| | | - Projects and Volunteering
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Educational Projects
This is the construction of the new Primary School at Kyabahinga, as the old school was left in a state of disrepair. Edirisa UK is funding the repair of two classrooms, and building a further three classrooms, a nursery school and an office. This will ensure a much improved learning and teaching environment for more children in the Kabale region.
The school started in 1959 and has 364 children and nine teachers. Recent successes of Bufuka Primary have spurred increasing migrations of pupils from Kyabahinga to Bufuka. Edirisa is trying to stop this through more and more involvement with Kyabahinga Primary. We have been working there since 2005, initially only organising swimming lessons. This grew to a list of other workshops in 2006, and the start of a sponsorship program in 2007.
Edirisa runs an educational program called Smiles, which is dedicated to three generally neglected areas: creativity, cultures and practical skills. While we do provide scholastic materials, build classrooms and try to tackle all problems that keep young people away from school, we see much bigger issues. Our main question is the quality of education offered in Uganda.
Creativity is actively discouraged throughout the schooling process - pupils and students are told to memorise pre-prepared answers and solutions. Copying from those who are supposed to know better is promoted as the best practice, even at art classes or composition writing!
Uganda's traditional cultures are seen as incompatible with modernisation that is preached at schools. Instead of researching their heritage and being critical of foreign ideas, most Ugandans superficially copy European lifestyles.
Schools are perceived as the way to academic success and white-collar jobs in the city. Practical skills are allegedly only for the poor and the uneducated. Few obtain knowledge useful in Uganda"s rural areas - which make up 90% of the country.
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|  | | Edirisa is fighting this situation with a mixture of extra-curricular activities, competitions, trainings, debates and more:
- We have opened Edirisa Nursery School, which is a relaxed, positive, stimulating environment for about 100 children.
- We organise workshops at two governmental primary schools, offering art, swimming, tailoring, English, scouting and other activities that open young minds and give useful skills.
- Edirisa promotes technical education, creativity at primary schools and other issues through public lectures and debates.
- Our Through Children's Eyes rewards children for collecting cultural heritage. It is a biennial competition extended to numerous primary schools in Kabale District (13 schools in 2006). Pupils are invited to ask elders about traditions, legends, poems, anything interesting from their past and present. A local committee is in charge of pre-selection and votes from Internet users determine the winners.
- We provide school fees for selected students at technical schools and support young artists.
Edirisa Nursery School opened its doors to children in 2005, first in a church adjacent to Bufuka Primary. In March 2006 we introduced our own nursery building with three classrooms, thanks to the fundraising of Edirisa UK, a donation from municipality Piran, and help from Morje Nursery School (Slovenia). At the moment we have 125 children in three age groups: 3-year olds (baby class), 4-year olds (middle class) and 5-year olds (top class).
The curriculum was set up with the help of our Australian volunteer Nicole Savage, a professional nursery teacher. In contrast to most of the Ugandan nurseries we strongly promote child-centred learning. Children are valued as individuals and their entire well-being is considered in planning and providing education.
Bufuka Primary School has been educating children of Lake Bunyoni for more than 70 years and currently has over 661 children and 12 teachers. With seven classes (from P1 to P7), there can be close to 100 children per class. Edirisa has been working with this governmental school since 2002 when we built The Heart of Edirisa on the school land. Since then we have tried to improve the educational process in Bufuka by providing workshops for children and teachers alike. The results are clear: in 2006 Bufuka was officially named the best rural primary school of Kabale District! Not bad for a school that was once the laughing stock of the lake area... | | | |
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Volunteering - Needed Skills
We are especially interested in people with these skills or inclinations:
· Medical Students - (Any Experience)
· Teaching - (Especially Nursery School Level)
· Teaching - (Sports with kids / Swimming)
· Writing / Journalism
· Agriculture / Carpentry
· Cooking / Restaurant Management
· Hostel Management / Customer Service
· Music
· Scouting
· Photography & Film
· Art / Design / Multimedia Production
PLEASE CONTACT US AT: info@edirisa.org IF YOUR ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING US & EXPERIENCING UGANDAN LIFE
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