Berkshire Scouts have been offering a global awareness programme named Project Africa since 2010. The programme is an international community development programme to help our young people understand the lives of their peers in an African country and to provide support to projects in Uganda . . . young people supporting young people!
Challenge Badge
The global awareness programme also provides a challenge badge. Groups and sections are invited to participate in the challenge badge. Click here to download the criteria for the badge. Resources to help plan programmes for the global awareness programme and challenge badge can be downloaded from the resources panel below.
[resources panel here]
Projects in Uganda
Scouts and leaders travelled to Uganda in 2011 and 2015 to undertake projects at schools in poor rural areas in that country. The projects are described below as well as a photo gallery of the projects.
Scouts from Berkshire will be returning to Uganda in 2019.
Click here for the link to their page.
Uganda 2015
Scouts worked at the Butagaya and Iwololo Primary Schools in the Jinja area of Uganda. This work was carried out in partnership with Soft Power Education.
At the Butagaya Primary School the Scouts laid the foundations for a new 3-classroom block. The building, fully funded by Project Africa, was completed by local builders.
Scouts at the Iwololo Primary School spent most of their time refurbishing existing classrooms and building a new teacher house. The project also funded the refurbishment of an existing teacher house.
At the end of the project in 2015, the Scouts took part in a safari and river trip in the Murchison Falls National Park.
Uganda 2011
The first visit to Uganda was to support the Bukeka Children’s Centre (Mityana) and the Kavule School for the Deaf (Mbale). This project was in partnership with Building Brighter Futures.
The project at the Bukeka Children’s Centre was to fund and build a 3-classroom block. Although the building was originally used for a chicken project! In addition, the Scouts built a kitchen/diner block as well as additional toilets.
Project Africa supported teacher salaries for three years following the building project at the Centre and also funded an electricity supply direct to the Centre.
The work at the Kavule School for the Deaf was mainly refurbishing existing classrooms. A new staff washroom was also built as well as adding a rainwater harvesting scheme to some of the existing classrooms.
The two Beaver Scout Colonies from 2nd Thatcham Scout Group continue to sponsor two deaf children from the school and have provided over £2,000 of funding for the children.
Whilst in Uganda during 2011 the Scouts enjoyed activities such as: white water rafting on the River Nile; horse riding on the banks of the Nile; as well as visiting local craft factories, markets, schools, and Scout Groups.
