Uganda Trip-7
On the afternoon of Thursday, April 3rd, we visited a secondary school, the St. Thomas More Secondary School, in the Koro/Bobi ADP area. It is one of two secondary schools in a very large area and is the only one that didn't close down during the Civil War largely because there were no boarding students.
When we arrived we were met by the student choir which walked into our area singing, and then greeted by the headmaster, Todo Alex, who introduced himself, the faculty, the faculty, and the parents organization. I have included a picture of the student choir and of Todo Alex.
We were impressed with Alex, his vision for the school, and his concern for women. Frequently education is not a high priority for women in Africa, and this holds true in Uganda. Girls tend not to go to school or leave after a time to help out in the house. They also tend to marry at a young age. In fact here is poster we saw at another school concerning the effort by educators to encourage girls to receive a good education.
Alex told us that there were sixteen teachers, fourteen of which are male and two of which are female. He then proceeded to say that it shouldn't be this way: it should be half and half. He talked about the importance of educating girls. To this end he has the plan to build a hostel to board eighty girls. The school needs a laboratory (a rudimentary science building) in order to receive accreditation from the state, and they also need a library and a new latrine system. He showed us the kiln on the property that is ready to make bricks for the buildings. Here is a picture of one of the buildings. The room with the torn sheets across the windows is his office.
One of the most moving experiences we had was listening to a four page poem written by one of the students entitled "Hate, Hate, Hate." The poem captured not only what hate has done in the world, but in this young man's life especially through the civil war and the atrocities of the LRA. After the formal part of our meeting was over and we were preparing to leave, the headmaster told us that the young man who had written and read the poem was an orphan, whose parents and relatives had been killed. We were all moved. Here is a picture of the young man (whose name I can't remember) and the principle and the student body president. The young man is on the left, Alex is in the middle, and the student body president is on Alex's right.
I think that this school might provide us an excellent opportunity to partner with through the Koro/Bobi ADP. They have a vision, a plan, and the resources to begin to implememt it.
When we arrived we were met by the student choir which walked into our area singing, and then greeted by the headmaster, Todo Alex, who introduced himself, the faculty, the faculty, and the parents organization. I have included a picture of the student choir and of Todo Alex.
We were impressed with Alex, his vision for the school, and his concern for women. Frequently education is not a high priority for women in Africa, and this holds true in Uganda. Girls tend not to go to school or leave after a time to help out in the house. They also tend to marry at a young age. In fact here is poster we saw at another school concerning the effort by educators to encourage girls to receive a good education.
Alex told us that there were sixteen teachers, fourteen of which are male and two of which are female. He then proceeded to say that it shouldn't be this way: it should be half and half. He talked about the importance of educating girls. To this end he has the plan to build a hostel to board eighty girls. The school needs a laboratory (a rudimentary science building) in order to receive accreditation from the state, and they also need a library and a new latrine system. He showed us the kiln on the property that is ready to make bricks for the buildings. Here is a picture of one of the buildings. The room with the torn sheets across the windows is his office.
One of the most moving experiences we had was listening to a four page poem written by one of the students entitled "Hate, Hate, Hate." The poem captured not only what hate has done in the world, but in this young man's life especially through the civil war and the atrocities of the LRA. After the formal part of our meeting was over and we were preparing to leave, the headmaster told us that the young man who had written and read the poem was an orphan, whose parents and relatives had been killed. We were all moved. Here is a picture of the young man (whose name I can't remember) and the principle and the student body president. The young man is on the left, Alex is in the middle, and the student body president is on Alex's right.
I think that this school might provide us an excellent opportunity to partner with through the Koro/Bobi ADP. They have a vision, a plan, and the resources to begin to implememt it.
posted by UCC Medfield at 7:31 AM
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