The submission period for ARC’s Annual Changemakers Award recently ended. It’s the time every year when our teams from around the globe share their ideas about how they’d better help the people they serve to feel more joyful, valued and powerful. This year, 2,335 ideas were submitted and our judges have narrowed the field to ten (we’ll tell you more about these ten later).
But we wanted to take a moment to thank one of our teams who really dug in, thought hard about the challenge and submitted as many ideas as they could – the ARC team in Oruchinga Refugee Settlement in Uganda. And, although their ideas weren’t selected to the Top Ten, we wanted them to have the chance to do the doable and make a few of their ideas happen…starting with Day 228.
On a visit to Rwamurunga Secondary School – where refugee and Ugandan students attend together – our team noticed some critical items missing from the science classrooms. They checked in with Albert, the head of the school’s science department, who was as dismayed about the lack of equipment as they were. “Science is key as far as education in Uganda is concerned,” explained Albert. “Most especially practical science that involves minds-on, hands-on practices and experiments to equip learners with skills which are not only for today but for the future.”
Talking with Albert got our Oruchinga team thinking that it wouldn’t be tough to get Rwamurunga the equipment students need to run experiments and take away fundamental science lessons from their findings. So on Day 228, the team did the doable and delivered the items and equipment the students needed.
Of course, Albert, the other teachers and the administration were thrilled and thankful for the support for the lab. They thought it might even encourage more kids to stay in school. But it was the students we wanted to hear from, and they were excited, too. One student Barbra told us, “now we finally have a functional laboratory. Thank you!”
