teacher-exchange in Northern Uganda

This summer I will be spending 6 weeks in Northern Uganda near Gulu. I am participating in the Teacher Exchange program through Invisible Children.
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMission/Teachers_Exchange

The photos of the lily and the children are actually from a trip I took to Tanzania in 2004. I had no idea that at this same time, not far away, Northern Uganda was into its third decade of conflict. Villages had been destroyed and children lived in fear of being forced to become child soldiers. Northern Uganda has experienced relative peace in recent years and a permanent cease-fire was signed between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government in February 2008. Sadly, the LRA has since been committing atrocities in neighbouring DR Congo.

When I watched the film "Invisible Children" (http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=114) I was struck by these children's desire for education even amid the conflict in their lives. Their pleas with the documentary film makers to please not forget about them led to the development of the Invisible Children organization.

I visited the site after seeing the film and was thrilled to read about their teacher exchange program, now in its third year. There are many willing teachers in Northern Uganda where the student: teacher ratio is 150:1, but there is not a significant teacher training program. This led Invisible Children to create the teacher exchange. They pair up International teachers with Ugandan partners. We spend the first week learning about the culture and the Ugandan educational standards. For the remaining time, I will be team-teaching with my partner teacher and working with them to develop student-centered lessons. We will also attend an international conference on Education in Conflict.

I've been given the task of fundraising 4000 US dollars (~5000 CAD) to cover my flights and accommodations and food for 6 weeks plus the cost of a flight from Toronto to New York. I would greatly appreciate your support in this endeavour. Any funds raised beyond what is required (see how optimistic I am) will go towards providing additional support to the teachers in Gulu in the form of classroom materials and further training. Unfortunately, Invisible Children is a registered charity in the US only, which makes it difficult to get any kind of corporate sponsorship. If you have any ideas, please share them with me at melodyrussell@gmail.com.

I am lucky to be teaching at a school which places an emphasis on internationalism, service, and education. They have made a significant contribution, recognizing the project as professional development on my part.

Each year, Invisible Children produces a brief video highlighting some of their progress. This is the video released for Christmas 2008.