Almost all of what Peace Corps encourages you to focus on during your two years abroad is the exchange of cultures and the giving of technical training. Well, if it isn’t already apparent, I don’t do too much technical training (Teaching computers at the college is about as technical as it gets), but I do a ton of other things to help out the youth in the community. My heart is tied tightly to the deaf school and also to my students here at the college. Most of my work at the deaf school consists of improving their English skills through language games/lessons, and also teaching them life skills. At the college, the highlight of my week is when my Frisbee team has practice. I do a lot of other little things, but these are where a lot of my time is focused. Well, this is all leading into a plea for help to anyone out there who would love to make a difference in the life of a young Ugandan that I care dearly about. There are three different ways you can do it, so read the following carefully and let me know if you want to help out!
- Contribute to the PCPP grant that will provide the deaf school with necessary items for a vocational school.
Here is an excerpt from the grant proposal. I should find out within the next 2 months if it is passed at the Washington office:
Masaka School for children with Special Needs is a Primary School in Masaka, Uganda, which caters for deaf and mentally handicapped children/youth. The students at the school range in age from 7 to 20, and many of them have been abandoned as babies or are orphans due to aids and other external factors. As the children/youth graduate from the primary school they are often faced with the fact that they need to financially sustain themselves, but have no formal skills that could provide an income. The life skills vocational school will train the students in a trade that prepares them to become productive members of society. It is our goal to train the students in one of the four following trades:
● Tailoring
● Hairdressing/Barbering
● Craftmaking/Handywork
● Computer training
The trades will be taught by Ugandans who specialize in each category and who are deaf themselves. This will work two fold to, first to maximize communication between teacher and students and to also encourage the youth that it is possible to be deaf and be a professional in Uganda. Deaf youth in Uganda are one of its most marginalized population, it is our desire to create job-makers not job-seekers.
The three main objectives of the project are as follows:
● To equip children with hearing impairments with basic vocational skills for self-sustenance.
● To mold young deaf youth to fit the current world demands
● To prepare children with hearing impairments for integration into the society, both economically and socially.
You will be able to contribute to this grant as soon as it becomes available online (within the next two months). There will be an online way to fulfill the grant. I am requesting for around $1,700. If you want to help provide materials for the students at the deaf school, please e mail me to tell me how much you would like to contribute. THANKS!!
- Purchase a book, or 20, for the future library at the deaf school
Along with the vocational school, I am trying to start a small library at the deaf school. It will be housed in the other half of the vocational school room. I have a current order in for an NGO to send a pallet of books, but with 90 kids students of all different levels and ages at the school, I fear that it just won’t be enough. Another Peace Corps volunteer is getting a container of books shipped to him and has room for more books. Basically a company will purchase and send the types of books that one requests. This is significantly cheaper than you all sending me books and it is potentially faster. At the last break down it costs 83 cents per book, including shipping.
There are 100 reasons that I want to give the deaf children books. Here are just a few of them:
#1- They learn in English, and sign in English, but if they ever encounter writing material (which is rare) it is often written in Luganda.
#2- They are not taught English at home, but expected to learn it at school. This creates a lot of problems b/c they are not exposed to it often enough.
#3- I love reading. It is probably one of my favorite things to do and I think it is a tragedy that most of these children do not yet have that love.
#4- Most of these kids have never been to a library, let alone read a book.
#5- Reading improves literacy. The higher a persons literacy rate, the less likely they are to have 13 kids, the more comfortable they are going to health care centers, the easier it is for them to become productive members of society.
#6- At the end of 7th grade they take a leavers exam in English. If they can pass it, they have an opportunity to go onto secondary school. If they can’t pass it, they have no chance to move on in school.
#7- I love these kids.
So there are a few of my reasons. I am sure you each could come up with a plethora of reasons on your own. So if you are interested in purchasing a book for the deaf school.... all it costs it 83 cents. Let me know how many you want to purchase and then I can place the order. (on a side note.... I have to place the order by mid-July so let me know pretty quickly about this one. THANKS!!)
- Support a student at the college to participate in the Kampala Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.
My students (at the college) have been playing Ultimate Frisbee with me a few times a week for the past year. I promised them that if they became super serious, and began planning practices, games, etc. that I would find a way for them to enter the Kampala Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. They are now practicing every Tuesday/Thursday from 5:30-6:30. We do different drills and end every practice with a game. With the generous donation from an Australian girl, I was able to get all of the students on the team Frisbees.... which is a huge blessing considering you can’t buy them in country and they are fairly expensive. They were even able to practice in their villages over the last break!!
They are stoked to go to Kampala and play in the tournament, but are not able to pay for the trip themselves. (most of them do hard labor on the school breaks and make around 1000-2000 Ugx per day, which is 40-90 cents!!) That is where you come in. J The tournament is for two days in Kampala, Uganda. My students and I will rent a big van and a driver for the weekend. They will play up to 8 games (depending on the number of teams) against national teams from Rwanda and Kenya, as well as local teams that play for fun. Hopefully at the end of the tournament we will be able to spend an extra day at the capital doing a fun activity of their choice.... swimming, movie, museum, etc. These students rarely get out of their village, let alone get to spend a whole weekend in Kampala participating in something they love. They will never again be able to have this opportunity. It is so important to me that I am able to take a team to Kampala!! I have written myself a budget and figured out the approximate cost per person. It will cost $40 for the entire weekend per person. This includes entry into the tournament (all proceeds go to charity), three nights at a hostel in Kampala, food/drinks, and transportation. There are only 15 spots on the team (and that many seats in a large van) so that is how many sponsors I am looking for. If you would like to sponsor one of my amazing kids to play in the Kampala Ultimate Frisbee Tournament, please send me an e mail. If you can’t manage the $40 but want to donate towards the cause, please let me know as well. THANKS!
You can send me a message on facebook or e mail me at ambercommer@gmail.com
Any questions are also welcome!!
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