RESPECT International Blog

Located in Kampala, Uganda, the RESPECT University students are urban refugees whose countries of origin include Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, and Burundi. Due to wars and genocides in the surrounding countries Uganda has witnessed an influx of refugees. Many of these people go straight to the capital Kampala while others move there from the refugee camps seeking more opportunities and better living conditions.

One of the problems the refugees face is that they don’t speak English. This hinders their day to day existence as they cannot communicate what they want. It also impacts their futures because they cannot study at English speaking universities, apply for jobs or testify in court against the people responsible for violence and discrimination against them. Also without regular paid work they cannot afford to pay for medical care or education.

This is where the RESPECT Functional Adult Literacy Program comes in. It offers refugees free adult literacy courses. This enables the students to improve their lives and the lives of their families.

The Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) at Refugee Law Project (RLP) is currently coordinating the following courses with RESPECT University: Early Childhood Development, International Human Rights (English), International Human Rights (French), International Relations, Business Administration, Small and Medium Business, Persuasive Writing, and Information Technology. A total of 62 students are enrolled in these courses.

The program started with the placement of a small notice inviting people who were interested to fill out registration forms. At this stage there were no tutors and so subjects that would be taught were yet to be decided upon. Therefore, the students were asked what they would be interested in learning, after which RESPECT University coordinator, Ashok Pillai, connected them with tutors. Interest in the program was far greater than initially anticipated.

Many students were keen to learn English. This would enable them to continue their education in English speaking universities or relocate to English-speaking countries. Some wanted to be able t read newspapers of listen to news broadcasts to keep up to date with world affair and the situations in their own countries. Others wanted to become English teachers or work as interpreters. Some simply wanted to make their daily lives in Kampala easier by improved communication.