The Responsibility of everyone in learning of the children

Before joining the Twaweza family, my thinking was different from how things are supposed to be done. I never knew i had a role to play towards improving the learning outcome of the children in Uganda. But there has been a shift in my mind from the time i joined Twaweza in 2011 as volunteer who participated in the collection of data from the household, currently i am passionately a volunteer with Twaweza as a District Contact Communication Person for Namutumba District where i feel im obligated to do a lot of work ranging from reminding the leaders on their roles, inspiring the citizens to take action towards the learning of their children. Learning of children does not necessarily take place at school only but it occurs at different levels. In the home (household) where a child base to attend school, the community where the child resides. The household first and foremost is a key player in the learning of the children as it has primary role in providing stability and basic materials the children to attend school, give time for the children to revise their books, without the materials the learning will never be achieved. The community is also important as this shapes the children create favorable conditions to attend school and learn. The roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder like the parents, local leaders, service providers and children community. But often what happens is that community has neglected their roles in the learning of the children only has put a common saying that "Museveni's children" meaning that they are all for the president something that has created a big gap in the learning. This situation also creates what i can term as " a single story" of teachers not performing their duties yet they also have a role to play as that of teachers.The teachers play their role when parents and communities have fully participated and are taking part in the learning of the children such that we can we can create a situation of a balanced stories towards the learning of our children, where there are no blames to put to each player. In conclusion everyone's little contribution however small it is can equally be important towards improving the learning of outcome of the Uganda child. Gideon Gwebatala Andrew DCCP Namutumba District

MY EXPERIENCE IN GLOBAL CITIZEN COURSE 2014

My Experience in Global Citizen Course 2014

Moving away from my home country Uganda to Kenya ready to attend a Global Citizen Course (GCC), with a lot of expectations and anxiety because i considered my self very lucky for being one of the two people that were selected from Action Aid Uganda to represent the country in the training that runs for four(4) months or 16 weeks in all  the platforms of the two countries of Kenya and Tanzania.

A word of thanks and appreciation to Action Aid Uganda for all the support particularly financial and efforts rendered towards making it possible for me to attend the Global Citizen Course 2014. A promise that I will always in return share with many youth as I can to cause a change out of the gained knowledge.

Global Citizen Course Participants 2014

 For this year's training participants came from five countries that is to say Denmark, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and of course Uganda. A total of 21 participants form one big family the "GCC SPRING 2014". 

For an individual to become a citizen you will have to be legally recognized as a member of a state, with rights and obligations, this questions the logic and practicality behind the concept of Global Cirtizen. we are born in different states and we need to obtain national documents to be legally recognized, as for global citizen an individual does not need to obtain any documents or follow any legal regulation. Everyone is born as a global citizen but it depend with the ability for an individual to realize that he/ she is a global citizen.

Global citizen is not all about proper document but proper minds that can realize the importance of human race finding a common ground to help each other. There is no person who can legalise that an individual is a global citizen but acts and the ability to tolerate different cultures, nationalities and race. The strength to not see and concentrate on any differences but on our similarities that brings us together is one of the credentials of being a global citizen.

Global Citizens do not believe in racial division but make efforts for people to see each other beyond skin colour, they do not see other people's cultures as being wierd but celebrate them as they are and input where there is need, they do not look where the concept of human rights come from but measure the practicality and the importance of human rights and finaly they are enemies of povety and iniquality but advocates of peace and equality.

With a number of Mandatory activities that take place at the platform ranging from morning fellowship, morning sports,sessions, community work, workshops, excursions and others that are meant to expose participants to a lot of activities that occur around the globe.

Key learning from Global Citizen Course

During the course I have conducted a lot of interviews where I get most of the ideas for sharing and comparing with what happens in my country particularly to the youth in Busiki and Uganda as a whole and try to get a link with action aid approach to social problems.

Below  is short interview that I conducted in Nairobi Kenya in a slum called Kibera with a small scale vegetable business woman asking her about the   challenges she finds in operating her small scale business.

Me together with other GCC participants, we visited Elizabeth who finds it competitive to run her own business in Kibera. She faces the challenge of earning enough money to pay her rent and send her children to school. She moved to Kibera in 1998 together with her husband and children because it was closer to school and her husband’s job. After some years living as a housewife, she found it difficult that her husband didn’t have a permanent monthly salary so she decided to open her own vegetable “Kiosk” or shop. In 2004 Elizabeth went to the local market with only 300 KSH in her hands and bought: sukuma wiki to resell it in her local area. That was how she started her life as a businesswoman. Over the years her shop developed and she started to have a bigger assortment. She started to save up for her dream of expanding her own kiosk, which meant that they had a lack of diversified food. In December 2013 her dream came true and she opened up her own kiosk just beside her house in Kibera. There a 1 million people living in Kibera and the conditions are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water. Everyone has to make a living and earn money for rent and school and many has their own business just like Elizabeth, which means that the competition is very high. She collaborates with the competition by advertising her shop through her regular customers and making good deals. Her main focus point is her costumers so she offers good customer care and is always willing to help and negotiate. The biggest challenge of this competition is that there is no permanent monthly salary, which means that sometimes she can’t afford to pay her rent and her children’s school fees. Elizabeth has got 4 biological children and 4 orphans that she is taking care of, and that also means that sometimes it’s too expensive to afford medical help. She is dreaming about extending her shop to a bigger one with a variety of assortments, so she could get a bigger monthly income and secure her children’s future.

I learnt a lot from this interview and this is one gospel of change that i can encourage my fellow youth in my country and Busiki to always think in the same line. Such a bigger dream is what i can share with many youths who are living in poverty because they have no jobs yet they can create their own jobs by starting up small scale business ventures as they wait for formal employment.

This training has impacted a lot of knowledge in life due to different exposures that i have gone through most especially different action aid projects and approaches to youth issues; it makes me feel that “I am a complete global citizen”. And action aid are on high gear of meeting the change promise 6 which says “by 2017,over 500 million youth will be mobilised to take action towards building a poverty free planet”.