continued on page 6

As provincial children’s worker for the Church of Uganda educa-tion department, CMS Timothy Partner Janet Muhindo wants young people to be given a voice – and her work is paying off. For the past ten years, Janet has worked tirelessly with different communities in every region of Uganda to develop children’s ministry – establishing a strategy for the nurturing and discipleship of children. This involves train-ing pastors, teachers, chaplains and children’s workers with the right tools to facilitate spiritual

learning and growth for

Christian

witness among young people. Janet explains: “The biggest chal-lenge my country and church face is that our population is mainly children (approximately 75 per cent). In addition, there is a great violation of children’s rights in very many aspects of life. Lots of Africans think children should re-main behind the scenes and their voices should not be heard. Often their parents deny them any rights. We find a lot of children are denied church and an education.” She continues: “In the northern region where the war has been go-ing on lot of children have been very badly abused – sexually and in many other ways. Very recently we have also faced the problem of child sacrifice. The problem is increasing especially when many people are operating below the poverty line.” Church leaders automatically ap-point someone as education co-ordinator to oversee all aspects of education in their dioceses. But

thanks to the children’s minis-try and Janet’s work more than half of the 32 dioceses of the Church of Uganda now have a children’s worker as well. Two former CMS mission part-ners, Cynthia Mackay and then

Janet Muhindo

Education in Uganda: A progress reportOne of the biggest challenges facing the education sector in Uganda is how to sustain in-creased access to education without compromising quality.That’s the message from lead-ing Ugandan educationist Naris Tibenderana, who has taught extensively at all levels of education up to university.. Most recently Naris was head of Uganda College of Com-merce, Tororo, until he retired in March 2010. He is also chair-man of the Uganda National Ex-aminations Committee. “Education continues to take the biggest slice of the national bud-get. The Uganda government is committed to provide educa-tion to all citizens regardless of age - in line with the world Edu-cation Forum in Dakar, Senegal in 2000,” says Naris. “In recent years the Govern-ment of Uganda has introduced various educational policies and reforms to address inequalities, eradicate poverty, promote and accelerate economic and social growth for increased equitable access to quality education for all - and generally to empower people to participate actively in the national development pro-cess, ” he explains.Free and universal primary

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CMS mission partner Nick Wood-ing has been acting vice chancellor of the International Health Sci-ences University (IHSU), in Na-muwongo, Kampala since June 2010. Previously Nick was the medical superintendent of Kiwoko Hospital in Luwero. Kate Wooding is working in a local clinic, which reaches out to the surrounding local community, including a slum. She is also on the board of a primary school for orphans and vulnerable children in Kampala Diocese.They live in Makindye with their two children Ben (14) and Anna (12). IHSU is working hard to plug the gap in Uganda’s woeful lack of health professionals. Nick reports: “As head of a university I am realis-ing that I can affect change in vari-ous ways: by making our teaching practical and highlighting servant leadership.Our motto at the university is to ‘Make a difference to healthcare in Uganda through education’.“We are a young institution - we had our third birthday on 3 March 2011 and so we are still a pioneer-ing group. We plan to train tomor-row’s leaders in health, which is why we are a health science uni-versity. We can be focussed on one

area, and not be sidetracked.” This university project began in 2007, developing from the Inter-national Hospital School of Nurs-ing and the Uganda Health Man-agement Institute. The hope is to start a medical school in the next two years. Nick says that “A lot of education in the past has been about provid-ing information – teaching so that people can pass exams and when they get into the wider world many know the theory but cannot apply it. But education is not just about information but formation – of val-ues and character, and also about transformation, being changed to be an agent of change. I tell my students: ‘We don’t just want to provide you with facts to pass exams. We want to equip you with skills and attitudes to change the communities you will be work-ing in.’ “As the Baganda say, ‘Ne gwozadde ggyo akuba ngoma nozina!’ We want our products – YOU - to be banging on the drum and the Min-istry of Health, the councils, other universities and the local commu-nity will all take notice.” IHSU has 600 students, mainly from Christian backgrounds and

some Muslims – such as the Soma-lis studying there. Nick says, “Time will tell how well we have achieved our aim, but in the meantime we can focus our values on those of our God, and develop a culture so that those who pass through here have an encounter with him.”

“Not just information but transformation”: Training tomorrow’s health leaders

MORE HEALTH WORKERS NEEDED

IHSU has a vision to train health workers, and is doing so in the fields of nursing and pub-lic health. But in order to meet the health needs of a growing population, many more work-ers are required at all levels, says mission partner Nick Wooding. “The gap in human resources for health in Uganda stands at between 50 and 60 per cent. Ac-cording to the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank, Uganda has one doctor per 20,000 people and only produces 200 new doctors per year,” he says. Nick continues: “Too few doc-tors (46%), nurses (80%) and al-lied health professionals (71%) are filling positions. Many of these workers are in urban, not rural areas, yet 85 per cent of the population is outside the towns and cities. This is coupled with an annual population growth of 3.4 per cent, so that the current population of 34 million will reach 55 million by 2025.” IHSU plans to increase training in two phases – first by training clinical officers and laboratory workers, who can give more su-pervision and the second phase is to develop a medical school – as well as offering pharmacol-ogy training.

Some of Nick’s graduating students

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Former Church Mission Society (CMS) mission partner Angus Crichton has teamed with Ugan-dan colleagues to develop a col-laborative project between the major theological institutions in Uganda - making research on Ugandan Christianity available in Uganda and internationally. Angus, who worked in Uganda in theological education from 2006 to 2008, continues to provide coordi-nation for the project from the UK while making trips back to Uganda. The Ngoma ecumenical publishing project aims to organise writers’ workshops twice a year on a theme that is both key to the mission of the Ugandan church and where a

significant body of research and re-flection already exists. Angus said: “The resulting pre-sentations will be edited and pub-lished online and in print through Paulines Publications, which has a proven track-record in publish-ing and distributing African the-ology across the continent.” Each year the project will also offer a three-month writer’s sabbatical in Nairobi to allow a researcher to produce a book-length manuscript. Once this research has been made available in Uganda, it can be used by lec-turers and students in theological institutions - thus contributing to ministerial and priestly formation

and to Christian ministry across the country. The project is currently in its pi-lot phase, with the editorial team from different Ugandan theologi-cal institutions meeting for the first time in May to plan the first writers’ workshop.Angus summed up: “Ngoma (meaning drum in many Ugan-dan languages) will contribute to shaping Christian answers to the pressing questions Ugandan Christians face and so will sustain Ugandan Christian communities in their life and their mission of service to the wider society.” For more information, email An-gus Crichton at ac772@cam.ac.uk

New project sets theology to an African beat

Venturesome Love, written by Liz Traill, a former CMS mission partner and educationist in Ugan-da, tells the story of Constance Hornby (1884-1972), a pioneer missionary who had a vision to start a girls’ school in Kigezi. Miss Hornby founded Kabale Girls’ School, Kigezi, in 1923. She was headmistress there from 1923 to about 1941. The book provides an account of Miss Hornby’s life

– including her ‘safari’ adventures in the Ugandan villages and her adaptability working among lep-ers. Through the narrative, the reader gets a strong sense of Miss Hornby’s dependence on God, her compassion, practical abilities and good sense of humour.The book also includes firsthand accounts from students and others who knew and worked with her, while the final chapters document

Miss Hornby’s retirement. The bi-ography also covers the geography, history and politics of Uganda be-tween 1890 and 1972. Reference is made to events happening in Brit-ain during the same period. Venturesome Love is published by The Handsel Press and further details will be available from the CMS shop: www.cms-shop.org.uk

New book features work of pioneering women in educationReviewed by Kirsti Paterson, head teacher and acting chairman of the Association of Christian Teachers (Scotland).

About the author: Like Miss Hornby, Liz Traill is a pioneer in mission work, having served as a CMS mission partner in Uganda for more than 20 years.“God called me to go to Uganda when I was still at school and confirmed the call dur-ing my university years and when I began teaching in Nottingham. I’m a Christian teacher and see my primary ministry in schools,” Liz says. Between 1967 and 1974, Liz taught geogra-phy and other subjects as required at Kigezi High School in Kabale. “Then Bishop Festo

asked me to head up the diocesan project to found a secondary boarding school for girls,” she says. That school was Bishop Kivengere Girls’ School and Liz became its first headmis-tress when it was founded in 1974 during Idi Amin’s regime. Its aim was to provide a much-needed secondary school for girls in the mountainous district of Kigezi. It start-ed with 40 girls and now has 542 pupils. “We saw God at work in those dark days of President Amin,” Liz recalls.

Liz Traill

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Bernadette Kahembwe, now in her 40s, is an ‘old girl’ of Bishop Kivengere Girls’ School (BKGS), Muyebe. She was there when Liz Traill was headmistress and the two women have kept in touch. Bernadette, now a social worker, and her husband Francis, a health worker, and their two teenage children currently live in Edin-burgh while Bernadette studies for a Master’s Degree in African Studies at Edinburgh University. She hopes to return to Uganda and go back into social work/gen-der studies or possibly lecturing. Here Bernadette reflects on her school days: In the early 1980s when I joined BKGS (aged 12-13), education for girls was still not considered very important. I remember some village women telling my mother that girls should remain at home, but my parents were very inter-ested in education so my brothers and sisters and I were all given an

opportunity to study.I was very lucky to attend BKGS where I not only studied curricu-lum lessons but also spiritual les-sons that changed my entire life. Out of class activities included fetching water, carrying firewood, gardening, Bible study and choir. I served as a prefect for Lugard House, one of the boarding hous-es - named after ‘pioneers’, which made a difference as I was respon-sible for making sure that the dor-mitory was clean.Later on I left BKGS and joined the sixth form at Kyebambe Girls’ School - the opportunity I got only because these two girls schools were connected and friendly (both Church of Uganda schools). Although the education I had at the time made me what I am to-day, some of the subjects need to be changed if they are still being taught today. History at A level included European history; I feel that this history should be replaced

by Uganda history.The class size at BKGS was a maxi-mum of 40 students, but with uni-versal primary education and now universal secondary education, there are usually more than 50 stu-dents in a class. I do not know how teachers cope with such classes, but I think the quality of education has been watered down. Health and safety in schools is still an issue; some schools have had fires and children have been burnt. The horror of the fire that swept through Buddo primary school dormitory in 2008 was a horrific and terrifying example. For better and effective learning to take place, class sizes should be reduced, schools should be in-spected regularly and the govern-ment should invest more resourc-es in the education sector.

by Geoffrey Basheija, deputy head teacher at Bishop Kivengere Girls’ School, Muyebe. (see page 3) I salute you all at Muyebe, the only Muyebe in the world, where my classroom is found. To parents, old girls, supporters, friends and well wishers, praise God for Muyebe classroom. You are the right place God chose for me to be in. I am proud of your classroom full of cheerful girls wait-ing to be guided for future life.

Disciplined girls’ faces meet their subject teachers with smiles; stand up to greet them when they en-ter. True they are God’s selected members in Muyebe. Each time one enters, one is encouraged to give them any assistance and guid-ance they need from the bottom of their hearts. One finds satisfaction while in the classroom….You are occupied by an average of 55 happy, committed, comfortable and focused learners. The commit-

ted and highly motivated team of guides comes in one after the other as the cling ling ling goes, respect-ing the tick tock as minutes change periods and events.Muyebe classroom, you encourage me to be committed; you give mo-rale to both teachers and learners. God bless Muyebe classroom.

This article is an excerpt from the 35th anniversary edition of BKGS school magazine.

I love Muyebe classroom: a teacher’s perspective

Lessons that changed my entire life: a student’s perspective

Bernadette Kahembwe

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education was introduced in Uganda in 1997 – giving 85 per cent of school-going age children access to school. In its first year enrolment of pupils in primary schools rose from 3 million to more than 5 million. The num-ber of pupils enrolled in primary schools stood at over 7 million in 2008, according to Ministry of Education figures. However, only about 30 per cent of pupils who join the primary education cycle go on to complete the cycle - with a full seven years of study, accord-ing to the Ministry of Education.In 2007, free and universal sec-ondary education (USE) was launched, which helped increase transition rates between primary and secondary school from 51 per cent in 2006 to 69 per cent in 2007. USE is part of the Ugan-dan government’s Universal Post Primary Education and Training (UPPET) programme. By 2008, there were 1,088,744 students in secondary schools - 54.1 per cent of which were boys. But in contrast to primary edu-cation, there are fears that state secondary education is not ad-equately targeting the poor. According to the Uganda gov-

ernment’s Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) for the pe-riod of 2004/05 - 2007/08, the in-cidence of secondary education is highly skewed towards the higher income groups and urban or semi-urban dwellers.Another general difficulty is that the increased numbers of chil-dren going to school has meant that class sizes have grown – and it is not uncommon at primary level for 100 pupils to be in one class. In addition, finding enough qualified teachers is yet another challenge – particularly in a coun-try where half the population is under the age of 15. The need for teachers who are qualified to teach at secondary level is yet an-other issue. Also, a lot of private secondary schools are now springing up to offer an alternative to the state sys-tem – increasing fears that a social divide is emerging between the public and private sectors. Accord-ing to Lawrence Bategeka, from the Economic Policy Research Centre, a Ugandan thinktank, around 90 per cent of university students in Uganda in 2010 were taught in private schools. But on the positive side, there are

several specific initiatives to train more teachers, particularly in sci-ence subjects – an area where the government wants to increase teaching and learning. By the end of 2009, a total of 3,823 science teach-ers had been trained and 110 others had been trained in digital science. One of the fastest growing sectors in Uganda is higher education.Currently there are five public universities and 24 private uni-versities. There is also a push on vocational education skills training. Naris explains. “The government has put in more effort to train young people who have ‘dropped out’ of school to equip them with skills for gainful employment. The aim is to reduce unemployment and cut crime rates.” Naris has a personal passion for poverty eradication through skills development of youth in in-come generating activities and to this end, he is planning on setting up a skills development training centre. He is currently looking for people to partner him in this endeavour. For more information, email ntibenderana1@yahoomail.co.uk

Education in Uganda 4continued from front cover

CMS in Mid-Africa At the heart of CMS’s ministry in mid-Africa is a passion to reveal the love of Christ for all people.The CMS Mid-Africa region includes Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, DR Congo, Rwanda, and now encompasses all of Uganda and neighbouring Sudan and Zambia.The gradual outward growth from the historic Mid Af-rica reflects the changing face of mission engagement for CMS and the opportunity for people to connect

with the wider Africa. The Mid Africa Forum, as seen by inclusion of mission people from central Uganda and Zambia at recent conferences, is supporting and promoting this outward movement, while recognis-ing the interest and passionate support for the old MAM region. It is envisioned that gradually the MA Forum will become an Africa Forum.Working hand in hand with the Church in Africa and CMS Africa, CMS facilitates the exchange of people in mission, resources, ideas, prayer and networking. In the process we discover more of God than we ever would have learned alone. – Steve Burgess, CMS

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Newly qualified teachers are faced with a number of complex problems. The government is a major employer in Uganda and it has put a ban on recruitment of teachers – as a result newly quali-fied teachers often fail to receive a posting when they finish their courses. This causes a lot of apa-thy among them and has made the profession very unpopular.The government also introduced universal education for both pri-mary and secondary levels in 1996 and 2007 respectively, which in-creased the enrolment in schools (see page 1). These newly quali-fied teachers have to handle large classes, yet their training only prepares them for ‘ideal’ scenarios with class sizes of 40 students.

The other issue is the deteriorat-ing discipline of students in most schools in Uganda which has been brought about by the emphasis on children’s rights without a proper understanding of the responsibil-ity that goes with that. Students have become unruly, and for any small thing they threaten to strike or they actually organise strikes; they show contempt to teachers who are not prepared for this, with some teachers wanting to give up on teaching when they have just started.There is also a problem of poor re-muneration. Teachers in Uganda are among the most poorly paid civil servants with little time available for them to get involved in any other activity that can help

them earn extra income.What’s more, the private educa-tion sector in Uganda is growing very fast and many newly quali-fied teachers are employed in pri-vate schools. These schools don’t always give teachers appointment letters, they pay them low wages, with no security in their jobs and they make them work overtime without pay.Most schools don’t have policies on conditions of work in that teachers are not given accom-modation, there is no policy on healthy and safety, and no ar-rangement for transport. And paying transport costs out of low wages often leaves teachers with almost nothing for living costs.Given the above, there are very few people opting for education as a course at university or col-lege level and those who do, take it as a last resort.

4Janet Muhindo, continued from front coverJenny Ottewell, spearheaded this children’s work in Uganda. When Jenny retired in 2001 she says she was “thrilled to hand over the baton to my long time colleague, Janet”. Jenny, now based in the UK, still keeps in close touch with Janet - encouraging support for her as chair of the UK-based charity CUCMUK (Church of Uganda Children’s Ministry (UK). Trust-ees of the charity are mostly people who have worked side by side with Janet either in Uganda or the UK. Jenny said: “At first it was quite hard to establish a children’s min-istry but over the past ten years it is being more seriously supported by church leaders. Over time the notion that ‘children are of the church tomorrow’ is changing to ‘children are the church of today and the leaders of tomorrow.”

One of the first things Jenny says she did when she took up the post was to take part in the develop-ment of a Christian education syl-labus for the whole church. Over the years the team prepared Chris-tian teaching materials for all ages and a bookstall was also set up in the education office in Kampala and in every diocese to stock these materials to be used by pastors and their team in every parish. The Church also worked closely with the Ministry of Education in all the government schools and helped to develop an interdenomi-national religious education sylla-bus for the primary schools. Also as part of the church involvement Janet has been training chaplains to provide Christian training, worship and counselling.In the last four years, Janet has

been working extensively with young people who have been deeply traumatised by the con-flicts in the north. She has run programmes for pastors and Sun-day school teachers to train them to counsel and rehabilitate chil-dren, many of whom have been child soldiers, helping them to overcome the effects of the great horrors they have seen and par-ticipated in. Jenny sums up: “Uganda has gone through many years of turmoil since independence in 1962 but is now a country of growth and development and change. I believe Christian edu-cation will give a surer foundation – in line with Uganda’s motto ‘For God and our country.’”

For Janet Muhindo’s blog, visit chil-drensministrycou.blogspot.com

The plight of teachersLilian Gimuguni, academic registrar at Mbale Campus, Uganda Christian University, writes:

Summary of CMS work and links in Uganda

September: Liverpool conference For more information Email Barbara Williams at: bjw1939@hotmail.co.uk or fredadw@talktalk.net

2-4 December: annual residential conference at High Leigh, Herts. (See the enclosed registration form)

Email: ma2011@fanes.co.uk

continued over4

Growing interest in mission at BBUCBishop Barham University Col-lege “is destined to become a centre for revival and missionary training”.That’s the message from BBUC principal, Dr Manuel Muranga. One recent graduate, Daniel Irankunda, who studied mass communication, travelled to Germany in December 2010 to embark on youth ministry work while continuing his education at the University of Erlangen. Dr Muranga said: “There are a growing number of Christian stu-dents and graduates with interest to go on the mission field. BBUC is ready to work in partnership with churches interested in re-ceiving missionaries. The college is increasingly gaining a national and an international outlook.” BBUC’s students come from across Uganda, as well as Rwan-da, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya and Sudan. Lecturers come from Uganda, America, the UK and Germany. Located in Kabale, BBUC is a constituent college of Uganda Christian University, whose main campus is based at Mu-kono. BBUC offers the same aca-demic courses and programmes as Uganda Christian University – ranging from certificates, un-dergraduate programmes, diplo-mas and postgraduate courses – across a range of disciplines. Founded in 1924 by Dr S Smith and L Sharp, who had come to Uganda with the Rwanda Mis-sion (CMS), Bishop Barham Col-lege is administered by 12 Church of Uganda dioceses.

David & Heather Sharland - agriculture & healthAlan & Anne Lacey - theology & health

Ian & Shelagh Baird-Smith (SALT) - administrators

KampalaIsobel Booth Clibborn - VIVA Africa wide, children’s ministryKate & Nick Wooding - Diocese of Kampala, healthGarry Ion - Africa wide, building consultantJoan Hall (SALT) - mission supportJanet Muhindo (Timothy Partner) - children’s ministry (COU) Sam & Abby Baguma (SALT) - Africa wide, health

Bob & Ros Arnold - Bungokho Rural Development CentreRoger Green (SALT)

- children’s ministry

Alison Fletcher - Kiwoko Hospital, HIV/AIDS, physiotherapy

Ann Moore - Kisiizi Hospital, nurse

Pat Gilmer (SALT) - children’s ministry

Jenny Green - Potters Village, children’s ministryElizabeth & Malcolm Crawford - finance management, vocational training

Liz Traill - BBUC education

Penny Allen, Katy Barnes (SALT) - health work

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CMS is a mission community acknowledged by the Church of England. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, charity number 1131655, company number 6985330, registered office: CMS, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ Tel: 01865 787 400 8

Uganda link organisationsUganda Church Association:www.ugandachurchassociation.org

Church of Uganda Children’s Ministry UK (CUCMUK):Email jenny.ottewell@breathe.com

Diocese of Bristol – Bristol Uganda Link:www.bristol.anglican.org/churches/uganda

The Diocese of Winchester:www.winchester.anglican.org

York Minster: www.yorkminster.org

Beverley Minster/Kabale Cathedral www.beverleyminster.org

Laceys create lasting learning links in Uganda Allan and Anne Lacey are CMS mission partners in Arua, north-west Uganda. Allan is helping to train church leaders in the Diocese of Madi and West Nile, while Anne teaches nursing and is a community health coordinator. Before going to Uganda in 2007, Allan was an

Anglican clergyman for 25 years in South Yorkshire. Anne is a quali-fied nurse who has worked most re-cently in health care education and research.A big part of Allan’s work is produc-ing a series of weekly Bible com-mentaries called Lectionary Link, based on the three-year Revised Common Lectionary. When fin-ished, it will provide church lead-ers and teachers in the diocese with three years’ worth of preaching and teaching aids. The readings are being translated from English into Lugbara, a long and detailed process, says Allan, who hopes to finish the material by early 2012. The work began in 2009 and local pastors have been using the resources as they have been produced. There are some 800 churches throughout the diocese, with about 150 parish clergy, 50 other clergy members/chaplains

and about 650 church teachers (like lay readers in the UK). Through regular workshops, clergy are trained to use the lectionary materials. When they return to their parishes they pass on what they have learnt. As is often the way with new ven-tures, other things have grown from Allan’s project. “We needed to set up a printing unit to produce Lec-tionary Link. As well as printing for the diocese, we offer a commercial service, including design, format-ting and printing of anything from wedding invitations to examination papers,” says Allan. This is now a self-supporting business. Gift, a 21-year-old Ugandan man studying for his Bachelor of Busi-ness Administration, runs the print-ing unit, using some of the money to fund his studies. Allan said that he would like to see Gift take over the printing unit after he graduates. Jane (pictured) works with Gift.Anne teaches part-time at the school of nursing attached to Ku-luva Mission Hospital in Arua and is also the diocesan health coordi-nator overseeing six health centres, although she will soon hand over some of this work. Anne said: “In the UK I was teach-ing at a higher academic level. Now I am teaching basic student nursing and I find it very rewarding.” The entry level for the course is five Ugandan O’ levels. After two and half years, students receive a cer-tificate in comprehensive nursing – covering community and hospi-tal nursing. From there, Anne says, “The students get jobs in hospitals, government posts and community health centres. Some will eventu-ally progress to becoming clinical officers and then doctors.”

(l to r) Allan Lacey, Jane and Gift

A group of ordinands from Wycliffe Hall went on a week’s visit at the end of March to Uganda. This is the third year that CMS has organised this annual tailor-made trip from the Oxford-based theo-logical college, which was led by Wycliffe Hall tutor Will Donaldson. CMS’ Stephen Johnson, who coordinated the trip, said: “There is a very rich and ex-citing learning experience in the city of Kabale in Kigezi diocese, south west Uganda. Students engage with the local community by learning from the faith and joy of Ugandan Christians, meet local clergy and hear about the challenges they face in their ministries.” The students also visited Bish-op Barham University College (BBUC) in Kabale (Wycliffe Hall’s link) where they partic-ipated in BBUC’s outreach to families and homes in the area. They also visited the diocesan hospital, Rugarama Hospital and met CMS mission people in Kampala.

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