Soft Power Education (SPE) is a British registered charity and Ugandan NGO working with communities in Uganda to improve quality of life through education. We focus on four key, directly related areas;
- Refurbishment of Primary Schools – providing clean, safe and inspiring learning environments
- Education Centres – fun, dynamic learning centres to complement class based learning for our partner schools
- Community Development Programme - extending the potential of the education centres to adult learning
- Partnerships - Through partnerships bringing conservation to the classroom
What do we do?
- Established in 1999, SPE has been supporting the Ugandan Government in working towards its Millennium Development Goals for the Primary Education Sector. The work began after Uganda introduced Universal Primary Education in 1997 causing net enrolment in primary schools to rise from 2.3 million to 7.5 million in just over 2 years (UNICEF). This created dire circumstances for learning within already limited schools. Refurbishing to date 34 schools, SPE provides a clean, safe and inspiring environment for learning.
- Working with these schools, we have created a complementary learning environment based at the Amagezi Education Centre. It provides the opportunity for children to attend sessions in agriculture, science, art, drama and ICT, in a unique environment offering practical and interactive learning.
- We have now extended the use of the centre to enable opportunities for adult learning. We are enabaling more people in the community to benefit from the resources available, as well as to learn relevant skills to aid income generation from sales of local products and produce to visiting tourists and tourist-related businesses.
- In partnership with the Ugandan Wildlife Authority, SPE is now bringing conservation to the classroom in geographical areas of specific environmental threat. We are refurbishing schools in these areas, establishing conservation education centres and providing local children with their own opportunity to enjoy the uniqueness of the area on overnight safaris. As an organization, which has evolved rapidly, we continue to constantly look for new ways for working in partnership with communities to establish sustainable opportunities through education.
Why is SPE needed in Uganda?
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SPE focuses its work within rural areas in Uganda. The majority of the rural population across the country is deemed by the UN, The World Bank and various other commentators to be living in chronic poverty; solely dependent upon farming for food and income. Chronic poverty stems from a number of inter-related factors; lack of education; serious health issues; environmental destruction; large households and remote locations. Uganda’s turbulent history has exacerbated the problems contributing to the chronic poverty experienced by the majority of the population. The majority of families in rural communities are caught in a perpetual cycle of chronic poverty from one generation to the next.
The work of SPE to-date has been primarily focused on primary school education yet SPE now endeavours to tackle many more of the factors that contribute to chronic poverty within rural communities; tackling health issues by improving sanitation at schools and facilities for washing hands, encouraging children to take their learnings home; training children in agricultural methods and diversity at our Education Centre, again to support and share learnings at home; Community Development Programmes for adults providing health awareness, as well as agriculture skills aimed at tackling environmental overuse with sustainable land usage and crop production.
The Ugandan government currently relies heavily on input from external sources, primarily NGOs, to meet the basic needs of its population such as healthcare, education and the development of infrastructure. As such, the government is incredibly supportive of the work that is being carried out by NGOs. However, Soft Power Education is working to reduce the level of dependency in communities by equipping individuals with the skills and resources they need to break the cycle of poverty for themselves.
How do we do it?
Our success to date is based completely on our partnerships with local schools, the local communities and Ugandan conservation organisations.
Every project we are involved in has come about as a result of opportunities identified with our partners for bringing about change or specific requests for assistance from the local community. SPE helps to deliver sustainable solutions through the expertise of its staff, the ability to raise funds and through inspiring travellers and tourists to get involved with our work.
Fundamental to our success in delivering beyond our original plans, has been the ongoing and sustained support from travellers to Uganda.
From the outset, SPE has aimed to facilitate partnerships/friendships between visiting tourists and the local community, providing an opportunity for travellers to contribute through sustainable projects to Uganda. SPE channels the enthusiasm of overland truckers, visiting groups from UK universities and independent travellers into assisting with school refurbishment and other projects. Volunteers are usually so inspired by the work they have been able to do and the changes they have been able to effect, they continue to fundraise for Soft Power when they return to their home countries. This ensures that we can use the money raised to pay for specific skilled Ugandan staff, such as for construction, teaching, management of the education centre and leading the visiting groups in projects.
We are fortunate enough to find ourselves in the rare position of being able to affect a phenomenal improvement in the lives and education of the children in Uganda and are actively seeking donations and volunteers in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. We are 100% charity and every single penny donated to Soft Power Education goes straight back into our projects enabling us to make a difference.
We provide volunteer opportunities for people worldwide to live and work abroad in Uganda whilst offering the following experiences:-
- Living within the local community
- Rewarding challenges
- Experiencing new cultures
- Working alongside the locals on building or educational projects
- Hosting creative and sporting workshops
- Making lasting friendships