‘Hoe kijkt coördinator Mary Angoro terug op het project?’

De partner vertelt... van 17 september 2019 door Mary Angoro

Elk jaar vragen we onze partner hoe het project is gegaan en welke lessen de partner heeft geleerd.

Context and summary

Describe the original plan/idea for the project. Has the project been executed as planned?
The original idea was to renovation and upgrade the three middle primary school classrooms blocks into an ECD Centre. This also involved changing its entrance, its own playground and Construction of the ECD VIP Latrine. Also, the school’s main hall was to be renovated and put separators in the three classrooms so that it doubles as both a classroom and a school hall whenever needed. This is what was done without diversion from the original plan.

Give a (short) general description of the implementation of the project.

The project implementation kick started on April 30th 2019 when AEE signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with key partners including the District, church and the school to establish a relationship for the renovation of kkungu primary school.
The contractor was identified through the school management committee and the community who would give technical support throughout the project implementation. The MOU was signed on 10th May with the contractor and he was tasked to carry out the following tasks before the world servants arrived to Uganda:
•    Replacing iron sheets on the proposed ECD block
•    Preparing dusty floors and verandas for pouring concrete
•    Ensuring all materials are on the site before the team arrives
The Actual implementation of the project started on the 24th of July when the a team of 35 volunteers from WS arrived. There was a ground breaking ceremony when the World Servants team arrived at Kkungu primary school. The team was introduced to the community and to African Evangelistic Enterprise staff. Construction work started on the 25th July with the pouring of concrete on the verandas and thereafter plastering of the walls and pouring of concrete floors on the ECD classrooms as well as construction of the latrine. The team then concluded with the first coat painting of Upper primary block and the ECD block.


How do you look back on the following topics? How was it arranged, what went well, what could be done better?

Construction

Buildings worked on
The ECD Block of three classes was worked on by pouring concrete floors in the classroom, plastering in and outside the walls, painting, walls, opening new entrance and fixing doors and windows for the ECD block. The schools main hall was renovated by plastering and painting of the walls and building a verandah around. The ECD block and the head teacher’s office received a new roof with new timber and iron sheets fixed. The ECD 6 stance VIP drainable pit latrine with disability inclusion and gender considerations was successfully constructed.

Tasks to be done

The tasks were done well in line with the standards and guidelines of the ministry of education and sports of the country. The contractor come up with a work plan to guide the construction process with clear schedules and tasks for each stakeholder. Some tasks were implemented after the World Servant team had left the country. Such works include: - fixing of glasses on the doors and windows of the ECD, fixing of wood board separators in the main hall and fixing of doors on the VIP latrine and general mortar finishing. It’s important to be guided on how much work should be completed before the team arrives to Uganda.


Programs

Children program
The children program was implemented for a period of 11 days and each day the children were taught on a particular bible story. Approximately 100 children participated every day. The activity happened daily from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. The stories shared included Noah and the animals in the ark, Jonah and the whale, Moses, The red sea and the Egyptians, Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Abraham sacrificing Isaac, The good Samaritan, Joseph and his brothers, the walls of Jericho and how it collapsed after 7 days, David and Goliath and Daniel in the den of lions .
They sung song on each day of the story included who is the king of the jungle, Higher- higher Chucuwa, read your bible and pray every day.
The activity children participated in included shading the goat, tiger and bear, shading Jonah in the belly of the whale, shading the snake that tempted eve, shedding the lamb that was sacrificed, making necklaces using straws and shedding of David.
The children played the game of crossing the red sea and how the isrealities crossed successfully and the Egyptians drowned into the sea, jumping the rope, playing soccer and tick, throwing the balls, Walking with a ball on the spoon , hide and seek, Anamaria kuku

On the final day a party was organized where the children were arranged in different groups and there was face painting with awarding of medals for each child. They played different games which included dress up race, jumping rope, pairs carrying balloons with their bellies, sack race, egg on spoon race, target practice(throwing a ball and hitting the cups down), football and they sang songs included Chuchuwa and read your bible pray every day. The 120 children were thanked for attending the party and it ended at 4:00pm

Cultural and touristic outings
The different teams visited homes and one farm where they sought to understand the culture of the people in Uganda and the lifestyle. The team was welcomed and they understood how both cultures operate and work in different aspects of life. One team visited a mixed farm of chicken and cows farm. Thereafter the team visited a rock that is believed to have been one but separated as a result of volcanic eruptions at one point. On 2nd August the team visited the falls in Murchison falls national park and on 3rd the team had an early morning game drive where participants saw many different types of animals in Murchison falls national park.
The team also visited st. peters secondary school where the team was seeking to understand how the students are taught in Uganda and they appreciated that the learning culture is different from Dutch style. The students of the secondary school brought traditional clothes and the team had to wear them.
The team of volunteers would on daily basis assist in the washing of plates after supper and would do the laundry together with the laundry staff.

Life Skills program and Football for Water
The life skills program was implemented for the period of 3 days and the target school was St. peter’s C.O.U secondary school and team discussed different topics such as you are special,social inclusion and marriage and gender. The students liked the sessions because they were more interactive and they could easily engage and open up in the discussions. The voice of truth life skills program was a great success.
It would be good to capture lessons learned from discussions with the students.
There was a football match between the community youth and Netherlands teams and the community beat the team 5 to 4.The team and the community had a great time and they interacted well.


Cooperation and involvement

Leadership team World Servants
The leadership of World Servants was explicit and an amazing team that ensured that all activities were executed as planned. The leadership worked as a team in all aspects of the project implementation. They providing the necessary feedback to African Evangelistic Enterprise that enhanced project performance and useful for future engagements

Local leaders / key persons
Nansana municipal council leaders where the school is located was engaged and provided support by mobilizing the community and providing security. At the beginning of the project, community members did not participate much however as time went on they were mobilized and eventually participated. As a key lesson learnt, leaders should be mobilized deliberately to take part in project implementation and this will motivate the community to be involved as well.

Community
The first two days into project implementation very few members of Kkungu community appeared at the site. But after discussion and engagement of the key stakeholders they came up with the strategy of allocating days where parents of children in different classes would participate in the project implementation. This paid off and community participation increased.
The community contributed various food items such as eggs, carrots, sugarcane, jackfruit, cassava, bananas, watermelon, and matooke avocado, fresh beans, pumpkin, tomatoes and onions.

Beneficiaries
The direct beneficiaries were parents and pupils of Kkungu primary school and they were instrumental in the organization of different activities. One of the teachers introduced wood ball and taught the team how to play. This was an interesting experience where both team members learnt from each other. About 4 members from the school management committee came to assist in the construction. The School Management Committee and Parents Teachers Association organized dinner for the team and the team interacted with the different school administration. The teachers would also assist in translations of the children program and other activities when called upon and this saw them interact so much with the World Servants team.
AEE Uganda team would on a daily basis send staff to Kkungu primary school to assist the team in the construction work.

(Local) authorities
The Local Council authorities were not so much involved in the project implementation it was once in a while and was not so aggressive in the mobilization of the communities to participate in the project. The Uganda people defense Force (UPDF) was helpful in the provision of security services during the project implementation. The Education officer of Nansana participated in the ground breaking and the mayor participated in the handover ceremony which indicates how the district partially participated in the project.


Facilitation of the team

Accommodation
The team was accommodated at St Peter Secondary School in three classrooms with a good and friendly environment. The team was well equipped with mosquito nets. According to the feedback from the volunteers, they liked the type of accommodation that was proposed for them.
The bathrooms and toilets were in one place but well separated and marked for female and males. The females and males used each 4 toilets and 4 bathrooms respectively

Food
The participants had three meals a day that included is breakfast, lunch, supper and breaks of coffee at 10:00pm and 3:00pm. The team liked most of the meals that was similar to European menu. However local food was at times also prepared

Transportation
The bus was always available that would offer transport services for the team to different destinations whenever needed. The services received were good. AEE also provided a Toyota double cabin at the site all the time in case of emergencies. Next time the car that will carry the luggage of the team should be bigger the pickup used this year was quiet small and all the luggage would not fit.

Safety
The safety of the WS team was paramount throughout the project implementation. Security was available in the site all the time both at night and day. The security services were provided by a Private Security Company and Uganda people defense Forces / Ugandan army. The government took responsibility of providing security for the guests. 4 security men were available at the site and 2 guarded during the day and 3 during the night.


Lessons learned

Key Leaders and stakeholders should be more involved in the project right from the preparation stages and they should be tasked to mobilise the communities to participate
More sensitization of the communities to understand how the World Servant’s concept operates.
The school should play a bigger role in the mobilization of the parents to participate in the project.
life skills program should include topics such as sexuality and drug abuse because this are bad common norm among the youth in the communities