WILMINGTON, N.C. On Sunday, November 12, 2-5 P.M. there will be an event at the County Arboretum to celebrate the visit of five teachers from Bigodi, Uganda as they prepare to leave the U.S. after a month-long visit to North Carolina. The five teachers are members of Uganda North Carolina Teaching for the Environment (UNITE) which is underwritten by the North Carolina Zoo Society. They have been visiting UNITE partner schools in North Carolina since October 23, and have been team teaching with N.C. teachers.
Download press release
Classrooms and Library are Constructed
Nyabubale Primary School and Rwengobe Primary School each have new classrooms due to the funds raised by students in North Carolina.
See past News and Notes
Visitors since April, 2004
Ugandan Teachers from Bigodi Primary School and the Kibale National Forest Wildlife Ranger that visited NC Schools in October 2003.
|
What is UNITE?
As the name implies, UNITE focuses on creating connections. UNITE workshops bring together teachers from North Carolina and Uganda to explore environmental issues, develop their teaching skills and techniques, and create hands-on lessons for their students in both countries. It is difficult to say who has the most to gain from UNITE workshops and support. The Ugandan teachers expand their skills by learning cutting-edge, inquiry-based teaching methods that they have not been exposed to before. The North Carolina teachers have the chance to see, first hand, the tropical ecosystems and environmental issues they have been talking about in their classrooms, putting a human face on the topics and helping them to bring the issues alive for their students. Besides the new lessons and classroom activities, the students in both countries gain from the personal connections they make through letters and, sometime emails, sent back and forth from Uganda to North Carolina.
|
|
Perhaps the most lasting impact of UNITE is the way it touches the lives of the teachers and students in Uganda and North Carolina.
|
| UNITE brings hope and support to Ugandan teachers, students and parents. Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world and resources for schools are scarce. Parents, through school fees, help supplement the low salaries the government pays teachers, but there is little left over for books and materials or expanding schools. |
|
|
UNITE is helping schools build new classrooms to accommodate the hundreds of students that want the chance to go to school. It is providing teachers with materials they can use in their classrooms and access to new technology that will help make these isolated, rural schools competitive with their counterparts in the cities. UNITE even helps provide the pens, pencils and paper the students need, but usually can’t afford. North Carolina teachers gain the experience of a lifetime. More than one UNITE teacher from North Carolina has said that the experience in Africa has changed their life, giving them renewed commitment and excitement to teaching and the environment.
|
 |
UNITE has funded a block of classrooms and a library at the Bigodi Primary school. The two oldest classrooms have now been turned into boarding space for 15 students (10 boys and 5 girls). A full time teacher lives and works with these students, giving them extended hours of instruction and a smaller pupil/teacher ratio. Grades are improving and the students are very enthusiastic about the opportunity. |
| A group of P3 students takes a field trip to the wetland near their village to learn about how important wetlands are. They gather papyrus stalks and learn how to harvest the reeds without depleting this valuable natural resource. Papyrus is used to make special baskets for catching fish as well as other baskets and sleeping mats found in all their homes. This project brings conservation home to the students, showing how they depend on the natural resources of the wetlands for food and items they use every day at home. Next year, the Ugandan students will be joined by North Carolina students, and together, they will explore and learn from the wetland. |
 |
 |
Teaching gardens are being planted in North Carolina and in Uganda to illustrate the direct connection between the Earth, our food and our health. UNITE has provided garden tools and seeds to Ugandan schools and teachers are developing lessons that will use the gardens for interdisciplinary learning in health, math, science, social studies, art, English, and writing. |
 |
Life sized visual learning aids that show the connection between food and the various organ systems of the body have been painted on the walls of Bigodi Primary School. Other UNITE schools will be painting their schools with the model as well. Parents have already said that the paintings will not only help their children learn, but they will also help the adults in the village become more aware of the issue. |
 |
More UNITE Highlights
"The Overall Goals:
- Engage teachers in the development of curriculum which explores cultural, economic, social and environmental connections between North Carolina and Uganda
- Improve teachers' abilities to facilitate student centered, inquiry based, cross curricular investigations relative to conservation education
- Prepare all students to "think globally" when making personal decisions regarding their own and the planets future" Joy Hamlin, Curator of Education, North Carolina Zoo"
Download the new UNITE Brochure
Background Information:
The North Carolina Zoo began working in Uganda over seven years ago helping local communities develop environmentally and economically sound sources of income. As a result of this early training, a group of early partners from the Ugandan Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) in 1998. The North Carolina Zoo is a principle funder and strong supporter of this non-governmental organization which is providing hope for improving the lives of rural Ugandans and preserving Uganda's wildlife habitats and natural resources.
UCOTA quickly expanded to 39 communities and over 2000 members from all parts of the country. UCOTA training workshops offer an excellent opportunity to establish grass roots conservation and education programs that go to the heart of the underlying causes of environmental destruction.
For additional information, please download the PDF document that will list much more information. You will need Adobe Acrobat loaded on your computer in order to open and read it.
|
