So Long, Safe Journey & Go Well - Until We Meet Again.

Jody and Dan Unterrheiner (& not to mention Myron!), have played a significant part in the Connect story, since we met in 2015 - definitely one of those 'lightbulb moments'! Now, 8 years after our momentous meeting at the original Connect in Lukomera - 'the day that Jody came to train' - it is time for goodbyes, to wish them 'bon voyage' and 'safari njema' as they relocate back to Australia.

In setting up 'READ for Life' in Gulu, their passion for phonics, literacy and enabling children to read has spread across the city and these days extends far into Gulu District and refugee camps in Northern Uganda. Jody's programme 'Fun of Phonics', (written for a Ugandan context), has become the definitive programme for local primary schools teaching nursery & primary children to read in the most effective and dynamic way. In addition to that, the relentless pursuit of data and research has been proving, beyond doubt, that the RfL methods work here, when so many other schemes fail and are both ineffective and expensive.

The second Connect Education Centre opened in Gulu in 2018, thanks firstly to the persistent (nagging?) invitation of Jody and Melissa Rogers and thanks also to Dan's superb building oversight! Of course, it made good sense to invite RfL to share the site. Working side by side soon revealed a new potential and direction for CEC, far beyond the original remit of CEC Lukomera, whose main outreach had been only the primary schools of the local community. 

The Connect Education Centre Gulu is now an established home to READ for Life with its training and mentoring of teachers to teach children to read. Alongside, CEC teachers have been working with nursery and primary schools in Layibi. Both teams have created a very solid base together and it is now a joy to see them working together as one.  

Jody and Dan leave Uganda, confident that the READ for Life family remains in very safe hands, with a competent, committed team and under established leadership. Regular training and mentoring of the team leaves everyone both well-prepared and fired up about the next step of rolling out the innovative Mobile Library Project into 2024.

On a personal note, Jody and Dan's friendship has added huge fun, distraction and lightness to life in Uganda. Their home has been our regular B&B in Gulu; without doubt they provide the best BBQ and Saturday pancakes in East Africa! From now on, Zoom and Whatsapp will enable us all to stay in touch and continue with the Aussie/Pom banter and we wish them very well as they relocate back to their 'other home' in New South Wales.

 As Jody, Dan and Myron are true Narnia fans, finishing with C.S Lewis quotation seems an appropriate choice: "Friendship arises out of mere Companionship, (discovering) that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."