Insight Peace Education Project

Vital Stats

Holly D

Boston, MA

people helped1000
People Doing It 30

The Problem

Northern Uganda has suffered from more than two decades of war. It has grasped at fragile stability in recent years, only to topple back into violent conflict. According to the International Rescue Committee, nearly two million people have been displaced, tens of thousands killed, and over 20,000 child soldiers forced to serve in state and rebel armies. Children have been raised in a culture of violence, and without interventions in their education at this critical point of relative peace, Uganda could face repeated violent conflict. My project seeks to provide teachers and children with curriculum in peace building and nonviolent conflict resolution in order to instill the mindsets and skills critical to a peaceful future.

Plan of Action

The project takes place over 18 months, conceptualized in 5 phases: 1) Initial Research and Partnerships; 2) Curriculum Development; 3) Teacher Trainings; 4) Curriculum Implementation; and 5) Long-Term Sustainability. For the past six months, I have completed Phase 1 by conducting research on local context and building partnerships with organizations engaged in related projects and local stakeholders. I recently spent a month in Northern Uganda to further develop partnerships with beneficiaries and local policy makers. My impact so far has been the encouragement of partnerships and motivation for the project among local actors for youth empowerment. I've also laid the logistical and philosophical groundwork for the project by meeting with a range of local and international stakeholders in peace building and education. The next phase will be Curriculum Development, where I will work with teachers, peace building experts and community leaders in Northern Uganda to customize the basic peace education curriculum that Insight Collaborative provides based on our partnerships and experience in the United States. Second, teachers will be trained in how to administer the curriculum and integrate it into their daily lessons. A minimum of one hundred teachers will be involved in trainings, in addition to 10 government officials and school inspectors from the Ministry of Education. In the third phase, I will monitor and facilitate the integration of peace curriculum in two schools over the course of two full school terms. The two schools have been identified based on the administrations’ enthusiasm for the project, their locations in urban and rural areas respectively, and their critical needs for development in the area of quality education. Curriculum will be taught at upper primary levels, benefitting approximately 580 children. Finally, I will administer feedback surveys, consolidate observations and results and hold community gatherings to plan the ongoing expanded implementation of curriculum.