June: Month Three

This month provided an interesting variety of work activities. Among other tasks, I was able to attend multiple meetings. These included meeting with Sunrise’s Supervisor and Community Programs Coordinator to discuss the ongoing patient registration project; meeting with Sunrise teachers to discuss the Circle Time and Choice Time project; and a meeting for which members of the community were invited to Sunrise School to receive updates on Sunrise's programs, projects and progress over the past few months. I have also been engaged with the following activities:

Filling in where needed:

Sunrise Director Nicole Van Seters has accumulated an extensive list of grants, but the organization will not be eligible to apply for all of them. Thus, this month I have spent time researching grants which Sunrise may be able to apply for, making note of which grants the organization is currently eligible for, which ones it may be eligible for in the future, and which it is not and will not eligible for.

Every six months, Nicole compiles a general update on progress at Sunrise to be posted on the organization’s website. During this month I transferred a handwritten report by Grace Family Health Centre’s Head Nurse containing complete information on all births since January 1 to Microsoft Word. The information contained in the document will be used in the six-month update.

During spare time this month, as per the teachers’ request, I also drew and coloured many pictures and painted a set of ‘sliders’, to be used in the classroom.

Job Shadowing:

Sunrise is intending to purchase textbooks for some of its students from a publishing company called Macmillan. Thus, this month I travelled with Nicholas Agesa, Sunrise’s Adult Education Instructor, to the office of Macmillan in Uganda’s capital city, Kampala. There we spoke to a MacMillan representative who checked on the availability of each of the books Sunrise is interested in. If a title was no longer available, the rep suggested alternatives selections to be reviewed by the director. Nicholas and I then visited MacMillan’s accountant to get quotes for all of the books under consideration.

This month I was also able to travel to Kampala with Sunrise Supervisor, Ruth Apili, to observe two of her meetings with the organization’s accountant, Jacqueline Nassali.

Jacqueline Nassali, Sunrise Accountant, and Ruth Apili, Sunrise Supervisor.

Supervising Projects:

Circle Time:

Since the end of May, in the Director’s stead I have been managing the Circle Time project mentioned in my previous blog entry. From May 30^th until June 10^th I planned for and lead Circle Time in two classrooms for a total of half an hour each day. At the end of each work week, I then sent the Director reports on how the activity had been received by both Sunrise students and teachers.

Once I had introduced the concept of Circle Time to the teachers, I transferred responsibility for leading the activity to them. Between June 13^th and June 17^th I then observed the teachers in the classroom as they led Circle Time. At the end of that work week I sent another report to the director, who evaluated the progress and sent additional instructions and suggestions for leading Circle Time. I then discussed these instructions and suggestions with the teachers. It was soon agreed by the teachers and the Director that I would continue my observation in the classroom until Circle Time has developed into a routine that blends the Director’s expectations and the teachers’ local knowledge and experience.
Moreover, when I had been leading Circle Time, I had used my laptop in some of the activities I planned. The teachers were impressed by how a computer had drawn the attention of the students, and expressed a strong interest in also using a laptop for their own activities. Thus, I began instructing two of Sunrise’s teachers on computer and internet use so they will be able to incorporate computers into their Circle Time activities.

Me leading Circle Time in the 'Baby' Preschool Class.

Choice Time:

From the last days of May until June 10^th, I also spent time managing the Choice Time project mentioned in my last blog entry. For this I arranged a wide variety of workbaskets containing curriculum-related activities for three of Sunrise’s classrooms, observed how the activities were received in the classroom, and reported my observations to the Director. During this time I kept my own record of the supplies I was borrowing from the storage bins in the school office, but after two weeks I handed over the responsibility of arranging workbaskets to the teachers. To then ensure supplies used are returned and maintained, I designed and printed a set of ‘supplies sign-out sheets’ for the teachers to use in conjunction with the school’s librarian.

Primary 1 Class enjoying Choice Time activities.

Patient Registration:

My participation in the patient registration process for Buiga Sunrise’s Grace Family Health Centre is also still ongoing. For this project I have remained in charge of taking photos of registrants, supervising volunteers as they gather additional information from registrants, and recording all of the incoming data in the consolidated Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet I designed. This month I was also able to design templates for the identification cards we will be producing for use by low-income patients, to ensure they receive subsidized care. Although we have yet to get pictures of everyone who will be receiving a card, we intend to start producing the cards as early as next week using my templates.