Establishing the

UBUNTU MODEL SCHOOL

The >Ubuntu Children's Literacy Centre< is currently the most important development project for us at >Freunde für Freunde< because it has the potential to become a pioneering educational model for the future, reaching beyond the local area.

No more than about 50 children will be taught in each class at this school; the average class size locally is 70 to 120 children. This limit alone shows that the school is intended above all to be a place where children can grow and reach their full potential.

Beyond the Ugandan national curriculum, girls and boys will have access to a wide range of age-appropriate opportunities that nurture their individual interests and talents.

This includes practical life skills, such as gardening, woodworking and sewing, learning about alternative energy, and cooking without firewood.

The >Ubuntu Children's Literacy Centre< will offer parenting workshops. This is a new approach locally, helping parents develop a new understanding of children. It demonstrates a way of raising children that, for example, rejects punishment and instead uses encouragement and consistency.
 
This approach was so well received during the pilot phase, which has been running since 2015, that these parenting workshops will be a key part of the >Ubuntu Children's Literacy Centre<.

The school will also inspire teachers from other schools to adopt this inclusive, equality-focused educational approach.

This project is led and developed by our >friends< Pontius Mayunga and Marliese Arns.


Pontius Mayunga - Director and Administrative Director of St. Francis Hospital Mutolere/Kisoro
Marliese Arns - Director, Consulting & Coaching; developing sustainable projects in Mutolere/Kisoro for 20 years



For us at >Freunde für Freunde<, the >Ubuntu Children's Literacy Centre< is currently our most important development project, as it has the potential to become a pioneering educational model for the future, reaching far beyond the local area.

No more than about 50 children will be taught in each class at this school; the average class size in the area is 70 to 120 children. This limit alone shows that the school is intended above all to be a place where children can grow and reach their full potential.

In addition to Uganda's state curriculum, girls and boys will have a wide range of age-appropriate opportunities to develop their individual interests and talents.

This will also include practical life skills, such as gardening, woodworking and sewing, learning about renewable energy, and cooking without firewood.

„Ubuntu“ is a Bantu word, also used in the local Rufumbira dialect, that broadly means living and nurturing community and belonging.
Literally translated:
>I am because we are!<

The >Ubuntu Children's Literacy Centre< will offer parenting workshops. This is a new approach to working with parents in the area and offers a new understanding of children. It promotes a style of parenting that, for example, rejects punishment and instead uses encouragement and consistency.

The pilot phase, which has been running since 2015, has been so well received that these parenting workshops will be an integral part of the >Ubuntu Children's Literacy Centre<.

This school is also intended to inspire teachers from other schools to adopt this approach to education, which values all children equally.

This project is supported, led and developed by our >friends< Pontius Mayunga and  Marliese Arns.

Pontius Mayunga - Administrative Director, St. Francis Hospital Mutolere/Kisoro
Marliese Arns - Consulting & Coaching; has been developing sustainable projects in Mutolere/Kisoro for 20 years


"We are so happy about 
our  new school uniform."
"We are so happy with our new school uniform."


Project
'AGRICULTURE'

The >Ubuntu Children's Literacy Centre< has its own 'Agriculture' project, which involves the following activities: 

  1. The children learn the basics of "Agriculture".

  2. The vegetables and fruit are, of course, part of the schoolchildren's diet.

  3. The knowledge is intended to be shared with parents. This process is also supported through appropriate coaching: our agriculture expert will visit the villages to support the people there.

  4. Other schools can benefit from this knowledge.

  5. Ultimately, the wider community will benefit, and local food security will improve. 
 

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We would like to remember Georg Wilms ,a co-founder of the Ubuntu Centre. He was unexpectedly taken from us on 12.12.2021.
We especially miss him as a friend, for his strategic and visionary contribution and the compassion he brought to building the school centre.
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If you would like to learn more about our project, please get in touch!
If you would like to donate, work for an organization that supports projects like ours, or know a foundation that focuses on education and development, please feel free to contact us.