Calistus is a dedicated Ugandan educator. He’s the head teacher at Keyo Secondary School and is in the US participating in the Reciprocal Teacher Exchange. The teachers and students Calistus has interacted with have been captivated by his story and he’s looking forward to taking back all that he’s learned from them to Gulu. Check out the article below that appeared in the Columbia Daily Tribune, featuring Calistus and the Teacher Exchange!
-Malorie
As part of Invisible Children’s Reciprocal Teacher Exchange Program (TReX), five teachers from northern Uganda will spend a few weeks team teaching in schools around the US. Their journey starts today, and they’re excited!
Calistus, Head Teacher of Keyo Secondary School, has been looking forward to this moment for some time. “When I come to the US, I think it will be like a dream I have been looking forward to achieve,” he said recently. “I am a geography teacher. I have been teaching about America, mainly from books, but I think that this is actually going to be an opportunity to see some of those things I was seeing in pictures; it will be an opportunity for me to even step on the soil of America. When I come back I think that will actually be a historic moment.”
While in the US, Calistus and the other teachers will give presentations about East Africa and participate in team teaching, information sharing, and skill-building conferences. They will leave the teachers and students in the US with a new understanding of northern Uganda and return with a new set of skills and knowledge of American culture.
“I have a lot of stories to tell the students and the teachers about northern Uganda,” Calistus said, “which I am so excited to share with them.” We have a feeling that they’re just as excited to hear them, Calistus!
Good luck to all of our teachers participating in the TReX and a big thanks to their host families and schools!
-Malorie
Ongiya Calistus Nyeko, one of the most positive, energetic teachers we work with in Uganda.
He approached me, and beaming from ear-to-ear, shook my hand and repeated, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” After a few minutes, I finally found out what he was talking about: Calistus had just received news that he was heading to the US to participate in Invisible Children’s Reciprocal Teacher Exchange (TReX).
