We already had an existing partnership with Lukalu Umea Primary, Uganda and the pupils wanted to develop this. They had studied climate change and HIV and AIDS and exchanged information between the schools. Lukalu Umea Primary is in the Mpigi region of Uganda and the school has no running water or electricity. Our main means of communication is e-mail with the Head Teacher. This is a Global Schools Partnership and we had already applied and were granted a reciprocal grant. Kalenzi Mubarak, the Head Teacher was coming to visit us in May.
The pupils got together in groups and planned the next steps. What did they want to learn and how would they set about achieving these targets were what they discussed.
To begin with the class set up a committee of five pupils, a teacher, a support assistant and a parent. The committee also liaised with the Pupil Council and the ECO committee. This ensured all aspects of the school were to be consulted.
In order to motivate the children they were given a structure and permitted to take autonomy and to be responsible for their own project.
We were looking into Fairtrade and ways we could combine this form of enterprise with the Butterfly Challenge. Uganda deals in Fairtrade coffee, so the idea of Kampala Koffee Kids came into being. This was a class decision for our company name. We also produced a logo. A school event was to take place during Fairtrade fortnight, which would involve parents and the local community and promote community cohesion. The committee wrote, then telephoned and finally visited three local supermarkets and discussed the variety of Fairtrade products on offer, cost comparison and where in the store they are displayed (see photos).
Primary seven made flyers and delivered them to the local community. The reasons for this, was to advertise the event and also to personally invite traders, local police and villagers. The pupils also composed letters to parents inviting them to the event.
During the lead up to this enterprise, the children researched information on Uganda and Fairtrade and decided to put the two together. Meetings were held by the committee and relayed back to the classes involved.
One primary seven class worked on climate change, while the other explored different types of products for Fairtrade. Two Power Point presentations were produced (see zip file). The Fairtrade group had been given vouchers and products from the supermarkets and purchased others on a sale or return basis.
Kampala Koffee Kids were going to promote their company at our Fairtrade event. They set about finding out how manufacturing companies deal with suppliers. This provided a much better understanding of how Fairtrade operates and the principals behind the organisation.
On the day of the event the pupils worked with the PSA who volunteered to serve the tea and coffee. The classes opened with their presentations, followed by a question and answer session. The children had set up a stall selling tea, coffee, juice, cereal bars, rice etc. They also ran a café with the help of the PSA. The morning was extremely successful, with many adults saying they would be buying more Fairtrade items in the future.
In May, Kalenzi Mubarak, Head Teacher of our partner school in Uganda, visited Mid Calder Primary (see photos). It was his first time out of Uganda and his first trip on an aeroplane. He was very excited to be visiting the school. The partnership has been going for two years and in that time we have had a number of successful projects.
Primary sevens were very keen to show Mr Mubarak their presentations and discuss similarities and differences in ways climate change is taught in Lukalu Umea.
Mr Mubarak has promised to look into Fairtrade coffee in Uganda and send information back.
Our partnership has been successful and it has been sustained for over two years, despite the slow communication between us.
Working with Lukalu Umea has permitted the pupils to learn about the subject taught in Uganda and the ripple effect will be to find better ways of working with Lukalu and improving communication Mr Mubarak raised awareness of his school with a talk to the PSA and Mid Calder Primary hope to continue this partnership for years to come.
http://calderlukalu.blogspot.com is our blog to raise awareness with parents.