The end of year report on the Humanist Ethos Project has just been written by Moses Kamya, the Director of Mustard Seed School and project coordinator. The project was initiated by UHST and has been a highly successful collaboration with the Uganda Humanist Schools Association and IHEU, which provided a substantial grant towards the running costs of the project.
Moses has proved to be a very effective and determined project coordinator. Peter Kisirinya and Robert Bwambale have also worked hard on the project and made huge contributions. It has provided an immensely valuable opportunity for the Directors and staff in the Humanist Schools in Uganda to work together and share good practice.
Here are 3 PowerPoints which have been used in the training workshops:
There are full reports on the Humanist Ethos Project Meetings on the new Uganda Humanist Schools Association website which we have created as part of the project
Not being able to get visas for Moses and Peter to visit the UK was a big setback, but we fitted in an extra workshop in Uganda to provide additional working time.
We are very grateful to the Raising Voices “Good Schools Project” team, based in Kampala, who led very valuable sessions in the final workshops on how to develop positive, violence free, discipline within the context of the Humanist Schools.
The whole team is hugely grateful to IHEU for choosing to support the project. The pay off to the Humanist Schools in Uganda has been and will continue to be considerable and we hope that the outcomes will inspire Humanist School and Education initiatives around the world. UHST is seeking the additional funds needed in 2016 to extend the project so the team can run Humanist Ethos workshops for the students and their parents and guardians in each of the Humanist schools in Uganda.
This summer I was lucky enough to visit and photograph the Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Schools, as part of the International Friendship Visit. I first photographed the schools five years ago, and I was excited to see the differences. They weren’t subtle! Both schools had more buildings and pupils, and were buzzing with activity. It was lovely to see. The full album is here.
The Isaac Newton School has an amazing new medical centre, more equipment, and far more buildings:
Isaac Newton School in 2010Isaac Newton School in 2015Isaac Newton’s new medical centreScience equipment at Isaac Newton School
The Mustard Seed School has far better cooking facilities, easily accessible running water, and a girls dormitory.
New dormitory building at Mustard SeedInside the new dormitoryNew cooking facilities at Mustard Seed
The children seemed more confident, too.
Some of the kids even asked me not to take their picture! This was a bit unexpected, but a good sign – they knew I was part of a visit from people who help fund the schools, but despite that they were still confident enough to assert themselves.
You can find the full gallery of photos here. We’ll be sending copies over to the schools for the kids to share.
Towards the end of our recent trip to Uganda Hilary and I made an overnight stay in Kasese, where we met up with the three Humanist School Directors, Moses Kamya (Mustard Seed), Peter Kisirinya (Isaac Newton) and Robert Bwanbale (Kasese Primary) and other senior teachers from Kasese.
In this first phase of the Humanist Ethos Project the Directors are introducing each other to their schools in a succession of project meetings. The aim is for everyone to get to know the staff of each school, to examine their facilities and compare how they present Humanism within them. At Kasese we held a formal meeting of the project, where the Directors and staff discussed the appropriate rules for a Humanist Schools and procedures based upon guidance rather than violence.
School sign
We began by meeting Robert’s fellow members of Kasese United Humanist Association. The body responsible for starting the school. And we were taken on a tour of the facilities and heard Robert express his vision for the development of the school complex. We saw the original school site, housed in the old East African Railways terminus buildings, which has 7 classes from P1 to P7, with two small nursery classes. As we went into each class the students welcomed us in English, which is used as the medium of instruction from the nursery stage as the school believes that excellence in English is the key to success in life. The school choir sang the school anthem:
Kasese Humanist School!
You are the home for our future
Surely, we shall rest in you
The value of education shall for ever shine!
We students of Kasese Humanist realise the value of Humanism. The principles of a global rational world forces the sun to glitter and shine.
Thanks to the founders for your planning, teachers and parents for your devotion.
Our motto will ever be:
With science we can progress.
Followed by another song where the children proclaimed how they were “happy to be born again in Humanism”.
Children at Rukoki campus
We moved on to the second school site at Rukoki, to the north of the town centre. This site has new, purpose built classrooms of a high standard. As with the other site it offers classes from P1 through to P7 and 3 reception classes, which took children as young as 3 and 4 years old. We introduced ourselves to every class before being shown around the extensive site which borders a fast flowing melt water river running down from the Ruwenzori Mountains (the fabled Mountains of the Moon) which form the border with Congo.
Our next move was south of the town to see the site of the new BiZoHa orphanage building. Built with support from U.S. Humanists and Atheists the building, when complete, will house 16 girls, in two rooms of 8, looked after by a house mother. Robert has also built a single classroom on the site and his hope is to expand to create a third primary school and ultimately a secondary school into which the three Humanist primary school can feed. There are plans for two guest houses to accommodate a regular flow of visitors from the U.S. and elsewhere and Robert has an ambitious plan to build a safari lodge to take advantage of a location close to Queen Elizabeth National Park. His hope is that income from this and other commercial ventures will help to subsidise the schools.
Visitors on river boundary
Details of the Humanist Ethos meeting we held during the visit to Kasese can be read on the new Uganda Humanist Schools Association website. We were impressed by what we saw of the school. The children were happy with their teachers and there was a good learning culture. It is clear that Robert has a policy of inducting the teachers into Humanism using the Principles from the 2002 Amsterdam Declaration on International Humanism. Several young teachers said they have been happy to embrace the principles and become humanists and to let Humanism and the search for truth to influence their teaching.
Uganda Humanist Schools Trust needs to understand more about the legal status of the school before providing significant support. However, for the time being, we are very happy with what we have seen and are willing to provide funds for much needed books and other learning resources. We look forward to a fruitful long-term relationship with the school, which is a full member of the Uganda Humanist Schools Association.
Posted: December 14, 2015 by Steve Hurd
Humanist Ethos Project Update
Moses has proved to be a very effective and determined project coordinator. Peter Kisirinya and Robert Bwambale have also worked hard on the project and made huge contributions. It has provided an immensely valuable opportunity for the Directors and staff in the Humanist Schools in Uganda to work together and share good practice.
There are full reports on the Humanist Ethos Project Meetings on the new Uganda Humanist Schools Association website which we have created as part of the project
https://ugandahumanistschoolsassociation.wordpress.com/
Not being able to get visas for Moses and Peter to visit the UK was a big setback, but we fitted in an extra workshop in Uganda to provide additional working time.
We are very grateful to the Raising Voices “Good Schools Project” team, based in Kampala, who led very valuable sessions in the final workshops on how to develop positive, violence free, discipline within the context of the Humanist Schools.
The whole team is hugely grateful to IHEU for choosing to support the project. The pay off to the Humanist Schools in Uganda has been and will continue to be considerable and we hope that the outcomes will inspire Humanist School and Education initiatives around the world. UHST is seeking the additional funds needed in 2016 to extend the project so the team can run Humanist Ethos workshops for the students and their parents and guardians in each of the Humanist schools in Uganda.
Posted: October 11, 2015 by Andrew West
Photos of the schools in summer 2015
This summer I was lucky enough to visit and photograph the Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Schools, as part of the International Friendship Visit. I first photographed the schools five years ago, and I was excited to see the differences. They weren’t subtle! Both schools had more buildings and pupils, and were buzzing with activity. It was lovely to see. The full album is here.
The Isaac Newton School has an amazing new medical centre, more equipment, and far more buildings:
The Mustard Seed School has far better cooking facilities, easily accessible running water, and a girls dormitory.
The children seemed more confident, too.
Some of the kids even asked me not to take their picture! This was a bit unexpected, but a good sign – they knew I was part of a visit from people who help fund the schools, but despite that they were still confident enough to assert themselves.
You can find the full gallery of photos here. We’ll be sending copies over to the schools for the kids to share.
Posted: June 26, 2015 by Steve Hurd
Visit to Kasese Humanist Primary School
Towards the end of our recent trip to Uganda Hilary and I made an overnight stay in Kasese, where we met up with the three Humanist School Directors, Moses Kamya (Mustard Seed), Peter Kisirinya (Isaac Newton) and Robert Bwanbale (Kasese Primary) and other senior teachers from Kasese.
In this first phase of the Humanist Ethos Project the Directors are introducing each other to their schools in a succession of project meetings. The aim is for everyone to get to know the staff of each school, to examine their facilities and compare how they present Humanism within them. At Kasese we held a formal meeting of the project, where the Directors and staff discussed the appropriate rules for a Humanist Schools and procedures based upon guidance rather than violence.
We began by meeting Robert’s fellow members of Kasese United Humanist Association. The body responsible for starting the school. And we were taken on a tour of the facilities and heard Robert express his vision for the development of the school complex. We saw the original school site, housed in the old East African Railways terminus buildings, which has 7 classes from P1 to P7, with two small nursery classes. As we went into each class the students welcomed us in English, which is used as the medium of instruction from the nursery stage as the school believes that excellence in English is the key to success in life. The school choir sang the school anthem:
Kasese Humanist School!
You are the home for our future
Surely, we shall rest in you
The value of education shall for ever shine!
We students of Kasese Humanist realise the value of Humanism. The principles of a global rational world forces the sun to glitter and shine.
Thanks to the founders for your planning, teachers and parents for your devotion.
Our motto will ever be:
With science we can progress.
Followed by another song where the children proclaimed how they were “happy to be born again in Humanism”.
We moved on to the second school site at Rukoki, to the north of the town centre. This site has new, purpose built classrooms of a high standard. As with the other site it offers classes from P1 through to P7 and 3 reception classes, which took children as young as 3 and 4 years old. We introduced ourselves to every class before being shown around the extensive site which borders a fast flowing melt water river running down from the Ruwenzori Mountains (the fabled Mountains of the Moon) which form the border with Congo.
Our next move was south of the town to see the site of the new BiZoHa orphanage building. Built with support from U.S. Humanists and Atheists the building, when complete, will house 16 girls, in two rooms of 8, looked after by a house mother. Robert has also built a single classroom on the site and his hope is to expand to create a third primary school and ultimately a secondary school into which the three Humanist primary school can feed. There are plans for two guest houses to accommodate a regular flow of visitors from the U.S. and elsewhere and Robert has an ambitious plan to build a safari lodge to take advantage of a location close to Queen Elizabeth National Park. His hope is that income from this and other commercial ventures will help to subsidise the schools.
Details of the Humanist Ethos meeting we held during the visit to Kasese can be read on the new Uganda Humanist Schools Association website. We were impressed by what we saw of the school. The children were happy with their teachers and there was a good learning culture. It is clear that Robert has a policy of inducting the teachers into Humanism using the Principles from the 2002 Amsterdam Declaration on International Humanism. Several young teachers said they have been happy to embrace the principles and become humanists and to let Humanism and the search for truth to influence their teaching.
Uganda Humanist Schools Trust needs to understand more about the legal status of the school before providing significant support. However, for the time being, we are very happy with what we have seen and are willing to provide funds for much needed books and other learning resources. We look forward to a fruitful long-term relationship with the school, which is a full member of the Uganda Humanist Schools Association.