What: Kitengesa Education Project, Volunteer Teaching
Where: Masaka District, Uganda
When: September - December, 2008
As a volunteer I will be responsible for teaching English and other subjects in the local high school three days a week and at the primary school two days a week. In addition to teaching, I will be expected to participate in student co-curricular activities and become involved in counseling. A large part of the project will also involve collaborating with local educators, sharing pedagogical knowledge and strategies, and coming up with alternative methods and plans to make education more accessible in rural communities in order to contribute to the success of local children and youth. Outside of school activities, I hope to offer further services and programs in the community such as adult literacy courses.
Due to economic conditions in the village, there is no electricity (except for the village library which is powered by solar panels) and running water is scarce. There are few state-sponsored schools in rural areas and families who can afford it often send their children away to boarding schools. For rural families to stay together, local schools need support to stay open.
Funds raised could be used to implement projects such as: providing more books in English and local languages for the community library, providing more resources to local schools and/or contributing to a scholarship fund so that more youth can gain access to secondary education, and building pit latrines and/or bringing running water to schools for better personal hygiene. There are many barriers to education in rural Uganda, especially poverty (no money for school fees, uniforms and school supplies,) and distance (students must walk long distances to and from school each day). Many students also spend considerable amounts of time fetching food and water for their families, taking care of younger siblings and sick parents due to malaria and HIV/AIDS, and helping to generate an income; activities which often take priority over education.
A large barrier to female education is menstruation. Feminine hygiene products are not widely available, proper bathrooms and running water are not available at school, and there is no medication to relieve menstrual pain. Girls often stay home and miss school during their menses. I am particularly interested in finding a practical solution to this problem.
Since this placement has an educational focus, resources are so limited and educational barriers are so many, the number of projects that could be implemented to encourage sustainable education are countless.
In sum, I hope to assist in teacher training and scaffolding and implement projects that will increase access to formal schooling, making education more sustainable in the community. Such projects include adult literacy education, the introduction of proper hygiene facilities for girls, community-wide HIV/AIDS education, more books and updated technology for the library, and a needs-based scholarship fund that will cover the cost of supplies, uniforms and other school fees.
The community will benefit greatly from improvements in education. With a higher literacy rate and a chance to further develop knowledge and skills, young people in Kitengesa will have the tools they need to pursue higher education and better employment. The implementation of projects and programs that help rural Ugandans meet and sustain their basic human needs and rights has the potential to lower poverty rates, allowing for better education, health care, economics, and the general well being of the community and country.