Uganda

Spending Time with my “Sacred Heart Sisters”: STM Summer Ambassador Experience

Elizabeth White GRD '22

As a high school student at Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (Newton, MA), I often heard about “our sister schools in Uganda,” but I had very little knowledge of the schools, the students, or Uganda in general. This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel as a STM Summer Ambassador to Uganda, not only for my doctoral research on tuberculosis, but also to volunteer at Kangole Girls Senior Secondary School, my own high school’s “sister school in Uganda.”

Kangole is a boarding school in rural Uganda with over 700 students. For two weeks in July, I lived with the Sacred Heart sisters who run the school and worked on a few projects to support the school’s science programs. I wrote reports to be shared with supporters in North America and Europe, including an interview with a student who had recently placed fourth in the national science fair; a story about the success of the Agriculture Club’s greenhouse; and a budget of supplies needed by the science departments. I also met with leaders of the Science Club and developed a workshop on the scientific method. Finally, I worked with the school’s head teacher to identify a need that could be addressed with the STM Summer Ambassador funds—food. The school had recently lost crucial funding for food and faced the possibility of running out completely by September. By filling that funding gap, the school will be able to remain open for the full academic year.

One challenge I faced during my visit to Kangole was reconciling the vibrant, energetic and loving school atmosphere with the realities that many of the students face in their home lives. Karamoja, the region where the school is located, faces high levels of poverty, food insecurity, alcoholism, domestic violence and disease. Girls who do not finish school have very few options beyond early marriage and motherhood. One Sacred Heart sister told me how as a young teacher in Uganda’s capital in the 1970s, she had been appalled to learn that underperforming teachers were sent to teach in Karamoja as a punishment. So, when the sisters of the Uganda-Kenya Sacred Heart Province decided to bring their mission of girls’ education to a marginalized population, they chose Karamoja. In the decades since Kangole became a Sacred Heart school, it has transformed into a nationally-recognized school with a reputation for providing a strong education for girls.

Repeatedly during my visit, I was impressed by the inexhaustible energy of the sisters and teachers. The messages they imparted to students—to work hard, pursue excellence and follow their dreams—are so important considering the social and structural forces working to hold them back. As a student at a relatively privileged high school, I never could have imagined what my “Sacred Heart sisters” were experiencing half a world away. Now that I have visited Kangole, however, I plan to bring back stories to my own Sacred Heart community, build more support for Kangole’s science programs and continue to strengthen ties between the schools.

 

“The messages (the sisters and teachers) imparted to students — to work hard, pursue excellence and follow their dreams — are so important considering the social and structural forces working to hold them back.” – Elizabeth White

 

Lizzie with kids        Uganda_2

Photographs courtesy of Elizabeth White.

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