The trip that will change your life

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Do you find yourself complaining about the photocopier jamming again? Or perhaps the appalling coffee in the staff room? Or the gridlock on the way into school?

We know that every school from the UK to Uganda has its problems and we would never belittle them. But we would like to invite you on a trip of a lifetime - a ten-day adventure to the rural primary schools Build Africa supports in Uganda.

It's a trip that will "touch the roots of your soul":

“As I scanned each classroom, the cramped, dingy conditions left me in a state of shock. Eighty six children, sardined onto wooden benches lined the room, and my mind began flashing up images of our spacious, vibrant classrooms with resources lining the perimeter of the walls. It was then that something happened that touched the roots of my soul.” Cara, a teacher (after visiting a Build Africa supported school in Uganda in 2014)

What's on offer

Build Africa’s ten-day trip to the rural primary schools it supports in Uganda will open your eyes and heart and change your life in all sorts of ways. And you will be able to make a huge difference to the Ugandan pupils and teachers you meet. Using your experience, knowledge and skills as a qualified teacher in the UK, you will inspire and be inspired by the attitude of pupils, staff and parents at Ugandan schools who operate with woefully inadequate resources but enormous enthusiasm.

Uganda in Africa - Click to enlarge
(Image: japanafricanet.com)

“I have seen parents taking real pride in their local school, particularly when they have come together to form their own schools, because their children would have had to walk over 15km to the nearest alternative. Fifty parents came to meet us to talk to us about their school. I would certainly like that kind of parental support at my UK school.”

There are so many benefits for you and the Ugandan schools you will visit. It’s a cliché, but it really is a win-win situation. You will be part of a group of like-minded, qualified UK teachers who will be there to share and enhance your experience. And our exceptional Build Africa Uganda team will accompany you throughout your trip and help you make the most of every opportunity to learn about this very different culture.

Making a difference

It is one thing to read about exposed and dilapidated classrooms crammed to the rafters with up to 150 pupils at a time, classrooms with no computers and not enough desks or text books, but it is a very different thing to experience it first-hand. It is something that will really hit home when you witness it for yourself, we can guarantee you that.

“As I stood in the shell of a brick-built classroom with the children sitting on the dirty floor, perched upon stones or having to stand at the back in order to see the handwritten lesson held up on the wall by a small piece of masking tape, I truly appreciated how incredibly lucky we are within our schools at home and just how much we take for granted.”

People often chat about ‘making a difference’ but never actually do anything about it. Well this is your chance to do more than just imagine what it would be like. It is an amazing opportunity to exchange ideas on teaching methods, to experience a completely different culture and witness the daily raft of challenges that Build Africa’s Ugandan schools face. Perhaps you will become an advocate for our work as a result. We certainly hope so.

A unique insight into another life

“At lunch time, the children whose parents have contributed towards it will eat a meal of maize and beans, but the majority of pupils in the school will forage amongst the mango trees for fruit and, failing success, go without food all day.”

You will be getting a unique insight into a very different world, but you will be surprised to find that in spite of all the obvious differences between the two countries (particularly in terms of resources), there are also many challenges in common. The long hours and heavy workload may be depressingly familiar, but that does mean that you will be able to share your experiences of these problems with the Ugandan teachers - like-minded professionals who are deal with the same day-to-day issues as you.

You will have helped improve the lives of schoolchildren in a desperately poor part of the world and that experience cannot fail to enrich you too. When you return home to your centrally-heated classroom with its internet access and a mere 30 pupils, you’ll probably still have gripes about your life as a teacher. Of course you will – you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t. But having witnessed first-hand the challenges in our Ugandan schools, hopefully your perspective will have changed and the little things won’t grate quite so much.

Your help would be enormously appreciated and one thing you are guaranteed of is a warm welcome:

“The headteacher was incredibly welcoming and clearly very proud of her school and the education that her team were providing. The children giggled as we shared photos with them. There is a massive culture of music and we were subject to many beautiful welcome songs.”

Where do I sign up?!

The Build Africa Uganda Trip is self-funded, but by raising your own funds for the trip you not only help us to continue our vital programmes within Ugandan schools, but also those who sponsor you or help you raise funds for the trip will hear about and have an emotional investment in both your trip and our work.

Details of this once-in-a-lifetime trip are available on the Build Africa website, but if you have any further queries whatsoever, please contact the trip organiser, Deirdre Bruce-Brand on 01892 519619 or email deirdre@build-africa.org.uk and she will be happy to talk through any questions.

So what was it that touched the very roots of Cara’s soul – our teacher quoted right at the start of this article? We’ll let her finish the story: 

“In spite of all the deprivation, the deeply upsetting lack of resources and the 86 pupils crushed together in the shell of the classroom, the man teaching the class transmitted his love of learning to the children through his voice, facial expressions and hand gestures. Every child was engaged and then without warning, on a signal from their teacher, they turned to me and sang the most moving song of welcome. In the sea of little faces turned up towards me, I could see the light of hope in their eyes, but also something else, the fear … the fear of hunger … of a life of constant struggle, and I was moved to tears. I knew, I for one, would never be the same again and I was so glad I overcame my fears and came on the trip.”

So if you have a spirit of adventure… if you would want to escape the same old, same old… if you are ready for a profoundly rewarding experience that will change your life and the lives of those you meet, then please don’t hesitate. Get in touch with us and together we will get you started on the trip of your lifetime.

That staff room coffee will never taste the same again!

All images © Build Africa unless otherwise stated

Top 5 websites for teaching about conflict and genocide

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(Image: bbc.co.uk)

August 2014 will mark the centenary of the start of World War I - the bloodiest human conflict the world had ever known. The theme of conflict and by extension, genocide, is on many minds. Have we learnt anything in the last 100 years?

Apparently not. Wars and genocides killed nearly 170 million people during the twentieth century,  and many more since.This makes for a sensitive subject, and one that poses many challenges when working out how to broach the subject in the classroom.

How do we make learning about genocide lively and engaging for students of all ages and abilities? How do we do this and still retain the respect such a subject deserves? And the big one – how do we make such horrific events relevant and meaningful to our students? After all, the death toll is merely that – a figure – and it can be very easy to detach ourselves from dry facts and long lists of statistics.

We've picked out what we think are the best 5 websites for teaching about conflict and genocide. A key theme threading its way through each and every one of them is that conflict and genocide is not at all a thing of the past. It’s happening now, it’s relevant to all of us, and there are things that we, as teachers, students and ordinary human beings, can do. 

It’s a lovely approach to take when teaching about war and conflict, and as well as a range of teaching tools, there are plenty of practical ideas on these sites for awareness-raising activities and initiatives that students might be motivated to set up in their own schools.

1. British Red Cross
The teaching section of this site is very philosophically inclined – most of the resources are aiming to develop students’ questioning and critical thinking skills.

You’ll find lesson plans, assembly kits and a whole array of multimedia resources. Some of it is less relevant to conflict and genocide, but there are some fantastic lesson plans for a range of age groups, covering subjects such as:

• prisoners of war
• war crimes trials
• the 2011 UK riots
• child soldiers
• refugees (for both secondary and primary)
• terrorism.

There are some very poignant and compelling images here – great discussion starters.

Also worth a look is the 'Quick activities' section, which features a variety of unusual lesson starters and activities, including charming your way through a hostile checkpoint in a troubled country, exploring daily life in a war zone, and an interesting discussion on acting with humanity  and morality during war.

2. Children of Conflict
An offshoot of the BBC’s World Service, Children of Conflict is an awareness-raising initiative, and as such, aims to shock. It focuses on the stories of children who have lived and are still living through wars and conflict - in particular, child soldiers, lost children, wounded children, children running households (generally orphans with younger siblings) and child workers.

The information in each of the main sections is direct and simply put. A child with only moderate literacy skills would have no problem navigating the site and reading the information. You’ll also find quotes and stories from children all over the world here, all in the child’s own words, translated directly and shocking in their simplicity.

The majority of quotes are from school-age children between the ages of ten and 17, which should make them all the more thought-provoking and relevant to our students. It might encourage them to ask, ‘What would I do in their shoes? How would I feel? How could I cope?’

3. Hiroshima Remembered
A fantastic resource for any project or research assignment on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this website tells the story right from the testing of the bombs all the way through to the Japanese surrender and beyond

There’s a substantial number of photographs, a couple of maps and a few short video clips of the explosion and its aftermath. You'll also find a selection of brief biographies of those behind the design, testing and dropping of the bombs – very useful, as the articles themselves don’t waste much time explaining who’s who.

If your students are investigating whether the bombings can be justified, then the 'Historical Documents' section is especially worth pointing them towards. In it, you’ll find a compilation of documents, including lead nuclear researcher Leo Svilard's petition to the president arguing against using his newly developed atomic weapon on innocent civilians, the White House press release on the Hiroshima bombings, and the personal reflections of President Harry Truman on giving the order to drop the bombs. A lot of interesting and thought-provoking resources here – the highlight of the site as far as we're concerned.

4. A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
A must visit for teachers of all key stages – and students too.

(Image: thephilanews.com)

Aside from pages and pages of facts, figures, eyewitness accounts, photographs and lesson plans, you'll also find a massive compilation of multimedia resources such as photographs, video clips, music, maps, bibliographies and more.

Highlights include hundreds of primary source documents related to the Holocaust, and a collection of virtual reality movies. These virtual reality movies – essentially interactive panoramas – will take you and your class on a virtual tour around concentration camps, Nazi ghettoes and Holocaust war memorials. Especially poignant are the images from Majdanek camp and killing centre, which lead you through the final journey of the Nazi’s many gassing victims – beginning with the undressing room and ending in the crematorium. 

For many students, the Holocaust is a difficult thing to comprehend – these panoramas are an effective way to make it real, and might also stimulate some interesting responses through creative writing, drama or music.

5. Rwandan Stories
A striking site, Rwandan Stories traces the history of the Rwandan Genocide right from its origins, all the way through to the nation’s recent and rocky recovery.

The articles are clearly organised and categorised, and the information included is extensive.
There are some stunning photographs here, and a large number of fantastic video clips, the majority of which are around two to three minutes long, making them perfect for a classroom setting.

Highlights include ‘My friend the killer’, the firsthand account of a young woman who became friends with one of the interahamwe militia, and ‘A good man’, in which a young Rwandan man who lost over fifty family members during the genocide, recounts his grandfather’s murder.

The site is full of stories like these, and not only from journalists, relief workers and victims of the genocide either. The most interesting and unique aspect of this site is that it includes stories from those who participated in the genocide too – the killers. 

Their tales of brutal murder are chilling, but reading through, you realise that they are people too. It’s a sobering thought, and has such potential for deep exploration, especially with older students, providing a fantastic starting point for all sorts of philosophical enquiries into morality, prejudice and dehumanisation.

The killers speak
(Image: rwandanstories.org)

Reading in roles - Collaborative reading task (with free resources!)

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Reading can often become a very isolated activity in the schools. Regular classroom reading sessions are great for getting kids in the habit of reading, but children are social creatures and too often, such sessions involve sitting in silence with a book the child may or may not find interesting. Not many skills being developed there!

Reading at GCSE level and beyond requires a range of skills. Students have to read for meaning (hidden or otherwise) and form opinions. They will have to question a text, summarise it, clarify it to themselves and the examiner, and even make predictions about what the text implies will happen next.

You don't have to wait until the students are studying GCSE English to teach these skills... you can start as early as primary school!

Ever heard of the reciprocal reading roles? 
If you're a subscriber to our magazine, you'll be familiar with this reading task as it's often featured in the free cross curricular project plan published with each issue.

The purpose of this activity is to encourage active thinking and reading through close examination of a text. This can be fiction, non-fiction, a short story, an extract from a novel, a historical account - anything you like!

This activity can be used by primary teachers in Years 3-6, and also in secondary schools, in years 7-9.

Here's how it works:

1. Split your class into groups of four (five, if absolutely necessary, but four is preferable).

2. Assign each student with the group a reading role. The roles are:

• SUMMARISER – Think beyond what actually happens in the text. Identify the three most important events/details. Why are they important? Are they connected in any way?
• QUESTIONER – Pose at least three questions which look at the text in depth. Try to ask open, challenging questions. Address confusions that will encourage thought and provoke discussion. 
• CLARIFIER – Make a note of any words or phrases that will need to be checked. Are there any ideas or issues that need to be clarified to make the reading clear and easy to understand? To help to clarify, can you think of any ways that this section links with other sections and what you already know? 
• PREDICTOR – Identify at least three text-related predictions, based on how your response to the text is developing. This will help your group to articulate what will happen next.

If there is a fifth group member, he or she becomes the group director, ensuring all the roles are undertaken conscientiously in the group.

3. Hand out the reading roles cards (these can be downloaded from our website here). These explain what each role entails in more detail. They will need to be cut out, beforehand if more convenient, and folded so they stand like place names. The tabs on the outer edges can be folded inwards to increase stability.

4. Each group member reads through the text from their assigned perspective. They work independently, taking responsibility for their own role, but in a collaborative way, discussing their findings with the group and making links between each role.

5. Students record their findings by contributing to the group record sheet (download this here). This grid can be photocopied at the end and distributed to each member for a permanent record.

You can download an alternative collection sheet here. This splits the main aspects of the text down into sections (i.e. key people, actions, locations, links). Students can then categorise their summary/clarifications/questions/prediction according to each area.

You many need to spend some time beforehand explaining the reciprocal reading roles to your students, but it won't be long before they've gotten the hang of it! This activity can be used over and over again, as students take on different roles and develop a wide range of reading skills, ready for use later on in their schooling.

This activity was designed by Jane Jones. Jane creates the cross curricular projects included for free with each issue of Creative Teaching and Learning magazine. You can subscribe to the magazine here.

Interested in our cross curricular projects?

Subscribers to Creative Teaching and Learning can access all our cross curricular projects for free. If you're not a subscriber, don't panic! You can purchase the projects for £36 each, no subscription required.

Projects available for purchase include:

• The Princes in the Tower - A historical investigation

• Investigating local history

• Mysteries of the Middle Ages

• World War II

• The Titanic
• The Olympics
• Tutankhamun and the Ancient Egyptians