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Uganda

Child-to-Child Uganda

Organisation and activities

Activities for Child-to-Child Uganda began in 1983. They are organised by the National Coordination team and are implemented in primary schools, teachers’ colleges and Kyambogo University, a National University charged with teacher training in Uganda. Child-to-Child Uganda works with the Ministry of Education, District Education Officers and Inspectors of Schools. They also network with one of the Public Health Nurses Colleges in Uganda to enhance CtC integration in the Public Health Nurses Curriculum and thus promote community school health. Save the Children in Uganda, Healthlink Worldwide UK, in partnership with Kyambogo University, provides funding for these activities.

Numerous primary schools are involved, most in Kampala and surrounding districts. Certain teachers’ colleges have been involved and the unit maintains its coordinating office at Kyambogo University whose education students learn about the approach and are encouraged to practise it. The activities, the larger number of which are health focused, are described by the unit as:

• Promotion of health in primary schools, Teachers’ Colleges and Kyambogo University through child/student participation.
• Promotion of child participation in classroom learning/teaching.
• Promoting participation of children with disabilities.
• Promoting environmental education in schools.
• Promoting HIV/AIDS prevention among children.

The last is a major focus of the unit’s activities.

Children’s participation is encouraged through:

• the promotion of active approaches in and beyond the classroom, including drama, discussion groups, draw-and-write techniques and production of posters. In particular children are encouraged to write stories, poems and true-life experiences about HIV/AIDS and other health socio-economic issues. The six-step approach is used.
• formation of peer counselling clubs.
• formation of children’s committees.
• formation of peer classroom study groups.

Different activities are undertaken at different participating schools (see below).

Health in and out of schools

A number of schools regard themselves as Child-to-Child schools and the approach is practised both in and out of class.

The Coordinating unit lists the following:

• Teaching all subjects, e.g. through peer teaching and learning.
• Forming Health clubs as well as peer counselling and information-sharing clubs.
• Organising inter-school health/environmental competitions.
• Children’s performance to rest of school through drama, songs and poems.
• Writing posters with health messages.
• Performing to parents and community.

Monitoring

The unit reports:

• A monitoring tool has been developed. It is to be given to schools and college for participatory self-monitoring and evaluation.
• Visits of the National Coordination team.
• Meetings with coordinators and district leaders.

Training

In addition to its participation in training teachers and heads the unit has also offered some training to Inspectors of Schools, Tutors in Teachers’ Colleges, Kyambogo University staff, Ministry of Education staff and Public Health Nurses (Ministry of Health).

Materials

The core unit uses all current Child-to-Child materials as resources for training, together with a number of other supplementary ones such as those developed by programmes which promote life skills.

Some of these materials also find their way into schools. There is considerable use of the Child-to-Child readers in schools (5,000 have been purchased from Longman in the last three years.) In addtion, the unit itself develops posters and in the past has printed children’s newsletters and developed brochures describing the activities of Child-to-Child.

Child-to-Child Uganda
Address: P.O. Box 1, Kyambogo, Kampala, Uganda
Tel: 00 256 41 285002/286238
Fax: 00 256 41 220464
E-mail: geriagloria@yahoo.co.uk or davidngobi@yahoo.co.uk
Contact names: Gloria Geria or David Ngobi

Date: 2005
Source: Child-to-Child Uganda