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Rev Bob Frisken discusses plans for the Untrained Teachers Program with Joanna McEwing Principal of Joshua Teachers College and Director Lynda Stephenson

New Hope International Visit to East Africa

Bob Frisken

The President of New Hope International Rev Bob Frisken and the Business Director David Ferguson have recently returned from an extended trip to Africa. The purpose of this visit to was to negotiate the framework for the development of the proposed Untrained Teachers Course with Joshua Teacher Training College (JTTC), to conduct Phase One of the Effective Teachers Program in Uganda and Kenya and to further develop contacts within East African countries

One of the Maasai huts in Mairowa

TANZANIA
The main purpose of the visit to Tanzania was to spend time at Joshua Teacher Training College to discuss arrangements for their partnership with New Hope International in developing an Untrained Teacher program. We held very helpful and encouraging discussions set the basis for what looks like a very productive relationship. President Bob Frisken spent two days and one night with Imara visiting at Mairowa, a Maasai village in the North of Tanzania. The visit took two days and gave him an excellent opportunity to see what living in a Maasai village is like.

Principal and students at St Pauls School which the NHI team visited.

Uganda
The main reason for our visit to Uganda was to hold a training seminar with the schools formerly under the "Restore Africa Education" banner. The seminar was held in a hotel conference centre along the Hoima Road. The centre was pretty basic but adequate and approximately 50 teachers were at the Seminar. A young Australian teacher, Briony who had attended our 2009 January conference helped with two of the lectures and I took the remainder. Briony and two of her friends and David Ferguson assisted with the group work. The response from the group indicated that the teaching was a blessing.

Following the Seminar we visited some of the schools that were originally part of the Restore Africa Education group. These schools appear to be doing a good job despite lacking a lot of basic equipment. There were requests for more equipment but we told the schools all requests will need to be made through the new association they are planning. While there I obtained a copy of the proposed Constitution for the Christian Schools Association of Uganda and I have assisted them in rewriting it for them using the Constitution of the Christian Schools Association Tanzania as a model.
In Kampala we spent time with Frank and Michelle Heywood at COME Uganda. The COME centre provides very high quality Christian schooling. The buildings are beautifully maintained and Frank and Michelle are doing a wonderful job with their mission guest house, their school and they are now planning a hospital as well.
We also visited The Education Director of Watoto Child Care Ministries Dorcas Kibirige at her office in Kampala and met with her immediate superiors in what was a somewhat cautious yet on the whole helpful meeting. The following day we went to the Watoto Suubi School and were very much encouraged by the impact of the NHI training there.
We also had very productive meeting with the Baptist Union of Uganda. We invited their Education Director Mrs Juliette Galiwango to come to Australia next January, for training at our course. We offered to subsidise her training and travel costs. We will plan to hold a Phase 1 Seminar for the Baptist Union of Uganda in 2010.

Trainees at the Nairobi Kenya Effective teachers Conference

Kenya
In Kenya our activities centred on running a seminar in Nairobi. The Seminar was arranged by Pamela Amimo who works with an organisation she founded called Education Support for Africa Organisation (ESAO) which grew out of the work she had started with the Dorna Rehabilitation Centre.

The Seminar was held in the Grace Covenant Church in Nairobi. The Church is a galvanized iron structure, in a somewhat difficult part of Nairobi to find. Access roads were very narrow and rough as there is little real central planning over development in Nairobi.
Pamela had done a good job in inviting schools but the difficult location and the relatively short planning time meant that the group did not represent a large number of schools. Nevertheless between 40 and 50 delegates were there for the conference. There was a very enthusiastic response. On the second last day of the conference as I was teaching suddenly the whole audience stood up and ran outside. Apparently someone had tried to steal money from the church office, a little tin shed were some ladies were counting money. When they called out everyone in the conference rushed out and the thief fled. However he was caught by some neighbours as he ran away and was beaten almost to death by the crowd. I don't think our delegates took part but they were very excited by the event until I pointed out that the thief was also made in God's image. I was assisted in the Seminar by Meagan McMullen who did a wonderful job on the five lectures that she gave. Meagan works with Imara and Joshua Teacher Training College in Tanzania. The Pastor of the Grace Covenant Church, Maurice Mwale, brought a devotional challenge each morning. And although these ran well over the scheduled time God used them in a powerful way to challenge delegates. The times of worship were also very wonderful and very loud.