Teachers use all sorts of techniques to help students learn and retain information, whether that’s lab work to make abstract concepts more concrete, or a song about verb conjugations that you can play in your mind. Today, we’re back at the Rubondo Secondary School to help teachers in their mission to promote hands on learning by creating raised beds for their agricultural class. The five new raised beds, formed in concrete blocks that are wide enough for the students to sit on while hanging out in between classes, would house plants that the students could take care of throughout the year, encompassing the whole cycle from planting to harvesting. So, with a number of travelers from the United States and across our programs in Sudan, South Sudan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand and Uganda, we got a team together to plant tomato and cabbage seedlings with the students and their agricultural teacher. As the travelers stood side by side the students, planting and watering, the … [Read more...] about Bringing the Lesson to Life
Campaigns
For the Teachers
We've spent the last two days working with students to brighten up their classrooms, but today, we want to focus on some of the people really making this school happen — the teachers. Rubondo Secondary School has seven teachers who teach everything - from fine arts, to agriculture, mathematics, English, geography, and more. For the size of the school and the number of the subjects, the school would normally have about fourteen teachers, but for the time being, they were are only able to cover the salary for seven. Many of the teachers live in Rubondo and decided to leave other jobs to come support the school. “Many of the teachers were working at other schools, in other part of Nakivale or the host community," said one of the head teachers. "But they left those positions to come here and accept a lower salary and to work harder because they want to see their communities thrive and the future prospects of their children change.” We wanted to give back to these … [Read more...] about For the Teachers
Students of a Global World
Yesterday, we spent the day with the students at The Robundo Secondary School in Nakivale by adding a little color to their classroom through color, big and bold murals that they would be able to see as soon as they entered the classroom every morning. And it was pretty amazing to see how a few strokes of paint could really change the makeup of a room, and cause everything to look that much brighter. Today, and to complement yesterday’s work, we’re adding some things that will help spark the students’ interests while continuing to make their new school feel welcoming and inviting to everyone. To start, we hung all of the world’s flags around the building, stretching across the four sides and over the doors of the classrooms. It was kismet - the Ugandan flag landed right over one of the senior classrooms, where students learn much about world geography. We also brought a giant world map for the senior students, and talked to them a bit about what they were focusing on … [Read more...] about Students of a Global World
More Color!
The Rubondo community in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda, is very remote - the nearest secondary school was over an hour drive away, and too far for many students who had finished their primary education and were craving more. So the community came together to build a secondary school, literally brick-by-brick. Word of the idea spread in December, gaining support and traction, and official construction of the school began just this January. We're proud to say that the first two-room school building was finished in March! We were so inspired by the story of this community. And we wanted to help them do even more. We started by adding a little bit of color to the school, and hiring painters to add two beautiful murals to the back wall of their two classrooms! Many of the students told us how much they loved the murals, and that they really brightened their day. They even incorporated the school’s color — a dark green — to let them know that both they and the … [Read more...] about More Color!
Getting Connected
Phew, on to Rwanda! Our Trip Around the World team of six has traveled from Somalia to Jordan, and now we've landed safely in Kigali, Rwanda's capital. We're spending time with the Alight crew here, brainstorming ways to do the doable together. One group of teammates that always seems to get overlooked here is our warehouse staff, they told us. They love when they get a visit. The warehouse staff is based in Kigali, but they're about 20 minutes away from the head office. They're in charge of handling, receiving, organizing, and transporting all of our materials for all of our programs throughout the country. It's a big job. So they could use a little love. When we arrived at the warehouse, everyone was so excited to see us! We sat down with them and talked about what they might need - what might make their job a little easier? Their answer surprised us. Internally at Alight, we use a WhatsApp to communicate worldwide -we even have a couple of feeds that connect almost all … [Read more...] about Getting Connected
Space to Listen
Jordan is our next stop on the Trip Around the World, where we're visiting our Questscope teammates and spending time with Syrian refugees living in the capital city, Amman. One of the most important skills to learn in our line of work is to listen - to show up without an agenda, and to just give the gift of time and empathy. None of the members from the Trip Around the World team have been to Jordan before, or have spent time with Syrian refugees. So we wanted to learn as much as we could, and listen closely. But we also wanted to do something to help out the families and new friends we were meeting. One of the best - and most fun! - ways to spend time with new people is over a delicious meal. A meal shared is an invitation to family. Not everyone is privileged to have more than one meal a day, and yet having enough food in the house is the foundation of energy to work, think, and spend quality time with loved ones. So when we visited these families, we also showed … [Read more...] about Space to Listen
Growing Up
Hello again from Somalia! Asia, Osman, Jon, Steph, Betty, and me (Joseph!) are on a trip of a lifetime, the Trip Around the World! Our team is going borderless, visiting different Alight country programs across the globe. It's all about making new connections, learning from each other, and becoming Alight together! We're in Hargeisa, Somalia, where we're hanging out with the Alight team here and getting out into their community to do the doable. Today we're headed to an orphanage, where kids and teachers alike could use a little extra TLC. Zahra is the head teacher at the orphanage. She's been here for nine years. "I came to work here when I learned that they didn't have a teacher!" she told us. "I want to give them a better future. They need to not feel like they're abandoned." Her favorite subject to teach is the history of Somaliland, so that they can see where they come and where they are now. "Even talking about this now gives me such joy!" One of the things … [Read more...] about Growing Up
Trip Around the World
Welcome to the Trip Around the World!! I'm your host, Joseph Kyobe. And I'm with my fellow travelers from Alight: Asia from Somalia, Betty from Rwanda, Osman from Sudan, and Jon and Stephanie from Minnesota. Me, I'm from Uganda. This trip is all about coming together to learn about Alight's country programs literally around the world, and building relationships with our teammates everywhere. It's all about being borderless - we are one WORLDWIDE team, working together to be the very best for the people we serve. First stop - doing the doable together in Somalia! Here we are in Hargeisa, Somalia, with our Alight teammates. We sat down to chat with our colleagues about what we might do together during our visit. One of the things they were most passionate about? Supporting the local mental health residency facility. The facility was running low on a few things - things like soap, sanitary pads, and new clothes for their residents. The Alight team in Hargeisa was moved … [Read more...] about Trip Around the World
Starting with Giving
A few days ago, we started on our journey to become Alight. And what better way to celebrate, to come together and start anew, than by giving to others? And especially to the community of organizations that call Minnesota home, too. Most of our programs support people where they are - before someone is resettled to another country. But the International Institute of Minnesota comes in on the other side of the coin. They support refugee families (less than 1%) who are resettled in another country, and who are now building their new life in Minnesota. The folks at IIM are SO busy, all the time. Everybody knows the feeling of being so overwhelmed that even the seemingly simple things can feel impossible. So today we're helping them make a small change that will just feel so much better when it's done - organizing their inventory! IIM gets lots of donations from people all over the state, wanting to lend a hand in helping families get settled in their new homes. But many of … [Read more...] about Starting with Giving
Welcome Home
As we embark on our journey to become Alight, we're starting with giving - giving to to the community where we call home, giving to like-minded people who are doing a lot with a little. Today and tomorrow, we're working with the incredible International Institute of Minnesota, which is celebrating 100 years of welcoming new Americans! The Institute works with single adults, families, and unaccompanied minors – teenagers or kids who have arrived in Minnesota alone, trying to navigate an entirely unfamiliar place. They teach practical things that we might overlook - like how to walk on ice, which is especially handy during Minnesota's winters! They're also the only organization in Minnesota that helps victims of trafficking who are non-US citizens. Sierra is a Case Manager for IIM's Anti-Human Trafficking program. “People are strong, some of the strongest people in the planet," she said. "The resilience that you see is amazing. People start by having no confidence in … [Read more...] about Welcome Home