This week we celebrated Heroes Day in Uganda, you can celebrate any hero on the day you want to. Last year Australian Irene Gleeson was honoured as a ‘National Hero’ here in Uganda by president Musevini – possibly many Australians have heard of the wonderful work Irene Gleeson did during the war years up here in the north and what wonderful work is still happening under her charity (click here for their website). I had the privilege this week of travelling to Kitgum (our neighbouring district) to visit the Irene Gleeson Foundation and train their primary school teachers. Although this is a school run by a charity, there is still a big need for teacher training and to work closely with teachers to lift the standards of reading and writing. My intern, Rachel, and I discovered this when we did a couple of experiment/demonstration lessons with P1 and P4 children during the training at the school. The teachers, however, were extremely enthusiastic and eager to learn new teaching methods. They said this was one area they really wanted help on. I hope to return next term to see how the teachers are getting on…
A demonstration lesson with P1.
Jody and Rachel giving a demonstration phonics lesson during a training session with teachers at The Irene Gleeson Foundation’s primary school.
A teacher practising some of what she has learnt during a training session.
Dan and Jodes... in Gulu, Uganda 