Myron attends a small ‘homeschool co-operative’ in Gulu. The phrase ‘homeschool co-operative’ doesn’t really describe it well: it’s more of a school supported by like-minded parents – many who are missionaries and several Ugandan parents who want an alternative education for their children. We currently employ a few Ugandan teachers and follow a UK curriculum.
Myron does love it. He is extremely social (if you haven’t realised this already) and loves interacting and learning with the other children there.
However this may all end very soon. Unfortunately one teacher has left to seek employment in Kampala, another is about to follow at the end of the year and currently we can’t find any quality teachers and mentors willing to join us!
Parents are involved in a wide range of services to the community, ranging from a parent who is a lawyer and works on child protection; a geologist who works with increasing access to water and community bore holes; a speech therapist helping to mentor and establish a local speech therapy outreach; church pastors; parents working in the area of discipleship and many others.
The video below is several months old now (one teacher in the film has already left, another finishes at the end of this week), however it does help to capture the feel of the school.
We have moved to a beautiful new premises and we now need some more teachers! I have been helping occasionally with teacher supervisions, however I can’t throw myself into this project when I have our own organisation READ for Life to oversee.
Some of you may also think, how odd – we have a teacher’s training college but can’t find quality teachers! Our college focuses on early years (teaching pre-school age children), and the greatest need at the moment at the homeschool co-operative is to be teaching primary-age children (6-9 year olds).
This post is a request for prayer: please pray that we can find some teachers pretty soon! A combination of a couple of great Ugandan teachers who are quick learners and willing to try something new, as well as an expat teacher who can help mentor these new teachers.
The alternative looks pretty grim: we may all be forced to homeschool full time, which for some will force them out of the country. And for those who will try to juggle homeschooling and our work here, our work here will certainly suffer. If you do have any leads, please get in touch!
And… pray!
Dan and Jodes... in Gulu, Uganda 