Ten Iowa State CALS students participated in the Service Learning School Garden Program in Uganda in June and July. The student team was based with the Iowa State University-Uganda Program (ISU-UP) in rural Kamuli, where they partnered with ISU-UP staff and Makerere University student alumni from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. For several weeks, students assisted in teaching STEM subjects at primary schools and helped children practice reading in English after the school day to make up for lost instruction from two years of closed schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For six weeks, the team also completed projects in gardens that serve as outdoor laboratories for learning agriculture and contributing nutritious crops as ingredients in school lunches. Binational projects of students and staff included agroforestry, beekeeping, school gardens鈥� crop management, and school food and nutrition. University students had the chance to assist in a day-long youth institute with youth representing five primary and ten secondary schools. The team also assisted smallholder farmers and youth entrepreneurs in agricultural projects on their farms. While living at the Mpirigiti Rural Training Center in Kamuli, ISU students learned about the local cultures of eastern Uganda through immersion activities with Ugandan roommates and completed Lusoga language and drumming/music instruction.
Learn more about the Creating a School Garden: Service Learning in Uganda program.