MugishaX Diary

  Dear Diary, it’s been long since we last talked. A lot has happened, but few are worth mentioning. The big boys flexed and public schools took a couple of weeks off at the expense of the already disadvantaged learners - this and COVID 19’s disruption of classroom learning has caused an immense stress in these lots of learners, teachers and education stakeholders are still finding appropriate ways to deal with it. “…As corruption is a problem to the police officer, an undercurrent a problem to the sailor – trauma is a problem to the social worker” Pastor Ronald Wandera made this statement at the closure of the Advanced Trauma Competent Care Training at Brisk Hotel, Jinja facilitated by Julie Cooper, Elizabeth Ledama and Faith Mwankie of Trauma Free World Organized by Global Hands of Hope (GHOH) . The contemporary ground is not fertile enough to welcome trauma victims, stigma follows one who admits to having undergone or is undergoing trauma like a spelled apparition and ...

Ms. Solome Brenda Namulondo and I with the help of the staffs of St. Kalori Bugwe Primary School were able to mobilize over 120 parents to answer this old adage. It is worth noting that such a number is hard to come by in a season such as this when most people are harvesting and their priorities clear as crystal. It shows how much trust this community has placed in us in as far as the education of their children is concerned. This number almost doubled the previous meeting we had on 12 th April, 2022 under the same umbrella of #backToSchoolStayInSchoolCampaign Namutumba District, like many others in the Eastern Region is no angel when the subject under discussion pertains to high rate of school dropout. Several factors contribute to this, many that we know and many that we do not because every community is different and the context varies, always. COVID 19 saw us to a decline in the enrolment of learners when schools were finally opened this year and we are still continuing to s...

On behalf of my friend Catherine Kantono, a teacher in one of the low-income communities of Namutumba District, I’d like to introduce to you the Tell a Story Foundation’s Nights and Stories. Night and Stories bonfire event was initiated to relive the African tradition of story telling around fireplaces and raise funds to support the less privileged. It is a night hinged with live music, a movie, African tea, snacking and gaming; and it brings together people from different social spaces to connect a round a fire to connect around a fire to tell and listen to stories that build humane meaningful conversations. The third edition is happening on the 28 th of May at Speke Hotel Kampala. Tickets are for 50,000/= ugx and the proceeds are supporting the education of primary one children at Nkono Memorial Primary School in Namutumba District. In the old days, we sat around a crackling fire and listened to folklore, riddles, etc told by the elderly. Sometimes under a moonlit sky. We didn...

Dear Diary, It 's been four months since I arrived in this locale, which I had heard so little about. All I needed for this new voyage was the knowledge that there was a problem that needed to be attended to.  And that I could help make a difference  in that regard- and I can confidently tell you that I have! The early attendance of learners in January fluctuated between averages of 40 and 53 in the first week. In the second week, I was ready to rumble and thus rolled my sleeve - t he difference in my  teaching styles and multiple interactions with the learners saw an increase of about 10% that week. I don't mean to gloat, the low attendance could have as well been exacerbated by other factors, the term had just began, the parents were keeping the children for other chores, or lack of interest among several others.  This increase had seen the total number of attendees by the beginning of week 5 to 107 (43 boys and 63 girls). This was a result of several interv...

  Dear Diary, The turn up for the #BuswikiraMaraton was quite high, a surprise to many despite the 10km fundraising marathon being the first of its kind in that area – I hope it won’t be the last. This marathon at Buswikira Primary School, one of the UPE schools in the rural low-income communities of Mayuge District was to fundraise to build a toilet and rehabilitate sports facilities – an ideal that stemmed from the need for a school goal posts – the absence of which had caused a bad blood between the school and the neighbors whose trees would occasionally be cut to erect temporal goal posts. It is always a beautiful sight to see parents, leaders and different education stakeholders come together in tandem to remind us that education is and still and forever will be a basic right despite the impediments it faces – forgetting the past grudges and embracing the new light, what a beauty! The four communities that enroll their children, nieces, nephews, and who-not showed up in d...

  Dear Diary, Interesting things have happened today! But let me fill you in. On Monday I and other fellows and the H ea d teachers of their respective schools had a meeting with the Teach for Uganda Training and Support, the managing director , the heads of Training and Programs. It was a fruitful one, I would say with a itching throat. But i strongly believe that that communication was made with clarity of a crystal ball.  The rest of the week followed in the mood previously set but the events within  were finger lickin' good :-) Most of my lower primary pupils received a gift in exchange for a sizeable bag of plastics collected from and around their homes and communities. The gifts included toys of cars, airplanes, plastic balls, whistles, pencils, among others. Their happiness in showing me what they had gotten in exchange for what the community had deemed trash , was relieving; it was a contagious happiness that in turn filled me to the brim. Credit: Namu...

  Dear diary, Today I played my part - as usual, in building the nation! I woke up in spite of all ill feeling to put a brick on the house I’ve started building since this year. The children look so happy every time we meet. Minds fresh, with renewed energy for learning every day. I can already tell that something is happening. I know it, they know it. My projection is that by the end of this year, our interactions and engagement will have affected us both - I them, with English, and they I, with Lusoga/Lukono. This has been evident in the past two weeks that I have been making home visits. No local language? Fine, I managed to communicate with their parents with excellence of a stolen ballot and they were present every step of the way. Rephrasing the pronunciations of words and questions (in the local language) I jotted in my notebook with the help of a colleague - as a guiding questionnaire and expected list of  responses. Just this action in itself have given me ...

( A piece performed at the closure of a training institute at African Bible University organized by Teach for Uganda. Written and performed by Fred Sunday Mugisha, Robinah Kobuzare and Geoffrey Ojok in order of appearance) Dear Child, I am writing to you from light years away I know you’re struggling, but I am certain you will be okay. I felt an endless bottomless bitterness when I saw you the other day. I wish I could tell you that it’s gonna be different, but I just can’t. What I can do though, is to share some insights, Insights that embracing, will see you to posterity of joy, fulfillment and life, Life of experiences crafted and allowed by you – for you. Dear Child, Seasons will come when you’ll feel betrayed, by almost everything roundabout You’ll experience the grip of loneliness and solitude as an eagle above the clouds In a familiar crowd, yet so alone and distant - locked in your own reality, finding solace from within but sometimes it’s just unbearable ...

  Dear Child, I am writing to you from light years away I know you’re struggling, but I am certain you will be okay. I felt an endless bottomless bitterness when I saw you the other day. I wish I could tell you that it’s gonna be different, but I just can’t. What I can do though, is to share some insights, Insights that embracing, will see you to posterity of joy, fulfillment and life, Life of experiences crafted and allowed by you – for you. Dear Child, Seasons will come when you’ll feel betrayed, by almost everything roundabout You’ll experience the grip of loneliness and solitude as an eagle above the clouds In a familiar crowd, yet so alone and distant - locked in your own reality, finding solace from within but sometimes it’s just unbearable You can’t help but feel lost, -depressed, -insufficient, -destitute, -angry and -hungry. Evidence of adequacy yet the in-charges don’t give a care about what matters most It’s easier to go to a luncheon succeede...

Whereas article 30 of our constitution guarantees that all persons have a right to education which has been ensured by the initiation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) for the primary school age going children, it doesn’t on the other hand caters for the high enrolment of pupils in the public school which ultimately puts an insurmountable pressure on the teachers (which in most cases are few, exhausted and fatigued as a result of a single teacher teaching all the subjects per class in most instances) of those institutions. It is not news in Uganda that the universality of education puts emphasis on enrolment (access) rather than quality. With the closure of schools for over 18 months as a result of the global pandemic, the public schools have suffered increase in the number of pupils and students enrolling to attain education with the opening of the sector on 10 th January 2022. This is partly because parents were and are still afraid of sending their children back to the private...