THE AMAGEZI EDUCATION CENTRE
“Tell me and I'll forget.
Show me, and I may not remember.
Involve me, and I'll understand”
The ‘Amagezi Education Centre’ is Soft Power Education’s newest and most ambitious project to date. The Centre recently opened (in February 2007) and is already proving to be an enormous success through its work with primary school children from our partner schools…..and with many more educational programmes in the pipeline, we believe it will only go from strength to strength in the coming years!
The idea for the Centre was initially conceived in 2003 as a way for Soft Power to further enhance education within the rural primary schools in the local sub-counties. The ongoing school refurbishment programme has helped enormously with the environment in which pupils are taught, but Soft Power could not equitably provide schools with desperately needed educational resources or equipment. So we decided to open a central Education Centre instead – to enable school pupils to see and use educational equipment their schools could only dream of acquiring. We also wanted the place to be unforgettable for the pupils – which meant making it an amazing structure and a fun place to be. After many years of hard work and help from hundreds of people, we have finally realised the dream!
We opened in February 2007. Since then, we have been transporting groups of primary school children to the Centre, deep in the heart of a rural village, for day-long educational school trips. During these trips each pupil is able to learn using relevant, curriculum-based educational resources, equipment and facilities not available in their rural classrooms - including microscopes, Bunsen burners, ICT equipment with interactive learning software, a full-size skeleton, audio-visual teaching aids, an organic farming demonstration garden, craft making equipment, reference books, anatomical models of the human body and much, much more! Also, each learning session is designed to be creative, interactive and hands-on with small class sizes and lots of games, fun and laughter!
The Amagezi Centre tutors also go out and conduct ‘Outreach Sessions’ within each school to follow-up the work that is done in the Centre. The tutors take a portable generator to each school so they can power the laptop, projector and speakers – they turn the rural classrooms into truly interactive 21st Century learning zones!
We are also currently developing our ‘Community Education’ programme alongside representatives from surrounding villages. We are looking into starting organic and sustainable farming co-operatives, mother-and-child health education programmes, income generation schemes for rural families, HIV/AIDS and malaria awareness projects, environmental sustainability outreach programmes, internet usage for subsistence farmers, English literacy, business development and much, much more!
Watch this space for news of these ideas as they become a reality……or go to the bottom of the page to find out how you could volunteer in Uganda and help us with our educational programmes!
For now, have a look at the Amagezi Education Centre in action with primary school pupils……
Up to agriculture 
Drama 
Art
Looking into science 
Introduction to computers
Volunteering at the Centre…
We currently need volunteers with the following specific skills….
TEFL Teachers - If you are a qualified TEFL teacher we would love to hear from you. We can’t offer any renumeration for your services but promise an experience like no other! (Minimum commitment 8 weeks).
IT Tutors - The community needs you! (Minimum commitment 6 weeks).
Scientists - Help us use our science lab to benefit the community (No minimum commitment)
Teachers – Always welcome!
-
Agriculture & Organic Farming – if you know about this or are willing to get stuck in, let us know!
Keep an eye on this site for further specific volunteering opportunities with us!
Calling all fundraising specialists!
The Centre costs approximately £80,000 per year to run, this includes:
Wages for 14 full-time and 12 part-time Ugandan staff
Ugandan volunteer expenses
Lunches for visiting school pupils
Transport for 60 pupils per day to and from the Centre
All equipment, stationery, photocopying, repairs etc.
-
Plus much more (security guards, insurance, phone bills…. the list is endless!)
If you can help us raise this money, please get in touch!
Please contact us to find out more!
Email Nic or Dave at speducationcentre@gmail.com
Visit www.softpowereducationcentre.blogspot.com for more news
Call + 256 (0) 774 857 982
