One significant outcome of providing an education to girls in rural Uganda is exposing them to the concepts of volunteerism and giving back to their communities. This is a core tenet of African Girls Can, in fact, as annual participation in a community give-back activity is a requirement for maintaining a student’s scholarship. The community service activities are supposed to take place during the long winter break. St. Katherine closed for the Christmas holiday on 12/8/17 and classes did not resume until 2/5/18.
We believe this is the first time any of the girls participated in community service and Phoebe Mulinde reports that they caught on to the idea quickly and embraced it enthusiastically. Phoebe describes the girls’ experience in this blog.
Purpose and Scope:
The community giveback activities serve several purposes including: responsibility, leadership, service and the spirit of paying it forward. The activities are voluntary and range from promoting girls’ education in their communities to assistance to the elderly to community cleaning either at a hospital, church, road or market.
Project:
On January 26, 2018 three St. Katherine students (Nancy (blue top), Rebecca (orange t-shirt), and Winnie) who are sponsored by African Girls Can and live within the subcounty of Adwari came together to clean Aliwang Health Center, a major health facility serving their community.
The students got permission from the health facility in charge and offered to clean the health center. This initiative was welcomed by the head of the facility, Sister Vicky. She urged the students to work hard at school and to value the opportunity they have received from African Girls Can.
Outcomes:
At the beginning when we first introduced community giveback to the students, the whole concept seemed strange to them. This was the first exercise that the students were involved in, but we could tell that they were happy to do it. We expect that as the students continue to engage in community give back activities that they will further develop their leadership and service skills.
