Friday, January 25, 2013

Field Report…education development program.



Unlike US schools, which go from August to May, Ugandan schools are in session from beginning of February till the end of November.

One of the community schools in Fount of Mercy’s Education Development Cohort, named “Gospel Home”, held their end of year class promotion /graduation party celebrations recently.  This school has enjoyed and benefitted from Fount of Mercy Educational Developmental   and training programs, including:
a)      Early Childhood teacher curriculum trainings held in July 2012.

b)      Positive  discipline in a Nursery classroom conducted  in  November 2012
Among those invited to the celebrations were parents /guardians, community leaders, and representative from Fount of Mercy, Francis Emolu.
“The Director of the school and his teachers who attended the workshops expressed gratitude to Fount of Mercy for the knowledge and skills that the teachers learned and acquired from their training/workshops, [which] in turn, benefitted their learners so much.”  Francis Omulu.
School Curriculum practices like scheming and lesson planning are basic teaching tools, along with safe school environments for our children, and child-centered teaching.
The director humbly requested Fount of Mercy to include their school in future teacher training programs during 2013.
Fount of Mercy, on the other hand, was grateful for the invitation and the service their school is rendering to the community around their area.  Fount looks forward to working with them more in 2013.    
--written by Francis Emolu, Educational Development Associate        

Friday, January 18, 2013

We are smart women...

This week’s update is more personal than usual, and come from Lori Acton, our International Director, who lives full-time in Jinja, Uganda.

  “Lately, I have been giving a lot of thought though about what it is that I am so thankful for this year. This past month and a half I have had one specific lesson revisit me several times. This lesson [involves] the treatment of women in Uganda. I am so grateful to have grown up in a country and a family… that does not see my being female as a hindrance or a weakness. I have taken it for granted that I know I have value, and I am loved. These past weeks I have had countless opportunities to communicate this message, and that no one has the ability to take that away from you. The most rewarding part of this has not only seeing women receive this idea, but then pass it along the women around them who are in need of hearing it.

This last Tuesday Fount of Mercy staff attended a celebration for the end of a village bank cycle. Twenty-nine women worked very hard for six months and were [finally] collecting their savings and earnings. One representative of the group said over and over –
 
‘We are not beggars anymore. We are smart women.’”

This is why we do our work: to hear statements like the one above. Smart women can take care of their families, creating communities with less vulnerability and fewer orphans. That is our goal.