UGANDA INITIATIVE
Our Mission
Mission
- Support the improvement of education for children in need in the Kampala region in general and the Nsambya neighborhood in particular.
Why?
- The population of Uganda will more than double in the next 30 years.
- The average number of children is almost 6 children per woman.
- The age group eligible for Primary School education is growing exponentially.
- The country´s education system has not been able to keep pace
- There is a huge lack of well trained teachers
- The Primary school drop out rate is above 50%
- The huge influx of a poor population into urban areas is not catered for.
HELP RISING STARS
Objectives
The Uganda initiative will have two main objectives:
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Objective 1: Support the quality of teaching in the Kampala region by implementing a well-structured training program for Nursery and Primary teachers in the region.
- Objective 2: Support the children in the slum part of the Nsambya neighborhood in Kampala by building and managing a high-quality school in the area.
- Secure the access to quality education for the children living in the slum area of the neighborhood.
- Foment competent, confident and socially responsible students.
- Create a motivating workplace for proud, competent and well-trained teachers.
- Establish a model school and training center for teachers in the Kampala region.
- Contribute to the social and economic development of the needy local community.
Change Maker
Help Rising Stars has identified a forceful change maker living and working in the Nsambya neighborhood of Kampala, Peter Okware. Peter will lead and coordinate the implementation of our projects in the area. Please let us present our changemaker:
Peter, our Ugandan changemaker
Peter was born in 1988 by two unprivileged parents in the Nsambya slums of Kampala, the third child out of seven siblings. Since his parents could not afford nurturing all their children, at the age of five Peter was sent to live with his grandparents in the east of Uganda.
After finalizing Primary school Peter´s parents decided to invest in Peter sending him to a high quality Secondary school while his siblings could only attend the cheapest schools or no school at all. They wanted Peter to learn by mixing with more privileged children, expecting Peter to help his siblings once he had grown up. Their intention was more than fulfilled since Peter has embarked on a journey to improve the life not only of his siblings but also of the children in the whole Nsambya slum area in Kampala.
Peter has by himself realized two impressive achievements:
- After organizing two community clean-up actions he rented some very rudimentary installations and started a Nursery and Primary school in the Nsambya slum area in 2014. The school now has six classes from Baby Nursery class to the third year in Primary school. The school has gained a very good reputation in the neighborhood. Peter has also organized reading, writing and English courses to mothers of the children, and also courses on how to start and manage small businesses. However, the installations of the school are poor and do not offer a good learning environment, support is needed to build adequate installations.
- In parallel Peter has developed a training program for teachers, running workshops for schools in various parts of Uganda. The program has been recognized and is supported by the Ministry of Education. The program has a lot of potential but needs support to achieve a more extensive deployment in the country.
Peter is driven by two major convictions:
- The quality of teaching in Uganda has to improve and the teachers must take pride in their profession.
- Children from poor families need support to improve confidence in themselves.
“It must all start by improving the quality of teaching. With the exponential population growth in Uganda the country has not been able to keep pace and educate enough teachers and the children are suffering the consequences. My training program for teachers aims at providing teaching techniques for reading and writing although we also stress the importance of creating socially responsible children, covering issues like respect, gender equality, environment protection and much more. One of our main objectives is also to make teachers feel proud of their profession, today they are unfortunately placed very low on the social scale of the Ugandan society”.
we need to make them gain confidence
“Children from poor families generally have a low self-esteem, we need to make them gain confidence. When my parents sent me to a Secondary school with children from more privileged families and when I realized that I was just as competent and able as they were, I became much more confident in myself. That has been very useful to me in life. My confidence helps me to take initiatives to realize my dreams and ambitions.”
In parallel to all the above, Peter has formed a family together with his wife Patience. They have two daughters, Gloria and Christine, 2 and 4 years old.
Projects
- We will inform you about the evolution of the different areas to develop
Help to
current school
Actions will be taken to improve the current learning environment, e.g. by providing text books and other school materials, installing better sanitation facilities as well as ventilation in classrooms etc…
See moreTIN
Teachers in Need
Further develop the teachers training program, get full recognition and support by the Ministry of Education and deploy in the Kampala region.
See more
New School
project
The current school does not offer good learning conditions, new facilities are desirable. The possibility to build a new school in the same area is being evaluated.
Teachers Connect
The Teachers Connect program connects teachers looking for a job with schools in need of teachers. The intention is to develop an application to create a meeting for a on the web.
