Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We had an early start this morning, waking up at 6am to meet Rachel from Plan UK at 7. We finished packing and had a quick breakfast, then set off to Kamuli to see 3 projects by Plan. The road started out okay (for Uganda), but once the tarmac ran out it was a totally different story! It was a particularly hard journey for Steph, Imogen and Fiona, who sat on benches sideways in the back of the van. After 2 hours of potholes and ditches we arrived at the Plan office. We were introduced to the project managers for this area of Uganda, as well as all the other members of the office, and given a briefing about what the day would entail. This included us being filmed for use in some of Plan's videos.
Our first stop was St Paul Secondary School. This was a mixed state school, with a mixture of boarding and day students. Because it was mixed, we got to see a different atmosphere than that at Nakanyonyi. We met the deputy headteacher and then, after waiting for the camera-men to set up, we all sat in on a short lesson about soil. The students seemed very eager to participate in the lesson, and at the end we got a chance to talk to some of them. We each spoke to a different group of students, and were surprised to learn there was a wide range of age groups within the same year. Steph met a really friendly and charismatic girl who was aspiring to be a lawyer, but upon leaving the classroom she was shocked to learn from one of the Plan UK members that the girl, who was 17, had already had 2 children. However, it was encouraging to see that, with support from Plan, she was able to continue with education - a basic right which we often take for granted.
We moved from the classroom to the field, where we were presented with a show by the girls who Plan UK is supporting at St Paul. This began with a song and dance, followed by a short play about Plan's work. As the cameramen took a few girls to be interviewed we got a chance to talk to the sponsored girls. We were all happy to hear that they had high aspirations, most wanting to become doctors or lawyers. This was especially pleasing considering what they told us they would be doing if Plan hadn't supported them: housework; getting married young; or even prostitution.
With filming completed at St Paul, we headed to St Joseph's. This was a vocational college for boys and girls, which teaches them skills to help them obtain work after leaving education. We visited a tailoring lesson, and although the teacher found it slightly diffiult to talk naturally to us in front of the cameras, we still managed to gain a valuable insight into how the college works. We also saw a hairdressing lesson, where Imogen tried to cornrow a girl's hair!
After stopping off for lunch in town, we went to our last stop - Kamuli Girls' Boarding School, Plan's model primary school in the district. We were invited to sit in on their Children's Court session, and were welcomed into the hall with lots of singing! The judge of the court (who was 13 but seemed much older) gave us a mature speech about how Plan has helped their school, for example replacing corporal punishment with more constructive alternatives. The case being handled in the court today was about sweet stealing and lasted about 45 minutes. After the lengthy session, no verdict was reached and the case was postponed until the next day. It was an unusual experience for us, but interesting to observe, and Plan explained this was important to the girls because in their culture women often do not have the opportunity to speak out, which this court gives them the ability to do. We were also given a tour of the school, and were impressed with the new dormitories and dining hall that Plan had built.
It was starting to rain, and as we were already behind schedule and there was thunder and lighting, we decided it would be time to leave soon. The girls were still being filmed outside despite the cold and rain, so after a quick picture with them we got into the car and headed back to the office for another briefing, where we relayed our thoughts on what we had seen before beginning the long and bumpy journey back to Jinja.
We picked up our suitcases at the hotel and said goodbye to Jinja, then started off for Kampala - another painful experience (which we can now look back on and laugh)! We were slightly worried about our suitcases which were strapped to the roof in the rain, but luckily they were safe and at 9pm we arrived at Red Chilli Hideaway in Kampala. We were amazed to learn that our 'dormitory' was actually a whole house! Shame we can't stay for longer!
Steph, Fiona, Imogen and Jess
Click here to see Plan's homepage or find out more about the Because I am a Girl campaign
- comments