S4S Update: New Textbooks!
Science books for our partner schools!
The money you all raise is split over the six basic areas of implementation at our partner schools. One of these areas involves supplying our partners with scholastic material. S4S is committed to providing the schools with the supplies they need to give their students the best possible education. One of our biggest goals is to fill the classrooms and libraries with all the textbooks the schools require to teach the Ugandan curriculum. Last week, S4S sent an order to several publishing houses in Kampala for literally thousands of science books! When delivered, all of our 11 partners will have every chemistry and physics textbook they need, meaning that S4S has hit another one of its exit targets. Using funds from Round 4, S4S hopes to be able to purchase enough books for the remaining five core subjects. As of now, our partner schools lack the books needed to teach these five subjects well. Thanks to all of you who have donated books or dollars, your support is translating into real opportunity for your Ugandan peers.
S4S Update: New Building for Atanga’s Teachers
The changing face of Atanga features the foundations of a new administrative building (foreground) and two IC-built classroom blocks (background).
Atanga is a relatively small school, and until two years ago it consisted of no more than one dilapidated shack surrounded by a few trees. Students now attend class in new classrooms and study in well-equipped laboratories. The IC impact at Atanga has been huge: S4S has invested over $370,000 in new classrooms, latrines, a power system, and teacher capacity development workshops. With that said, the students at Atanga still have basic educational needs that have not yet been met; even after all that IC has done at the school, more projects await.
The top of this year’s School Project Priority List for Atanga was a request for a new Administration Block. In our struggle to raise Atanga’s performance to a nationally competitive level, catering for the teachers and administration is equally as important as supporting the students . Only good teaching spawns effective learning. The new administrative building will be two stories high, with new offices for the Head Teacher and his support staff, as well as a huge staff room for all the teachers. The foundations are done, and soon construction on the walls will begin. Before we know it, Atanga will be yet another step closer to achieving the nurturing educational climate it is striving to create. This transformation is taking place because thousands of students around the world are banding together for Atanga!
S4S Update: Three Down, Three to Go!
Three Ugandan teachers—Ketty, Robert, and John—have been awarded two-year visas to the US
If you’ve been following this website, you know that six Ugandan teachers will head to the US for one month of team teaching in December under the S4S Reciprocal Teacher Exchange. We’re ecstatic about this upcoming trip because we’ve never brought Ugandan teachers to the US in this capacity before.
Yesterday three of the selected teachers were called for interviews at the US Embassy in Kampala. It can often be difficult to obtain an appointment for the visa interview, and the interview itself can be very challenging. In order to grant a visa, the US Embassy has to be assured that the people intending to travel, in this case our Ugandan teachers, have every intention of returning home. The three candidates traveled to Kampala overnight and sat for interviews in the early morning. After an almost disastrous start (one candidate forgot her passport!) all three got the opportunity to sit before an immigration officer and tell their story. After an agonizing couple of hours, the S4S team learned that all three candidates had been successful and were awarded two-year visas!
Invisible Children Uganda has good ties with the US Embassy, thanks in part to the great work our teams do on the ground in Gulu, but primarily from the efforts of everyone involved in the global IC movement. Without the continued publicity from your support, our teachers might not been so successful. Plans are underway for the remaining three selected teachers to sit for interviews. Keep your fingers crossed!
S4S Update: Girl’s Dorm Rising at St. Mary’s
Last year St. Mary’s Lacor School asked for a girl’s dormitory. S4S, with the help of thousands of students across the world, has combined forces and raised enough funds for a new two-story girl’s dormitory. Work is well underway on site: the walls of the first floor are done, and the huge task of casting the second floor’s concrete slab has started. Within two weeks, S4S expects the walls of the second floor to have taken shape. Before we know it, the S4S engineers will be capping off the roof. Seeing the building grow day by day is incredibly exciting!
Security of the female students and their access to education are concerns for the entire school community at St. Mary’s. In years past in Uganda, young girls have been pressured into leaving school at an early age to help at the home and start families of their own. Historically, African communities have regarded the women in their ranks as second class citizens; however, after huge efforts to sensitize communities, girls and women are becoming empowered through local and national programs. This hard-earned empowerment and the shift in the way society sees women is playing out in northern Uganda. The new girl’s dormitory at St. Mary’s Lacor was requested by the entire school community, and as such, is a prime example of how the community has shifted their traditional ways of thinking toward a more equality-based mentality.
Thanks to all those who are continuing to raise funds for St. Mary’s Lacor. Your efforts are making a huge impact!
S4S Update: 2nd Girls Dorm at Gulu High
The walls of Gulu High School's second IC-built girls dormitory are getting higher and higher with each passing day
Last month S4S signed the contract for the second phase of construction of a new girls dormitory at Gulu High School. The winning contractor is now on site and making rapid progress; walls are rising from the recently finished foundations. This project will utilize most of the funds raised for Gulu High from last year’s S4S tour.
The new dormitory will stand side by side with the existing girls dormitory completed under Round 2, with a third dormitory planned for 2010! When complete, the three new buildings will provide safe and modern living facilities for 576 female students. These dormitories have become S4S signature projects in the region, raising the bar for secondary school development in the North.
For those of you fundraising on the behalf of Gulu High, keep up the efforts—the girls are eager to move in!
Another S4S Project Completed!!
Two new Ecological Sanitation Latrine Blocks at Atanga SS
Today the S4S engineers visited Atanga SS for the final inspection of two new Ecological Sanitation Latrine Blocks. Latrines may not sound all that exciting to you guys, but the smiles on the faces of the students who get to use them indicate that these projects mean the world to them! The completion of this project means that Atanga SS are even closer to their optimum latrine ratio and that S4S are closer to yet another one of their exit targets. These blocks were completed using funds from your efforts last year, and will have a huge impact on the water and sanitation needs of the Atanga SS community. By utilising a relatively new and wholly environmentally friendly technology, S4S have built a facility that will last for decades not years,
While one contractor was finishing up with work on the latrines, another contractor has moved onto site for the construction of a new Administration Block. This new building will be two stories high, with new offices for the Head & Deputy Head Teachers, Bursar, Director of Studies and a huge staffroom on the first floor. This project is so big the contract for it’s construction has been phased into two parts to make the project manageable for the S4S engineers who are responsible for ensuring the quality of the work is the best possible. Phase one is due to be completed in Jan 2010; keep an eye on the S4S Blog for future updates on this epic project!
Ground-breaking ceremony for the new library block at Anaka. Woot WOOT!
Students from Pope Paul VI Anaka celebrate at the ground-breaking ceremony for their new library block
Today S4S introduced the students of Pope Paul VI Anaka to the construction firm who have begun building their new library block. The school held a ground-breaking ceremony as construction work began. The ceremony was hosted by the schools Head Teacher along with staff from the S4S team. Over a thousand students attended, all of which were eager to take a look at the plans for their new library block. The Head Boy and Head Girl gave short speeches thanking their friends in the US who raised the money to make this project possible, and praised Invisible Children for our continued efforts to rebuild Pope Paul VI Anaka.
The library is due to be completed by the end of January 2010, by which time books will have arrived in Gulu from last years S4S book-drive along with other text books purchased by S4S. For more information on this years book drive, check out http://www.invisiblechildren.com/bookdrive
S4S Update: New Classroom Block at Keyo SS!
The students at Keyo SS received their new IC-built two-classroom block
Today was a great day: our Country Director, Jolly Okot, and the S4S team traveled to the Keyo SS original site to hand over their first completed project—a brand new two-classroom block! As our newest partner school, Keyo SS had yet to benefit from the funds raised in Rounds 1 and 2. However, with funds from Round 3, the S4S team has managed to construct a much needed facility. These two new classrooms are only the beginning of the many structures S4S intends to build at Keyo SS.
In her welcome speech, Jolly noted that the buildings S4S is putting on the ground are the tools to take Keyo’s students out of poverty; but tools are only useful in the hands of those who work hard. “Your brain is your brawn. Use it every day,” Jolly remarked. The students committed to care for and maintain their new classrooms, pledging a huge thank you to all supporters of Keyo SS.
Donations from Round 4 are going towards a second (and hopefully third) classroom block. For more information on Keyo SS and the work that remains, please check out the S4S website.
S4S Update: BIG Day for S4S!!
Today might have been the most expensive day in Invisible Children’s history! After months of work from the S4S team and lots of meetings with our partner schools, IC Uganda identified seven massive building projects that need to be completed at various schools in the North. Today a committee of Invisible Children Staff awarded these seven projects to construction companies in Uganda. Some of our biggest projects to date, these dorms, labs, libraries, and offices are all being funded by students from around the world. Never before has S4S embarked on so many ambitious building projects at once, but we are confident that our team has the skills to rise to the task.
The projects listed below will utilize the funds S4S clubs collected in Round 3 (and will ensure that the S4S team here in Gulu is very busy for months to come). The projects are:
- Construction of a new girls dorm at Awere Secondary School
- Construction of a second girls dorm at Gulu High School
- Completion of the girls dorm at St. Mary’s College Lacor
- Construction of a new laboratory block at Pabbo Secondary School
- Construction of a new administrative block at Atanga Secondary School
- Construction of a new library block at Anaka Secondary School
- Refurbishment of the library block at Layibi College
The value of these projects totals $622,000 US! This means that the bulk of Round 3 funds are now committed to projects, and that the funds raised in Round 4 are more urgent than ever.
On the Ground: S4S Update from Uganda
Walter Knox, Head Teacher at Pabbo Secondary School, poses with the new generator Invisible Children provided for his students
When schools outside of Uganda raise money for the Schools for Schools Program (S4S), that money gets spent in two ways at our 11 Ugandan partner schools: on ‘hardware’ (physical construction projects) and ‘software’ (curriculum development, teacher training, and teacher exchange placements, among other things.)
As always, S4S is charging full-steam ahead with the implementation of its software and hardware projects here in Uganda. I just got an update today from Patrick, the Schools for Schools Program Manager. Our four full-time S4S engineers are busy checking up on contractors and evaluating bids; our Education Officer and her assistant are sorting out placements for Ugandan teachers slated to visit the US.
Check out all of the exciting stuff that’s happening on the S4S front in the next few weeks.
Student Trip Blog
Above: Visiting students look out over the Ugandan countryside from atop boulders at Ft. Patiko
Every year, IC organizes a trip for its top fundraising students in the Schools for Schools program. The trip—a two-week, all-expenses paid adventure in Uganda—took place a few weeks ago. Twenty students flew out to see firsthand the way their efforts inspired educational progress in the North. We visited partner schools, met with mentors, explored the local market, shadowed students, went rafting on the Nile, and searched for lions.
The trip was awesome. But don’t take my word for it—check out what one of the American students wrote about her trip.
Want to come out to Uganda next summer with IC? Easy! Kick it into high gear this fall when the next Schools for Schools fundraising competition gets rolling, raise the most money in your cluster, and then pack your bags!
Not sure how the whole Schools for Schools thing works? Check this out.
Schools 4 Schools: Summer Trip 2009
Above: S4S trip winners on their last day in Uganda
Above: Students watch as villagers come together to save and loan money at a weekly savings group meeting
Now I know what type of student collects 30,000 books. I understand what sort of teenager is able to mobilize a community to donate $25,000 toward a cause. The profile of such a student looks something like this: mature beyond one’s age, impressively personable, intelligent, able to problem-solve with a certain type of hyperactive creativity, driven, and—this one is almost more important than the other traits combined—a belief in one’s potential to change the world.
When 20 students from the top fundraising schools in IC’s Schools for Schools (S4S) program arrived at our house in Gulu at the end of June, we sat everyone down for a chat. After reminding everyone to wear bug spray at dusk, and once we had explained how the pit latrine can save you if the water’s out, we talked about something a bit more meaty—the point of the trip.