Life in Uganda as a Teacher

Life in Uganda as a teacher is a bit different from life as a teacher in Australia.

This year School for Life welcomed Elisha as our new Biology and Agriculture teacher.

His passion for education and brilliant sense of humour has quickly seen him become a favourite within the Mbazzi school community. We recently asked Elisha to describe his daily routine.

Elisha's day shares many similarities with a day-in-the-life of teachers in Australia. But in other ways it is also very different. Not many teachers in Australia start their day with a walk to collect water or a breakfast of maize porridge.

Early morning: After I wake, I fetch water, tidy myself up and get dressed before joining the staff and students at School for Life for a bowl of maize porridge. The porridge is really filling and gets me through until the morning snack!

Morning classes at the school: Classes begin at 8:00am. I am an Agriculture and Biology teacher so I spend a lot of time teaching in the science labs. At the moment, my lessons are structured around the different types of farming; cultivation, crop production, mixed farming, mono cropping and plantation farming. I like to explain the importance of farming and sustainability to my students. After this topic, we will start looking at soil samples. We recently conducted an experiment in class where we looked at different pH levels and the students really enjoyed it! Experiments are always popular with the class.

Elisha biology teacher

Lunch time! We are served a variety of nutritious meals during the week. My personal favourite is Tuesday’s meal, which is beef and rice. I also like avocado. During the lunch break, I join the other teachers in the staffroom to eat, share stories and talk together.

Afternoon classes: When I’m not in the classroom, I work on lesson preparation which includes marking and planning. I also like to review what I taught in my previous lessons to ensure we are always learning new content. At 4:40pm, lessons finish for the day and our students return home. I also finish up shortly afterwards.

After school: This is our time for exercise! After school finishes, I participate in a running group which includes both primary and secondary teachers. We like to jog around the school premises. Afterwards, if it isn’t raining, we usually have a football match between the teachers and construction workers. The teachers are yet to win a game but we’ll keep trying!

Late evening: After the football match we all go home to prepare dinner. Then it’s back to the staff room to do additional marking and lesson planning. I try to be in bed by 10:00pm but once we get chatting it’s difficult to stop! All of the teachers are great friends.

Elisha new teacher science
Success Stories
Goretti

Sweet and shy Goretti lives with her aunt, uncle and cousins in a small house in the local village. When Goretti was younger, she moved in with her aunt and uncle because her parents could no longer look after her. She was one of our first students at Katuuso Primary, starting in 2011 when she was just 4 years old. Now, Goretti is in Senior One at Mbazzi High School, and is relishing the honour of being a high school student in her community - something that is taken for granted in Australia, but in Uganda, represents freedom and opportunity. Goretti also loves attending School for Life because she hopes to one day become a pilot in Uganda - a dream which she knows can only be reached with the help of a good education.

Violah

Violah has been at School for Life since since she was six years old. Sadly, Violah has experienced hardship no child should ever deal with. Her Dad passed away three years ago, leaving her Mum without the financial means to support her family - so she left Violah and her siblings with their elderly grandmother. Every day, Violah has to wake up at 5am to fetch water, cook meals and make sure that her younger sisters are properly looked after. Then she walks half an hour to get to school. Despite this adversity, Violah has flourished at school and has made many friends. She loves that School for Life is "helping me to build a future". After finishing school, Violah hopes to become a teacher to help other children.

Umar

Umar is one of our best performing students at Mbazzi Riverside High School - but life has not always been easy for Umar. His father abandoned the family in 2015, leaving his mother to struggle to support her five children on her own. School for Life has provided Umar with opportunities that may never else have eventuated for him. Umar begun his journey with School for Life at Katuuso Primary School, where his academic ability was quickly revealed. Now, he is a thriving member of our Senior 1 class and a formidable wing on the football team. With a love for mathematics, Umar is set on studying electronic engineering after finishing his senior studies - a goal which he is the first to admit is now within reach thanks to the skills and resources provided to him by School for Life.

Rose Nambooze

Rose is a 32‐year‐old single mother of one. She started working with SFL in 2013, after taking part in our tailoring training program. Prior to working with us, she was unemployed and living in her father's home helping to care for her father, who had cataracts, and his farm.
Thanks to her full time employment, Rose was able to save enough money to pay for an eye operation and restore her father's sight, allowing him to return to work as a mechanic. Now, Rose has moved into her own home and no longer relies on her father financially. 

Joseph

Joseph is one of our Special Needs teachers at Katuuso. After surviving a severe case of malaria at age four, he was left permanently deaf. He was raised by his single mother and attended a nursery school for the handicapped and later transferred to a school for the Deaf in Kampala. He eventually mastered sign language and pursued a university degree in education. Joseph decided to become a teacher so that he could give the gift of education to others who are hearing impaired.

Teddy Namatovu

Teddy is a participant in the Kumi Tailoring Program and four of her five children attend Katuuso Primary School. She and her husband farm two acres of land, which supplies fluctuating revenue. Participation in the Kumi Tailoring Project has secured income to reliably pay for school fees, nutritious meals and renovations to the family home. Teddy has gained a great deal of self-esteem from her ability to support her family and she takes pride in independently financing the education of all five children. Teddy has also been working on her numeracy and administration skills. She was appointed Treasurer of the tailoring group and will be responsible for keeping records of their savings.

Flaviah Nassaazi

Flaviah Nassaazi started working at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School in 2011. Prior to cooking at the school, she and her husband were subsistence farmers. They worked tirelessly for small yields and minimal income to support their family. Flaviah's cooking job not only enables her to pay school fees for her children, but she has also invested in a local barbershop business. She is now passing her cooking skills onto her eldest son Frank, who has also joined the school's cooking staff. Flaviah and her husband attend the adult literacy classes offered weekly at the school. Her English and reading have improved immensely, as well as her confidence.

Rachel

In 2010, Rachel began as a cleaner at Katuuso Primary and Vocational School. She was working to save money to study to be a teacher at University. Thanks to Barrie and Simone Goldsmith, her dream of studying came true and she is now fully qualified.