Due to the Canada Post strike, mail payments are delayed/disrupted. We kindly request that you pay via credit card during this time.

Wipebooks in Uganda

"The Ugandan teachers of this program have shared that 'the room buzzes with excitement' as the Little Lights continue to use the Wipebooks during activities."

 

Wipebooks made it to Uganda! Student engagement and ownership is a foreign concept to teachers and students in Mbale, Uganda. It is not an exaggeration to say that asking children to collaborate on vertical whiteboards was something they had never done before. Many of these kids had never even interacted with a whiteboard; chalkboards are still hung in schools. Much of the traditional school environment in Uganda is teacher-centered. Kids are expected to show up in uniform, stay seated, and be attentive to the “call and response” type of teaching. Every Saturday, One City Ministries provides an opposite approach to the traditional learning environment. The Little Light program is an opportunity to let kids be kids. My name is Fran Julien, and I spent 70 days this summer working alongside the Ugandan teachers in this program.

 

 

As a child community development program, children from three surrounding villages come to the grounds of Light Village and receive an enriching learning experience that promotes creativity, collaboration, and fun! This is where a set of Wipebooks found their first Ugandan home. On this particular Saturday, we asked the children to collaborate on creating a set of expectations and procedures for their very own library at Light Village. Experiencing a library would also be a first for many. With Wipebooks up in the room, the children could collaborate on their ideas and circulate the room for others. We then found the common ideas of expectations that helped craft our final library expectation list as a whole group.

 

 

While I am back here in the U.S., the Wipebooks remain on the walls of the Little Light learning space and have been used many more times. The Ugandan teachers of this program have shared that “the room buzzes with excitement” as the Little Lights continue to use the Wipebooks during activities. Flipcharts being present for these children on Saturdays continues to help provide the opportunity for them to build skills in collaborating with peers, expressing creative ideas, and being engaged in learning, which are opportunities that every child should have as they relate to their learning experience.

 

 

Author Biography: Fran Julien currently works as the Learning Services Administrator with Mathodology. She also teaches mathematics to small groups of students in grades 1 - 5. For the last two years, Fran has taken her passion, skills, and expertise in education and teacher training to Mbale, Uganda, where she has volunteered alongside the organization One City Ministries. In the summer of 2023, Fran participated in training a group of 50 Ugandan teachers on creating learning environments that are more collaborative and creative, and promote critical thinking. In the summer of 2024, Fran returned to work alongside the two Ugandan teachers who coordinate and instruct One City Ministries' Little Light program, a child community development program meant to provide an enriching learning experience to children living in the rural communities of Mbale, Uganda.

 

One City Ministries:
Instagram: @onecityuganda
Facebook: One City Ministries
Website: www.onecityministries.org

Instagram: @frannyjulien