THE KASIISI PROJECT

Kasiisi Project Scholars 2011

2011-11-26T06:51:00.001-08:00

Since 1998 the Kasiisi Project has supported 115 students for post primary education. All scholars are selected on merit and must have been a pupil in one of our schools for at least 3 years. On average and depending on the number of sponsors who have signed on, we add between 5 and 10 students a year. 90% receive full scholarships the majority of which are privately sponsored.

All scholars and their parents or guardians sign contracts with the project in which consequences for poor performance and bad behavior are clearly laid out. All our secondary school students attend the best boarding schools we can send them to, and recognizing that coming from poor rural schools our students are at a disadvantage when compared to their peers, the scholarship committee provides wrap-around support both for academic issues and personal concerns. All scholars and parents meet with the Scholarship Committee 3 times a year to review grades, problems at school, changes in family situations etc and holiday remedial tutoring is provided for all students to help them catch up. Scholars are required to produce reports and letters to sponsors 3 times a year. Following High School those that wish to continue with their education are supported through either university or vocational training. 100% of the students who have graduated from our program have jobs!

If you are interested in learning more about our program or wish to give a Ugandan child the gift of education by becoming a sponsor or co-sponsor please contact us at elizabethaross@mac.com.

The Kasiisi Project at holiday time

2011-11-18T05:41:00.000-08:00

2011 is fast coming to an end which means 2 things. Firstly that this is a time when we are all looking for the coolest gifts for family and friends, and secondly if you want to deduct charitable contributions in 2011 you need to make any additional donations soon. As we give thanks next week for everything in our lives that bring us joy, sharing a little of our good fortune, ticking a few items on our lists and reducing our tax bills is a win, win, win situation for all of us.

The Kasiisi Project is happy to help you to accomplish all these goals. Choose from a) Kasiisi Project Holiday Cards, b) Buying books for the young children on your list and at the same time supporting literacy in Uganda, c) Sponsoring a child through 4 years of secondary school d) A donation in honor of a special someone or as part of your family giving and e) Buy a chicken for our school farm.

See more details of all these options below.

Donations can be made directly via the Paypal button at www.kasiisiproject.org, via cheque to The Kasiisi Project, 64 Linnaean St., Cambridge MA 02138 or for direct bank transfers, scholarship and chicken enquires, holiday card orders and all other questions contact Elizabeth Ross at elizabethaross@mac.com
All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law and don't forget our plain cards make great gifts too (see previous BLOG).

Make an end of year donation: Do you want to finish up the 2011 Tax year with a charitable donation? Please consider The Kasiisi Project. We love unrestricted donations but if there is any particular program that appeals to you please let us know and we will make sure that your donation goes where you wish it to.

Walking to church

Kasiisi Project Holiday cards can be used to celebrate any special occasion. Based on drawings by Kasiisi Project students, these colorful, high quality cards share what is important in a Ugandan child's life at this special time of year; new clothes, banana trees decorated with balloons, church, family and lots of good food especially beef, a rare treat. The message inside the cards is "Peace on Earth" and there a a brief description of the holidays in Uganda too.

Cows

Banana tree and balloons

Cooking over a charcoal stove

The cards can be purchased in any combination of designs - all the same or a mixture. Cards cost $3 each or $10 for 4 plus $2 p&p (Live in the Boston area? We will deliver free of charge). This year all proceeds benefit school conservation education programs to help save Kibale National Park's threatened chimpanzees.

Opening day Kyanyawara Library

Books for young Children: Do you have young children on your list this year? Do you know about the wonderful Barefoot Books? Did you know that if you buy a book from their website through us at Barbara-stevens.barefootbooks.com they will donate 50% of the amount you spend to The Kasiisi Project so that we can buy books for our school libraries in Uganda? Or if you prefer, you can buy a book directly for our library and we will label it with a book plate with your name or the name of someone of your choice, just e-mail elizabethaross@mac.com to find out how.

Buy a chicken: Just $4 will buy a chicken for The Kasiisi Project farm which now has accommodation for its first batch of hens. The farm will generate income and food for the School Lunch Program, act as an outdoor classroom for our kids and a resource for the local community on sustainable agriculture.


UK Kids glued coins to pictures to raise $$ for chicks

This is a great stocking stuffer or Hanukah gift - we will provide chicken cards to send to your special person or send them for you!

Tusingwire Imelda: AIDs orphan, #1 in her class, The Future!

Sponsor a Student: These holidays give the gift of secondary school to a Ugandan child whose education will otherwise end after primary school, by either sponsoring a student for 4 years or by helping out a student who has lost their sponsor. In 15 years we have supported 121 children. 88% of them completed secondary school, 70% go on to College or University and 100% of our graduates have jobs! Our project works at building personal connections so you will have the chance to really get to know the student you are supporting If you are interested in this option let us know and we will give you all the information you need.

Fill those stockings with a special donation: If you would like to make a donation to the project in honor of a special someone and you give us their name and address we will send them a card from you telling them that a donation has been made in their name.

American Farm helps the Kasiisi Project Farm

2011-10-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you to David and Emilie Riss of Stacy Mountain Farm in New Hampshire, who sold pumpkins in aid of The Kasiisi Project Farm. They raised $400 which will be used to buy a water tank for Joseph our farm manager.

Kasiisi Print Cards for Sale

2011-10-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Card 1: Cooking with a Fuel Efficient Stove

Card 2: Vehicles

Card 4: House with Chicken Hut

Card 3: 2 houses

Card 6: House with water tank

Card 5: Garden Tools

Card 8: Crowned Crane

Card 7: Black and White Colobus Monkeys

Kasiisi Prints result from a collaboration between the children of Kasiisi Project schools who drew the pictures, and artist Kayo Burmon who transformed them into beautiful cards.Unique and colorful they are a message from our children telling you about what is important in their lives. They are blank inside so they make a great gift, birthday card, congratulations card or just a plain "how are you" card and all proceeds support our Conservation Education programs in Uganda. So when you buy them also you help save the Uganda's rainforests and the chimpanzees who live in them. Packed in cellophane sleeves they cost $3 each, $11 for 4 and $15 for 6 plus postage and packing - $2 for 1-4 cards and $2.25 for 6. You can order all the same or a selection of different cards. The garden tools are popular with gardening clubs!
If you live near Boston we will deliver for 6 cards or more or you can pick them up from Weston. You can pay by cash, check or Paypal in $$, ££ or Ugandan Shillings.
If you would like to an order please e-mail Elizabeth Ross (click on my name for the link).

Card 10: Birds

Interested in holiday cards? Then watch this space - they are in production!

Card 11: Guinea Fowl and Flower

Card 9: Banana Tree

Back of Cards

Summer Updates 4 Literacy - Libraries, Workshops and Preschools

2011-09-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

Students at Kyanyawara can borrow books for the first time in their new library

Building bookshelves

This summer saw the setting up of our second school library. This time at Kyanyawara primary school. Two rooms, one for the books and one for a reading were transformed, with lots of work from visitors, volunteers, teachers and parents, into clean, freshly painted spaces complete with shelves, ready and waiting for the books to arrive. Under the guiding hand of Barbara Stevens, director of the Kasiisi Project Literacy Program, books donated by friends in the US and by UK charity Book Aid International were unpacked, cataloged and labelled. The children of Kyanyawara could now borrow books for the first time.

Painting the library

Volunteers Ellen Sarkisian and Chris Affleck spent 2 weeks at Kyanyawara priming the staff for the arrival of the books by sharing methods of teaching comprehension to primary aged children.

Ellen, Chris and colleagues at Kyanayawara


Kasiisi Project Scholar Tibisiimwa Irene helps at Kyanyawara

Women's group meets at Kasiisi

Barbara and friend

Barbara set up reading groups and held workshops for both Kasiisi and Kyanyawara teachers on literacy. The women's literacy group now meets every week. For lots more information about her time in Uganda go to Barbara's BLOG.

BookAid International Team at Kyanyawara Library

All this hard work was rewarded by the delight of the visiting Book Aid International team, who loved the bright airy libraries decorated with children's artwork, and were so impressed by the performance of the children in the Kasiisi reading circles, that the head librarian of Kyamboga University claimed they must have been coached in what to say! Book Aid have pledged to keep providing our schools with books.
We owe a special thank you to cousin Gardner Thompson a volunteer with Book Aid International who made the connection for us.

Pre-school children and books

And just because we are SO proud of our pre-school here is an update. The rooms are amazing, the teachers wonderful and the kids so happy that we just have to show you more photos of the Kasiisi - Weston Nursery School. In keeping with the literacy theme of this BLOG, we include one of their library (The Water and Wetland Room)with shelves ready and waiting for books! Thanks to all of you who have contributed and continue to contribute to this fabulous program for our youngest children.

Rivers, swamps and lakes decorate the Pre-School Library

Ape Conservation Grant

2011-09-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Children making molds for chimp masks at Kyanyawara School

The Kasiisi Project along with partners Nature for Kids and UNITE/North Carolina Zoo have received a grant to help promote great ape conservation throughout Africa. The grant will contribute to funding the production of 3 multi-language videos designed for children. These will target the main factors impacting great ape survival, habitat loss, snares, the bush meat trade and ape:human conflicts. The videos will have a similar format to the NFK current videos which are already in use in Kasiisi Project schools. They will be produced in English and French as well as several African languages and are designed to be used in all African countries with great apes
The grant also provides 3 years of funding for educational outreach in 26 schools around Kibale and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks. This groundbreaking program will combine showing the videos to schools, wildlife clubs and communities, with in depth training of teachers and wildlife club leaders and with fun and engaging, hands on activities designed promote empathy for great apes and to contribute in a practical way to their conservation.

Summer Updates 3 Volunteers

2011-09-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Barn raising: Everyone helping out at the farm

Chirs, Ellen, Amy, Matt B., Michelle and Caroline

This summer was as usual a busy time, and we were fortunate to have talented and enthusiastic volunteers to help out. Old friends, new friends and family joined us in working with many of our key projects. We are really grateful for their help. We were able to do fun projects with the children which would otherwise not be possible and we supported their education through library projects, curriculum development and teacher training.

Michelle,Brennan and friends

Some of these kind people we have mentioned in past BLOGS. Erika Nunlist made masks with the children at Kyanyawara school; Harvard student Brennan Vail compared the energy output of children from schools which provided lunch through the Kasiisi Porridge Project and those at schools who did not and her colleague Michelle Sirois worked on a special environmental and literacy project with over 60 children who wrote and illustrated stories about animals and the environment. She also helped Nurse Lucy develop a new health curriculum.

Ellen and colleagues at Kyanyawara

Comprehending rules with Chris

Help with a computer lesson and the loan of a hat!

Educators Chris Affleck and Ellen Sarkisian collaborated with colleagues at Kyanyawara Primary School to share methods of teaching reading comprehension and UK high school graduates Ivor Green, Chris Bowie, Karl Okunubi and Michael Chan filled in time before going up to University by helping out on a wide range of programs - conservation, sports, libraries, computers and after school remedial studies.

Rob, Matt and farm manager Joseph

Nancy and Gary painting blackboards

Mathew Parker and Rob Mawson, recent UK architect graduates generously contributed their expertise and knowledge and designed a master plan for the new Kasiisi Project Farm. Rob and Matt also got their hands dirty – building a chicken house, latrine, planting trees and much more

Old friend and US doctor Nancy Merrick visited the Kasiisi Project with her husband Gary and children, Kate and Bryan. They painted school blackboards and consulted on our health, farm and nutrition programs. Nancy, who who studied chimpanzees Tanzania with Jane Goodall (and Kasiisi Project Board member Richard Wrangham), is active with her family in the Jane Godall Institute Roots and Shoots program in the US, a great resource for our own Roots and Shoots clubs..

Binoculars are not so easy! Emilie and Conservation campers

Hillegonda and Masks at Kiko

Emilie Riss, Harold Van Rossem, Hillegonda Van Zinnicq Bergamnn and Sophie Van Rossem made paper mache masks at Kiko Primary School with the wildlife club, planted trees at the Kasiisi Project Farm and spent 3 days helping with a wildlife club weekend in Kibale National Park with 40 children! They also brought many beautiful art supplies for the children!

Sophie does better!

Susan Donovan helps edit at Kyanyawara

John and Barbara help with the water project at Kiko

Susan Donovan helped Michelle Sirois with her story project and John Donovan and Barbara Belcher-Timme got muddy and wet with the children of Kiko schools as they collected and analysed water for our water project.

And it was not all work - Kasiisi Project scholar and summer volunteer Tusiime Patrick got a swimming lesson.

Tusiime Patrick learns to swim with help from Ronan Donovan

A special thank you to ALL the 2011 volunteers. We truly appreciated your generosity and support.

Summer Updates 2 - Nutrition, Health and the School Farm

2011-08-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Brennan's study subjects at Kasiisi wearing belt computers at lunch

Weighing at Kigarama

Upper-arm circumference at Kasiisi

Dietary recall questionnaires at Kyanyawara

Presenting results at Kiko

The summer of 2011 also saw lots of activity in our nutrition and health projects and we are happy to announce that we now have promising evidence that The Kasiisi Project lunch program, funded by our UK partner The Kasiisi Porridge Project, is having the impact that we want to see. There is good evidence from many studies that the persistence of childhood hunger and malnutrition is a major factor in poor academic achievement in developing countries. Our lunch program currently provides lunch to 1200 children at 2 of our schools, Kasiisi and Kanyawara. Preliminary data from Ugandan Ph.D student Miriam Kanyago, whose research was partially funded by the Kasiisi Project, show that the lunch program has resulted in increased enrollment, particularly of girls, evidence of a steeper decline in dropout rates and given a high enough quality of food taller, fatter children. This summer Harvard student Brennan Vail, working on her honor's thesis, compared energy levels in children from schools receiving lunch with those from control schools. Children wore small computers on their belts through the school day and early results show that those eating school lunch had over 20% higher energy levels than those who did not. Brennan finished up her time in Uganda by presenting her preliminary results on the importance of eating lunch to the schools and has given a boost to our hope that we will be able to expand the program both to include the younger children who currently leave at midday, perhaps with a mid-morning snack, and also all students at 3 more schools.
Thanks to the generous donation of a water purifier from Water For the World we are now able to provide clean drinking water for all children at Kasiisi Primary School using a car battery and cooking salt. The purifier is able to treat a 500L rain barrel of water in a few hours.

Testing the water purifier

Our next goal is to raise the money to install similar purifiers at 4 more schools and at our school farm and also to provide clean drinking water to the communities around our schools and farm.

Construction begins at the Kasiisi Project farm

Native Ugandan trees

Tree Planting on the farm

Architects plans for Kasiisi Project Far

As a part of realizing our dream of a self supporting school feeding program able to cater for 4000 children in 5 schools we are busy with the initial stages of developing our first school farm. Volunteer architects Matt Parker and Rob Mawson from the UK spent 6 weeks in Uganda producing the plans for a farm that would fulfill all our requirements. Working with a Ugandan builder and our new farm manager they assessed local needs, developed a business plan with assistant Field Director and Business School Graduate, Koojo Mathew, built temporary structures and designed our dream farm, complete with an education center, an Eco-camp site for tourists, pigs, hens, cows, arable crops, fruit trees and bees. Although it will be many years before the farm is at peak production we now have a wonderful template to work from. As a first step kind volunteers turned out and began planting a bank of fast growing indigenous Ugandan trees which will form a boundary along the southern boundary of the 20 acre plot. Matt and Rob will return to Uganda at regular intervals to make sure that the development of the farm is on track. We are hugely grateful for their energy and passion and the enormous amounts of hard work they have given to the project.

Lucy and Michelle

Harvard student Michelle Sirois and school nurse Kabajansi Lucy worked together to plan a new health education program. Designed to provide enrichment activities that will support the national health curriculum, this new program will provide a lesson every term for every grade and includes basic health and nutrition information reinforced by games and fun activities.

Nutrition Wheel to be printed on canvas with stick on Ugandan food items to teach about food groups

Summer Updates 1 - Conservation Education

2011-08-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

UK, US, Tooro Kingdom and Ugandan flags fly together at Kasiisi

June, July and August at Kasiisi Project schools saw the kind of international collaboration we have come to expect during the summer long vacation. Ugandans, Americans and British volunteers and employees worked together to strengthen old programs and initiate new ones. It was an exciting time particularly for our Conservation Education programs and Wildlife Clubs.

WLC leaders with Amy Hanna and Rwabuhinga Francis (1st right)

Amy Hanna addresses WLC meeting

In June we hired Kasiisi Project scholar Rwabuhinga Francis, as our new trainee Conservation Education Director. Francis who was supported through secondary school and Makerere University by The Field School in Weston, MA and who has a degree in

Rweteera school tree nursery bed

Disney funded tree puzzle


Michelle Sirois and Kyanyawara student

environmental sciences is working with US volunteer Amy Hanna, recently of Lincoln Park Zoo, to improve our conservation education programmes. Their primary goal for 2011 has been to develop and expand the school's Wildlife Clubs. The Kasiisi Project prefers to work within already existing programs and as The Wildlife Clubs of Uganda is a national organisation represented in every Ugandan school it is a good starting place for many of our environmental initiatives. However the clubs in our schools range from very active to totally moribund. In a meeting attended by over 40 head teachers, WLC leaders and School Management Committee chairs from 14 Kasiisi Project schools Francis and Amy offered a program of new ideas, fun activities and hands on assistance to help WLCs thrive. In consultation with the schools it was decided that establishment of school gardens growing only indigenous trees and medicinal plants would be the first program of this new initiative. A trip to Tooro Botanical Gardens in Fort Portal for WLC leaders gave everyone good ideas what would work for their particular schools and practical alternatives to the fast growing but ultimately environmentally destructive eucalyptus.

Everyone can use some help with spelling.

Harvard student Michelle Sirois used poetry and legends to assess children's attitudes to the environment and then had groups of students from Kasiisi and Kyanyawara write stories about animals and then illustrate and publish bilingual Rutooro/English books of their own.

Kasiisi students display completed books

Students from Bates College in Maine, taking a class in primate conservation, designed a coloring book describing how similar chimpanzees are to humans.

Kigarama kids at water source

Searching for bugs

Amy Hanna demonstrates how to measure water color

The Cleveland Zoo funded water quality project has got off to an great start under the guiding hand of volunteer Matt Barth. 25 children from each of 5 schools learned how to measure water quality in the first in a series of 4 seasonal water collections and analysis. The fun had by everyone demonstrated that mud, water and bugs are an irresistible combination to kids everywhere.

Kiko students measure turbidity

Campers use hands and arms to paint trees

As an end of term treat 20 students and teachers from 5 Wildlife clubs joined 20 students from Hoima district at a World Wildlife Fund funded 3 day Wildlife Club Camp . The camp was run by an old Kasiisi Project friend and collaborator Helena Nambogwa ably assisted by visitors to Kibale National Park. Children took forest walks, played games, painted "trees" (paint hands green and fore-arm brown, press onto paper and hey-presto), watched movies and guided by Kibale Fuelwood Project personnel made "eco-charcoal" bricks from peanut shells, manure and sawdust. The Kasiisi Library was put to good use as campers researched the animals and plants they had seen.

Doing research in Kasiisi Library

Campers make "eco-charcoal" bricks

Forest Walks

The lights go on at Kasiisi!

2011-06-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

Lights go on at Kasiisi Primary School

Kasiisi Primary School finally has electricity!!

Last week, in a first for our project, Kasiisi Primary School turned on the lights and the library, staffroom and school offices glowed in the darkness.

Kasiisi is the first project school and the only government primary school in Ruteete county to have mains electricity.

This wonderful accomplishment is made even better by the fact that this is a joint endeavor between the parents at the school who paid to wire the building and the Kasiisi Project which brought in the main power line.

It opens up a host of new and exciting educational possibilities for our students and their teachers The office will have copiers and and printers, the library tapes and CDs and the kids will have movies and music without the cumbersome, expensive challenge of generators, batteries, inverters and fuel. Charging our 170 One Laptop Per Child computers is suddenly easy!

We thank the girls of the Nashoba Brooks "Youth in Philanthropy Program" who voted to donate through the Foundation for Metrowest to pay for the 11 poles and the Quilting Eagles of Bowling Green, Ohio whose wonderful quilt when raffled covered wire, labor and access fees.

There have been many exciting times with this project but this is really and truly an awesome moment - in the original meaning of the word!

Kasiisi-Weston Nursery School Opens!

2011-05-24T04:02:00.000-07:00

Kasiis-Weston Nursery School

New Pupils

Beth Kasenene and Weston-Windows
pupils in their new uniforms!

May 23rd was an exciting day for the Kasiisi-Weston Nursery School as it accepted its first 20 students. Currently only 2 of the 4 classrooms are finished but when the school is completed it will have facilities for 60 children. This is the first pre-school in the area to have qualified staff and first class facilities. The school uniforms are blue to match that of Kasiisi Primary School.

Arriving for first day at school

Teaching our first 2 classes will be Kazairwe Maureeen and Kawino Jennipher, Kasiisi Project Scholars sponsored by The Field School in Weston, MA, who have just completed their pre-school teacher training courses and who have come back to work for us.

The Forest Classroom


Chris Thurston by the foundations of the pre-school

We are so grateful to everyone who has contributed to this wonderful event. In particular we thank the parents and staff of Weston Weston Windows pre-school, First Parish Church in Weston, The Cold Brook Fund, The Rotary Club of Bowling Green,Ohio, the Quilting Eagles quilting group and the Nuttman family. But this great event owes most of all to Chris Thurston, former director of Weston Windows whose idea this was in the first place and whose vision and determination that has brought quality preschool education to the children of Kabarole district, Uganda.

If you would like to donate books and toys please contact Elizabeth Ross at elizabethross26@gmail.com

Peer-Educators for Girls

2011-05-09T05:53:00.000-07:00


Peer Education Workshop at Makerere Univerity Biological Field Station: Thank you MUBFS!

How to be a great peer counselor

Rachel and Lucy; our wonderful mentors

Last week The Kasiisi Project Girls Program responded to the very positive feedback and great evaluations we received from a pilot scheme trialled in 3 project schools and took our successful Girls' Peer Education Program into 10 more forest edge schools. Our school nurse and Health Education Director, Kabajansi Lucy, assisted by Ainembabazi Rachel from Jane Goodall Institute (Uganda) who introduced the program to our schools 2 years ago, held a 2 day workshop for 2 girls and the Senior Woman Teacher from each school. They learned about puberty, reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases, but more importantly to
be good counselors to their

classmates, to be a source of accurate information and most important of all to always keep information shared with them confidential. We have just
begun to introduce a similar program for boys, recognizing that, in a country where woman have little control over their sexual lives, to focus on girls alone will not give us the reduction in teenage pregnancies, lower rates of STDs and the generation of young women who have completed their education that is our goal.
We would like to thank MUBFS for supporting our program by generously reducing rates for food, accommodation and hire of the lecture room.

And baby came too!

Not too late to donate

2011-05-09T04:44:00.000-07:00

Across the line! Congratulations both of you!

Our 2 budding architects, Rob and Matt have made good progress towards raising funds for their time in Uganda this summer where they will be donating their skills to help design buildings for our new farm. They completed the half marathon in Shefffield and received $900 from generous sponsors. But they still have a way to go before thay have enough money for the trip and if you would like to help out it is not too late to donate. You can still make contributions at
http://www.justgiving.com/Rob-Mawson

and

http://www.justgiving.com/Matthew-Parker2

Want a Porridge Project T-shirt of your own?

Contact Elizabeth Ross at elizabethross26@gmail.com

Pigs, Chickens and Marathons

2011-04-28T04:43:00.000-07:00

Instruction in how to keep healthy chickens, Wimpole

How to build a well designed piggery. Wimpole

Two graduating architect students from the UK, Matt Parker and Rob Mawson are donating their time this summer to help design the new Kasiisi Project School farm. They bring not only architectural expertise but also experience with a similar collaborative building project last year in Central America.
In order to learn more about farming Matt and Rob visited Wimpole Farm, an organic farm in the grounds of Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire where they were instructed on the best design of pig pens and how to fertilise the land using mobile chicken roosts.
The farm complex, funded by The Kasiisi Porridge Project, UK, will combine growing food for the school lunch program with agricultural education outreach and community tourism. To help cover expenses these young men will be running a half marathon in Sheffield on May 8th. Anyone interested in sponsoring them can do so via the following Just Giving links below or visit the Kasiisi Project Paypal button at www.kasiisiproject.org referencing school farm.

http://www.justgiving.com/Rob-Mawson

and

http://www.justgiving.com/Matthew-Parker2

Fulbrights and Masks

2011-04-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Alice Bator and project nurse and health education director, Kabajansi Lucy

Fulbright Award: Alice Bator, graduating senior from Vanderbilt University and director of the Kasiisi Project Girls Program has been awarded a Fulbright ETA fellowship. For 10 months Alice will be teaching English in South Africa and at the same time broadening her experience of development projects. Based on the huge impact her work with The Kasiisi Project is having, she will do a great job. Congratulations Alice!

Mixing the clay

Conservation Activities


Books can be very useful if you need help

With help from volunteer Erika Nunlist, the children from Kyanyawara Primary School Wildlife Club have been making animal masks.

Making the molds

Next comes papier mache

Having already made masks of chimps the children branched out and leopards, lions and buffalo are now prowling around the school playground.

Then the paint

Leopards

Lions

and Buffalo!

These kind of projects teach children about their environment and foster positive attitudes towards conservation. This one has had the added bonus of linking books and literacy with messy fun. As Kyanyawara school is next in line for the literacy and library program this was a great way to introduce the concept that books are for joy and entertainment as well as work!
The masks will be used for dance and drama presentations.

Thank you Erika!!!

Erika and friends

Conservation through Sports

2011-04-11T01:23:00.000-07:00

Kigarama Girls are best!

Kyanyawara boys soccer team triumphs

Kigarma netball team plays Kasiisi


Kigarma boys block attempt by Kyanyawara

The mission that drives the work of The Kasiisi Project is first and foremost conservation of Kibale National Park and the many animals that call it home. From birds to elephants, many Kibale Forest residents are not highly regarded locally. As the conservation arm of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, we focus particularly, on changing our students attitudes to a key umbrella species, chimpanzees. As part of this effort we look for programs that connect fun activities and primates.

Thanks to the generosity of Brevard Zoo's young conservationists group we now have soccer, netball and atheletic uniforms for all 5 schools. Printed on T-shirts in each school's uniform color, chimpanzee logos, a gift of Columbus Zoo, link our work in the schools with our conservation mission. In this way local communities are reminded of the connection between protecting the forest and better education for their children.

Brevard Zoo Sports Cups

Last week the Brevard Zoo sport cups were fiercely contested in an all day knockout tournament supported by over 3000 fans.

Kyanyawara captain claims the cup

Kyanyawara school took away the cup for soccer and the Kigarama girls triumphed in netball. An annual event, any school which wins 3 years in a row will keep the cup.

The Kasiisi Project presents: How to wash your hands

2011-04-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Harvard student Abigail Schoenberg and Kasiisi Project assistant director and former Kasiisi Project Scholar Koojo Mathew, we have the very first movie in Rutooro specifically directed at children who do not have easy access to running water or soap. Conceived as part of our health education program, our school nurse will be able to show it to the children using a portable, battery operated projector and a digital card making the expensive days of lugging heavy generators around a thing of the past.
To view this movie with English subtitles go to The Kasiisi Project Presents : How to Wash your Hands

Entrepreneurial activities in Kasiisi Project Schools

2011-04-06T04:02:00.000-07:00

Harvesting Cassava

Canibal Dad

Goats at Kyanyawara School

Reaping the rewards of hard work - Lunch

The Kasiisi Project has a new program. The Kasiisi Project Entrepreneurial Development program or KPED was founded in response to a desire by our schools to start income generating activities, both for their own needs and to help the local community.

Led by old Kasiisi Project friends Cindy Mahr and Pam Bator, KPED held meetings with school principals, teachers and parents last July to begin to identify strategies to reach this goal.

Kyanyawara Students weeding bananas

Learning how other organizations, already involved in similar projects, have been successful, was a springboard for our schools to think about how the experiences of others could be adapted to their special needs.

Use every space available,Gardens tucked in beside the bathrooms

This is early days, but during the past 6 months we have seen the beginnings of several projects, mainly agricultural, that both
generate small amounts of cash and supplement school lunch programs.
Kyanyawara school in particular has shown great enthusiasm for this approach, with every spare piece of land being cultivated even going as far as to share the kindergarten classroom with chickens during the holidays. Pumpkins and bananas, cassava and cabbages grew well under the careful attention of individual classes, school clubs, parents and teachers, They also have hens, rabbits and goats. Their enthusiasm has been rewarded by a small grant from UNICEF to buy more seeds and equipment.

Lesson in the classroom

Everyone is learning fast - for example the fact that male rabbits have to be removed from their mates before babies arrive or they eat them was one new lesson for the children at Kyanyawara. Another was the amazing idea that you can grown greens in sacks even if you don't have enough land.
These projects are having a secondary benefit for our children, the majority of whom will end up as farmers, as they also teach sustainable farming practices.

And outside

Pumpkin Harvest - Kyanyawara school

We are also seeing more parental investment in the schools as a result of this approach. For example, at Kyanyawara, donations from parents have raised 1/3 of the money needed to buy more land to support school feeding and educational projects and at Kasiisi, latrines for the new nursery school, another income generating project, are the gift of a parent.

The Kasiisi Project moves more project oversight to Uganda

2011-03-01T00:32:00.000-08:00

The Kasiisi Project has taken 2 major steps towards addressing the administrative imbalance that currently exists between the US and Ugandan arms of the project. Originally conceived as an equal partnership between Ugandans and Expatriates, as the project has grown more and more administrative decisions have been made in the US.
In order to correct this problem we have begun the first stage of strengthening the administrative structure of our Ugandan counterpart, The Kibale Forest Schools and Student Support Project (KFSSSP) - a registered Community Based Organization - by recruiting professional help with strategic planning and restructuring of membership, committees and boards.

Strategic planning meeting Kasiisi School Library 2/11


Caroline, Akshita Puram, Director KP scholarship program

In addition we have hired 2 new employees to ensure that the recommendations of the strategic planning committee are followed up. Caroline Riss has come on board as interim Kasiisi Project Field Director for a year. A lawyer working as a Public Defender in Montana for the past 3 years her mandate is to put KFSSSP on a firm foundation so that it will continue to operate effectively into the future. Koojo Mathew has been hired as Assistant Field Director and Computer Specialist. A graduate of Makerere University and a Kasiisi Project Scholar, sponosored by the Field School in Weston he has returned to the Kasiisi Project as an employee bringing with him new and valuable skills.


Caroline demonstrates the use of	binoculars


KP Director Elizabeth Ross and Assistant Field Director Koojo Mathew

2 Elizabeths: Elizabeth Ross and Elizabeth Kasenene, Principal Kasiisi Primary School and founder member KFSSSP Executive Board

Elizabeth Ross and Elizabeth Kasenene

Elizabeth Ross and Emily Otali, Chair KFSSSP/KP Scholarship Committee discuss student report

Elizabeth Ross, Elizabeth Kasenene and KFSSSP Administrative Assistant Sunday Godfrey

Elizabeth Kasenene and Kagaba Joshua: Chair Kasiisi School PTA, Member of the scholarship committee and founder Executive Board Member KFSSSP


John Kasenene, Chair of Executive Board KFSSSP lectures Kasiisi Project teachers on care for the environment

We would like to thank all the generous donors who understanding the importance of administrative funding have financed our new employees and have made possible the start of the move from a small project run by a group of like-minded friends to a truly professional organization with its own momentum which will survive and thrive after we have gone. Not forgetting all the good friends who are too numerous to list here we wish to acknowledge in particular The Jimmy Stewart Foundation, The Maria Norbury Foundation, The Coldbrook Fund, the Kirk and Slotpole Families, the Kasiisi Project Girls Program and The Kasiisi Porridge Project (UK) for their timely generosity.

Kasiisi Scholar gets place in top Ugandan School for 11th Grade

2011-02-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Kyomhendo James February 2011

Kyomhendo James, sponsored by the Lichter/Tobin Family from Weston, MA, achieved top marks in his O (Ordinary) Level exams which Ugandan students take at the end of 10th Grade. This remarkable achievement meant a place for James at Uganda Martyrs' Secondary School, Namugongo, for 11th and 12th grade. This secondary school is ranked number 1 in Uganda . James will do Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths at Advanced Level with the goal of studying Medicine at University.

New Scholars for 2011

2011-02-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

Akshita Puram, Director KP Scholarship Program with KP Makerere Univeristy students Rwabuhinga Francis, Tibisiimwe Irene and Nykato Flavian

As the Scholarship Director for Kasiisi in America, Akshita Puram was able to make it out to Uganda this past week for the annual scholar meeting, new scholar selection meeting and the new scholar parent/student announcements. Along with Akshita, the Kasiisi Scholarship Program also had one of their sponsors, the Dobbyn Foundation, visit to meet their current and new scholars.

Kevin Bouchard, President Dobbyn Foundation addresses Kasiisi Project Scholars at February meeting

Kasiisi Project Scholars 2011

The Kasiisi Project uses national exams to choose top ranking students for scholarships. This year we had 6.5 sponsorships to provide our support to students for secondary schooling. There were students that did equally well, but instead of having to decide a student's fate with a tie breaker, the president of Kasiisi, Elizabeth Ross offered to personally support a student and The Kasiisi Project Girls Program will support 2! We are now hoping the African Orphan Foundation will be able to support one of our orphan girls that we selected for sponsorship--providing eight new students with sponsorships and totaling Kasiisi sponsorships to 88 for the 2011 school year!

Later that week, we had a meeting with the eight new scholars and their parents. You could see how happy and proud the parents and students were. It was truly great to be a part of such an amazing organization and see the fruit of everyone’s hard work.

Kasiisi Primary School scores 36 Grade 1 passes from 90 Candidates ranking 3rd best government school in Kabarole District: New Vision Newspaper

The Kasiisi Project has made it a long way from where it started. Today, the Kasiisi Primary School stands as the 3rd best public school in the district and through helping rebuild multiple schools in Kabarole, our district now stands as 6th in the nation! Our hopes are to continue to move up in ranking and help further the education of Ugandan students one a step at a time.

Cleveland Zoo Grant

2011-02-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Teachers test water turbidity

The Kasiisi Project has been awarded a grant from Cleveland Zoo for a school based project studying the impact of deforestation on water quality. In partnership with The Kibale Fish Project P6 (Grade 5) students from our 5 core schools will map streams, ponds and swamps inside and outside the forest and then carry out a range of tests measuring water quality in wet and dry seasons. Idea Wild has generously supplied GPS units and other equipment.
Our students are no strangers to GPS units having participated in a cross-currilcular program with Weston School District in Massachusetts which involved hiding and then locating puzzle pieces using GPS. In a pilot project last summer students used kits supplied by World Water Monitoring Day to measure pH and dissolved oxygen in drinking water sources. Results and locations were then mapped digitally. This was a great success so we are very grateful to Cleveland Zoo for giving us the resources to expand the program to more children.

Bookaid International

2010-12-24T02:58:00.000-08:00

Bookaid International a UK charity that supplies books to educational institutions in developing countries and which has been a generous supporter of The Kasiisi Project chose our literacy initiative to highlight their wonderful work for their annual fund raising letter. We are very grateful for their support and hope that all their donors will be encouraged to donate generously when they see what an impact their books have had on Kasiisi Project children. To see how they did this please check the following links.Bookaid International Case Study and Bookaid International Fundraising Letter 2

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE KASIISI PROJECT

2010-12-11T02:49:00.000-08:00

Kasiisi Project's first University Graduate

2010-12-03T04:31:00.000-08:00

KOOJO MATHEW

Congratulations to Kasiisi Project scholar Koojo Mathew who graduated this month with a BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Kampala International University.
Supported through secondary school and college by the upper elementary students of The Field School in Weston, MA, Mathew is our first scholar to graduate from University. This is a great day for us and for Mathew!
His letter of thanks to the Field School on obtaining his degree copied below, really emphasizes the challenges for facing our scholars and the kind of successful outcome we are striving for.

THE FIELD SCHOOL
I take this opportunity to greet you and thank you for the great work you are doing

I am glad to inform you that I have officially graduated at Kampala International University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in marketing.

I write to thank you very much for the effort and contributions you made to make this possible for me – thank you very much.

When I was 9 years in the village of Mwibaale, I lost my father, and barely knew who my mother was I became hopeless and knew that was the end of me too. I was a young boy with big dreams like; a family of my own, driving a big car, having my own office and travelling the world, but on that day after the death of my father, I knew everything had come to an end! I knew I was going to be like some of my village mates who survived on grazing people’s cows and goats and farming for those who were well off
With all my fears, I tried as much as I could to keep up with the hard work in class as much as I did at home.
Three years later I sat my Primary leaving Exams which I passed very well, being the best in my class for that year (2000). But I was not sure what the next step in life was for me, because at that time secondary education seemed expensive and unaffordable. But one of the happiest days of my life was the day I got a notice from the American Friends of Kasiisi Primary School well-known as AFROKAPS. I found so much joy in every word that I heard as I was told that I had earned myself a scholarship to do my secondary education.
I did my six years of secondary education against all odds but I thank God that He saw me through. Having done my Advanced level of secondary education, I was happy that I had also attained some education and I still had faith that I would continue. I was filled with more joy when I was informed that you were continuing to sponsor me even for my University education, I knew that nothing would put me down
My life has not been an easy one. I had to spend most of my time away from home pursuing my education; and sometimes I felt like I did not get enough moral support from my family. However, I did not accept to be put down by these mis-happenings that occurred to me. One of my principles in life has been to use any challenge that I face as a stepping stone to advance to another level and so that has been the case.
I have to admit that the going has not been easy but with the financial push that you have given me this whole time, my life has been simplified. Thank you very much for you have not only give me financial support, but you have given me a life, one that I never knew I would ever have. I thank God that He has blessed me through you. You have given me courage, hope and a future, you have raised me from a nobody, to somebody now. I pray to God that He gives me the will to use the gift you have given me to help those who come after me, so as to change their lives like you did mine.

I am excitedly looking forward to life after school. Getting a job is not easy in Uganda, but I am looking at all openings. In the mean time, I have been helping at Kasiisi. Whatever happens, I know that I would like to do a master’s degree in the near future.

I am dreaming big. And I can afford to dream. Thanks to you, now I can see a bright future ahead.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

May God bless you-all abundantly.

Koojo Mathew Apuuli.

Kasiisi Project Program Videos

2010-11-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

Great Primate Handshake www.primatehandshake.org made movies for the Kasiisi Project for the second year in 2010. They have just posted 3 great new videos about our programs on Youtube.
To see the Kasiisi Literacy Program in action in our wonderful library click on The Kasiisi Literacy Initiative.
For more information about where we are with our OLPC computer program and to see why the computers have been so important for comprehension of mapping, an area that teachers have told us is a real challenge for the children they teach, click on Kasiisi Computer Program.

Kasiisi Wildlife Club collecting litter


Primate Handshake volunteers

Conservation is at the core of our project's mission and Primate Handshake volunteers joined the Kasiisi School Wildlife Club in a trash collecting sortie into the local village followed by conservation games. To watch our club in action more click on Kasiisi Wildlife Club.

MakaPad Video

2010-11-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Lesson in reproductive health at Kiko Primary School

Books and videos used for teaching reproductive health

Under the direction of Alice Bator, the power behind the Kasiisi Project Girls Program, we are moving towards becoming the first producers of locally manufactured sanitary pads in Western Uganda. This project which will provide affordable pads will also generate income for local women and support our work with girls. Our new school farm borders a swamp which will supply the raw ingredient, papyrus. To find out more about these MakaPads which we currently supply to girls in all our schools take a look at this great movie All about MakaPads

Kasiisi Project Movies

2010-10-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

There are 2 new Kasiisi Videos to see. The very moving Thank you very much for the porridge made by Isobel Briggs about the lunch program at Kasiisi and Kyanyawara schools which is funded by the The Kasiisi Porridge Project, UK and was shot last month.

And last April, we hosted a documentary film crew at Kasiisi Primary School. The crew was covering Information and Computing Technology and Open Source initiatives across East Africa and our successful One Laptop Per Child deployment caught their attention. This was very exciting for the teachers and students working with the XO laptops. Afrika Connect is in German but if you fast forward to minute 3:22.you will see some old friends!

Summer in Kasiisi Project Schools

2010-10-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Abigail Schoenberg filming at Kasiisi

Kirsten Ayers working with Kasiisi Project teacher on OLPC

Alice Bator and Kasiisi Project Community Nurse Kabjansi Lucy

This last summer was a time of intense activity in Kasiisi Project Schools. Abigail Schoenberg, Harvard University media student, was in Uganda making the first "Handwashing" video in Rutooro for our health education program. Nick Doiron, Carnegie Mellon environmental education student spent 2 months leading projects that had the students using their OLPC computers to make paper and digital maps, listen to talking books, make digital sensors to measure factors that impact the health of their environment and to begin a project to test the quality of water sources around the schools. Vanderbilt University was well represented with Kirsten Ayers developing programs to help integrate the laptops into the academic curriculum and Alice Bator and Scott advancing the goals of both the Girls and the Health
Education programs. They also made significant advances towards the project sponsored production of locally manufactured, sustainable sanitary pads.

Weston educators teach Kindergarten class at Kasiisi

Krimsky-Kee family paints the alphabet on the wall at Kiko Primary school

Weston, MA was equally well represented as we welcomed back 2 old friends and 2 new visitors from Weston public schools in a 5th year of exchange between the 2 school districts. Co-teaching with Ugandan colleagues in Kasiisi Project classrooms, consulting on special needs and playing soccer against a school team they combined hard work with a wildlife safari. The Kee family of Weston volunteered for 2 weeks, promoting connections between Girl Scout troops in Uganda and the US and lending a hand decorating exterior walls with large scale educational aids and treating ancient blackboards to a new coat of paint.

Kasiis Project scholar Kazairwe Maureen catalogues books in Kasiisi Library

Weston educator Barbara Stevens, director of The Literacy Project, built on her successful launch of a real working library at Kasiisi Primary School in 2010 by importing, cataloging and shelving more boxes of books including 4 donated by UK charity Bookaid International. The program which has transformed literacy instruction at the schools has generated an impressive interest in reading in the children. A new initiative was introduced where mothers and grandmothers of children under 6 will meet regularly to discuss how to build the foundations of literacy in the very young.


Kasiisi Project school administrators discuss enterprise development

Pam Bator and Cindy Mahr of Weston Public Schools led seminars to discuss a new program to develop income generating enterprises both in Kasiisi Project Schools and in their communities, with the goal of making the project more self supporting. Some schools have already taken the first small steps in this direction by growing bananas and keeping chickens.
If you would like to read in more detail about what went on in Uganda this summer you can access detailed reports through the following links. Literacy at Literacy Program 2010 : Handwashing movie at Handwashing Movie: Science and technology at Computers and the Environment: Weston teachers in Uganda at Weston Teachers and Kasiisi Project Schools: Computers and the curriculum at Computers in the classroom : Girls and Health Education Programs at Girls and Health Programs: and income generation at Kasiisi Project Enterprise Development

Amazing Quilt offered for auction

2010-09-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

African Quilt

The wonderful members of the "Quilting Eagles" quilting group have made an absolutely amazing Queen Sized quilt from fabric brought back from Uganda and Zimbabwe. We are humbled at their skills and words cannot express our gratitude for all their hard work and their generosity in donating it to the Bowling Green, Ohio Rotary Club to be auctioned for the benefit of the Kasiisi Project. The attached photo is a poor replica of the actual quilt which is much more vibrant and colorful than shown here.

Kibale Forest Coalition for Conservation Education Logo wins award

2010-09-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

The KFCCE logo designed by Diane Villa at North Carolina Zoo has just won won an American Graphic Design Award in the logo, trademarks and symbols category. One of the largest design competitions in the USA, it honors outstanding new work of all kinds in 23 categories from print and packaging to internet and interactive design. The judges spent the summer reviewing over 8000 thousand entries. A highly selective 15% of the total number of entries were chosen for these coveted awards. Well done Diane and thanks for a great logo.

Travel to Uganda in 2011

2010-09-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

Mihingo Lodge, Lake Mburo National Park

Ishasha Camp Queen Elizabeth National Park

For those of you who have always wanted to visit Uganda and see what we are doing with your own eyes here is an opportunity to fulfill this dream and support our work at the same time. In June 2011 The Kasiisi Project is offering a trip that will combine a wildlife safari with opportunities to visit our schools. Your trip leaders will be experts in the local wildlife, community development and Ugandan culture and your driver guides expert at spotting and identifying that irritating little brown bird.You will track the rare Mountain Gorilla, follow chimpanzees through Kibale National Park and have a chance to search for the elusive Shoebill Stork. 20% of the price will go directly to support our work in Uganda. Limited to 8 guests we think this trip will fill fast. Dates are departure from the US June 6th 2011 and returning June 20th. Anyone interested in more details please e-mail Uganda 2011.
Please note that the minimum age for Gorillas is 15 years and for the Chimpanzees 12.

Ohio quilting group sews for Kasiisi Project

2010-09-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

Laying out the blocks

Cutting out the squares

Arranging completed block


Sewing the blocks

The ladies of the "Quilting Eagles" of Perrysburg, Ohio are sewing a quilt to raise funds to help bring mains power to Kasiisi Project schools. Over a dozen women who meet weekly at the home of their organizer, Linda Dunmyer are piecing together African fabric purchased in Uganda into a 90"x102" queen sized quilt. The quilt will be auctioned on November 11th in a fund raising event co-sponsored by by Bowling Green Rotary, Ohio. We are already the grateful beneficiaries of the generosity of Bowling Green Rotary who donated $5000 in March to help us complete the nursery school.

Science and Technology in Kasiisi Project Schools

2010-08-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Children in Kasiisi Project schools have had several opportunities, this summer, to enrich their learning using modern technology thanks to volunteers from the US and Canada.

Kyanyawara Students completeing Tanagram puzzle

In an activity which is a also part of the Weston Public Schools curriculum in Massachusetts, over 100 children from Kyanyawara primary school turned up one Sunday to join visitors from Weston in hiding and searching for tangram puzzle pieces using GPS units.

Using GPS units to find puzzle pieces

Rweteera students make paper maps

At Kasiisi and Rweteera Primary schools, under the direction of Nick Doiron, environmental engineering students from Carnegie Mellon University, students used OLPC computers and Google maps to make digital and paper maps of their schools.


Kasiisi students studying digital map printouts of their school

They also meaasured and displayed light, heat and pressure using electronic sensors connected to the computers as part of a study of factors impacting environmental health.

Student designed "squeeze" sensor

Sensor to measure foot pressure,

Finally using kits provided by World Water Monitoring Day World Water Monitoring Day they analyzed water quality and mapped water sources.


Kasiisi "Water Quality test Team" in gloves and protective glasses

Nick Doiron the and the "Water Quality Team"

You can find more details of this very exciting project on Nick Doiron's BLOG http://MapUganda.blogspot.com which provides a detailed account of his time in Uganda this summer.

Kasiisi Nursery School gets a roof

2010-07-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

Chris Thurston has been early education coordinator in Weston for 23 years and the director of the Weston, MA pre-school program, Weston Windows, for the last 11. She has also been the inspiration behind the construction of Kasiisi Nursery School, this year designated a sister school for Weston Windows. So it is appropriate that the parents and staff of Weston Public Schools celebrated Chris's retirement in June and marked their enormous appreciation of her contribution to the education of their children with a party and fundraiser that literally put a roof on the pre-school in Uganda.
Chris's visited Uganda for a second time this summer to see the fruit of her labors in person and to continue to team-teach Kindergarten classes with Ugandan colleagues.
As the mother of 2 special needs daughters, she is particularly interested in helping develop desperately needed special education resources for children in Kasiisi Project schools. In her honor, one room of the new nursery school will be designated as a resource room for children with learning difficulties. A search for a special education teacher will be launched in the fall.

Weston Teachers BLOG from Uganda

2010-07-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

Visit Weston Teacher's BLOG

to catch up on the activities of 4 teachers from The Country School, Weston, MA as they travel, teach, play soccer, track chimpanzees and build on the 13 year relationship between the Weston School District and Kasiisi Project Schools.

Kasiisi Project awarded second Disney Conservation Grant

2010-06-24T03:51:00.000-07:00

It has just been announced that The Kasiisi Project is the recipient of a $24000 Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund grant for 2010. We are extremely grateful to DCWF, Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, for their generous support of our conservation programs.

This grant will fund phase 2 of The Kibale Schools Conservation Education Project which was launched in 2009 to promote conservation education in Kibale Forest schools by targeting the teachers.

Data from 2009 show that taking key teachers on trips to local national parks had a significantly positive impact on their knowledge of and attitude to their natural environment. We also saw a change in emotional responses to key species such as elephant. To see the full report check out Disney Report 2009

In addition we found that the children under their care showed better knowledge of the environment as well. We asked 1300 children to draw forest and savanna ecosystems and found a significant improvement in their ability to draw animals in their correct habitat after their teachers had been on the field trips compared with before the trips - see below for latest results.
Phase 2 will extend the program into a new cohort of Kibale Forest schools, while at the same time continuing to build on gains made in current schools.

A Graph showing animals drawn by students in their correct habitat before and after teacher trips to local National Parks.

Nature for Kids movies - English version

2010-06-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested in seeing the English version of our new Rutooro language environmental movies check out Nature for Kids movies - English version

Girl's Peer education program a success!

2010-06-08T01:39:00.000-07:00

" When I have my period is something broken inside me?"

Finding ways to keep girls in school is an important goal for the Kasiisi Project. To this end we supply all menstruating girls in our schools with sanitary supplies, and look for ways ways to support reproductive health education initiatives already in the curriculum. By the time they graduate from primary school almost all girls are menstruating, with some as old as 17, and it is likely that many are already sexually active since pregnancy is a frequent reason given for girls dropping out. This clear evidence that they are having unprotected sex is concerning in a country where the HIV infection rate is thought to be on the rise again and where young girls are disproportionally more likely to become infected. http://www.avert.org/aids-uganda.htm

In September 2008 a teacher and 3 girls from Kasiisi Primary School attended a 3 day reproductive education workshop organised by the Jane Goodall Institute (Uganda) and funded by the Nike Foundation. This workshop trained the girls to be peer counselors who would then become sources of information about puberty, sexuality and reproduction for other girls in their schools. Informal interviews in 2009 strongly indicated that these peer counselors were having an impact at Kasiisi that was not seen at other project schools. So in September, when Kasiisi girls attended a second workshop, 2 more schools, Kyanyawara and Kigarama, joined them. In May we carried out more formal evaluations of girls in the top 3 classes. We found that girls in schools which had peer counselors were significantly more knowledgeable about their bodies, sexuality and puberty than those in schools without the program.
For full report seeGirls Peer Education Evaluations

However the level of ignorance even in schools with peer counselors was alarming. More than 50 % of the respondents believing that they could not get pregnant the first time they had intercourse and that having sex with a virgin cured men of HIV/AIDS. Less than 1 in 5 listed the use of condoms as a way to avoid HIV/AIDS.
With the help of Kabajansi Lucy, our community health nurse who is in charge of health education in Kasiisi Project schools our aim is to take this program into 6 more schools in 2010 while continuing to support and expand its impact in schools where it it is already active. We hope that our data will support applications for funding that will allow us to to this.

Donations to support our girl's program can be made through the paypal button. Please specify "girl's program" with your donation.

Health Education class with Nurse Lucy

Project Volunteer relects on his time in Uganda

2010-05-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Chris Mayo-Smith of Weston, Massachustts spent 4 months of his Gap Year between high school and college volunteering with the Kasiisi Project. When he came home he wrote about his experience. We think that he does a great job of describing what we hope that our volunteers will take away from their time with us and we would like to share his thoughts with you. You can see Chris talking about his work with our computer program in the top video link on the right.

“Teaching is a partnership in learning,” my great Uncle and accomplished educator once told me. In my time in the Kabarole District of Western Uganda working with the Kasiisi Project these words held true. Being my first time volunteering in Education I feel that I have learned as much as I have taught, if not more. Feeling very fortunate that I had the time, support and funds necessary to carry out my four months teaching Computers with the One Laptop Per Child program, leading the Wildlife Club and taking part in coaching football for the students. I am coming home with friendships that will last a lifetime and memories to match.
Education is an Investment, and the work I have done here I hope will show results for many years to come. We have now graduated into a technologically dominated world, where the ability to creatively use a computer is essential for just about any job. One of my greatest contributions to the Kasiisi project was helping out with the XO laptops. Fortunately for me previous volunteers had already done lots of work in organizing and setting up the first 100 laptops that were donated, however fifty more laptops where purchased in my time with Kasiisi Project with which I helped to install the necessary software, and set up a working system for charging and maintenance. Just about everyday I along with the teachers at Kasiisi would assist and teach the Primary five and six children for one hour after school. We had a number of different courses and teachings ranging from geography lessons with a blank map of Africa, to a music program where the children got to create and then share their pieces, to Quizzes that were manually uploaded onto the server by me and some of the teachers. The quizzes could then be accessed by the students on their computers which gave them another median for learning. I assisted the teachers as well in teaching them the ins and outs of uploading questions adding sustainability once I had left. The time was not always structured and many days we would let the children teach themselves and be creative while assisting them in small ways. The progress they made was stunning and they became adept and confident by the time I had left. However I really came to value all the opportunities I had previously had in having access to computers as in the beginning even the most basic functions were new and hard to grasp by the Primary five students.

I learned that you need to become integrated into the workplace to find your niche. At Kasiisi I found mine in the wildlife club. This club gave myself and the students an outlet from the everyday life at Kasiisi and the opportunity to see the surrounding areas.

I organized trips to the local science center for the students and will always remember their gasps of amazement as I showed them a baby elephants tooth. One of the girls, Dorothy, got so inspired that she is currently working at the science center on the weekend giving tours to all who come to visit. Next up was a trip to the local tea plantation, where many of the students parents worked picking tea leaves. After visiting the plantation first with a few of the teachers and getting a solid grasps on the ins and outs of the process of tea leaf to tea cup we felt confident to lead the kids.

I think it was a memorable experience as now they understand what happens to the acres upon acres of tea plants they pass every day on their walks to school. Creative presentations were also carried out by the students about the wildlife of East Africa and the great rift valley. These were then presented to the class and hung on the walls for all to see. A select few of the wildlife students also got to participate in the Earth Day celebration held 40 km away where they had a wetland walk and got inundated with information on the importance of conservation of the environment. (See last but one BLOG posting for more information about this event)

Coaching and practicing football with the students was another great way for us to connect and share a common passion. I think this reduced the initial hesitation period that sometimes occurs with volunteers and was a great way for the kids to have fun. Mainly we would have interclass competitions but a few times we got the other teachers involved, which created quite a buzz around the school. On of the hardest things to quantify is the interpersonal relationships that formed over the course of the semester. Such as the hour and a half walk home with the students where we would share stories, laughs and dreams with each other. Or “Ah-Ha” moments with the teachers as we were going over certain aspects of the computers, times like these are what I will ultimately miss the most and what will draw me back to Kasiisi in the future.

Ranger Rick makes champs of Kibale chimps

2010-05-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

We are very grateful to The National Wildlife Federation for their generous donation of 100 copies of this month's edition of their great wildlife magazine for kids, Ranger Rick. This edition is ideal for Kasiisi Project schools because it features our very own Kibale chimps Link to article. The chimpanzee on the cover is Outamba. She has little Gola sitting on her lap. It is early morning and maybe she isn't feeling so good because she is swallowing the leaves of the medicinal plant Rubia Cordifolia. Outamba and Gola are members of the Kyanyawara community, the very same group that many Kasiisi Project students know from loud calls in the forest next to their villages or from bananas missing from the family farm. They may even have had brief glimpses of Outamba fleeing back into the forest pursued by irate farmers.
The NWF, through their donation of this attractive, glossy magazine to children who have little experience of quality reading material, have given us a wonderful opportunity to make a personal connection between Kasiisi Project students and the chimpanzees who are their neighbors. These are our chimps so we know them well. We can describe the individuals shown in the article; their families and friends, their personalities and habits. We can talk about these particular chimpanzees in a way that brings alive the close similarities between our students and their closest relations. Thanks to Ranger Rick we can nurture empathy, kinship, pride and a desire to protect.

US students fund Earth Day Celebrations for Kasiisi Project schools

2010-04-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

Pupils from KFSSSP* / Kasiisi Project schools join communities and students from 10 schools in the south of Kibale National Park for Earth Day 2010 celebrations organized by fellow KFFCE** members, UNITE*** and KAFRED****.
T-shirts donated by Brevard Zoo, FL, Transport donated by Weston Public Schools, MA.

(* Kibale Forest Schools and Student Support Project, ** Kibale Forest Coalition for Conservation Education, *** Uganda and North Carolina International Teaching for the Environment, **** Kibale Association for Rural and Economic Development)

Thanks to a gift from Weston, MA, High School group Students for Environmental Action, 57 students and teachers from 9 Kasiisi Project schools were able to join in celebrations to mark Earth Day 2010 on April 22nd . Founded 40 years ago by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment it is now celebrated in almost every country in the world. To mark this important 40th anniversary, Kibale Forest Coalition for Conservation Education (KFCCE) members KAFRED and UNITE (see partner list for Websites) brought Earth Day to Uganda for the first time and invited fellow KFCCE organizations to join in the fun. Pupils and teachers from each of the Kasiisi Project schools and The Mainarao School Project joined peers from the 10 UNITE schools, the local community and Kamwenge District dignitaries in activities designed to raise environmental awareness. These included demonstrations of fuel efficient stoves by another KFCCE member The Kibale Community Fuel-Wood Project, free guided walks in the Bigodi Wetlands, movie showings and drama and dance performances.

Kasiisi Project students on a guided walk in the Bigodi Wetlands

Donations to Literacy Program from Maine,Uganda and the UK

2010-04-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

Zoe Maguire aged 8 and sister Sasha 6 of Bethel, Maine chose The Kasiisi Project for their 2010 fund raising project. As a result of their efforts our literacy program now has an extra $351.78 to spend on books.

10 boxes of books have just arrived in Uganda thanks to UK charity Bookaid International. The books will be shared between the Kasiisi Project libraries and local community libraries

Thanks to Dr. Peter Apell of the Jane Goodall Institute, Uganda we now have a laptop for the project that we don't even have to carry across the Atlantic. 4 teachers took a 2 month computer course at Mountains of the Moon University, Fort Portal over the Christmas break, which resulted in an improvement in their ability to teach computer classes at Kasiisi Primary School that far exceeded our expectations. They will now be able to practice what they learned and will not lose their new skills.

Latest learning fun with OLPC computers

2010-04-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

See olpckasiisi.blogspot.com/ (link to right) for the latest posting about our computer program on our computer blog. You can read about what the kids are doing with the computers just now - Wilkipedia treasure hunts, cooperative story writing
"A long time ago there was a boy named Margu. He was a hunter. One day he went into the forest. Up above, the clouds began to gather and it started to rain."
and "What I did in the Christmas break"artwork.
A goat destined for the pot!

A KFCCE collaboration: Conservation Movies in Rutooro

2010-04-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is a very exciting time for everyone working in conservation in Kibale Forest schools. Thanks to funding and videos from Dutch NGO, Nature For Kids (www.natureforkids.nl) and stellar translations from John Tinka of North Carolina Zoo's environmental education project UNITE, (www.nczoo.org/conservation/International/UNITE.html) we now have the very first environmental movies for kids in Rutooro, the local tribal language. Last week, in a kick-off for the program in the local church - the only building large enough, 1400 Kasiisi Project children got to watch 4 enchanting environmental videos in their native language. Narrated by a friendly warthog, the movies star African children making a difference to environmental problems around their homes.

Afterwards the students all took home booklets, also in Rutooro, to share the stories of the videos with their families. The themes of the movies; deforestation, overgrazing, clean water and trash are reinforced at school through posters and teacher guides. During the next 12 months 9000 more children in Kasiisi Project and UNITE schools around Kibale National Park will also have an opportunity to watch these movies. To take a look at the English versions go to www.natureforkids.nl/what-do-we-do/our_movies/movie/14/sofia-and-the-terrific-forrest.

Rweteera School classroom renovations

2010-03-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

In January the big double classroom at Rweteera Primary School looked like this; dark, damp, and cheerless. It was not alone, 8 of the 10 classrooms at Rweteera were in a similarly derelict state. Not exactly welcoming to either staff or pupils. One reason absenteeism, the bane of rural African schools, is so high amongst the 600 children at Rweteera.
Now it has been transformed (see picture below) thanks to a new partnership between The Kasiisi Project and Ndali Lodge, a heavenly luxury safari lodge clinging to the rim of a nearby crater lake with stunning views of the Ruwenzori Mountains.Together we are beginning to improve conditions at the school.

Eight classrooms will undergo extensive repair and renovation. Built in the 1960's by British tea planter Major Price, grandfather of Aubrey the current owner of Ndali, they will have enlarged windows, new floors and roofs,skylights and paint. Ndali Lodge is contributing a percentage of it's profits to the project and generous donors are giving the rest. You can watch our donation thermometer rise at http://www.kasiisiproject.org/donations.htm as we move closer to meeting the challenge set by Ed Heller with his generous matching grant.

Aubrey Price and fiancee Clare at Ndali Lodge, Uganda. www.ndalilodge.com

Kasiisi Pre-School

2010-03-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

Its been a year since the Kasiisi pre-school foundations were completed. Hard to believe how much work and money goes into a concrete slab! Now a generous donations of $5000 from Bowling Green Rotary Club, OH which when added to money raised by the parents of Weston Public Schools, MA and matched by First Parish Church, Weston and The Coldbrook Fund means that the next stage of construction, walls and roof, can be completed. If we can now raise an additional $3000 to match further generous support from the Coldbrook Fund the pre-school will be in operation by September 2010. The first in the area with proper facilities and trained teachers, the pre-school will have 3 classes and cater for around 60 children. Two Kasiisi Project scholars, currently training in early- childhood education are planning on returning to return to Kasiisi to teach. Donations to the preschool fund can be made through the paypal link on this blog.

More Computers for Kasiisi !!!!

2010-03-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

We have recently acquired 55 more XO computers for Kasiisi Primary School. Added to the 100 computers that were donated by One Laptop Per Child in 2009 we are closing in on the 200 that we need to prevent that this year's P5 class missing out on the wonderful opportunity to experience computers. We still need an additional 45 laptops but the goalposts have moved a lot closer.
We are off to a great start with this year's computer program. Five teachers took a 2 month computer class at Mountains of the Moon Unversity in Fort Portal over the Christmas break and have returned invigorated and enthusiastic about our computer program as this recent quote from Uganda shows. "We started with the very first P5 class on Wednesday. It was very exciting for everyone. We started very slow and basic. Tom and Richard split the kids between two rooms. WOW! You could really tell that they just finished a Computer Training course which was taught by real computer teachers. The way they addressed the class, covered topics, explained things,......really, I was very very impressed. I think the training of this year's P5 class will go very well."

In addition we are using 16 of the best students from last year's P5 class to help train younger pupils. These Peer Laptop Teachers (PLTs) will be assigned 10 students each to mentor. 2010 is going to be a great year for our computer program!