Blog - Beacon of Hope College Projects

This is the first of several posts I (Helen, the Communications Director from the Seattle office) is posting from Soroti during a several week visit. The first stop of course was Beacon of Hope College, just a few minutes away from the hotel.

Director of Education Sam Ocen introduced me and several of the visiting team from Church of the Redeemer in Boston to the teachers of the science department. A science fair is being planned for this week (more on that in a later post). Then Sam showed me around the campus. We visited the just-completed rainwater harvest system, operational less than 3 weeks. The water level in the gauge, a clear plastic tube parallel to the side of a huge black tank, was too low to be seen. That meant the school had almost used up the water collected off the tin roofs of two sides of two long buildings. The city of Soroti had no water for 3 days, and this was day 3. The school survived on the water that had collected since May 31 in the two large (60,000 liters each) tanks. Over those 3 days they used about 40,000 liters total. The water came back on in Soroti, and the water was replenished during a thunderstorm on June 27. The harvesting system was finished just in time for a real life test, and it worked!

The CU-EWB team had to add gutters to the roof edges, ensuring that all were at angles for the water to collect into a main pipe that filled the tanks. They even had to hammer together their own ladders! The gutters emptied into piping that fills the storage tank; the water is filtered, and clean, free water is accessible at two spigots. The system even has an overflow system. With completion of this collection system, the school no longer has to rely exclusively on city water.
The project was two years in the making. The team made assessments during the 2009 and 2010 visits, and swung into action in May 2011. The rainwater harvesting system saves the school significant operating costs, and provides solutions for other water-related problems. Water to the school goes out several times a week, which means the students must walk 5-6 k to get well water, or the school's administration must buy water in town. This takes a lot of time away from studies, and exposes the female students to potential danger. Women, especially young ones, simply are not safe to walk around town after school hours.

Read the CU-EWB team's great blog here. Thanks to Harrison, David, Allison, and all those other CE EWB folks who took part in this. More thanks to Julius, the determined, strong and ever-inventive handyman at Beacon of Hope School! Also thanks for great photos I stole off your blog!   

Related Links: Biodiesel and Sustainable Rural Technologies Program

Students report for the first class at 7:30 in the morning dressed smartly in their uniforms.   The older Seniors 5’s and6’s are dressed in blue shirts and black shirts/trousers, and the lower classes have white shirts and green skirts/trousers  

If we were in the courtyard between buildings, we could hear the voices of lecturing teachers. Mr. Omiat is talking about the Great Lakes region in the US or Lake Victoria in Geography.  Mr. Orena is explaining how to find the area of a sphere.  Both of these teachers are good at getting the students to relax, laugh and have fun while they are learning.  .  A hand bell rings to indicate the end of this class period.

Mid-morning there is a 30 minute tea break between classes.  Teachers gather in the staff room to enjoy tea.  Students spread out over the compound…some hitting the books and others catching a few minutes of a soccer game.  

Again the handbell rings and students and teachers head back to class.  Some teachers have free time, and visit on the benches on the bench on the administrative building veranda or take a couple of chairs and sit under the tree while correcting assignments and overseeing the school compound.  A boda boda {Ugandan all-purpose taxi] goes through the compound delivering tomatoes and onions or the meat for lunch.  A visitor signs in with security at the gate and reports to the Head Teacher’s office.  A parent is waiting on the veranda to see their child.

The next handbell means lunch time. While some students head for the kitchen to get lunch, others participate in 15 minutes of singing praise and a time of prayer which fills the compound with the reminder that it is a Christian school.  Later in the afternoon, the Scripture Union leadership meet for a time of prayer in the Chaplain’s office. They may be meeting behind closed doors, but their fervent cry to the Lord overflows into the administrative block and beyond.

The road running in front of the school compound is always busy during the day with trucks, taxis, bodas and pedestrians.  The squealing of a baby pig echoes off the neighboring house.  The gobbling of the family of turkeys that has taken up their abode in the compound continues behind the administrative building.  Native birds sing.  A baby cries and children play.  The sound system of a neighboring vendor is turned on at its highest volume.

The last bell of the afternoon is at 5:00. Students pour out of their classrooms and toward the hostels. After changing into casual uniforms – Tshirts and black pants or skirts, some begin a volleyball game at one end of the compound.  Maybe a soccer game begins on the other end of the compound.  After supper, students gather in their classrooms for study and discussion until it is time to close their books for the day and return to their hostels.  Before students crawl into their beds and without a complaint from neighbors, a time of corporate praise and prayer rises heavenward from each hostel.  Another day has drawn to a close, another day in which these students can grow, recover from past difficulties, and anticipate a future much brighter than their pasts.   

Related Links: Beacon Of Hope Secondary School

Nancy Olsten, a language arts teacher from West Auburn High School, and strong advocate for Pilgrim, initiated a letter exchange program between her classes at the high school and BoH. Her initial idea was to expose her students to situations in Africa, sensitizing them to their counterparts in other countries and life situations. The students had been studying Global Issues, led by Tom Parsons, the Social studies teacher at the school, reading A Long Way Gone and discussed colonialism and other issues raised by the book. They had also studied the history of the Lord's Resistance Army and learned the background of many of the students to whom they would write.

For the initial mailing to Beacon of Hope, Nancy's seniors made a video introducing themselves and their school; this had footage of each of Nancy's students, and some of their classes and a tour of the school. The first packet of letters was sent over in October, carried by Calvin Echodu. Several of the language arts teachers at BoH engaged their classes in the exchange, and that first packet of letters was answered by about 30 Ugandan students. Two entire rounds of letters have taken place, with students responding personally to one or more students.

Nancy took some of the art work from the Ugandan letters to post on bulletin boards in the halls in Auburn; this provoked questions and interest among other teachers. Now there is interest in a fund raising effort at the school, and possibly involvement with the Auburn Rotary.

Calvin visited Nancy's class in May to speak to them about his experiences growing up in the conflict in NE Uganda. The Auburn class had a second packet of letters ready for him, as well as a special drum they had constructed a drum as a gift for the BoH students. Fashioned out of a section of large diameter PVC pipe, it was covered with a stretched leather, then signed by all the class.

Nancy hopes to continue this project next year with her classes, and is hoping that teacher s at BoH will also continue the project.

Related Links: Beacon Of Hope Secondary School