Term three update
The 2019 school year has ended! The 846 students completed their final exams, and await the results of the national tests. Charlie Roscoe visited the school in late October, and brought 13 more Dell computers donated by Norway (Maine) Savings Bank. During term break, the teachers will be honing their computer skills, and will be ready to use computers in their classrooms, primarily as research tools. Also during term break, the new three-room classroom block will be completed and ready to accept classes that have been meeting in bamboo-walled temporary classrooms. This block, along with electricity, completes the classroom upgrades.
Auma Sophie Joins Our Team in 2019!
In June, 2019, Auma Sophie, a 2013 graduate of St. Bakhita Nursery and Primary School, completed her secondary education and is now a teacher with us! She is the first St. Bakhita graduate to receive her teaching credentials and she is looking forward to giving back to the refugee community that supported her throughout her formal schooling. Following is a recent email from Sophie:
Hello Charles,
How are you over there? It has been a long since we have been in touch with each other. I am fine and so glad to write to you this time. I would like to tell you that after my o’level,I went for a two year’s course of grade lll primary teacher’s certificate at Gulu core primary teacher’s college which was completed in 2018. I was sponsored by Windle trust international under South Sudan and now our results are out, I passed it well we are still waiting for the certificate which may be out soon before the year ends. I am currently a teacher at st.bakhita N/P school teaching P1 with literacy one and two then religious education and also P5 with English language. Please sir I only don’t know how to say my thanks to you and your team for making me whom I am now. Your support towards my education has been so great and I pray God bless you so much for that. Thanks
Yours Sincerely, Auma Sophie
Term Two Update
On February 4, 2019, the 2019 school year began at St. Bakhita Nursery and Primary School in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Bweyale, Uganda. Student enrollment increased by 75 for a total of 846, with class sizes for classrooms through Primary 6 ranging from 68 to 106, with 45 in Primary 7, the last class before secondary school. In July, the students received 180 pen pal letters from Harrison Middle School in Yarmouth, Maine USA. Replies will be written when term three commences, and Charlie Roscoe will bring them back to Maine after his next visit to Uganda in October. Term two ended on August 23.
Teachers
Eighteen teachers have enthusiastically returned to their classrooms. They will be attending seminars on how to interpret the curriculum, and how to recognize and deal with behavior problems of their students. Those problems include PTSD, violence in the home and alcoholism in their families. Many of those situations are referred to medical professionals located in the UN-sponsored health center in the settlement.
Electricity and Technology
Wiring for outlets and classroom lighting is complete. In late March, the connection was made and power is on! The $4,000 project was made possible through a special appeal to SFR supporters. Laptop computers donated by Norway Savings Bank are now being used in the classrooms. The computers are accessing the RACHEL (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning) router software, which delivers free educational content to offline communities.
Facilities
Construction is underway for a new block of three classrooms for Primary 1 and 2. The rooms will be of brick construction with a metal roof, and will replace the current noisy, dirt-floored, straw-walled classrooms covered with a leaky metal roof. The next facility upgrade will be the replacement of latrines.
If you’d like to read more, please see our 2019 Newsletter.