Volunteer at Kyabirwa Primary School
There's a lot of information
on this page so please persevere to the end!
The name of our school is Kyabirwa. This is pronounced cha
beer wa. The r is rolled - if you can do that! 
Moses Owino, the senior teacher and Volunteer Project Manager at Kyabirwa School, built accommodation for volunteers in his family
compound. He did this because, despite being near Bujagali Falls which
is a major tourist attraction near Jinja, no-one came to volunteer at the school as it isn't on a main road
where it can be seen when passing. It's in a clearing in a rural area
where the forest was cleared for subsistence farming. Unless someone just
happened to mention it to you, you would have no idea that it was
there.
When the accommodation was completed, school staff decided to start the
Kyabirwa Primary School Volunteer Project to attract volunteers to the
school so that the small profit left from the Project fees, after
feeding and housing the volunteers, would go straight into a fund for the
development of the school.
As a volunteer you can become involved in a range of
tasks that appeal to your personal interests and skills, There are many possibilities.
Once you have
settled into your Home Stay accommodation in the compound of the Project Manager and his family, Robinah Musakira, Head Mistress and Volunteer
Director, will discuss your aspirations with you to ensure that you do the things with
which you are comfortable. We want you to enjoy your time at the school as much
as possible - as much as we want the children and staff to benefit from your
being with us.
This is an environment where the
happiness and well being of the volunteer is considered paramount.
If there any problems at any time, Moses, Robinah and the
other staff will always be there to help you. They want you to be happy, safe
and have a good experience.
Please note that due to the distance to the nearest power point plus teaching and family commitments, it may take a day or two for emails to be answered. Delays don't
mean that your enquiry isn't valued.
Volunteers can access their emails whenever they want at facilities a mile away from school or in Jinja town.
Many children at the school are orphans living with extended
family. There are children living alone with siblings, where the head of the
family is the oldest child. Children's age range is from 6 - 18 as it often takes
them that long to complete primary school, if they ever do. Lack of money and
the pressures on time of subsistence farming can be insurmountable problems.
Children have difficulty understanding English when
spoken with a non African accent. Working with groups of 4 -10 using shared
writing as a medium for children to learn to share ideas and express themselves
on paper is a great way to also promote the understanding of spoken
language. Shared writing is less threatening for children than writing on their
own.
Teaching isn't the only option. There's carpentry, repair, building and
construction work at the school. We urgently need more accommodation for teachers at the school so that they live on site and can run after school classes and extra-curricular activities. Teachers earn about £55 a month from which their entire uneducated and probably unemployed, extended family expect to be supported. Eliminating
daily travel expenses really helps them. We have the footings in for 4 more dwellings and building plans, but haven't the funds for such large projects and so are unable to complete them.
Anyone with
DIY experience would be greatly valued as we need things like cupboards and shelving in classrooms. There are many tasks available.
It’s
natural that volunteers want to teach their favourite things, but this needs to fit in with the teachers’ planning.
If volunteers teach things that aren’t synchronised with the planning, it will be difficult for teachers to keep the teaching and learning flow so children’s understanding will suffer. Please always discuss plans with the Head Mistress and subject teachers to ensure that what you do
fits in with their plans.
Volunteers usually undertake the
following activities, but we are always open to new ideas as long as
they are practicable.
- We very much need volunteers to help with the teaching of English language to the youngest classes. This is a priority as from P4 all lessons have to be taught in English. The better their understanding, spoken and written English is, the better their ability will be to access the curriculum. So we would really welcome such help from everyone and also need TEFL specialists or volunteers who are confident that they are skilled in teaching English as a second language.
- Work with groups (4 to 10) of children out of class. The
greatest need is for writing and conversational English. Reading benefits from
this at the same time. Writing is better taught in small groups as shared
writing is less daunting. Shared writing can be a class exercise, too.
- Produce written and illustrated books with the older children
for use with the younger children at the school who are just learning English
- Support the children and teacher by assisting in class.
- Volunteers who are confident may want to teach the whole
class. They should only do so with a teacher present in the class at all
times. Volunteers do not speak the language, class
sizes are very large and children are children everywhere! Some of the older
pupils are actually adults in all but name.
- Teach art. Children rarely have
the opportunity to draw and paint. You will need to supply the materials. Ask
staff where they may be purchased locally.
- Teach music and singing to groups or whole classes of children.
- Demonstrate science experiments and teach the children that
science is fun. Liaise with the school via email to find out the teaching plans
and then research this before you come!
- Teach maths. Show teachers marking analysis as a tool for remdiating pupils' mistakes.
- Organise games after school. Football, netball, rounders,
baseball. Simply teach the children any games you know. Just relating positively with and
playing with the children is valuable.
- Teach children polite ways to speak and relate. They are
often culturally unaware of western manners which can disadvantage them when
they are relating to westerners.
- Organise and work at a homework club. Most children don't
have the opportunity to study at home.
- Visit children's homes and liaise with parents concerning any
difficulties/needs.
- There is a need for
carpentry skills to make built in cupboards and shelving in each classroom and the staff room. It would be good to involve staff in this, so that your skills are passed on.
- There is a need for building work such as building teacher's
accommodation.
There is a
sewing kit in the volunteers' cupboard in the store room. Please use it to teach
the children how to repair their uniform. They need to learn how to repair tears
and sew on
buttons.
You could also bring out some small buttons, needles and
thread for their dresses, shirts and trousers. Don't give the sewing kit away
though because there are 1,000 -1,500 children in the school and if one has it,
they will all want it! When you leave, ensure that it's in the volunteer
cupboard ready for the next
volunteer.