Soft Power Education ( SPE )
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About
Soft Power Education (SPE) is a British-registered charity and Ugandan non-profit organisation working at a grassroots level with communities across Uganda to improve quality of life through education.
Hannah Small worked as an overland driver in both Africa and Asia. Her passengers would frequently express their desire to contribute to the communities they encountered on their travels but time was precious and the opportunities few and far between. Hannah saw that this desire could be harnessed into a more serious force for change and quit her job. Uganda was the natural starting point as she had run many trips there and had felt a natural affinity with the Ugandan people.
In 1999, SPE was launched and Hannah moved to Bujagali near Jinja. Tapping into the dedication and generosity of tourists and independent travellers to Uganda, SPE first project was the construction of Buwenda Pre-School for orphans and other vulnerable children. The land was a gift from the community and after twelve months of hard work, assisted by local builders, a pre-school appeared on the landscape. To the delight of 120 children the pre-school was officially opened in March 2003.
The community of Kyabirwa looked on with interest and gifted more land to SPE requesting that a similar school be built for their children. Kyabirwa Children’s Centre opened in the spring of 2004 for 100 orphans. Both pre-schools were staffed with qualified teachers who were, and continue to be, determined to encourage these little ones to learn English, play games, write, sing and dance.
Since then, SPE has gone from strength to strength. What seemed like an ambitious five year plan to renovate and refurbish the 20 government-funded primary schools in the area was achieved two years ahead of schedule. We continue to work on this programme in a wider area and have to date worked over 50 schools across six sub-counties throughout the Jinja district.
In February 2007, SPE opened the doors of the Amagezi Education Centre and launched the P6 Pupils’ Project. For 10 years, this project welcomed several thousands of children each year into a unique learning environment aimed at creating a hands-on approach to education with plenty of active participation. The centre also worked closely with the local community offering courses in sustainable agriculture, ICT, science, art and craft, drama and library sessions.
2007 also saw the commencement of a new programme area in the Buliisa district in Uganda’s Western region. Working with communities bordering Murchison Falls Conservation Area, Uganda’s largest protected area, we continue to support primary school infrastructure but also work in close partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to encourage conservation education and improve access to sustainable livelihood options within local communities and schools.
It is only through the ongoing support of donors and volunteers that we have been able to achieve so much in a short space of time. Our funding comes from overland groups, independent travellers and sponsors around the world and every single penny donated to SPE goes towards our programmes.
In 2019 we will be celebrating 20 years of working in Uganda. Over the years, there have been too many amazing folk to name who have given their time and money and above all passion to help grow the charity. Without all of these wonderful connections, nothing would have been achieved.
Vision: An empowered and self sustaining society taking responsibility for its own development.
Mission: To improve quality of life through education.
Areas of focus
Education
Disability
Livelihoods
EDUCATION
We work in both Jinja and Buliisa districts building, renovating and painting classrooms and staff houses at government primary schools.
Since the introduction of Universal Primary Education in Uganda in 1999 pupil to classroom ratios have expanded at an exponetial rate. SPE works to combat the negative effects that occur from the over-crowding of classrooms by working in collaboration with the local government to provide insipring workspaces that are conducive to productive learning.
We run a number of programmes that focus on providing alternative forms of education, supplementing the programmes currently provided by the mainstream curriculum:
Amagezi Education Centre (AEC)
The AEC is an awe-insipiring building in the heart of Bujugali village. It provides the base from which P6 pupils from our partner schools come and learn invaluable life skills such as family planning and malaria prevention. The pupils are encouraged to explore these life skills through a variety of interactive lessons such as art, drama, ICT, agriculture and library workshops, that may not be available within their curriculum, or which their school may not have the resources to provide.
The pupils get the chance to show off what they have learned in our annual schools festivals, where all our schools compete in a range of events, testing their knowledge of each area that they have been focusing on.
Pre-Schools
We operate two pre schools for orphans and vulnerable chilren. Our pre-schools provide an fantastic environment for children to learn and develop skills essential to their successful progression on to the first stage of primary education.
DISABILITY
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Disability remains highly stigmatised within Uganda. Our SEN programme is working to improve understanding and acceptance of children with disabilities in local communities.
To promote the inclusion and understanding of disability we operate a number of outreach clinics. At these clinics we provide physical therapy, occupational therapy and education programmes for children with both physical and mental disabilities. In addition to this we run and support two residential care units, conduct disability awareness days, and run after-school art and sports clubs.
LIVELIHOODS
We believe that the best way to promote sustainability is to operate programmes that not only inform people, creating a wider knowledge, but programmes which have a direct benefit to the livelihoods of our participants.
People & Parks (P&P)
Working with communities in Buliisa District, which has a long border with Murchison Falls National Park, P&P aims to improve the relationship between communities and the national park and improve natural resource management by implementing practical conservation solutions, training groups to develop environmentally-friendly income generating projects and providing start-up grants to kick off these projects. To date P&P has initiated a wide variety of income generating projects - all identified by the communities - from bee-keeping to sheep and pig rearing to mango growing.
Amagezi Education Centre (AEC) Community Development Programme
Alongside our pupils project we run a tandem programme for the parents and also the community members of the pupils involved. We believe that by involving all generations of the family in the learning process change will be longer lasting as it will come from a collective understanding.
Vision: An empowered and self sustaining society taking responsibility for its own development.
Mission: To improve quality of life through education.
Areas of focus
Education
Disability
Livelihoods
EDUCATION
We work in both Jinja and Buliisa districts building, renovating and painting classrooms and staff houses at government primary schools.
Since the introduction of Universal Primary Education in Uganda in 1999 pupil to classroom ratios have expanded at an exponetial rate. SPE works to combat the negative effects that occur from the over-crowding of classrooms by working in collaboration with the local government to provide insipring workspaces that are conducive to productive learning.
We run a number of programmes that focus on providing alternative forms of education, supplementing the programmes currently provided by the mainstream curriculum:
Amagezi Education Centre (AEC)
The AEC is an awe-insipiring building in the heart of Bujugali village. It provides the base from which P6 pupils from our partner schools come and learn invaluable life skills such as family planning and malaria prevention. The pupils are encouraged to explore these life skills through a variety of interactive lessons such as art, drama, ICT, agriculture and library workshops, that may not be available within their curriculum, or which their school may not have the resources to provide.
The pupils get the chance to show off what they have learned in our annual schools festivals, where all our schools compete in a range of events, testing their knowledge of each area that they have been focusing on.
Pre-Schools
We operate two pre schools for orphans and vulnerable chilren. Our pre-schools provide an fantastic environment for children to learn and develop skills essential to their successful progression on to the first stage of primary education.
DISABILITY
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Disability remains highly stigmatised within Uganda. Our SEN programme is working to improve understanding and acceptance of children with disabilities in local communities.
To promote the inclusion and understanding of disability we operate a number of outreach clinics. At these clinics we provide physical therapy, occupational therapy and education programmes for children with both physical and mental disabilities. In addition to this we run and support two residential care units, conduct disability awareness days, and run after-school art and sports clubs.
LIVELIHOODS
We believe that the best way to promote sustainability is to operate programmes that not only inform people, creating a wider knowledge, but programmes which have a direct benefit to the livelihoods of our participants.
People & Parks (P&P)
Working with communities in Buliisa District, which has a long border with Murchison Falls National Park, P&P aims to improve the relationship between communities and the national park and improve natural resource management by implementing practical conservation solutions, training groups to develop environmentally-friendly income generating projects and providing start-up grants to kick off these projects. To date P&P has initiated a wide variety of income generating projects - all identified by the communities - from bee-keeping to sheep and pig rearing to mango growing.
Amagezi Education Centre (AEC) Community Development Programme
Alongside our pupils project we run a tandem programme for the parents and also the community members of the pupils involved. We believe that by involving all generations of the family in the learning process change will be longer lasting as it will come from a collective understanding.
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