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Who
are the children?
The
pre-school will care for sixty local children, between the
ages of four and five, from the village of Banda-Kyandaaza. We
are offering our services to the families who will benefit the
most. It is very difficult to choose only sixty children when the
need is so great for so many more. It is very hard to
turn away children, but our resources limit us to what we can
do.
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We
asked the two teachers and several volunteers, who are local
people, to help us determine which families were struggling
with poverty the most. We wanted to make sure that we were
offering our services to the families that could benefit the
most. Although
primary education in Uganda is supposed to be free there are
certain costs that many people cannot afford.
There is a small school fee of approximately ten
dollars per term and students must have a uniform, pencils and
notebooks. |
When a
family is unable to put enough food on the table there is no
money leftover for these extra expenses.
When a mother of six children is only earning a dollar
or two per day, where can she find the money for her
children�s education?
What
are they learning?
The
children at the pre-school will learn the standard curriculum
which includes: colors, shapes and sizes as well as
information about themselves, animals, food, the weather,
their senses and their homes and families.
The children will be taught in their local language,
Luganda, and they will also learn English, which is the
primary language in Uganda.
Lessons will be taught with an emphasis on sharing,
kindness and cooperation.
The children will be taught using a style called the
�community of learners�.
They will be seated, in groups, around tables and
instructed to share everything and help one another.
Children will be encouraged to talk to each other and
be �teachers� to their peers. The children will be taught
using lot�s of creative, hands on activities and will be
encouraged to use art and color to explore their imaginations.
A
primary focus of the pre-school will be to teach the children
to be self-sustaining. Most
of the food that the children will eat will be grown in their
own gardens, the fish will be raised in their own ponds and
they will get eggs from their own chickens.
The school will be built on three acres of land and
although a gardener and caretaker will do the majority of the
work, the children will be involved in learning and helping.
Click
here to learn more about The School.
Click
here to learn more about the children�s Monthly Progress.
Too
often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind
word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest
act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life
around ~ Leo
Buscagalia
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