Oysters & Pearls-Uganda Offers Hands-on Training to University Students

The president of the Faculty of Science at Gulu University, is grateful for the hands-on training given by Oysters & Pearls-Uganda, to students of Information Technology and Computer Science.

Jimmy Lukwago, a final year student of Information Technology at the University, expressed his gladness during a career guidance and practical computing seminar at the University, where Oysters & Pearls was a main contributor.

During the event, Oysters & Pearls-Uganda’s director of technology, Jacob Odur, showed the students how a 3D printer works.

Victor Paul, our robotics trainer introduced the students to embedded systems using Arduino. Victor and the students explored the Arduino hardware; looking at both digital and analog pins, power pins, and barrel jack for external power. Other fields that the students experienced was Arduino Integrated Development environment, IDE, and installation of Arduino software and UNO board drivers.

The students also practiced basic programming, for instance, blinking a Light Emitting Diode, LED, and other hardware, such as breadboard used in electronic prototyping/testing of circuits, among others.

Jimmy acknowledged that many of the science students had not experienced such practical work, and had definitely not seen a number of the materials used.

“The university does not have enough materials for practical work, so a majority of the science students are not exposed. This

Robotics Training Inspires Ugandan Youth

Lack of school fees will not kill Daniel Mwa Okocha’s dream of becoming a technologist. As a teenager, Daniel dropped out of Our Lady of Africa, Mukono, where he was studying Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.

After dropping out of school, the Makerspace, a technology lab at Oysters & Pearls-Uganda, became a perfect haven for realizing his dream.

Oysters & Pearls-Uganda has been offering the robotics training for communities in Gulu, Northern Uganda since 2013. The Makerspace opened in town in 2016 and offers training to students and interested members of the community, who have a minimum qualification of Ordinary Level and importantly, passion for innovation and technology.

Daniel notes that with knowledge, one can solve any problem.

“I want to make a flying bicycle. Nowadays, transport is a problem, so I want to make my own means of transport.”

At the end of the lesson, Daniel is busy working with a set of wires and batteries. After a short while, the transistor multi-vibrator circuit he has just made, illuminates. He smiles widely at his achievement.

Jude Barnabas Kibwota, is another trainee at Makerspace. To him, the training brings his dream alive. Sitting at a table littered with wires, Jude sees a solution in each of them.

“When I see anything electronic, I want to

Easing Work of Blind and Visually Impaired Teachers in Uganda

Never do you hear a visually impaired, or blind employee in Uganda talking about availability of friendly work tools. For teachers, the problem is graver; because their poor or lack of sight hinders them from using the computer to research, and frequently update notes to remain relevant to students.

Many choose the unreliable option of asking colleagues to help them make notes, mark students’ work, and assess them. That kind of help does not come easy; and is highly unpredictable! This desperate, and heartrending situation has been prevailing for the blind and visually impaired workforce in the country since time immemorial. As such, many who become blind or visually impaired suddenly, find themselves leaving their job, involuntarily.

But Oysters & Pearls-Uganda has broken this curse, especially for many blind and visually impaired teachers in northern Uganda. The organization has trained all the blind and visually impaired teachers at Gulu High School, the only secondary school in the north that is blind inclusive. The teachers now have skills in the computer software; Job Access with Speech, JAWS, which is designed for the blind and visually impaired.

To simplify their work, each of the teachers has been assigned a lap top computer, with access to the internet. The laptops have text books

Students Trained by Oysters & Pearls Win 2017 National Robotics Competition

Elations, wide smiles, giant hugs and camera flashes, punctuated the final hour of the 2017 robotics competition at Makerere University in Kampala. The winners were from Gulu High School, Bishop Angelo Negri College and Dr. Obote College, all in northern Uganda.

Students of Gulu High School got a trophy for developing the best prototype of an Egg Crack Partition Machine. Reagan Okumu, a student of Gulu High School, is among the students who worked day and night to develop the model. Reagan comes from a poor family in Omoro district, located more than 30 kilometers to the East of Gulu town. Every holiday, he sets up a small business stall and makes chapat and ‘rolex’ ( a snack made of fried eggs, cabbages, green peppers and tomatoes, rolled in a chapat), to raise money for his tuition and scholastic materials.

Reagan has been using a knife to crack eggs; a major ingredient in his chapat and ‘rolex’ business. But using a knife has made him cut himself many times, besides performing under capacity. Being part of the group makes him feel lucky as he has gained skills during the training and the competition. Reagan’s wish is to have the prototype of their egg crack and partition machine developed into

Giving Blind Students Life Skills

I recently interacted with the blind and visually impaired students from different parts of northern Uganda, who have undergone life skills training by Oysters & Pearls- Uganda.

It was an exciting moment seeing the contented, joyful and optimistic faces of the students of Gulu High School, who each talked passionately about their acquired life skills, and future plans.

Janet Lalam is a S.3 student. Through the training, she got the opportunity to use a needle for the first time. Janet comes from Kiryandongo district; 122 kilometers from Gulu town. Before the training, Janet’s sister stitched her torn clothes. Not anymore!

After her first training last month, Janet made sure that she stitched a bathing sponge made of loofah, before all her family members, and some neighbors. With a full smile that was obviously drawn right from the bottom of her heart, Janet boasted that she didn’t only leave onlookers dumbfounded by her sewing ability, but also enjoyed some moment of fame.

Susan Adoch Angel comes from Omoro district; located 31 kilometers to the East of Gulu town. Angel learnt how to make padded purses and bags. She plans to start making purses for sale during holidays, to raise money for buying scholastic materials, and other basic requirements.

Jolly Joe Ocen did not

One Step Closer to Normal

A decade ago, Paul Kinyera Okumu was engrossed in his career as a teacher. Suddenly, he got an infection in his left eye. Despite several consultations with eye specialists; he was not given a definitive diagnosis. The infection spread to his right eye, and he gradually became visually impaired.

Paul only sees blurry vision at a distance of two meters. He is unable to read.

His poor sight greatly affected his career as a teacher at Atanga Secondary School in Pader district, northern Uganda.

“Since I cannot read, I had to keep asking fellow teachers to mark assignments, exams and assess my students, so I became a burden to them. Enforcing discipline of students became impossible because they knew I could not recognize and administer punishment to them.”

Paul continues to experience hardship in his day-to-day life.

“The phone has become a necessity. But each time I want to use it, I have to borrow someone’s eyes.”

Paul’s social life has also been affected because he cannot recognize people he once knew, and unintentionally passes by without saying hello.

“Many accuse me that I have become proud and anti-social. Those I was once friends with, and know how my problem started have abandoned me. They don’t call me as they used to. I have become

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