Forging new links

YOUNG people in Stoke will be able to learn about life in Africa after a penpal scheme was launched with youth in Uganda.

Dreamscheme members from the East African country travelled to Britain to ‘twin’ their area, Maganjo, a suburb of Kampala, with Stoke-on-Trent. Both areas have a number of clubs each and members wil be paired up with children of a similar age.

At the launch in Coalville, teenage Dreamscheme members learnt how to weave colourful mats that would be used to sit on in Uganda. Idriss Kakeeto and Moses Adamulira gave an introduction to life in their home town, illustrating how a cup of tea could take three and a half hours to make, after trips to get water and wood as well as making a fire.

They told the gathering that Dreamscheme had helped them to revive a tradition in Uganda called ‘Sagalagalamide’, translated as ‘wake up for work’, which encourages people to work for their community. With this, Moses said, they are able to contribute to their local area in a way that youth are often unable to do.

Moses said that the penpal scheme would enable British and African children to learn from each other and that both sides would have good things to teach the others.
More information about Dreamscheme from www.dreamscheme.org.uk.

Photos by Nasim Sadigh (Staffs Uni) from the celebration day in Coalville.