Workshop Two: Day 3 and 4

Day Three
Day Three was a ‘show what you know’ day of sorts as the participants were given the majority of the day to create educational posters and full lesson plans showing how they could incorporate environmental education into standard outcomes in the Ugandan primary curriculum. Exploring themes such as animal classification, the water cycle, soil, energy, and plant uses, the participants collaborated on some well thought-out posters and presented these to their peers.

Workshop Two: Day 1 and 2… let the good times roll!

Day One
The first day of the workshop was filled with nervous and eager anticipation as we finished our last minute set-up and lesson preparation. Before the participants arrived, we headed out to Kabalega school in Masindi for our final primary school visit. After sitting in on P3 and P4 lessons we were treated to a marvelous display of song and dance as the choir students performed two pieces that advanced them into the district finals for us. Their performance was one of indescribable joy, and I hope we might be able to display a video Courtney took on our website in the near future.

Webale

Before exploring the purpose of our trip to Uganda, the workshops, one of our JGI team members deserves to be recognised. Micheal (our JGI driver)’s linguistic and navigational skills, sense of humor, and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty helped ensure our success and he more than left his mark on both us and the workshop participants. Webale nnyo, Michael!

Interim Week: Life on the Nile

After our incredible experience on Ngamba Island, Michelle, Chris, Aidan, and Michael packed up the van and headed north to Masindi for workshop #1. Courtney and I quickly got to work planning our itinerary for our week off, and then headed to a nearby Chinese restaurant to experience the World Cup final a la African style. Wednesday saw us passing through the historically important Masindi as well, on our way up to Murchison Falls, where we dined with our former teammates and got the scoop on electronics set-up, the workshop schedule, and any other tips and tricks Michelle and Chris could offer. From the animated discussion it seemed as though the first workshop was proving to be very successful, and the hints we gleaned made us feel more confident about the workshop we would be leading the following week.

Participant Feedback Added!

Only about a month after getting back into Canada (and it shocks me – by the way – that it took this long) I am finally making some serious headway with uploading the videos from our participants.

Une autre monde…

Come with us as we explore the community of Myende, one of the villages sponsored by CSWCT, on Koome Island.

As you approach the village, your guide tells you that the village has no permanent structures. It is made up of people who come here to find work fishing, and sometimes, remain for a very long time.

Reflections on Ngamba Island

The team has just returned from a weekend on Ngamba Island, where CSWCT runs a one-of-a-kind chimpanzee sanctuary. Not only do they take care of 44 orphaned and rescued chimps, but CSWCT builds schools in the local communities around the island, and uses all the resources they have to improve the local area. The four of us had the experience of actually walking with these chimps – playing with them, feeding them, carrying and even talking to them. Having just gotten back to the mainland, here are some of our reflections.

Binders don’t build themselves!

Our fourth day of work in Uganda was spent preparing all of our materials for the workshop. It seems the person who copied the handouts didn’t collate the 45 pages. Here’s a few stats:
Binders assembled: 62
Tracks listened to: about 60
Hours spent: 4
Injuries: 1 (papercut – sorry Courtney!)
Sore backs: 4
Smiles: 86

Our trip to Kampala…

 

Kampala traffic jam

Our trip to Kampala was fast paced much like the city itself.  We were dropped off here and there, to avoid having to park, which seemed presently unobtainable.  Whether gathering our workshop supplies, visiting a local market and stopping in at the post office our surroundings  seemed to embody the same high octant attitude…get it done and get out before the afternoon jam.  The city whirled around us and I strained to take everything in.  It was a great first glance at what, I suspect this historical city can offer.

 

Day Two: Visiting the Schools

Today was spent working on the workshop materials, reviewing movies, and playing frisbee, but by far the highlight of the day was the three hours we spent visiting St. Thereza’s Primary School, just up the road from the JGI Office. This school had seven hundred students, ranging from grades one to seven.