My official job duties

For those of you wondering exactly what I will be doing while in Uganda here is what I know so far!  I will depart for orientation that will take place somewhere in the states on February 8th.  On the 10th I will begin my training in Uganda where I will live with a host family for three months, learning an Ugandan language and receiving job training.  After I complete training I will be sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer.  I will then be moving to a new village where I will remain for two years!  My actual service will end on April 17, 2011.  

My primary duties are as follows (summarized from my PC booklet):

As a teacher trainer, you will be posed to a primary school or primary teacher's college in a rural area.  the Ministry of Education will assign you to work with a trained counterpart, a Coordinating Center Tutor or a College Tutor.  If working at a coordinating center, you and your counterpart will work together to develop and implement plans focusing on key areas of school improvement and staff development for the 12-65 (or more) primary schools which surround the coordinating center.  In order to reach and support these schools, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED to ride a bicycle over relatively long distances and rough terrain.  

The work plans you develop with your counterpart may include:

1. Improving the technical skills of primary schools teachers by introducing participatory learning activities for young children aimed at developing basic skills in mathematics, literacy, and life skills.

2. Working with school administrators through on site coaching and group trainings to improve their leadership skills and their ability to support their teachers' ongoing professional development.

3. Strengthening home-school-community connections through joint school improvement activities and projects.  Your community has rich resources that you will help them identify and use to improve children's learning.  

Along with these activities, almost all education volunteers work with their formal counterparts, other informal community counterparts, and teachers to train youth, educators, and communities in life skills that will help them lead more productive, positive, and disease-free lives.

In addition, as with all Peace Corps Volunteers, part of your role is to inform the people with whom you live and work about America and learn about their lives and cultures so that you may better educate Americans about the people of the world with whom you live and work.