soft power education education thru friendship thru adventure registered charity number 1098936

Soft Power EducationEducation thru Friendship thru Adventure

registered charity number 1098936

The moving force of history was, in the past, "hard power" - in the form of military might, political authority, and wealth. What we have seen in recent years, however, is a decrease in the relative importance of this factor, and in its stead a remarkable increase in the importance of "soft power"- factors such as knowledge and information, culture, ideas and systems."

Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda at Harvard University, Boston, USA on September 26, 1991

The Meaning of Soft Power

www.softpowereducation.com

British registered charity and Ugandan NGO workingin rural Uganda where the majority of people live on lessthan $1 a day. We work in four directly related areas:

• Refurbishment of Primary Schools – providing clean, safe and inspiring learning environments

• Education Centres – fun, dynamic learning centres to complement class based learning for our partner schools

• Through partnerships bringing conservation to the classroom

• Community Development Programme – extending potential of the education centres to adult learning


Who are we and what do we do?

School Refurbishment ProgrammeThe Ugandan Government introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997. This meant that 4 children from every family could attend Primary School for free and this wasa good step towards achieving the 2nd Millennium Development Goal (MDG). However, this also put a huge strain onto an already overcrowded education system.

Schools were already• Overcrowded• Dilapidated with many condemned buildings• Lacking resources• Lacking qualified teachers

So when enrolment in Primary Education rose from 2.3 million to 7.5 million in just over 2 years (UNICEF) schools struggled to cope


School Refurbishment Programme In 2003 we set ourselves a five year plan to renovate and refurbish the 20 Government

Primary Schools in the Budondo Sub-county of Jinja, Uganda Now, in 2008, we have successfully completed this plan... and a lot more! We have now worked in 5 different sub counties and renovated and refurbished over

370 classrooms at 34 Primary Schools.

What does that mean?• Renovating existing classrooms – fixing windows, doors, concreting floors• Demolishing condemned classrooms and rebuilding• Building new additional classrooms to reduce class sizes• Building pit latrines• Installing water catchment tanks• Painting the entire school inside and out including teaching aids on the classroom walls



Renovated, refurbished and painted over 135 classrooms Built and painted 57 brand new classrooms Painted (without refurb works) 130 classrooms TOTAL OF 372 classrooms affected by SPE! Installed 17 x 8,000 litre, 4 x 50,000 litre, 2 x 1,000 litre and 1 x

3,000 water catchment tanks Build 56 pit latrines Painted all schools inside and out including teaching aids

School Refurbishment Programme – Achievements

Before


Buyala St Pauls Primary School, Budondo Sub County, Jinja

After


Buyala St Pauls Primary School after Soft Power Education

Teaching Aids


Most Government Primary Schools in Uganda cannot afford text books for the pupils. We therefore paint teaching aids on the classroom walls to assist the teachers.

School Refurbishment Programme – Achievements

In a 2007 survey of our 22 partner schools, the number of pupils enrolled was 21,816. If you include the other 11 schools we have worked

at and estimate the total enrolment...OVER 33,000 PUPILS HAVE BENEFITED FROM

SPE!


Before


Kivabuka Primary School, Budondo Sub County, Jinja

After


The Amagezi Education Centre

Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand”


The Amagezi Education Centre -School Programme

• To enthuse children about education and reduce Primary School drop out rates

• Complementary learning environment to assist UPE partner schools

• Opportunity for P6 students to attend sessions in Agriculture, Science, Art, Drama and ICT

• A unique environment offering practical and interactive learning


School Programme• 60 x P6 students from each of our 22 partner schools

attend 4 day long sessions at the centre• Over 1300 children visit the centre each year• Classes restricted to 12 pupils • Interactive lessons in ICT, Drama, Science,

Agriculture and Art• Opportunities to use equipment not available in

Government Primary Schools• Out reach programme to ensure all pupils get a

‘taster’ of the centre



The Amagezi Education Centre – School Programme

• To extend the use of the centre to the adults in the local community• Offering access to knowledge and information • Programmes include:

– Community Agriculture– Sewing Circle– Carpentry – Drama workshops– Health and Sanitation– Fuel Efficient Stove Building– ICT– Teaching English– Professional Development for teachers


The Amagezi Education Centre – Community Programmes


T Amagezi Education Centre – Community Programmes

Tailoring course (left)

English classes (right)


T Amagezi Education Centre – Community Programmes

Community Agriculture (left)

Carpentry Workshop (right)

Soft Power Education Pre Schools


Soft Power Education Pre Schools• 120 under 5’s attend each of two pre

schools• Pupils are AIDS orphans or from

extremely impoverished families• 4 staff at each pre school • SPE completely covers all costs of

both pre schools• Important stepping stone to

encourage children to attend Primary School



Soft Power Education Pre Schools

The Murchison Project• Extending our school refurbishments to areas of

specific environmental threat • A view to improve conservation education by

forming partnership with the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA)

• Improving relationships between The National Park and surrounding communities

• Providing opportunities to benefit from tourism• Encouraging tourists to look beyond the

traditional activities and take an active interest in the environment and conserving it

• Providing volunteering opportunities



The Murchison Project

What are the costs?

• £2.50 will buy 100 bricks • £5 will buy a shovel or four litres of paint • £10 will pay the wage of a tradesman for one week • £20 will provide us with six tonnes of building sand • £40 will buy a load (8 tonnes) of lake sand or building aggregate. • £50 will buy a 1,000 litre water catchment tank • £100 will pay three teachers' wages at one of our preschools for

one month• £1,000 (well let's not be shy) will refurbish a two classroom primary

school block.


How has this all been possible?• Over 10,000 ‘One day’ volunteers spending time

working at the schools and donating money• Long term volunteers fundraising prior to arriving in

Uganda• On going fundraising by ex volunteers and people they

have enthused• Overwhelming support from travelers, student groups

and individuals to help us continue these amazing projects


How can you help?• Organise a fundraising event• Volunteer in Uganda• Pick a cost and pay that for a year (e.g.

Our transport costs!)• Tell people about Soft Power


Contact Us

Contact UsSoft Power Education

PO Box 1493Jinja

[email protected]

registered charity number 1098936

http://www.softpowereducation.com/

mailto:[email protected]

THANK YOU!


soft power education education thru friendship thru adventure registered charity number 1098936

Documents

soft power education

government primary schools

condemned classrooms

jinja slide

classrooms total

existing classrooms

buyala st pauls primary

entire school