The Nile Explorer Bus Makes First Trip out of Kampala to the Underserved Communities of Wakiso District

The Nile Explorer Bus, an initiative backed by the U.S Mission Uganda in partnership with Open Space Center Uganda, on Thursday, November 11, officially made its first trip out of Kampala, and to the underserved communities of Masulita in Wakiso District.

The mobile programming platform is intended to support the existing education structures by giving extracurricular support and hands-on training that encourages scientific exploration, improves literacy, teaches engineering skills, promotes mathematical problem solving, and provides accurate and age-appropriate information on health and safety among learners.

Arthur Ssozi Roykin, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) trainer with the Nile Explorer Bus, expressed hope about the change that the initiative will bring to underserved communities like the one in Masulita. According to him, change is a process, and the Nile Explorer is playing its part in starting the gears.

“Change is not immediate. With this project, the impact is felt first, and the change comes afterward. But it is the joy and eagerness among the young learners – who are seeing these things for the first time, who are learning about and figuring out careers they want when on the bus – that makes it worthwhile,” he said.

Arthur added that the opportunities on the bus provide the young learners in these communities with an added advantage, in that it inspires them to have the confidence that regardless of their underprivileged background, they can compete with those who have continuous access to the said resources.

The Nile Explorer which includes a full array of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics tools/games plus health materials aims to contribute to the empowerment of young people in underserved communities in Uganda by providing the youths in remote Uganda with access to STEM learning, reading material, computers, and the internet so as to motivate them to reach their full potential.

“Most of these young people come with an already built perception according to what they have been told the Nile Explorer bus is about. They come with the urge to learn because, for most, their schools lack computers and access to other digital facilities, or even electricity at home. So when they get a chance to come on the bus and learn for one or two days, at least there is a difference,” Arthur elaborated.

Rehema Nakato, the Health & Rights Trainer with the Nile Explorer bus, highlighted the importance of the health component, stating that it mainly focuses on enforcing health messages for young people between the ages of 13 and 19.

“We share information on HIV/AIDS, malaria, COVID-19, and school-related gender-based violence among others,” she explained. “The aim of this information is to create a young learner who is empowered and can take any healthy life choices, and in the long run, can be inspired to stay in school.”

Rehema witnessed that although many of these young learners might already be aware of certain information, they grossly interpret it or have misconceptions regarding the said information.

“Many already know about some of the things that happen in their communities through things happening to their sisters, or friends dropping out of school due to teenage pregnancies or school-related violence. However, the way in which they access it is what causes or fuels their poor decision making because they mostly have needs for this knowledge,” she noted.

Eron Namirimu, a 17-year-old resident of Masulita Town with ambitions to become a lawyer someday, had a chance to attend the Nile Explorer’s sessions and activities. She said that she learned things that she never knew about before because of the bus.

“I learned how to start up a computer, and how to use Microsoft office to write words. I also learned how to speak up when something is not right, and to see how I can solve some issues. Like how they spoke about HIV/AIDS and its danger, and how I’m supposed to handle the situation when a friend of mine confides in me,” she articulated.

Namirimu said she was greatly interested in the physics, engineering, and computer literacy bit of the STEM training sessions.

“The activity where we were connecting wires and voltages in the electromagnetic experiment, and even the computers were interesting,” she explained. “For the health part, I knew most of the things they talked about. But at least now, I can easily search for something and find what I need on a computer.”

“I got a chance to be here, that many others did not. But I can advise them to follow the right kind of path as has been taught to me. The opportunities are many, and they can learn too. I am also ready to teach them,”

The trainers of the Nile Explorer project are confident, that regardless of the current restrictions on schools due to COVID-19, and the lack of facilities at the schools that might hinder progressive learning, the project itself will create awareness and cause an impact, thereby bringing about a change and adaptation in the long-run.

“The sustainability of the project’s activities and curriculum will be achieved through our partnership with the schools. If the teachers are educated on what STEM is, what the Nile Explorer does, and the follow-up activities therein, it will ensure its sustainability,” Arthur explains. “The follow-up programs carried out after a month or two will help us to assess what the young learners have done, what impact they have had on their peers, and how they have been inspired to stay n school.”

“For health, behavioral change is a process. It is something that can not be assessed within a month or two. However, this project looks at continuously engaging the young learner through a program where they will be able to take part in a community project like a health awareness campaign or community services that can teach others out there who are no longer in school about health-related issues,” Rehema explained.

She stated further that by doing so, the young learners would become ambassadors to their own communities with a message rather than simply having a one-off, and that they hope to sustain their information and what they have taught through the few engagements so far, even up to when schools in the country finally open up in January 2022.