By Karine Veldhoen
In the heart of the savannah, at the center of the school, we gathered on the cool cement floor of the Lalela hut. This hut is in the middle of the Hope North Secondary and Vocational School campus in Northern Uganda. The school was founded during the bloody civil war by the incomparable humanitarian, Okello Kelo Sam. It is a rescue and safe-haven for children. I’ve been traveling there with my Niteo Africa teams almost every year since 2013.
This year our trip would be different.
This year, we sat with the school leaders and spent the whole day in literacy leadership training. We shared our hearts for reading directly with the student leaders (prefects) and their teachers. I asked for equal boys and girls to attend our training and the wise headmaster chose the younger ones, who had the capacity to invest for longer. The books we originally gave to the centre were sparse and in disarray, but, we forged ahead. Our facilitator, Mrs. Jamie Henderson, author of the literacy training, began with humility…
