This week the Kibaale volunteers visited the Kasekulo volunteers. The Kasekulo volunteers went all out and learnt a tradition dance and song to welcome the Kibaale group. A lot of fun was had and the children at the orphanage where the volunteers are staying carried on the singing and dancing until late. We spent the whole night dancing together, a wonderful way to celebrate the first two weeks. At both Kibaale and Kasekulo Primary School the whole playground is cemented in and sanded down so all that remains is for the volunteers and the schools to choose the color scheme for the playground.
The introduction of the sports program this year has created a fantastic hour in the day for the whole community to come together to play. Whilst the children are coached in Football, Netball and Volleyball the parents and community members have been coming out to watch which has prompted a friendly game in all the sports for everyone after the coaching session. This has come about simply through the community’s enthusiasm for the program and the much needed hours break from the stresses of day to day life. The two schools have become vibrant places to be with student more energized and ready for they days learning.
One of our volunteers who is doing their Masters Dissertation on the impact of playgrounds held an Art session for some of the children and asked them to express their anticipation of the playground through drawings (visit www.facebook.com/eastafricanplaygrounds to see some of their art work) this sparked off an interesting discussion between volunteer and teacher about the impact the teacher believed the EAP program have and will bring to the school. She spoke about an increase in gender equality through girls and boys playing together in sport, a higher attendance at school due to the appealing nature of the playground and sports as well as better exam results due to the children not being distracted by boredom in class as they are stimulated through play and sports out of the classroom.
June 23, 2012
