Kayihura lauds US Peace Corps
Peace Corps Africa Regional Director Richard Day (L) meets Gen Kale Kayihura (R) as US Ambassador Scott De Lisi (2nd R) looks on. courtesy PHOTO
What you need to know:
Vote of thanks. The IGP who is a beneficiary of the volunteers, said the Corps are doing a vey good job helping Ugandans
Kampala. The Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, has lauded volunteer organisation, US Peace Corps, for changing the lives of Ugandans.
Gen Kayihura, while officiating at celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the US Peace Corps in Uganda last week, observed that communities in rural areas have benefitted immensely from the activities of the volunteers.
He singled out the education sector and reminisced his days at Mutolere Secondary School in Kisoro, where he was taught by one of the volunteers, Mr Carl Muhlhausen. The two met again at the celebrations after 22 years.
“I am a living testimony to your work. I was oriented towards the arts subjects but when the corps came, Carl who was teaching us Chemistry made it so easy for us,” Kayihura recalled. Adding; “The American approach to teaching science is to simplify things, which should be a lesson to the Ministry of Education here.”
Gen Kayihura emphasised that the education systems should be overhauled to ensure that students understand the basics in order to pass.
“Out there in the villages, there could be potential Einstein’s, but they have been suppressed by some teachers who may not be that smart to bring out the talent in the children,” he stressed.
Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist and philosopher of science. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics
The US Ambassador to Uganda, His Excellency Scott De Lisi, who hosted the event at his residence in Kololo, revealed that the Peace Corps recently chose Uganda as one of three countries to pilot a new Peace Corps Global Health Service Partnership.
Under the programme, doctors and nurses are placed at teaching hospitals around the country.
The Peace Corps Africa Regional Director, Mr Richard Day, said the US is honoured to renew its commitment to helping improve the lives of Ugandans.
History of peace corps
The first Peace Corps Volunteers in Uganda were secondary school teachers who arrived on November 16, 1964. A year later, the secondary education program consisted of 35 Volunteers. A health programme was initiated in 1968 with the placement of 15 Volunteers. As Peace Corps programme expanded in Uganda, the major programming area was education, with Volunteers also working in fisheries, agriculture, vocational education, and surveying. Today there are 160 volunteers in Uganda.
