Thoughts from the first Time Travel in Uganda
This week Kalmar County museum and Byteatern(theater) in Kalmar we are working in Entebbe , Uganda. What are we doing here? We work with cultural and historical sites and Uganda's history through our educational method, time travel.
Yesterday we had the first Ugandan time Time Travel. We traveled back to a meeting in 1954 to discuss Uganda towards independence from the British (Uganda became independent in 1962) and what dreams schoolchildren and adults have for themselves and for the country, both then and now.
In the middle of Entebbe, between two major roads, a petrol station and a power station you find Freedom tree. This is one of the places where meetings about the independence were held in the 1950s. This was our place. We made time travel with pupils from local schools, teachers, cultural groups, women's groups, representatives of the municipality and students from the Swedish school course “global extension” that were in Uganda. It was a very exciting journey . The students were very engaged and dared stand up for their opinions . It was about economic independence, reduced corruption, better schools, housing and accommodation, and the girls stood up and wanted more gender equality. Our hands were occupied with crafts, games, writing slogans about independence and of course much drumming, music and dancing.
Afterwards there were time for reflection and many agreed , they had learned about the history regarding the process that made Uganda independent. They got knowledge about the Freedom tree, a place many did not know beforehand. But above all, they learned that it takes courage and persistence to achieve a change and they need to stand together and work together towards the same goal. And when we finally asked who will be the future leaders of Uganda many students raised their hands, especially the girls.
Linda Liljeberg, Kalmar County Museum
2013-10-03
