FORMER Okehampton College student Jenny Rice has now settled into her role as a volunteer teacher in the Ugandan village of Kyamakama, at a school where the children have no pens, paper or crayons! Having originally planned to travel to Nepal with ICYE (Inter Cultural Youth Exchange), Jenny, who comes from Bratton Clovelly, was advised against going there due to the political unrest in the country. She was offered an alternative placement in Uganda and travelled there at the beginning of January to spend six months teaching in a primary school. After spending the first two weeks in the capital Kampala having induction and language training she moved to the isolated village to live with her host family and their many children. With no running water and very unreliable electricity supply, Jenny has adapted well to the culture change. She said one of the hardest things to cope with has been the change in diet. The staple food is rice and ?motoke? ? a maize flour mixture. Upon first arriving, Jenny found the school was not completed, but it is now fully operational and she is teaching English, maths and agricultural studies to a class of 40 eight-year-old children. However, if it rains school is cancelled, as the children have no shoes and the surrounding area gets very muddy. There are few basic resources at the school and children learn with no pens, papers or crayons. Jenny would like to thank all the local businesses, charities and individuals who supported her fund-raising to take up the gap year project.
