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Students of Gayaza High School use ICT to document and conserve local medicinal plants
Related to country: Uganda

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Conservation of Local Medicinal Plant through Environment
Education and ICT

Objectives
•Identify and document medicinal plants at school and local communities based on their traditional knowledge.
•Build a medicinal plant data base as a teaching resource for environment education in schools and non formal community (herbalists, village biologists) using ICT.
•Create awareness of the need to conserve biodiversity of medicinal value and share this information with research and other academic institutions for purposes of collaboration to enrich the data base.
•Disseminate information and knowledge in order to promote environment education on the importance of medicinal plants and biodiversity.

Planning and origin of the project:
During one of our visits to the street children of Kampala in assessing their livelihoods, it was realized that one of the challenges of the street children was living in squalid conditions without proper medical care; it became apparent that they mostly relied on traditional herbs to treat their ailments.
Today due to rural urban migration there is an increase in the number of street children in our cities. This project was conceptualized to identify the different local medications the street children use and to document them.
Gayaza high school is rich with so many plant species, many of which are medicinal/herbal meaning their leaves, stems, bark, flowers, fruits, and seeds can be used prevent or cure disease. The school botanical garden alone has over 50 medicinal herbal plants; the trees and flower gardens in and around the school compound can be very useful in treatment of many diseases.
The rate of degradation of medicinal plants and herbs around the school community is so high that if not well conserved will face extinction. The knowledge of their existence is also lacking among the student and local population. Conservation of medicinal plants, especially endangered ones depend largely on the conservation of the ecosystem in which they occur and harnessing the knowledge of their existence and importance.
Popular but slow growing and or naturally rare plant species are often under pressure. Sustainable management of medicinal plant species is important, not only because of their value as a potential source of new drugs but due to reliance on medicinal plants for health care.
Growing these herbal plants in organized gardens may be one of the means of achieving medicinal plant conservation by reducing the exploitation pressure exerted on naturally occurring plant species. This protects plants that are being threatened in their natural habitats. Through organized gardens can promote easy propagation of the plants.
The success of this project was greatly achieved through ICT as the students had to take pictures in the school compound and around school communities; supportive information regarding classification and further medicinal importance of the plant was obtained from internet search. Students prepared PowerPoint presentation of the medicinal plants with the following contents, classification, structure of the plant, means of propagation, medicinal importance, medicinal parts, and how the parts are used to cure diseases.

July 23, 2009 | 12:30 AM Comments  0 comments

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Watch out for sucide cases in your work place, your buddy could be a victim
Related to country: Uganda

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

A Biology/Chemistry teacher in Uganda decides to end his life.
You may learn so many things from this dossier.


When Busoga College Mwiri head teacher John Mukubira sent out a notice to four teachers relieving them of their duties pending transfer by the Education Ministry last week, little did he know that one of the teachers would take it as the end of the road.

Thirty-nine year-old David Kaggwa took his life last Tuesday after drinking a mixture of hydrogen and sodium peroxide, chemicals he apparently got from the school laboratory. Teachers at the school said Kaggwa committed suicide after he was overwhelmed by financial problems.

Kaggwa’s financial problems are said to have been worsened by the short notice announcement from the school headmaster that he was among the four teachers who would be referred back to the ministry for posting elsewhere.
Kaggwa, who has been teaching biology and chemistry for the last three years, is the second teacher to commit suicide at the school after Richard Bazibu took his life four years ago due to financial problems.

Coincidentally, the two men were related and are from the same village, according to Mr Mukubira.
“They are relatives from the same place in Namutumba District. Bazibu had financial problems too. He had borrowed left and right,” Mr Mukubira said.
Before Bazibu took his life, he left a note to his mother saying he did not want to reveal his secrets. “I have died with my secrets,” Bazibu’s said in the suicide note, according to Mr Mukubira.

Some teachers tried to save Kaggwa’s life by rushing him to Jinja Referral Hospital but he did not make it. He was buried in Namutumba on Wednesday.
Some of the teachers that talked to Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity said Kaggwa reportedly said he had nowhere else to go.

“I will not accept to go to any other school since I have gotten myself used to Busoga College. I would rather commit suicide,” they quoted him as having said before they found him dying after taking poison.

Kaggwa is also said to have called one of his daughters, only identified as Mariam, and told her, “You are hearing from me for the last time. I have decided to die softly in my bed, bye-bye.”

He also relayed the same information to the head of the biology department, Mr Paul Butono, before he breathed his last.
The school’s authorities acknowledged that the teachers had been informed of the transfers on short notice but dismissed reports that he had committed suicide because of that.

“He was not laid off as people would like to think. Transfers are normal. He did not have enough lessons. He had only 12 lessons yet the ministry policy requires each teacher to have at least 24 lessons. So we were referring him to the ministry for redeployment in places where there are no teachers. At the beginning of the holiday, I had told him that his lessons were few and he may not be allowed to continue the next term,” Mr Mukubira said.

The Ministry of Education last week transferred 70 heads teachers and 300 teachers in government-aided secondary schools across the country. The Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mr Yusuf Nsubuga, said most teachers were moved from the central region to other parts of the country to improve performance in the countryside.

Mr Mukubira also said Kaggwa was pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree at Makerere University and seemed not to have enough time to teach. “Sometimes he did not appear at school,” he said.

Close relatives intimated to Daily Monitor that Kaggwa has also been trying to salvage his marriage with the mother of his nine children but all in vain as the wife chose divorce as the best option for their staggering relationship a few years ago. After the divorce, Mr Kaggwa lived with another woman who later left him for unknown reasons.

The school’s public relations officer, Mr Samson Okhwayo, also told Daily Monitor that Kaggwa was not well acquainted with his fellow teachers because of his studies.

Other teachers have blamed Kaggwa for leaving his children orphaned yet he could become successful outside Busoga College. They also blamed the school administration for informing teachers on short notice to vacate the school premises since they have been laid off.

One of the teachers, who has also been laid off, Ms Faith Mirembe, told Daily Monitor, “I could not believe that I have been laid off. Where I am going to start from since schools are opening for first term next week? The administration should have told us of our fate last year to allow us ample time to look for schools of our preference.”

adopted from: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Mwiri_teacher_commits_suicide_over_transfer_79236.shtml
retrieved on 3rd/feb/2009

February 3, 2009 | 7:08 AM Comments  0 comments

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10 ways of doing exercises without noticing
About this commitment: Exercising regularly.

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Sometimes we look at physical exercises as time consuming and hectic, yet we want our bodies to be healthy and function well.
How much time do you exercise in a day? Consider the following benefits; it’s good for our heart, lungs, muscles, and bones. It helps us sleep better, lowers our stress levels, and boosts our self-confidence.
Let's take a look at some 10 ways of doing exercises without noticing you are burning some calories in a typical day. With these 10 ways you dont need to spend a penny and time in the gym.

1.At work, walk to colleagues' offices and chat face-to-face, rather than emailing and phone calling.

2.At the supermarket, park at the far side of the car park. Use a basket, not a trolley - it helps tone your arms.

3.Walk to the market instead of taking a lift.

4.Doing your housework? Why not dance with your broom, include a few extra bends as you do the dusting.

5.Take some time to play with your children, grandchildren, or pets. Its fun, will lift your spirits, and gives you a bit of exercise to boot!

6.Instead of piling items on the stairs so you can take them upstairs at once, take them one at a time.

7.Wash your car by hand instead of taking it through the automatic carwash. You are on the right track of exercising.

8.Do more washing of your cloth instead of using the machine, it torns up your arm muscles but remember not to sit as you do the washing.

9.Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs, or take the escalator but climb the stairs as you ride.

10.Spend some time tidying up the garden.


April 12, 2008 | 9:38 AM Comments  1 comments

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