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Burim Blog #7 from Uganda-Volunteers Teaching!

Apr 12, 2011

[From Liz—this blog is late because Burim didn’t have electricity for 5 days.  So this week we will try to post 2 blogs.]

Last week I took a 4-day break—my first since coming to Uganda in February.   Liz told me to take a break every month while in Uganda, but this trip has been so busy and there has been so much work to do that I’ve felt that I couldn’t take time off.  But last week she told me I really need to take a break, so I traveled to Kampala and Entebbe to relax for 4 days and see more of Uganda.  I also needed to meet with a local Ugandan NGO, Child2Youth, who is interested in a possible partnership with us.  So I was away for most of the week and the Youth Volunteers taught our classes without me.

It was good for the Youth Volunteers to see what it is like to be in charge and not have me around.  They teach when I am there with them, but of course it is different for them to teach by themselves.  And it is good for the volunteers to teach by themselves because they will continue teaching on their own after I leave Uganda.

I made sure they had their lesson plans and teaching material prepared and everything they needed before I left.  When I came back, they reported that everything had gone well while I was gone and they felt good teaching.  The Volunteers felt that the students respected them more than before, because the students knew who was in charge that day, and felt more confident asking questions not just about music but also about the program– like who we are and what we do, how long the program will be in Uganda, and more–and the volunteers were able to answer the questions and be the people who will really run the whole program.

The whole program in Uganda is going very well right now and our future is very promising. I am sure that our programs will continue to grow and be better, even after I leave.

In my previous trips to Uganda, every time I returned to Kosovo the Uganda program would fall apart and then when I came back I had to start all over from the beginning.  This time it is going to be different because

the Youth Volunteers are teaching with me now, and the students know that the Youth Volunteers will be the ones teaching and leading the program after I leave.  This is a summary of how things will run at each of the locations where we have programs–Pabo IDP Camp; Gulu Central High School; Holy Rosary Primary School; GUSCO; and Volunteer Training—after I return to Kosovo.

At the Pabo IDP Camp, we teach three different groups.  First is the Pabo Primary School (students age 7-14), where the choir director George has agreed to teach our classes after I am gone.  He is a very good musician and a good teacher.  I train him every time I go to the camp and he has been teaching with me and is doing good.

We teach two other groups at Pabo.  They are known at the camp as “Street Kids” (children who are not able to go to school) and “Dropouts” (teenagers who have never attended school).  Cambel, an Adult Volunteer who has been coordinating all of our programs at Pabo, will continue teaching these two groups after I leave.  Campel has never had any music education before but he has been in training with me every week since I arrived and I can see that he is a good teacher and will do a good job after I leave.

Three of our Youth Volunteers—Magada, Irene, and Isaac—are students at Gulu Central High School, and they will run our classes there after I leave.  Isaac is a new volunteer and not ready to teach yet, but he is very good at organizing things and he will make sure the students will be there and he will be the contact person between us and the school administration. Magada and Irene are both old volunteers and good teachers, they play instruments and can also lead the singing classes, and I am sure the program will do good in this school.

At Holy Rosary Primary(Elementary) School, Otto Ball, who is 25 and one of the oldest Youth Volunteers we have, will be in charge.  He was away for awhile because of his school, but he is back in Gulu now and has been coming for training with me and helping me teach at Holy Rosary.

Ocan Collins was one of the first students and the very first volunteer in our program here in Uganda.  He has been a big help to me since my return in February, and has been helping teach at the GUSCO Center for former child soldiers.  There is also a group leader at GUSCO who I have been training.  Collins will be in charge of our programs at GUSCO and this group leader will help Collins organize and teach if needed.

Collins and Irene will be in charge of the Youth Volunteer training after I leave.  They will make sure the Volunteers meet and practice together every week so they can help each other become better teachers and musicians.