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Click on any photo to see a full-sized version of it.
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| Partnership.
Head Teacher Robert Inyalio receives new DVD player from RPU Executive
Director Elaine Griswold and President Joe Griswold. In the center,
Project Manager David Bakeine looks on, while Head Boy Danniel
Sserwadda admires the new machine. |
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Mustard Seed Academy opened in January 2009, we welcomed over 150
sponsored children who live in Lukaya, a truck stop town along the main
highway in southern Uganda. They had been attending other schools in
the town, none of which provided the educational support and approaches
to teaching and learning that are most effective for children from poor
backgrounds. Our continuing mission is to serve the orphans and poor
families of this struggling community by providing high quality pre-
and primary school education that enable children to become life-long
learners. The school emerged from a partnership between Ugandan
leaders and American sponsors coordinated by Real Partners Uganda. |
Children
are enrolled starting at 3 years of age into the "baby" class of the
preschool. They progress to the "top class" over the next
two years and are ready to enter Primary 1 at the age of 6 or 7 years.
The children represent a cross-section of the town and come from
Protestant, Catholic and Muslim families. Many of the children are
orphans living with extended families or with a poor single parent.
Others are from fee-paying families who pay part or all of the school
fees. Most children speak Luganda in their homes, but they learn
English at school. When children enter school, most are small for their
ages and some are obviously malnourished. After just a year at Mustard Seed Academy there are dramatic changes in their health, confidence, and
behavior. About 190 of the kids are sponsored by American friends, but
many more await sponsors. Learn how you can Sponsor a Child...
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A
few of the 182 children who participated in a drawing workshop led by
Board Member Kathryn Hiscock during a special Saturday session. Kids
learned to draw a lion using shapes they knew.
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Peter
Katongole shown here with RPU President Joe Griwold is disabled and an
orphan. Without his American sponsor he could not attend school.
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Dr
Peter Kizza, shown here with some students from his nursing program,
provides health care for Mustard Seed Academy students and staff. He also sits
on the Tree of Life Board of Directors.
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The
faculty and staff at Mustard Seed Academy work to care for the "whole child", not just
to educate them. Each child has a uniform package that includes a "dress
up outfit" which is lavender checked, and a "sports kit" that consists of
green shorts and a yellow logo tee shirt. Each child receives one or more meals per day,
depending on the length of their school sessions. Students receive
emergency and periodic health care through the cooperation of nearby
Kalungi Health Clinic. And children participate in learning activities,
tailored to their age and individual capabilities. English
language learning is emphasized throughout, but especially in the pre-school years.
Finally, teachers provide for spiritual growth of the children,
especially through songs, story telling, and the witness of their
personal behavior. Learn how you can provide for a child...
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Lunch is cooking. Nutritious beans, rice and vegetable dishes cooked over wood fires are typical "academic fare" for children and teachers here. There are never any left overs. In the morning students eat a maize and sugar-based posho that is sipped from the colorful cups shown to the right.
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A lot of dishes to wash. At MSA we have a cook and assistant to prepare food for the 257 children and 11 staff members who eat well each day. Our cooks also double as dishwashers. Feeding is one key to good school attendance as well as good growth and learning for the children. Teachers and staff get meals as an employment benefit.
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Offices
are to the left with pre-schoolers in the white building and primary
children in the painted building to the right, and another one around the
corner, not shown here.
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Currently
Mustard Seed Academy occupies a small campus in a residential area
close to where most children live. The buildings surround a central
garden shown in the picture. New construction was completed in early
2009 for the start of school in early
February. In 2006 RPU provided
the funds for the purchase of a 10-acre campus that will become the
site for further development over the next several years. The larger campus, located just 200 yards from the current site, will include an
upper primary school, an organic farm, a cultural center for tourism
and faculty housing. Learn how you can help us develop the campus....
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The
faculty of 7 certified pre- and primary school teachers offer regular
and special subjects to the 257 children at Mustard Seed Academy. Most
live in apartments, rented by the school right in Lukaya. All teachers
are provided with two "meals" per day, with a supplemented coffee break
in the morning and a large lunch in early afternoon. They have a long
day, arriving at 7am when parents begin dropping off their children,
and many do not leave until five. Unlike their counterparts in
government schools, our teachers have classes limited to about 35
students, and so are able to provide some individual attention.
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Betty Anyait joined the Mustard Seed Academy teaching staff in January of 2009 and will be teaching the P-2 students (7-year-olds). We look forward to working with her and finding a sponsor who will support her work.
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New teachers James Agie and Francis Kyambadde are both experienced professionals who left other positions for an opportunity to work at MSA. James teaches P-4 and Francis's class P-3 is right next door. Both need sponsors.
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The
faculty is led by Head Teacher John Robert Inyalio. The teachers are
energetic and willing to help in a variety of tasks including coaching
sports teams, organizing celebrations on open days, and serving in the
parent-teacher organization. Teacher salaries range from $1500-2500
annually and benefits include food, housing allowance, and health
care. Four teachers are sponsored by families in the United States.
To learn how you can sponsor a teacher, CLICK HERE......
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The Curriculum and Methods
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Children
at Mustard Seed Academy's Primary 4 class are eager to provide the answer to Mr. Agi question.
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Instruction
in the pre-school and nursery focuses on English language learning and
foundational information and skills. The approach uses active learning
as much as possible with a variety of strategies. One that is
particularly successful is using song and dance activities, so that
children are singing songs that teach them not only the English words
but also associated actions and objects. In "Parts of My Body" children
demonstrate and move the parts as they name them during an active group
dance, and counting activities might have them simulate picking mangoes
or other fruits. Children at the ages of 3-6 have special abilities to
pick up languages and produce the correct sounds, a capacity that
declines later for most
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| individuals. Students frequently perform their
songs and skits as part of special all-school celebrations called "open
days" near the end of the term. Proud parents and guests witness,
firsthand, what they have achieved. Curriculum
in the primary levels is specified, in part, by government regulations
that identify objectives of the instruction. Because Mustard Seed
classes have no more than 35 children per teacher, compared to more
than double that number in most government schools, the teachers can
provide individual attention to each student. Children and their
teachers are provided with far more learning materials and supplies
than typical Ugandan schools, so a great deal can be accomplished. Learn how you can purchase supplies and learning materials... |
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