Since 2006, the Schools for Schools (S4S) program of Invisible Children Uganda has constructed or refurbished 236 buildings at 11 partner schools in northern Uganda. These projects were funded by the creative and tireless fund raising of students at hundreds of international schools. Today, we take a look at what those efforts meant to Anaka Secondary School.
Welcome to Anaka SS, it’s time for the grand tour.
The front gate and perimeter fence were built by S4S in order to provide a safer, more secure campus for students and protect the buildings from outside vandalism.
As you enter the campus, one of the first things you will encounter is the borehole that was drilled to provide safe, clean water for the students. In addition, 24 latrine stances were constructed to improve the sanitation and hygiene on campus.
The library, dedicated to the memory of Nate Henn, was completed in 2010 and now provides students with resources like textbooks and novels as the teachers work to improve reading culture at the school. Previously, the students did a lot of their reading outside in the yard, but now they have a place where they can study rain or shine.
“There are some students who come frequently to the library, and they are the ones performing well,” Jennifer Oroma, the school librarian, observed. “Before the library was built, the culture of reading actually was not there. But, as the library is in place, they have the culture of reading and their numbers are increasing every time.”
Jennifer said that often so many children come to the library that they run out of chairs for them all – a good problem to have!
The computer lab was handed over to the school in summer of 2012, and two of the American students who fund raised for the project were there to cut the ribbon.
Three blocks of two classrooms each were constructed by S4S, providing students a comfortable learning environment.
One of the classrooms was turned into a computer lab, which was then furnished by S4S with 30 workstations. The S4S team provided computer training to a number of teachers who before had little exposure to computer technology. Opiyo Samuel, a participant in the 2013 Reciprocal Teacher Exchange, now teaches information technology classes to the students.
Ojok Mathew, the Head Teacher at Anaka SS was proud of the new facility. “We are entering a new era for the school, because now we have computers. The students here never thought they would have such an opportunity at our school!”
Science and Computer Technology teacher Opiyo Samuel receives the keys to his new house.
Finally, as you drive away from the school you will pass two lovely new buildings that were constructed for teachers at Anaka SS. Each structure contains two units, providing housing for four teachers. By living next to the campus, teachers ensure that they will be available to students and can invest more time in teaching than they could if they had to travel the long distance to their homes in the village every evening.
Ojok Mathew speaks with enthusiasm about the positive future for Anaka students.
“You know when we first went back [from displacement] it was not easy to manage discipline…with the camp experience the students had had…but they are coming to a full realization of themselves, especially with academics…I think Pope Paul the VI [Anaka SS] has a big future!”
With the completion of these building projects, the Schools for Schools team will now be focusing their energy on improving the quality of the education that students receive by conducting trainings and workshops with teachers and regular career guidance with students.
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