The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), an international environmental organization, first entered Uganda in 1991, and became an official NGO in 1996. The government had some rescued chimps that needed to be taken care of, so an expert from the Institute was sent to be their guardian. Since that time, their work in Uganda has evolved into a present-day focus on establishing an effective environmental education program in Uganda's schools. The goal of the program is to ensure that every Ugandan student leaves primary school with a basic understanding of the environment, so that they are able to make informed, sustainable decisions.
The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada was founded in 1993. JGI Canada has formed a partnership with JGI Uganda to provide skilled workshop leaders to assist in JGI Uganda's environmental education program - which is where this project fits in. There are four components to JGI Uganda's environmental education program: extra-curricular student-led programs, interactive field centers, new educational materials, and enhanced teacher training. This project deals with the latter: teacher training. Three teachers and I are going to Uganda in July to run a week-long workshop, focusing on environmental education and pedagogical techniques. We will give the participants the physical and intellectual tools they need to make environmental education a part of their curriculum, and give their students greater environmental awareness.
Aside from basic schooling, Uganda's teachers have no professional development and few, if any, resources. Most have classes well over thirty students, and they have a very challenging curriculum to implement. We are fundraising to cover the costs of our workshop, which will give these teachers a rare and precious professional development opportunity. Each workshop will cost $5,000 US, which covers food, accommodation, transport and materials for 36 teachers (talk about making your dollar work for you!). Each of us are either fundraising for our costs separately or covering them out-of-pocket. Every cent you give will go to Ugandan teachers.
Thanks for your time in reading about our project!