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        

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.

Will you give to Fount of Mercy?

In our last post we highlighted the impact Fount of Mercy had in Uganda in 2012. For those of you who supported our work, thank you! We can't do this work without the support of our donors. As we look to 2013 and all that we expect to accomplish, our hope is that, if you haven't already, you will consider joining our growing network of financial supporters. There are two main ways to give to Fount of Mercy: You can sign up to give monthly (the easiest way to give steady support). Monthly support provides Fount with the assurance that Lori and our three Ugandan program associates in Jinja will be able to keep working at the same level. Any amount helps: $10, $25, $50, $100! As a monthly supporter you'll receive a thank you gift and monthly updates from Lori on the field. You can set up a monthly donation through Network for Good. You can give a one time end of year gift via Network for Good, Paypal or through our paper bead necklace or charcoal sketch thank you gift campaigns. Thank you for being a part of Fount of Mercy's work in Uganda! www.fountofmercy.org

2012 was a GREAT year for Fount!

This year has been one of the best yet for Fount of Mercy!! Between our four programs, we did trainings for over 400 Ugandan organization leaders, teachers, and youth leaders. With most of our leaders having an average of 80-100 children under his/her influence/care, Fount has impacted countless children! What all these numbers mean is that our work has affected more Ugandan communities than ever! Thank you for your support! We can't do this work without you. We would like to take this opportunity to share some of our highlights from 2012. Program Highlights from 2012 Vocational Development: We finished writing a beginning sewing curriculum, trained 2 local teachers to teach it, taught 2 business classes, led 3 groups in practice projects, and helped set up a village bank. Educational Development: We led a Dance/Art Camp for 3 groups of youth, a long term volunteer helped us write multiple educational development trainings, and we hosted 4 trainings for local teachers. Community Health: Our Community Health Director moved to Uganda for 8 months, developed several curricula, trained a local program associate, and led 2 health workshops for local youth and youth leaders. Organization Development: A long term volunteer developed multiple trainings, hosted 4 trainings for local leaders, and hosted our 2nd Annual Leadership Conference. Travel with Purpose: We hosted 6 short-term volunteers who traveled to Uganda to work with us. Other Highlights from 2012: We employed 3 Ugandan program associates to help facilitate our work in-country; We renewed our foreign NGO (non-government organization) status for 5 more years of work in Uganda; We updated our website and applied for several grants; And Fount of Mercy was named a Top-Rated Women's Empowerment Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits! Looking Forward to 2013 We project even more success this coming year! Our vocational program plans to work with 4-6 more groups doing business classes, practice projects, sewing classes, and farming courses. Our education program is helping 1 community put in an income-generating piggery and holding 6-9 teacher trainings in 2 - 3 communities. Our community health program will hold 4 workshops. And, our organization development program will do 4 trainings. And, here at home, we will keep applying for grants, plan to hold several fundraising events, and will grow our support network. We hope you will continue to be a part of our upcoming work....together we can make 2013 the best year yet! Thank you! -the entire Fount of Mercy staff!

International Development: Lori Acton

Hello! Below is an excerpt from our International Development Director Lori Acton's recent update letter. We love Lori and so appreciate all the hard work she does in Uganda! "Hello! I hope you are having a nice fall! It seems like there is so much going on in the US these days with Hurricane Sandy, the elections, even the time change. I've been trying to keep up with everything as much as possible on the Internet, but it can be difficult. Usually, about this time of the year, I start missing fall. It is definitely my favorite season in the US. I hope it has been a good one for you! Maybe someone can watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade for me. My September ended well with a trip to the NGO board at internal affairs. About a year ago the Ugandan government changed the registration requirements for a foreign NGO (non-government organization) to work in country. Basically, we needed to apply for a replacement registration to continue doing the work we are doing. This can always be a bit tricky because you never know what you are going to get from the Ugandan government. Recently, a report was released called the East Africa Bribery Index 2012, which says that Uganda is the most corrupt nation in East Africa. Thankfully, the way has been paved for me in this process. I walked into the office and a man at the desk looks up at me and says, "Do you think you can help me with this?" I walked over to see what he was doing and managed to help him make a newsletter for his job. He and the other people in the office were so wonderful and helpful. I met one woman named Brenda, whose daughter is dealing with heart problems. I'm so thankful that this process turned out to be an easy one, but that I was also able to build relationships with new people and share life with them. I will look forward to seeing these people again in the near future. As for our registration, I am supposed to pick up our replacement at the end of this month. This will allow Fount of Mercy to work in Uganda for another five years! Of course, this isn't the only thing the Fount crew has been up to this month; we have also hosted several workshops. For organization leaders, we offered a communications class, which will be wrapping up today. We've had our largest attendance yet with 23 people. We held a follow-up workshop for preschool teachers in Masese 1 to continue to train them on using Uganda's curriculum for early education. Finally, our community health team is working on adding on to the work they did last month to help adults working with teens. We will be inviting people to attend another workshop this month to continue building knowledge on how to prevent early pregnancy and the spread of HIV/AIDS." Thanks Lori... we love you! Fount of Mercy

Educational Development: Positive Discipline

Traditional classroom discipline in Uganda usually takes the form of caning or harsh words. Recently, the Ministry of Education Uganda started an initiative/campaign to create a safer school environment that will encourage teachers/caregivers to use alternative methods to corporal punishments in the school. Along with this initiative, Fount of Mercy recently hosted a workshop titled "Positive Discipline in a Nursery Classroom" that ran from September 10th-13th. The training was facilitated by one of our volunteers from California, Valerie Nafius. It was assisted by both Kelly Underwood & Emolu Francis who are associates of Fount of Mercy working with our Educational Development Program. There were 14 participants from 7 local community-managed schools that came to this training workshop. The workshop focused on preparing teachers/caregivers with "Preschool Child Development Goals," which included social and emotional development in children, cognitive development, physical development, oral language, science skills, music skills and art skills. The workshop also went over the "Emotional Developmental Stages of a Child" from the ages of one year old all the way up to five years old. Lastly, the workshop covered "Techniques and Benefits." It taught consistent use of appropriate techniques that benefit both the teachers and the children. For example, how to develop reasonable limits how to state those limits effectively and how to help children accept their limits. This workshop was a great success and taught the caregiver/teacher that they do not need to execute corporal punishment to instill discipline in the classroom. Thanks to Valerie, Kelly and Francis for your hard work on this training! Fount of Mercy

Adult Life Skills Workshop

Day One: Kathleen We had an exciting and full first day of our Life Skills Workshop today. 26 leaders of youth attended. They all have influence on youth in some way. Maybe as a teacher, youth leader in a church, have youth living with them, etc. Most came from far away, the Islands, Kampala, surrounding villages, with a desire to collect information regarding Heath and life issues to pass on to their sphere of influence! It was encouraging! We spent time getting to know each other through games and ice breakers, a pretest to evaluate their knowledge base, a lot of open discussion, and an introduction to how AIDS/HIV is transmitted. There is so much mis information, which leaves infected individuals isolated, or silent, and allows for the spread of the disease. There were so many good questions, a lot of heart breaking stories, but one thing was certain. Everyone knows it starts with one person to make a difference. Tomorrow we have a very content heavy day of teaching and learning. 4-5 sessions on health and life will be taught (depends on time) but my class is on how HIV is transmitted. It will be very detailed. Some here believe a kiss or handshake can spread it. Day Two: Kathleen I was so encouraged today as we dove deep into our classes! Our students now are receiving the correct information. They can tell you the 4 body fluids that transmit HIV, what a portal (door) of entry into the body is, correctly identify what behaviors do and do not transmit the disease, such as hugging or hand shaking does not, but exchange of blood does! They learned about the immune system, antigens and antibodies, macrophages and much more. They also learned about Universal precautions, and the progression of the disease. Everyone was thoroughly engaged, participating, asking great questions and eager. The games have been fun. I wish I had recorded some! Tomorrow is another full day. Day Three: Kathleen We had a successful day of teaching again today! My lessons on The Difference Between Treatment and Cure, and on Effective Communication were well received. I think the most encouraging part is the way our students "Eat up" the information they are given. AND... The gratitude they express for it! We have information overload at our finger tips at home, but imagine a life without a smart phone, computer or TV. And school is not available everywhere. We have eagerness to learn what we need, when we need it, but do we apply it, or just know its there if we need it again? Our desire is that this information is multiplied many times over, positive behaviors replace negative, and in time lives can be changed for generations to come! Day Three: Vanessa This is day 3 of my first ever adult Life Skills workshop here in Jinja. It's going better than I could have hoped for with nearly 30 excited participants from as far out as the islands in the Nile, Lake Victoria, Kampala and even the States! Day Three: Carol Yesterday was another exciting day of teaching. Many of the students were not ready to leave at the end of the class and stayed to ask more questions. Correct information is a powerful tool.The only way to change risky behavior is to identify what actually is risky behavior. We have at least 4 continents represented in these classes and they are all eager to learn. They love the interactions and role playing that is involved in many of the different sections taught. Well I need to catch a bota bota to get to my class today. I "get to teach" first. 11 Days In Uganda: Carol Well it's been a very busy 11 days in Africa. Vanessa ,the Director of CHI a program of Fount of Mercy, Kathleen Lindemann, and I have been teaching life skills to volunteer leaders for different youth groups. Everyday it has grown in numbers. These leaders have come from miles around to stay for the week. They are hungary for the truth. They want their youths to learn the truth and begin to practice good life skills. The questions asked were very well thought of.