“To teach is to touch a life forever…”

Students take mid-term exams



Almost everyone has heard the saying: “To teach is to touch a life forever.”  Most likely, just about everyone can remember that one special teacher, who touched their life and made an impact in some special way, that to this day they recall that teacher with fond memories and gratefulness.

No matter what country one lives in, one can always find two types of teachers.  For the first, it is simply a job – a way to make money and pay the bills; they are not so much interested in the student or in going that extra mile unless there is additional pay involved.  The second type is there because they love kids and want to make a difference in not only the life of a child, but also long-term… both in society and for the greater good of the world; they are there because that is their vocation and what they are doing is their ministry – those are the teachers who make the difference!

Now imagine a teacher, especially in the U.S., oftentimes going several months on end without any pay because there are no funds available for salaries.  How many teachers would be devoted enough to the cause of teaching to keep working?  How many more would leave to find somewhere else to work where they would be paid?

This is the situation we are dealing with here…  Student sponsorships are few and provide very little assistance when it comes to making an impact in offsetting the actual cost of school operations.  In addition to the sponsorships, parents are required to make a contribution to the school as well; however, due to the poverty level which has been even more so impacted by the drought; very few families are able to meet their contribution requirements.  Currently, there are no other means for funds, so the school’s operations budget unrealistically becomes as close to the exact amount that is being received from sponsorships; although realistically much more is needed to run the school effectively/successfully.

The situation is beyond what one could ever imagine; all of the cutbacks schools in America have experienced (including salary cuts, elimination of positions and classes, etc.) do not come close in comparison to what these schools do without and yet cheerfully, and without complaint, move forward striving to achieve something better.

There is no money to purchase textbooks for the classroom, no power/electricity at the school, and the teachers do not have computers.  Moreover, even if the teachers had handouts to provide to the students, copying is expensive there are no funds available to do photocopying.  How, then, do the students learn?  Some of the teachers have old donated books from the 1960’s in which they use as a mere resource; they lecture and handwrite bits and pieces of information on the blackboard for the students to copy into their notebooks for studying.  This leaves out much needed information, and moreover, opens the door for great error when a student has only their own written notes to study (which often are copied incorrectly).  Even tougher is chemistry!  There are no test tubes, no slides, no burners, no chemicals… Experiments are written on the board.  The outcome of the experiment is purely “virtual”.  You have to trust the words of the teacher instead of seeing the results of chemical reaction with your own two eyes!

Education is truly key in Uganda and in life!  It is the path that will ultimately mold the upcoming generation and help lead them out of poverty by providing the knowledge and skills to transform an individual and their family with a ripple-effect that through their efforts will in turn change the society.

However, this process is slow… and at times can be overwhelming and discouraging.  Without funds for the school, recruiting good, full-time teachers is impossible – especially when the current teachers aren’t being paid!  However, when scholarship funds are received, each Term, the staff sits down together and discusses what is going on in each of their lives and agree on who needs pay more than another at that time.  They decide together how much is needed to accommodate teachers and then the remaining funds go towards school operations such as lunch for the students (lunch is oftentimes the only meal a student gets each day, so providing lunch at the school is extremely important). A teachers day begins at 7:30 am, and school is dismissed at 5:00 pm. Teachers are expected to come in on Saturday’s and supervise the students as they work the school garden and tend to the compound. No building engineers here, students care for all aspects of their school.  Many of the teachers go home each night having only a cup of tea and a piece of chapatti (like a tortilla) for their supper. 
In talking with one of the teachers and thanking him for his dedication to both the students and the school, and apologizing that they had not been paid, he simply replied, “this is what we are all called to do – to serve.”

These type teachers are making a difference, and in spite of the many challenges, a small percentage of students have scored very well on the government required exams which will allow them the opportunity to move on to higher secondary school education.  This type of victory reflects that lives are being touched and changed by the ranks of “Teachers” here in Uganda.

Kris & Dean