much better suited for learning.


The school provided another gorgeous lunch of goat sandwiched in chapati.  I think I will leave Africa having put on weight.


We then braved the afternoon heat to head to a local open space to train for the Conversation Cup.  A week ago the children had never seen a rugby ball or a cricket bat. Now they are scoring tries from raid breaks and pulling the cricket ball to the boundary.

Uganda Day 7: 2019

After a quicker than normal visit to Tembo this morning for breakfast, myself, Steve, Ashlea and the CM sports coaches set off to Kafuro Primary School for my first visit. When we arrived, we were greeted by Stephen Thembo, the headteacher, and Yowasi. We chatted in Stephen’s office to introduce ourselves and were then invited to an assembly to introduce ourselves to the children. Once we had said ‘hello’, the CM Sports coaches were given the team to train ready for the Conservation Cup, and Megan took some children to dance whilst I was given a tour of the school with Ashley. We saw the classes which were quite large, with tables with benches, chalkboards at the front and in some rooms, lights so that the older children can revise in the morning and evening when it is dark. It reminded me of Mrs Myers’ assembly in which she showed a  photo of the boy doing his homework on the street using the streetlights, as these children don’t have access to electricity, and therefore light, at home to work. 


I was shown the results of the children at Liss Junior School’s fundraising, the latrines, which had been emptied and new plastic funnels put in place and concrete flooring. The children and teachers at Kafuro are very grateful to all the effort the children have put in over the year with their fundraising. 


Once CM Sports had left to go to their next school, Steve and I took the walk children used to take to collect drinking water from the lake, and that some still take to get water for washing. Since the new tap was installed at Kafuro, the community is now able to use the water for drinking and only go to the lake to collect water for cleaning. It was quite a walk down to the lake and when we arrived I was surprised at how beautiful it looked from a distance but up close it made me realise how valuable the tap at the school is. Yowasi wanted us to do the challenge and rock climbing up to the main road but I was wearing flip flops so I had to take the road less travelled. 


Back up in Kafuro village, I met some local people, most of whom were parents of children from the school. Some of the men use their motorbikes to take people into the nearby town, a replacement for taxis, and I was offered a lift but again, my attire wasn’t particularly suitable so I had to decline (don’t panic Mum!) 


Returning to school, we ate lunch in Stephen’s office – tilapia, Irish potatoes, and cabbage and tomato salad which was a bit like a stir fry. It was all delicious! 


In the afternoon I had a chance to talk through the planning with Posiano, who teaches maths and social sciences at the school. It is similar to secondary schools at Kafuro in that teachers don’t teach a class but a subject and move between the classrooms, apart from nursery and P1 who have the same teacher all day. With the planning all explained to Posiano, it was time to give out the letters from Liss which they all rushed off to read in class as soon as the class photos had been taken. 


CM Sports and Joffrey returned and it was time to get back to Mweya. We headed to Tembo for dinner and then the lodge. Joffrey was in a good mood so he let me drive home. Then I don’t think everyone else was in a good mood after the bumpy ride home. 


I felt very welcomed at the school today and thoroughly enjoyed my time. I can’t wait to get started with teaching tomorrow! 

Good luck to P7 pupils

From all the pupils and staff at Liss Junior School, we would like to wish the P7 pupils  at Kafuro and all the other QEPP schools in Uganda every success in their Primary Leaving Examinations this coming week. We are well aware of the magnitude of these examinations and also know how hard all of you will have worked over the current academic year. You will all be in our thoughts this week!

Uganda 2018 Day 15: Zach Prior’s Sherbet Fruits and Some Final Thoughts

The day did not start well! I was woken up in the early hours of the morning by Mrs Green running to the bathroom to be violently sick. This happened on several other occasions during the night, and by the time I got up all the colour had drained from her face and she looked really unwell. She was in no condition to visit classrooms, therefore I went to see Robert and gave him our apologies.

 

We left Family of Hope and headed back to Kampala. Mrs Green had a meeting at Kyambogo University at 15.30 and before that we had to drop off some packages at UWA headquarters. We also had some shopping to do before meeting Ronnie from Range Land Safaris who was going to drop us off at the airport. Mrs Green fell asleep almost straight away and slept all the way back to Kampala other than a short stop in order that I could get my photo taken outside Nile Breweries. The traffic in Kampala was crazy and I decided to join in with the fun by tooting my horn like a maniac and driving into almost non – existent spaces in order to get where I wanted to go. Readers might think this is reckless behaviour, but I was only doing what everyone else was doing.

 

We made a brief stop at UWA HQ to drop off the packages – a camera for the warden of Mount Elgon National Park and some letters – before driving to Lugogo Mall. Mrs Green wasn’t interested in eating a great deal, but thought she could manage a cold drink and a bit of ice cream. Therefore, I bought the first Ugandan ice cream in my seven trips to the country. It was strawberry flavoured and was almost fluorescent pink in colour. Mrs Green ate some and then I finished the rest off. It tasted vaguely like strawberry but was absolutely loaded with sugar – I felt quite filthy for eating it.

 

Mrs Green perked up a little bit after the ice cream, so we drove out to Kyambogo University for a brief meeting with Dr Stackus from the Department of Special Needs Studies. Stackus was pleased to see us again, and he and Mrs Green were just talking about distance learning when Mrs Green felt ill again and had to dash out of the room. Stackus was really concerned that Mrs Green might have malaria, but I explained that we thought it was just a bug. When Mrs Green came back, we had a brief photo and then headed back to Lugogo Mall.

 

We had several hours to kill before we met Ronnie, so we found a cafĂŠ and ordered drinks. Mrs Green took a few sips of hers and promptly fell asleep, so I tried to catch up with some blogging. When she eventually woke up, we went into the supermarket and brought some gifts for family and friends back home.

 

We had arranged to meet Ronnie at Gorettis in Entebbe, our favourite restaurant. Howveer, the traffic in Kampala was mental even at 20.00 and what should’ve been a 50 minute journey ended up taking over an hour and a half. By the time we got there, Gorettis was closed so we met Ronnie at the Red Rooster another bar/restaurant that we were familiar with. Ronnie brought his wife along with him as well as Geoffrey who had made a full recovery after looking after the CM Sports group for over a week – only joking! They bought us drinks and I managed to get Mrs Green to eat a few chips before she went back to sleep while Ronnie, Geoffrey and I reviewed the trip.

 

When Mrs Green woke up she looked a lot better, so Geoffrey dropped us at the airport and the long journey home began. Our trip to Uganda for 2018 was over.

 

It’s now nearly a week later and I’ve had time to evaluate this trip. My thoughts are as follows:

  • For anyone who is concerned, Mrs Green has made a full recovery!
  • There was a massive amount of travelling on this trip. The flights from Heathrow to Entebbe are the best part of 8100 miles and a conservative estimate is that we racked up at least another 1000 miles in Uganda. Thanks therefore to Zach Prior (a pupil in my class last year) who gave me a M&S voucher, some of which I used to buy sherbet fruits. When I was feeling tired after all that driving, the sherbet fruits got me through.
  • It was a very tiring and at times frustrating trip. When you have saved for a year to go and essentially work in another country during your holidays, it is helpful if people are organised at your destination.
  • My highs each year tend to take place at Kafuro and this year was no exception. The new headteacher, Stephen, and P7 made me feel so good about our partnership.
  • It was fantastic to see other parts of Uganda. I feel that I’ve only scratched the surface of the country. Likewise, it was inspiring to see a school on the other side of the country which was so well run.
  • CM Sports had a big positive impact on the children in western Uganda. They should be very proud that they made such a difference.
  • It was great to have Rihamu Junior come on board and I think they will contribute strongly to the shared learning between schools.
  • The nature of this trip meant that I was pulled in several directions all at the same time. Although I’m useless at sitting still and doing nothing, I do need to accept that I can’t do everything all at once and I need relaxation time too.
  • Finally, many thanks to everyone who has read this year’s blog and commented on it. Your feedback is much appreciated.