Ongoing projects
GEF has expanded. We started with 7 schools, but are now working with all 200 schools in the Kassanda District. We are reaching out to 11,000 students through their parents and schools. Uganda is taking responsibility to create safe environments for children very seriously with our new project “Safer Schools”. Nonviolent communication supports us in our ongoing efforts with training:
Teachers
School administrators
Inspectors of schools
School coordinating tutors
District education officers
Children in schools
Parents
Amani ndio msingi wamaendeleo -This Kiswahili proverb is a little piece of wisdom passed down through our ancestors. Peace is the foundation of development.All our work is founded on a platform of love and peace. If we are to realize peace and safety in our world, we must work with individual homes and school systems to create an environment where children not only survive, but thrive. We teach some concepts of nonviolent communication to help families and teachers find healthy ways to handle emotions, treat each other with human dignity creating deeper connection with ourselves and others, and realizing our own power to make our lives better.
Why? A report shows that corporal punishment is typically still used in schools and homes in Uganda. We are longing for our children to grow up safe, and nurtured and a place where all children succeed. Uganda has recently changed the law against corporal punishment, but for change to happen, attitudes need to change, and alternatives need to be taught. This is where GEF steps in. We work with the entire community to change harmful norms so that Uganda’s bright social and economic future can be realized.
According to the World Health Organization, “Corporal punishment is linked to a range of negative outcomes for children across countries and cultures, including physical and mental ill-health, impaired cognitive and socio-emotional development, poor educational outcomes, increased aggression and perpetration of violence.”