On the ground: Teacher Exchange comes full circle
For the last nine years, Otto Ben Kasule has been teaching at Anaka Secondary School, a school out in rural northern Uganda. Ben attended Anaka for grades S1—S4 [the equivalent of 7th—10th grade in the US] and credits the pride he felt for the school as his motivation for returning as a teacher. Since his years as a student at Anaka, Ben has spent almost a full decade passing on the same pride and respect to his students that his teachers had instilled in him.
Due to the conflict in northern Uganda, Anaka was displaced to a temporary school site in 2000. With the help of Invisible Children and other NGO’s, the school was able to return to its original site in 2008. Since then, the school appears and feels “different,” as Ben explained. Having overcome a difficult situation, everyone—teachers, students, and staff, alike—feel triumphant. “There is now a higher morale and more motivation to help the school,” he said.
