eric post #2
The majority of our time here has been filled, literally all day and most of the night, with meetings Boris has done an incredible job of organizing. Among others we have met with some of the best schools in the country, many NGO's with whom we are exchanging ideas, including Afroeducare (www.StudyinUganda.com), and we just came from a Rotary Club meeting here in Kampala where we set up a meeting with the head of Rotary in East Africa.
From these meetings we are looking to develop a clear and feasible direction to take the organization in the future to best accomplish the mission: empowering and developing the future leaders of Africa. This has been our goal in sponsoring students. However, in addition to sponsorship, we think there are many ways we can do a better job of encouraging leadership. In doing so, we hope to give talented young people here the skills and confidence they need to grow up and work to solve the larger problems that Africa is facing.
Boris explains two of the ideas in his recent blog. Here I will elaborate on the third. We are looking to add to the curriculum of schools we are developing partnerships with. Currently the Ugandan education system is strictly test based, such that the students are encouraged to only memorize the information that will be asked on the Ugandan National Education Board (UNEB) exams, without thinking independently or becoming involved in extracurricular activities. We hope to incorporate into the curriculum social entrepreneurship and in doing so accomplish two goals. First, help students to think independently by designing projects of their own, give students confidence from implementing those projects, and give them skills and ideas to continue to have a positive contribution to society as they pursue their goals and hopefully become leaders in the future. Second, the projects the students come up with as a part of their education will have a positive influence on the communities from which they come and help Uganda as a whole to develop.
We have been going over the ideas with everyone we meet, many people who have extensive experience, and adjusting them based on their advice. But we would like your input also, as supporters of Educate!. We look forward to your postings!