Lira Integrated School and Gulu University

Today we finally made it to Lira Integrated School (LIS). It is a good size school comprised of a nursery, primary, and a secondary in the outskirts of the town. The school caters to a total of about 1100 students. We met with a few key people in the school, toured their facilities, and learned about the school operations. Jonathan, the head teacher for the secondary section was very knowledgeable and gave us some key points on where to begin our research along with a bit of background on the surrounding Universities and how they operate be it in the public or private sector.

After a short break, we proceeded to travel about 150 km (2 hour trip) north-west of our location to Gulu, where we made a stop at the local University to meet with some more key informants, of which the Dean of education and three faculty members. The information they had to offer about the public sector concretized the picture of higher education in Northern Uganda. Apparently, the public sector has less trouble filling up its classes with students, but experiences the reverse issue with qualified instructors. Because of high tuition costs, students would rather get admitted to the inexpensive and distinguished Makarere University (the main public university in Kampala), and for those who fail to make the “cut” their other option is to use their own resources to fund their way into a private University. Private universities tend to attract more of the qualified instructors because of the more generous pay. Also, students are often willing to relocate to fulfill their educational needs, hence most would decide to move to Kampala because of the centralized nature of available services and social assets on a national level. More elements factor into this dynamic, but you have the general picture.

In any case, that’s what we did today… it was pretty productive… and here is a little hello from Alejandra and Babina’s new friendly neighbors: John and the rest of his friends.

Arrival in Lira

Today we set off for Lira, the site where we will be spending the rest of our time piecing together our project. Lira is at about a 5-hour drive northbound from Kampala. We crossed to the other side of the Nile River at which point we encountered baboons. Here are some pictures:
 (in the first picture you will find Chris, not a baboon...in case it wasn't obvious.)

Lira is a small city of about 100,000 people. Beatrice, the founder and director of Lira Integrated School has generously offered to host us during our time here. We are lodging in two cottages on her property grounds. These are what they look like:

It has been a long journey and we are now going to sleep.
Tomorrow, we are visiting the school for the first time!

Stay tuned!

A Productive Day in Kampala.

Hello Everyone!

We have the pleasure to announce that Team Uganda is off with a great start to their project!

Today was by far our most productive day! We started with a meeting at 7 am with the Principal of the School of Veterinary Science at Makarere University, who gave us some great insight on the approaches we can take to this education project. We then went to Kyambogo University where Alejandra had a contact that happens to be a U of M graduate (yay!). The Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs was delighted to have us and provided some practical advice on the process of starting a university from nothing; he was quite nostalgic of Minnesota and the U.S. after a short break we went to Uganda Christ University, which is a private institution about 45 mn outside of town.

The four of us on the campus, it was beautiful (courtesy of Chris Johnstone, our Advisor):

More understanding was provided essentially about how to design the curriculum to make it more appealing and relevant to targeted students.

We then had a meeting with a development consultant, author, entrepreneur and economist about fish farming and education innovation, while we devoured pizzas on a terrace, a very insightful session in my opinion. After such a large and first meal, we all became the willing victims to a well-deserved nap back at one of our hotels.  Then followed the entertainment. We went to Ndege Center to witness an amazing cultural experience!

Here are a couple of pictures that hardly make it justice:

Thank you for reading our blog!

Best,

Team Uganda.

From Minneapolis to Kampala: A Four-Day Journey.

As some of you may already know, arriving to Kampala for Babina and I was no walk in the park. In fact, it was more like we were both very unlucky and that some greater force was deliberately keeping us from reaching that city.

• 1.     Terrible flight to Chicago. Crazy turbulence. Small Plane. Almost cried like a child when we landed safely.
  2.     We land one hour late. Freak out. Run like fools to catch our connection. Find out they switched the terminal to the farthest one away possible that we had already passed.
  3.     Find out we are boarding. Thank God. Get on. Get yelled at by rude hostess for asking for water. Killjoy.
  4.     Pilot says we have technical problem…
  Wait…
  Pilot says it will be 45 more minutes...
  Wait…
  Pilot says we have waited aboard too long and that we should wait outside…
  We get off.
  Wait…
  They tell us the flight will no longer leave because surprisingly, by that time, we had waited for 4hrs and 45mn.
  5.     Rush to the customer service center. Get Vouchers. Go to Hotel. Get food. Sleep. Make it to the flight the next day. Very Cold. Leave 2 hours late.
  6.     Land in Brussels. 20 min before flight leaves in different terminal. Pilot can’t park plane. Finally Park. Run like fools part 2. Evidently miss flight.
  7.     Customer Service stand tells us that because we have “improper documentation”. We cannot be let outside the airport, hence to a hotel. More vouchers. Wandering in airport. “Sleep” in Chapel for 3 hrs.
  
  
  Finally board plane to Entebbe, Uganda, and this is where the disaster ended.  Made it to Kampala on Sunday (left mnpls on Wednesday), and got phones and Internet on Monday.    

The lesson here? Twofold:

NEVER FLY UNITED AIRLINES AND/OR CONNECT IN CHICAGO. IT’S A TRAP. BOTH OF THEM ARE.

Despite the hectic start, Kampala is a charming city, very spread out and busy throughout the day, a lot of traffic. People have been very nice to us and sympathetic. Thank God Babina is a well-connected individual or else our ordeal may have been more chaotic upon arrival to Entebbe (airport town).
She arranged for a motel driver to come pick us up at the airport and we later met up with one of her acquaintances in Kampala, which was delightful. They helped us find a hotel, treated us to lunch, and explained how to get Internet and a phone. Hopefully the rest of the trip goes as smoothly as this.

Here is our Hotel Neighborhood in Kampala:

Leaving for Kampala!

Welcome to our Blog!

Today part of the team is leaving for Kampala, and we will all be together (Alejandra, Babina, Chris S. Gilles and Chris J.). To sum up what we are doing in Uganda, we are pursuing a cost-benefit analysis study on a school to see if it is expandable into a University. As the blog continues, details will amplify, and you will get the gist of what it is we are attempting to accomplish. Until then, enjoy, and thank you for tuning into our blog!!!!!

Alejandra, Babina, Chris and Gilles