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Positive Planet would like to thank Cyber-NY for helping us develop this new website.
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For the first time Lwamaya Primary School will have classrooms for all of its seven grades. Up till now four grades have been meeting under the cover provided by the few trees on school property. Thanks to the generosity of their sister school, the Mary McDowell Center for Learning, this large four classroom building which will also house the head teachers office and library will be completed in February, 2008, just in time for students returning for the 2nd term.
Throughout the two years it has taken to finish this project, Lwamaya parents have never stopped contributing to the completion of their new school building; donating over 10,000 bricks, sand, stones as well as hundreds of hours of hard work. Positive Planet promotes true partnership between our sister school communities and at Lwamaya the years of commitment are finally paying off.
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A recent survey of the head teachers of Positive Planet’s five Ugandan sister schools revealed that approximately 80% of our children do not eat lunch on a daily basis. Chronic hunger negatively impacts the health of our children and also has a profound effect on their ability to learn. Positive Planet co-founders Drs Daniel Murokora and Marc Sklar recently met with over 20 parents of our first sister school, the St. Andrews Matale Hill Primary School to discuss this serious problem. In a 2 hour meeting many of the difficult issues that underlie the problem of chronic hunger were discussed. Extreme poverty limits many of our parents’ ability to provide lunch for their children. The fact that over 50% of our children are orphans, often being cared for by elderly relatives with limited resources, also impacts their ability to fully address this dilemma.
By the conclusion of our meeting it was clear that any solution would require full partnership with the entire school community. Increasing agricultural production on school land, asking parents to contribute 3 cents per day to a school lunch fund, and beginning a cooperative chicken farm were among the ideas presented at the meeting. All present agreed that this was just the beginning of what will be a determined effort by our entire community both in Uganda and the U.S.
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During a recent visit to Uganda, Positive Planet co-founders Drs. Marc Sklar and Daniel Murokora met with Mr. Vincent Semukula, the Rakai District local council (LC5) chairman. In attendance at the meeting were also the chief education and communications officers. After a wide ranging discussion on the challenges facing the government in providing Universal Primary Education for all the district’s children, it was agreed that Positive Planet and the Rakai District government have common goals and that working together would be of mutual benefit.
In Uganda, the LC5 chairman might be considered at the political level of the Governor of a state in the US. We are grateful that Mr. Semukula is supporting our application of recognition as an Ugandan NGO.
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After a year of planning and preparation, Positive Planet sponsored its first trip, visiting our sister schools in rural Uganda. Representing three of our U.S. sister schools 25 teachers, students and parents embarked on an exciting three-week journey throughout the physically beautiful and culturally rich nation of Uganda. The trip was a combination of wonderous adventures as we visited the country's national parks, and a working session in which the teachers and administrators from the American schools held all-day workshops with their Ugandan counterparts. Learn more...
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