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Joint MFS II Evaluation: Civil Society Strengthening –Uganda

Technical report on Mango Tree’s Civil Society Strengthening

1. Introduction Organisation Mango Tree Contact Person Guustaaf van de Mheen (Executive director) Email: gvdmheen@mangotreeuganda.org Phone: +256 773 832 736 (mobile) Address: Plot 1479 Naalya Road, Kiwatule, P.O. Box 25312, Kampala Organisational Email: cesbeck@mangotreeuganda.org Organisational Phone: +256 312 263 263 (office); Website: www.mangotreeuganda.org MFS II Funding ICCO Alliance Mango Tree (MT) develops and produces custom-designed educational tools that are durable, portable and culturally appropriate. It presents itself as “Innovators in Education and Communication”. Mango Tree is a private limited, employee-owned company which depends on clients to pay for its services. Mango Tree’s main aim is to enhance the educational abilities of young people. Over the past few years, Mango Tree has tremendously grown with programmes and projects supported by a wide range of donors and partners including for instance SNV and UNICEF. At the moment Mango Tree carries out three main programmes in the Educational sector: (i) The Uganda Literacy Project; (ii) The Literacy Laboratory Project (LLP) and (iii) Strengthening a Literate Society (SLS). The Strengthening a Literate Society program is supported by ICCO (50%) and is focusing on fragile states and education. The project supports two language boards in Northern Uganda (Lango and Kuman) to develop their orthographies, print and distribute basic reference materials related to the language, train local writers, editors, illustrators and graphic designers, educate the general population about the importance of local language literacy and build the language boards internal capacity so that they are able to make a meaningful contribution to local language literacy education in Northern Uganda. The Mango Tree MFS II funded work is carried out in the Lango sub region of Northern Uganda. Mango Tree aims at creating the systems, methods and capacities so that children in war-affected Northern Uganda will attain a meaningful and relevant early primary education with a focus on attaining reading and writing skills in their mother tongue, Leblango. ICT improvement will play an important role in the project. Mango Tree has a central office in Kampala, a semi-autonomous local office in Lira town (Northern Uganda) and now also an office in Juba (South Sudan) and with plans for another one in Zambia. The Lira office operates relatively autonomously and has a 14 member staff with an annual budget of around EUR 47,000. LLP functions as the social responsibility arm for Mango Tree. Through the small profit margins generated from printing and sale of books and other training materials the company’s sustainability is guaranteed.

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Purpose and outline of technical report This report is presenting the contribution of Mango Tree to the Civil Society Strengthening with regard to the Leblango Language Board in the context of their Northern Uganda Literacy Programme. The project of Mango Tree focuses on the improvement of the reading and writing skills in their local language of young children in the first three years at Primary School. A key element of the enhancement of the use of the local language as a language of instruction is the development and promotion of a new orthography. After the introduction of the context and the description of the project, the report intends to analyze the contribution of the Mango Tree activities to the realization of the overall and specific objectives of the project. Moreover, in this report the findings are presented of the major changes in Civil Society Strengthening as realized by Mango Tree between 2012 and 2014 according to the indicators based on the five CSS dimensions.

2. Context Mango Tree is operating in Lango Sub-region in the Northern Region of Uganda where people have suffered significantly from the more than 20 years of insurgency. Lango sub-region covers the area that was known as Lango District until 1974, when it was split into the districts of Apac and Lira, and subsequently into several other districts. Currently it encompasses a total of eight districts. The sub-region is home mainly to the Lango ethnic group. According to the 2002 national census, the sub-region had an estimated 1.5 million people at that time. Traditionally Lango society was segmentary with leadership centered around the clan (more than 100 different clans are being recognized) which would be both a kinship unit and the basic constituency of politics within the chiefdoms. The more than twenty years of war has had an enormous impact on the demographic and skills base of the region. A large percentage of the population are currently under 18 with limited or no education and skills. Traditional subsistence farming is unfamiliar to many young people, who have grown up in IDP-camps during the war. The lack of skilled labour poses a significant risk that local people will not fully benefit from the opportunities that become available during economic recovery, in turn reinforcing the economic marginalisation of Northern Uganda. The period of insurgency which ended around 2007 has significantly affected all sectors of the society and education in particular. From around 1.8 million internally displaced people, 1.4 returned to their places of origins in recent years, but still they are in need. Upon the gradual return of peace in the Region, the Government of Uganda launched the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda (PRDP) as a strategy to eradicate poverty and improve the welfare of the populace in Northern Uganda. The Education Sector Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) prioritises both increased access for all children and improved quality of instructional programmes. A particular challenge that the people in the Lango sub region are trying to address is re-establishing and improving the education delivery and performance after so many years of civil war. The work that is being done by Mango Tree in improving learning especially in the lower classes, therefore fits well with the overall district priorities in the education sector. At national level education is prioritised as one of the key growth sectors by the NDP government. Therefore Mango tree’s work equally responds to national priorities. The Mango Tree programme based in Northern Uganda operates in a context with school systems characterized by the same limiting conditions prevailing in much of sub-Saharan Africa -- class sizes of

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up to 100 children, only few classroom instructional resources, and embedded in communities without strong traditions of mother-tongue literacy. Mango Tree’s Literacy Laboratory Project (formerly the Primary Literacy Project) focuses on improving pupils' performance in reading and writing in their local language and English in the first three years of primary school. Mango Tree has developed a literacy instructional model, methodology and teaching and learning materials for early primary classrooms in both the mother tongue and English.

3. Project description This Mango Tree MFS II 2012-2014 endline evaluation focuses on Mango Tree’s Northern Uganda Literacy Programme (NULP). The NULP consists of two distinct, but interrelated, projects that contribute to learning outcomes for pupils and improved instruction for teachers. The projects are the Literacy Laboratory Project (LLP- formerly the Primary Literacy Project PLP) and the Strengthening a Literate Society (SLS) Project. Funding to Mango Tree is related to the SLS Project which is being implemented in the Lango and Kumam language communities. MFS II funding support is from its Dutch partners, the ICCO Alliance/ Edukans and the C4C consortium/ IICD. Collaboration with Edukans started in December 2009 with a two-year funding which was later on extended till November 2014. The NULP overall goal is “to improve literacy performance among pupils in early primary classrooms (P1-P3) and strengthen the literacy infrastructure in northern Uganda so that reading and writing, especially in the local language, become a meaningful part of daily life.” Strengthening a Literate Society (SLS) Project Mango Tree aims to contribute to the changing of the curriculum of primary schools by introducing the local language as the mode of instruction during the first three years when students are developing their reading and writing skills, they are advocating a major change in the schools they are working with through the Lablango Language Board. This is a 3 year project (2012 – 2014) running in 128 schools in 7 districts of the Lango Sub-Region (Alebtong, Kole, Oyam, Otuke, Dokolo, Amolatar and Lira Municipality). It is being supported through the MFS II program for about 50%. The other main donor is the US-based Hewlett Packet Foundation. The Specific Objectives of the SLS Project are:

Well researched and clearly defined orthographies for the Leblango and Kumam languages.

Well-managed language boards for the Leblango and Kumam languages.

Trained writers, translators, artists, graphic designers and editors actively contributing to the development of books and other literacy resources.

Increased knowledge of and appreciation for the Leblango and Kumam languages among the general public and a sustained demand for local language goods and services.

A sustainable publishing industry in the Lango Sub-region and an effective distribution system from the producers to the consumers of literature.

Target groups of the project are:

The Language Boards for the Lango and Kumam language communities, respectively LLB and KLB;

The Lango and Kumam language communities;

Local writers, artists, graphic designers, editors and linguistics;

Primary school students and teachers;

District Education Offices and Officials;

NCDC and the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Local printers and publishers (of Educational Material). (source: C4C project description)

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The main strategy of the LLP programme is in delivering mother-tongue literacy instruction. In the Mango Tree model local educators are prepared to perform multiple roles necessary not only to deliver mother-tongue literacy instruction to early primary grade students, but also to bolster and sustain the effect of this instruction within the community as a whole. The main activities of the Mango Tree SLS Project is the support to the Lango and Kumam Language Boards to revise and standardize their respective orthographies; print and distribute basic reference materials related to each language (especially to teachers and local education officials); train local writers, editors, illustrators and graphic designers to develop literacy materials in local languages; educate the general population about the importance of local language literacy; build the language boards' internal capacities so that they are able to make a meaningful contribution to local language literacy education in Uganda; and increase communities' knowledge of, and appreciation for, their local languages. The Lira program office has been responsible for implementing the MFS II funded activities. Since 2012 Mango Tree has been carrying out the three programs: (i) The Uganda Literacy Project (ULP); (ii) The Primary Literacy Project (PLP), (iii) the Strengthening a Literate Society programme (SLS). The latter SLS program is supported by ICCO (50%) which is focusing on fragile states and education. The project supports two language boards in Northern Uganda to develop their orthographies, print and distribute basic reference materials related to the language, train local writers, editors, illustrators and graphic designers, educate the general population about the importance of local language literacy and build the language boards internal capacity so that they are able to make a meaningful contribution to local language literacy education in Northern Uganda. The Mango Tree MFSII funded work is carried out in the Lango sub region of Northern Uganda. Budget MFS-II ? (ICCO Alliance/ Edukans; 01/11/2011- 31/10/2014) € 60,871 (C4C/ IICD; Jan 2012– Dec 2014)

4. Data collection and analytical approach Key outcome selected The Mango Tree endline evaluation 2014 focuses on the Northern Uganda Literacy Programme (NULP), which Mango Tree implements with support from its Dutch partners Edukans (ICCO Alliance) and IICD (C4C consortium). This marks a slight shift from the baseline period where focus was on Mango Tree as an organisation. It is also in recognition of the fact that Mango Tree as an organisation has significantly increased its portfolio of programmes and projects. The focus of the contribution analysis will be on the development, promotion and propagation of the New Leblango Orthography and its application in Primary School Education in Northern Uganda. This key outcome was selected because it is an integral part of the work done by Mango Tree in supporting the Leblango Language Board in Northern Uganda. The key outcome of improved reading and writing skills of primary school children is the most important goal of the project and hence this has been selected in its context.

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5. Results

5.1 Relative changes 2012-2014 The assessment of relatvie changes has been done against the indicators used in the baseline; the descriptive part for the endline is provided in detail in Annex . The scores of relative changes are given in the following table. The table further below presents a short description of the highlights on which the assessment of the Endline relative changes is based including the score given in the endline.

Criterium 1a 1b 2a 2b 2c 3a 3b 3c 4a 4b 4c Total

Baseline 2 1 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2,20

Endline +1 = = +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 = +2 +1 +9 Score: Baseline 0-3 0 lowest score and 3 highest

Endline = no change; + 1 resp – 1 little change better resp worse; + 2 resp – 2 substantial change better resp worse

Short description of the highlights explaining the relative score of relative change 2012-2014

Evaluation Criterium Explanation of score relative of relative change 2012-2014

I. Civic Engagement Positive development: +1 overall

1a- social engagement Implementation of planned activities are at the moment increasingly done by beneficiaries, in particular the Leblango Language Board

1b- political engagement No change; very little political engagement

II. Level of organisation Positive development: +2 overall

2a-organisational level Consolidated; main network partners remains limited to the LLB and KLB.

2b-dialogue and communication There is an expanding communication network of which use is being made to promote the new orthography and the use of Leblango

2c-financial and human resources Mango Tree largely depends on external donor support but operates as for-profit organisation with shares held by the staff

III. Practice of values Very positive development: +3 overall

3a-internal governance Mango Tree now involves LLB and KLB in planning processes and budget issues.

3b-transparency Accountability is now given to both members and partners LLB and KLB

3c-internal management Clear handbook on financial policy and procedures. An important innovation is that now money is sent directly to beneficiaries (e.g. trainees) through registered mobile phones.

IV. Perception of Impact Very positive development: +3 overall

4a-Responsiveness Mango Tree now has an MOU and a contract with LLB. There is also an MOU with KLB. But not clear how Mango Tree responds to its various target groups and stakeholders.

4b-social impact Overall use of the new Leblango orthography has been enhanced and accepted. The LLB has been able to promote the new orthography into the Primary School Curriculum, to Local Language Writers, to Local Publishers, etcetera.The Primary Literacy Project (PLP)’s reached 23 primary schools by the end of 2013 (target 24). In terms of pupil numbers, out of 10,000 targeted the project managed to reach 8,200 that is more than 80% achieved.

4c-policy impact LLB was one of the local language boards that influenced the retention of local languages in the curriculum where NCDC had scrapped them off during curriculum reform proposals. The Chair of the LLB is nationally one of the main proponents of Local Language retention and promotion, and has become the national chairperson of all Language Boards.

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5.2 Contribution Analysis

Case study: Mango Tree’s contribution to the development of a New Leblango Orthography and its use in primary education.

1. Case background In 2006, the National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) conducted by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) indicated that only 45.6% respectively 42.6% of P3 pupils (equivalent to Grade 3) reached a defined level of literacy and numeracy. A primary factor for failure of primary school students lay in teaching practices that were non-child-friendly in nature. Children were not adapting to English language instruction due to the prevalence of local languages in their families and communities. These children who must assimilate to a new language of instruction upon entering primary school are usually at risk of dropping out of school. Mango Tree’s SLS project supports two language boards in Northern Uganda to develop their orthographies, print and distribute basic reference materials related to the respective languages, train local writers, editors, illustrators and graphic designers, educate the general population about the importance of local language literacy and build the language boards internal capacity so that they are able to make a meaningful contribution to local language literacy education in Northern Uganda. Through its support programme to the Leblango Primary Literacy Project (PLP), Mango Tree trains teachers and thus intends to augment the government-led Community Centred Teachers program. Mango Tree aims at creating systems, methods and capacities so that children in war-affected Northern Uganda will attain a meaningful and relevant early primary education with a focus on attaining reading and writing skills in their mother tongue, Leblaŋo. In order to do so, Mango Tree has facilitated the development of a new Leblaŋo orthography which replaces the one introduced under colonial rule which was widely considered to be inappropriate for teaching and learning purposes as both reading and writing were difficult. Many different ways of how compound words were written existed. Mango Tree has introduced the new orthography in 12 government schools while in total there are 19 government aided schools and 24 private schools in the municipality of Lira. The 12 participating schools were selected by MT by making use of coordination centres which are the outreach wings of the primary teachers colleges (PTCs). Moreover, during school term one in 2014, Mango Tree has been able to distribute 18,000 books to children in Primary one – Primary three benefiting approximately 70,000 children. In addition Mango Tree provides children with training videos translated from English. 2. Theory of change Mango Tree’s SLS project objective is “to improve literacy rates in the Lango and Teso Sub-Regions” This is to be realized through the development and promotion of the New Leblaŋo orthography in such a way that the writing of the language better reflects the reals sounds of spoken Leblaŋo so it can be used as a language of instruction at Primary Schools and for its wider use within society. At the beginning of every school term the SLS project is providing training in Leblaŋo language to 4 – 5 teachers per school in the use of the new orthography guides developed by MT. The orthography guides developed by MT are also being promoted by the Leblaŋo Language Board (LLB). Elsewhere in the country other language boards are invited to follow the example set by LLB. The specific steps followed by Mango Tree to reach its goal are (source: C4C website/ project description Mango Tree):

Situational Analysis of the Leblaŋo and Kumam Languages. Mango Tree hired the external institute Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) based in Entebbe to conduct a research study on the Leblaŋo and Kumam languages and to write a report on their orthography. The information presented in

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the situational analysis for both languages is supposed to assist the Language Boards, project team and SIL to develop the orthographies and dictionaries during the project.

Orthography Development. Following the situational analysis, SIL presents the results of their findings to the Language Board members and other individuals. The process for orthography development will be discussed and upcoming specialized workshops and trainings on tone, vowel quality and other linguistic-related topics are being planned for the next year.

Revision of the New Orthography through SILI-led Language Board Orthography Workshops. Two workshops have been held at the SIL training premises in Entebbe led by the institution’s expert linguists. A small committee of LLB members and of the Kumam Language Board participated in the final revisions of their respective orthographies for the formal approval of the new orthographies and their further promotion.

Dissemination of the New Orthography. Training of Trainers Workshops on the New Orthography are being organised to introduce the orthography Guide, Transition Literacy Documents and Dictionaries in order to promote the new Orthography as widely as possible. Workshops are organized for 2 LLB representatives from each of the 8 districts of the Lango Sub-region to train these LLB’s district representatives so that they can provide literacy workshops in their districts for interested adults (including primary school teachers).

Documentation Activities Related to Working with Language Boards, Orthography Development and Linguistic Topics. The MT Project team documents lessons learned and best practices working with Language Boards to develop their orthographies and dictionaries, including the most successful ways to assist communities with language and local literacy development.

Throughout the project period and in order to further promote the approach at national level the Mango Tree team will document in detail the approach to working with Language Boards in Uganda for sharing widely with education stakeholders including the Ministry of Education and the District Educational Offices. Through these advocacy activities, MT will share their model and advocate for scaling it up to other language communities around the country. 3. Effectiveness and results The main results of the Mango Tree’s Strengthening Literacy Project (SLS) are: Orthography developed From the situational analysis of both Leblaŋo and Kumam languages conducted by Mango Tree, it emerged that the writing system, as well as the reading and writing materials in use in Lira and other Lango districts were poorly elaborated and not reflecting the way it is spoken. A subsequent analysis provided MT with the conviction that it was necessary to revise the writing system. MT liaised with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) for support in terms of the language development skills. MT held several workshops for both Lango and Kumam and subsequently began the revision of the orthography. Thereafter it came out with the first two orthography working booklets for both Lango and Kumam languages. Later when the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) joined, they noted that the ŋ sound was missing. Subsequently the materials were revised again. Propagation of the new Orthography Between 2012 and 2014, although it appeared not easy to familiarize with the new orthography of 35 alphabetical letters in Leblaŋo, the LLB managed to penetrate the communities through various forms of promotion such as the use of cultural leaders and radio shows. This made it able to reach out to the many people in Lango and neighbouring Sub-Regions such as Acholi.

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Once the local population accepted the new orthography the next step was to engage the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC). In addition for further scaling up and adoption of the orthography LLB produced and circulated a junior dictionary and has commenced the process of developing an advanced version of the dictionary. MT is primarily supporting the development of LLB, currently regarded as the most active and most advanced language board in the country. LLB has overseen the production and distribution of various books which are currently being used in the several pilot schools in Lira. Under the International Reading Association (IRA) funding, LLB has been able to train District officials, journalists and teachers although the trained people are not as yet putting into practice what they learnt. A writers club has also been created and the members meet regularly at the LLB offices. The writers club has enabled different writers to use the new orthography and to constantly popularise its use. Development and dissemination of educational material Since the new orthography was started, books have been written which are being used for the lower primary pupils in P1 to P3. MT has provided instruction and educational materials to primary schools that teachers and children can use at every stage. At the beginning of every school term the SLS project manager provides training to 4 – 5 teachers in Leblaŋo language making use of the orthography guides. With the help of the new educational material the pupils appear to be fast learners of the new orthography. Without the books it would have much more difficult for the pupils to pick this up so easily. The learning environment in the schools has greatly improved with children now happier because they are no longer left on their own as used to be the case in P1 in the past. The teachers too are guided by a very strict curriculum and are no longer left on relaxation. During holidays MT organises teachers training workshops during which they discuss the problems they encounter and collectively they find remedies. They also discuss the use of the curriculum and its successes. These workshops are done for all the schools that are in the program in Lango Sub region. These schools include those put on a special program by MT, then there are those schools under CCT and also the ones without. In total, the number of schools on the program is 36 (municipality and the district taken together).

“MT has introduced the production of teaching materials using sacks while in the past people have been using manila papers, some of the sacks are also used as pockets for storing materials which is a good innovation and it is appropriate for some of the environments in the schools. You can have a classroom which is not well constructed where walls are rough so we find this working. Only those project schools can produce the materials because they have gone through the process.“ Frances Jane Ofugi, Lira Municipal Education Officer

MT was able to work on the challenge of negative attitudes among the teachers. For instance in one school, the teacher presented by the school management to join the LLB class was already considered a ‘problem teacher’. He was known for being stubborn and not reporting frequently for duty. However in the process of attending the LLB training, this teacher reformed and transformed into the best infant teacher committed to attending to his class. During one school term in 2014, Mango Tree managed to distribute about 18,000 books for children from Primary One (P1) up to Primary Three (P3) which serves around 60,000 – 70,000 children. The high quality and yet cheap to produce training materials provided by Mango tree to schools, have opened up teachers eyes to the possibilities of instruction in the native language. At the beginning there existed considerable difficulties of the teachers in changing from using English to Leblaŋo as the language of instruction. This was because they didn’t have enough teaching materials in the local

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language (Leblaŋo). After MT started printing and distributing those books in Leblaŋo, the work of the teachers was substantially eased. Another factor was that almost the entire lower primary teachers are Lango native speakers recognizing the advantages of the new orthography and the usefulness of the new educational materials. Reading and writing skills enhanced When visiting primary schools which have introduced the new orthography and Leblaŋo as the language of instruction in P1-P3 both teachers as well as the students express an enormous enthusiasm. The reading and writing in Leblaŋo for the children is so motivating that they don’t want to miss learning as was often the case before; school attendance has increased according to the teachers interviewed: “Children do not want to be left behind”. Before, the mode of learning was in English starting from P1. When the children are given homework, they go home and even involve their parents in case of any help needed. The improvement in reading and writing is tested by a kit provided by MT. The schools also use the kit for the follow up with parents at the PTA meetings which are organized every term. It appears that the parents are very supportive with regard to the new Orthography. Otim Tom Primary school that joined the Mango Tree program in 2013 attested to the fact that there is much improvement with regard to reading and writing among its students. Most of the children who started with the programme at the beginning of 2013, and who are now in P2, are able to read very well the simple readers in Lango. Teaching has been simplified for the teachers because once they have learnt one the orthography of the local language teaching becomes very simple. In addition the teachers are now very committed, supervision by the Head teacher is simplified because the teachers have a well laid-out curriculum they follow and MT field workers are in place to visit the schools on a weekly basis. There is also increased involvement in the education commissioner’s supervision of the learning in the schools. Mango Tree’s 2013 external impact evaluation of the Primary Literacy Project (PLP) clearly underpins the results indicating major gains in literacy amongst P1 and P2 students in Oyam District. The assessment included scoring on Letter Name Knowledge, Sound Recognition and Oral Reading Fluency in 2011 (P1 only) and 2012 (P1 and P2) compared to a baseline made in 2010. The assessment was done for all schools included in the PLP and a number of non-PLP intervention school which served as comparison. The 2010 baseline which compared PLP and non-PLP schools indicated that there was no systematic difference between the schools: on two of the three they even scored slightly less (P1). In 2011, PLP schools (P1) already showed big differences on the three indicators with gains of more than 150% (LNK) to 500% (ORF). The gains in 2012 were even bigger for P1 and were expanded for P2. It was concluded that in PLP schools “P1 students performed as well as or better than comparison learners at the end of P2, meaning that they were slightly more than one year ahead in terms of literacy”. (source: Mango Tree NULP-PLP Results Summary 2013) Moreover, in 2012, only 360 students sat for Leblaŋo national exams organisation by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) In contrast, in 2013, over 1,700 students sat for the UNEB Leblaŋo exams. The significant increase in number is attributed to the work Mango Tree and LLB in sensitizing the community in Leblaŋo. As a result after Luganda, Leblaŋo is currently the local language with the second highest number of students examined at UNEB level. Leblango Language Board strengthened With funding from the Dutch consortium through MT’s SLS project, LLB has been capacitated with financial management, skilled staff and leadership systems and is now a fully registered CBO running several activities some of them income generating. Currently Mango Tree transfers funds to LLB and

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they are able to handle the money on their own. Radio shows previously run by MT are now completely handled by LLB. The outcomes of LLB’s work include;

1. Approval of the Leblaŋo orthography by National Curriculum Development Centre. 2. Increased appreciation of mother tongue education among the general public. 3. Lango Language Board provides training grounds for interns from Makerere University Other activities implemented by LLB include:

i). The Trust Africa Fund which helps in producing simplified and translated orthography copies; ii). Translation bureau that leads in translating various materials into Leblaŋo; iii). Conducting orthography trainings for which many people are now yearning; iv). Conducting book reviews mostly in Leblaŋo and English; v). Developing materials in the local language; vi). Plans are under way to start up a newspaper in Leblaŋo and also publishing.

National dissemination Indirectly through its LLB work, Mango Tree has taken the forefront of promoting language boards development in the country. The Chairperson of LLB was elected as Chairperson of all language boards in the country and he is using the LLB experience to ignite interest in the revival of Language Boards in other parts of the country as well. Building on the successful work with the LLB, MT extended support to Kumam Language Bboard (KLB). Kumam LB is the second Language Board that MT is providing support to despite the fact that MT on the onset did not have sufficient funds to cover KLB. Kumam is a very tonal language, a factor that makes the English alphabet entirely inadequate in representing it. MT has called upon the SIL consultants to do a tonal analysis for Kumam, followed by steps to revise the orthography. Documentation is available for all the steps that were taken in implementing the revision of both Lango and Kumam orthography. Growth of the Kumam Language Board (KLB) is also an outcome of the contribution of LLB in addition to the work by MT. the Kaberamaido district has committed to take up and support the further development and operation of the Kumam Language Board. Moreover, in Central Uganda at a request from Mubende district, orthography guides in Luganda and a teacher’s guide were developed with MT support and are now in is in place and being used in the district. The Mango Tree has also produced and made available a video which illustrates the organization's working procedures and methods for promoting first language literacy instruction in the primary grades within the context of the Lango Literacy Project.

4. Contribution analysis The positive outcome of the development of a new orthography of the Leblango language and its application in the Primary Education and wider use in Lango society can be greatly attributed to Mango

“They have made progress as there is a difference between schools that are applying the orthography and those that are not. There are more confident learners in schools that are using local language. They are not fearing and timid and there is a whole life skill that comes with this. The pupils can now easily express themselves in the local language.“ Frances Jane Ofugi Lira Municipal Education Officer

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Tree and its collaborating partner, the Leblango Language Board. The Primary Literacy Project operates on a multi-faceted approach that addresses development of a new orthography, materials development, training of teachers, language proficiency assessment, and the building of a sustainable organisation supporting the process. Development and dissemination of a New Orthography First of all the focus of Mango Tree has been quite unique in the country to provide an example of a mother-tongue based education approach based on and preceded by the development of a new orthography. Although Mother tongue days have always been celebrated, through the work of Mango Tree in combination LLB it has gained an additional momentum and significance. The successive steps being applied to the development of the new orthography – Situational Analysis by experts up to the Review of the proposed orthography by native speakers as represented in the Language Boards - have proven to be necessary steps to the development of the Orthography. Given the lack of a standardized Orthography it was not difficult to convince people to accept the new way of writing seen from the point of view that they would make sounds lighter or heavier and that such changes would make a difference in these words which are written the same but have different sound. Radio programs were an effective strategy and instrumental in communicating and disseminating these changes. The radio programmes made it possible for the new orthography to be discussed by both writers club, elders and the youths and parents who participated by calling in. The calling in was facilitated by MT by giving airtime once a week to select people e.g. Members of the language board and policy makers who would then explain the policy and the justification for educators to support. Material development The development of instruction material for both students and teachers of primary school has proven to be a very important step to disseminate the use of the New Leblango Orthography. This new instruction material has been introduced with the launching of pupils and teacher books with support from Mango Tree. Regularly LLB organises a radio talk show explaining how the mother tongue orthography has been introduced and how it can be used. Also once a year during the celebration of the day of the Mother Tongue, the day’s funfair now includes promotion of the local language through traditional dances, songs plays and reading of poems, plays and articles by local writers and shows the material that has been developed. All these activities encourage learning to appreciate their native language. Many people such as the Lango Cultural foundation, district officials and schools participate in these events Teachers training The Mango Tree training model recognizes the important role that primary school teachers need to have appropriate knowledge of the local language for an effective alphabetisation of young children. The first training module is focused on providing teachers with a solid foundation in the Leblango orthography, including grammatical features and letter names and sounds. This approach has proven to be important for standardizing instruction in a language with many dialects (source: Mango Tree website). Teachers interviewed during the evaluation indeed indicate that the instruction provided by Mango Tree of the new Orthography has provided them with a much more adapted method of learning young children to read and write. The materials developed are accompanied by an instructional approach that the SLS project is applying which relies on a carefully devised story-based literacy curriculum. Each week of instruction is anchored in an illustrated story that serves as the basis for developing phonics and word attack skills. The stories and the vocabulary presented in them, all of which are heavily illustrated, also support students' comprehension and writing skills. As said at the start of each new school year MT is providing teacher training to learn about and to apply the new orthography.

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Another important element is related to MT’s motto: “Go slow to go fast.” According to MT model it should take about two years to introduce all the Leblango phonemes (letter sounds) as opposed to other approaches which introduce all the sounds in just one year. The MT model intends to take into account the realities of Ugandan classrooms (high learner and teacher absenteeism, under-trained teachers, lack of pre-primary preparatory skills development) and introduces the content slowly, providing lots of time for repetition and revision. The instructional approach in P1 and P2 is also similar, implying that teachers trained in the P1 model can also easily teach the P2 model with limited additional training (Source: Mango Tree NULP-LLP Results Summary, 2013). There is improved relationship between upper and lower school teachers even though upper school teachers teach in English and lower school teachers teach in Leblaŋo. Involvement of parents Mango Tree recognizes the vital role that the community, especially parents, plays in making the literacy programme successful. This involves the active participation of parents so that they can understand the rationale for using Leblongo in instruction. For instance, parents are encouraged to learn to read Leblango themselves to assist teachers in assessing the growing literacy skills of their children. The guiding philosophy of this community intervention is the belief that the local language binds the community and that attention given to the language better insures its long-term viability (Source: Mother Tongue Based–Multi-Lingual Education Network website). Collaboration with the Leblango Language Board The collaboration with the LLB has been central to the successful introduction and dissemination of the New Orthography. Though the LLB is not sustainable without external funding, it has become a sustainable CBO which has taken over many of the activities initially being taken up by Mango Tree. Currently Mango Tree simply transfers funds to LLB and they are able to handle and account for the money on their own. The Radio talk show programme that was being run by Mango tree two years ago, are now being completely handled by LLB. There has a tremendous positive change in LLB as far as organizational development is concerned. LLB is now fully registered as a CBO and is running a number of activities that are income generating. It also has enough capacity and skilled individuals. In that sense the LLB has become a more independent and self-confident organisation which is now capable to run its activities on its own and able to get external funding (eg. IRA, Trust Fund Africa) External contributing factors As external factors that have contributed to the dissemination and development of new writing system there have been a few other developments: Increased attention by national policy-makers and Teacher Training Colleges The Ministry of Education policy had stated that the year 2014 was set as the “year of local languages” to be examined at UNEB for primary schools. However, this target could not be met for many languages because there was a disconnect between the reality in the schools and the teacher training colleges. It is only recently that subjects have been introduced in teacher training colleges related to the use of local languages which has paved the way for posting teachers in schools where they can actually deliver as opposed to the assumption that teachers could teach any subject in the local language even when they were required to use a mother tongue which they do not know. In this respect the work of LLB and MT in Lango Sub-region places Leblaŋo at an advantage over other languages.

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But the attention went even beyond: LLB was able to successfully engage the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) headquartered in Kampala and to get it to approve with speed the Leblaŋo orthography. This came at a time when the NCDC needed the language board and the language board needed the NCDC. The mutuality between the LLB and the NCDC added impetus to the promotion of local languages. Increased attention by the District and Municipal Education Officers It is three years since the Ministry got in touch with Mango Tree and their ideas of starting the program to develop the Lango language. This was at a time when, Lango actually didn’t have any orthography. Everyone was writing their own way. When a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the district, they also found that the district was grappling with the challenge of getting an orthography of Lango. Interest from influential Lango people At the onset LLB was already in place only needing financial support, facilitation and direction. So in LLB, MT found a group of highly competent people such as Dr. Okaka Opio who is the Chairperson and holds a PHD in English and literature and Ochen Lauri a Makerere university PHD fellow. These people set about writing the orthography and within two years they had come up with the orthography in consultation with the Ministry. They later called a conference to present the orthography to the people of Lango who were satisfied with and accepted it. Complementary promotion by other donors Besides Mango Tree the USAID supported SHRP (School Health and Reading Program) has also been promoting mother tongue learning in lower classes. Their work was eased when they found the orthography already in place and which they were able to adopt as has the Ministry of Education. MT was only confined here in Lango but SHRP now is a nationwide program and is using the same orthography for Lango. Lango was one of the first regions to have a well-developed orthography. As a result the orthography is being used by both teachers and children in schools.

5.3 Relevance of Results From the above mentioned context and case study about the work of Mango Tree for the Northern Uganda Literacy project it appears that the programme has tackled a very important problem within the Uganda Educational System, the very poor reading and writing skills of students in Primary School. With the introduction of the Universal Primary Education for All, Uganda has set a very ambitious objective to educate all its children at least at primary level and thus provide them with basic reading and writing skills. However, as has been the case in many parts of the country but even more so apparent in the North of Uganda which has suffered from a civil war for over two decades, the language of instruction being English has caused that many children drop out and hardly know how to read and write after a number of years attending primary school. There are four critical factors which have made the work of Mango Tree relevant for reaching its goal of “improving literacy performance among pupils in early primary classrooms (P1-P3) and strengthen the literacy infrastructure in northern Uganda…”. These factors are: 1. Native language as language of instruction In Uganda, English is the official language and hence the language of instruction at primary school including the first three years when children are taught how to read and to write. The double burden of learning how to read and write and to do this in a language which in most cases is foreign to them,

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created a situation which made it very complicated for 80-90% of the children to acquire these skills. The promotion of the approach to use the local language as the main language of instruction during the 2. Development of a New Orthography The key element to improve the learning for reading and writing skills of young children appeared to be the improvement of the Orthography of the local language. The original orthography of Leblango as is the case with so many other local languages was developed during the Colonial period and did not distinguish according to the specific characteristics of the tonal element of the language. Hence it was necessary to develop a new Orthography reflecting the specific characteristics of this Nilotic language. With the New Orthography it appeared to be much easier to read and write the words as they are being reflect the sounds and their pronunciation in a much better way. The development of the New Orthography thus appeared to be a key element of the literacy model as introduced by Mango Tree. 3. Training of teachers and feedback mechanisms Mango Tree has developed a literacy instructional model and methodology with teaching and learning materials for early primary classrooms in the mother tongue (and English). Mango Tree has focused their training efforts of the instruction materials on the teachers who are to apply the developed materials for teaching in the local language and to get feedback from the teachers about the practical implications of the literacy model. Mango Tree focuses on the uptake of practical skills in small groups facilitated by classroom "mentor" teachers, who are experienced teachers that have mastered the Mango Tree model. The use of mentor teachers gives teachers the chance to learn from their peers. In particular the feedback mechanism makes it possible to get a good understanding of how the teachers were able to apply the new literacy instruction model and what problems emerged from this. Mango Tree was able to improve the model as well as the instruction materials based on this feedback. 4. Strengthening of the Leblango Language Board Another important element has been the close collaboration with the Leblango Language Board, which served as a promotor of the new orthography in the wider context of Lango Sub-region. The LLB on the one hand was comprised of a number of knowledgeable people wishing to promote the use of Leblango and in particular the New Orthography, on the other hand they developed a good number of activities promoting the use of this new Orthography beyond the primary schools, such as literature, books, newspapers, local writers etcetera. 5. Rigorous evaluation of results before further dissemination Following the impact evaluation of the first two years in 2013, Mango Tree was able to conclude that the results provided evidence that reading and writing skills had improved significantly in 12 primary schools (source: MT NULP results summary 2013). Mango Tree now intends to implement the project in a larger number of schools and districts in the Lango Sub-region. From 2014 to 2016, Mango Tree is expanding their efforts and evaluating their literacy model and approaches to teacher training and support supervision by making use of a randomized control trial in 128 government primary schools.

6. Discussion

Design The design of the Mango Tree SLS project has been done very well. It has started to tackle the key elements of primary school education which was the use of the local language as the main approach to develop literacy skills. The second important element was to evaluate the outcome of the new approach in a systematic way. First by comparing on a number of indicators the difference between

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primary schools with the new literacy approach and a limited number of schools without. The new RCT approach will make it possible to even further evaluate the new literacy approach in a rigorous way.

Future funding The Mango Tree approach should be further evaluated and disseminated. It could be compared and evaluated in a rigorous way against other approaches to introduce local language as the language of instruction during the first three years of instruction at primary school. The experience developed by Mango Tree can be expanded to other parts of Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa were similar issues are at stake – as has been proven by the interest from other Language Boards in Uganda and the interest beyond Ugandan boundaries.

Recommended changes in project design None

Improvement of impact evaluation An educational programme focusing on the acquirement of literacy skills needs to set curricular standards for how proficient children are expected to be in key skills such as reading and producing spoken and written language in their mother tongue, as well as in a second (or third) language. Such criteria will help teachers to determine whether students have achieved key learning benchmarks and can advance to the next stage of the curriculum or be promoted to the following grade. It will also help to identify whether changes are needed to the curriculum, teacher training and materials. On the basis of these curricular standards which can be applied at a national scale, an clear and randomized assessment can be made of the effectiveness of educational programmes focusing on literacy skills.

Causal mechanisms Mango Tree has adopted the approach to improve literacy skills by making use of a new model of literacy skills acquirement based on the use of the local language as a language of instruction. In a context where nation-building is an important element of which language is seen as one of the unifying constituents, the use of the local language is not evident and politically often rejected. However, the evidence provided as well as the Local Language Board and the District Educational Officers strong support to the use of local language, both make it possible to use Mango Tree’s literacy model at a much wider scale.

7. Conclusion Changes in Civil Society Strengthening 2012-2014 On all four dimensions of the Civicus framework there has been a positive to very positive improvement since the baseline was established in 2012. The most relevant changes have been observed with respect to Practice of Values (dimension III) and Perception of Impact (dimension IV). On the other two dimensions there was also progress but to a lesser extent. With respect to Dimension I (Civic Engagement) the main change has been with regard to the strengthening of the Leblango Language Board which progressively has taken over responsibilities and activities from Mango Tree. On the second dimension (Level of Organisation) there has been some progress as well, in particular when it comes to the expansion of communication about the New Orthography and its application in society, as well as the increase and expansion of projects and programmes by Mango Tree. The main changes with respect to Practice of Values there has been progress on all three indicators (internal governance, transparency, and internal management). The greatest progress has been with regard to social impact (under IV. Perception of Impact): by the end of 2014, in 23 primary

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school the New Orthography has been introduced enhancing significantly the reading and writing skills of 8200 students. Attribution of changes to Mango Tree Chapter 5.2 and 5.3 clearly explain the contribution of Mango Tree to the realization of the results and social impacts. Relevance of the changes The relevance of the changes have been analysed and presented in Chapter 5.3 Explaining factors to identified changes

As has been discussed earlier, the main explaining factor to the success of the project has been the clear Literacy Model as proposed by Mango Tree based on a clear problem identification which was felt throughout the Educational System in (Northern) Uganda. Also the fact that there has been a clear philosophy to train and include teachers in the process of introduction at school and the role of LLB in the wider dissemination beyond schools has played an important role in the acceptance of the New Orthography. One element which has not been mentioned before is the either-or choice to be made at primary school level: Either one continues with the current English-based curriculum or one chooses for the literacy instruction on the basis of the local language with a new Orthography.

Assessment of project design

Statements Scores

The project was well designed

10

The project was implemented as designed

8

The project reached all its objectives

9

The observed results are attributable to the project interventions

8

The observed results are relevant to the project beneficiaries

10

Scale of Scores: 'Not at all' (1) - 'Completely' (10)

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Annexes 1. Short description of the MFS II CSS baseline and endline methodology 2. Description and scoring of relative changes CSS 2012-2014 3. List of people interviewed 4. List of documents consulted 5. Some testimonies from beneficiaries

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Annex 1: Brief description of the MFS II CSS baseline and endline methodology Introduction During the baseline 2012 and the endline 2014 a general methodology has been developed for the CSS Uganda SPO studies which has been applied to all SPO in more or less the same way. This methodology has followed the Civil Society Index methodology with a major focus on the perception of social and political impacts as a result of the activities of the SPO under review. A methodological guide has been developed based on the earlier developed Baseline Methodological Guide and discussions with the Wageningen University CDI studies for Civil Society Strengthening, in particular contribution analysis (Methodological Guide Endline 2014 is presented in Annex). As has been described in the Baseline report, the Uganda study intends to make a comparison of the changes of the five Civil Society Index (CSI) dimensions over the period 2011-2014. In 2012 the Evaluation Framework has been developed on the basis of the Civil Society Strengthening Assessment Framework also known as the CSI as developed by Civicus. The five pillars as prescribed by the MFS II evaluation framework has been elaborated into a set of 25 indicators (excluding the context description). The CSS Evaluation Framework for Uganda has been applied unchanged in both the baseline phase as well as the endline 2014. In the endline of 2014 the focus has been on the dimensions of Civic Engagement (social engagement and political engagement; dimension I)) and the Realised (or perceived) Impact of their social and political engagement (dimension IV). But the scoring and description of relative changes has been done for all 25 indicators including dimensions II (Level of Organisation) and III (Practice of Values). The period between the baseline and the endline was already relatively short to assess impact. Endline 2014 SPO selection and reporting In the baseline 2012, 17 SPOs had been randomly selected from the long list of about 120 SPOs being supported by the Dutch MFS consortia. In addition the 8 SPOs under the 5C study have also been addressed with regard to their Civil Society Strengthening. From the original 17 SPOs under the CSS study, 13 have been retained for the endline study at the start of the endline. The Criteria which have been used for the selection of the SPOs to be included in the endline were:

a) Selecting the SPOs that will be part of the process tracing exercise (before fieldwork). b) Selecting the specific outcomes that will be analyzed using the process tracing methodology.

From the 13 SPOs retained for the endline, finally 3 organisations have not been included. It appeared to be too complicated and time-consuming to include the two SPOs of the Capacity Building exercise. They could only be included towards the end of the endline exercise as the Uganda CapDev ETC team was still working with these organisations. A third SPO was left out as they did not wish to collaborate during the endline exercise also for reasons of being included in the MDG evaluation. Finally only eight out of ten remaining organisations have been reported upon for the endline 2014 as the lack of data consistency for the two remaining made it impossible to sufficiently address the evaluation questions. Methods/ techniques During the baseline 2012 and the endline 2014 the following methods have been used: 1. Before/ after comparison Upon completion of the 2012 CS baseline study a clear picture of the Civil Society Strengthening efforts by the individual SPOs both in terms of Civil Society engagement as well as lobbying and advocacy (political engagement) had been made. This was realized by taking stock of what was the situation in 2012 since the start of the individual projects one or two years earlier on the basis of the indicators as formulated for the baseline.

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A similar assessment has been made in 2014 during the endline analysis when a description has been made of the changes in the period since the baseline 2012. On the basis of these changes a score has been given for positive/ negative changes or no change at all. The relative changes 2012-2014 have been further analysed to understand what has contributed to the these changes in the 2. Case studies The case studies are described in most of the studies on the basis of the “stories” of the beneficiaries and / or partner organisations as well as representatives of the “lobbying targets”. The 2012 baseline include descriptions of specific cases which have identified and described to illustrate the activities, outputs and outcomes of the SPO in question. In 2014, these cases have been further elaborated to assess the contribution of the SPO to the realization of the achieved outcomes through an contribution analysis. 3. Focus Group Discussions Focus Group Discussions have been used to interview several stakeholders in order to capture the opinion or meaning of various persons at a time. FGDs have been held in the first place with the staff of the partner organisations in order to address the issue of relative changes 2012-2014 (including timeline analysis) as well as the theory of change which was being applied by the SPO. Secondly, FCD have been held with groups of the beneficiaries of the SPO in order to assess their opinion on the changes in their organisation and/ or communities. 4. Individual interviews Both during the 2012 Baseline and the 2014 Endline Individual interviews have been held with selected stakeholders on the basis of the research questions as formulated in the CS research guide. These interviews have been used for the assessment of the relative changes 2012-2014 in the contribution analysis. 5. Timeline analysis In both the baseline 2012 as well as the endline 2014 and timeline analysis has been done in order to understand the development of the organisation over time in the face of both internal and external developments. The latter timeline analysis has been used to understand better the relative changes, the implementation of concrete activities based on the theory of change as well as to assess the contribution of the SPO to the realization of the intended outcomes. Sampling of beneficiaries/ informants During the baseline 2012 and endline 2014 a similar approach to the sampling of beneficiaries and informants has been applied. The sample of the beneficiaries to be interviewed was done by the Ugandan consultants. It was agreed in the Baseline Methodological guide that a wide range of stakeholders would be interviewed, either during the ‘staff analytical workshop’ with the attendance of as many staff member relevant for management, programme implementation and financial management. A similar approach has been used during the endline 2014. Moreover, focus group interviews were held with beneficiaries at their location, with responsible staff of beneficiary organisations (eg primary schools teachers, cooperative board members, health workers, extension workers, etcetera). In a few instances board members have been contacted and interviewed on their role and vision on the organisation. Other stakeholders from government agencies such as local government staff or ministerial staff have been interviewed on an individual basis. The selection of groups/ individuals to be interviewed was often made on the basis of the availability, relative proximity (most research was done during the rainy season and in regions with very poor transport infrastructure).

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The persons and/ or groups interviewed are mentioned in each SPO report in Annex.

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Annex 2: Relative Changes Civil Society Strengthening 2012-2014

Indicator Score Baseline assessment Endline assessment Dimension 1: Civic Engagement Overall Relative change Dimension 1: (change)

1a diversity of socially based engagement

Change: +1

1. Degree to which the needs of beneficiaries / target groups are included in SPOs analysis, planning and implementation.

2. Degree of participation of target groups in

analysis and planning of SPOs.

+2 Mango tree mainly works with the Leblango Language Board (LLB) by providing schools with learning material in the local language based on a new orthography. It has promoted the introduction of 5 new vowels in the Leblango orthography. Mango tree draws on the expertise of the LLB, for instance LLB oversees the facilitation of the training and production of instruction materials. Since Mango tree closely collaborates with the LLB, their primary target group participate in setting the programme agenda. In addition, Mango Tree consults with head teachers, and school management committees as well as PTAs which further enables MT to generate input and feedback. During the field visit, it was possible to engage with primary school children and see how the Mango tree support had speeded up their learning abilities. Mango tree often interacts with children and also observes how learning happens and hence is able to generate additional insights on the effects of its work.

Goals and objectives of planning are geared towards the beneficiaries

Implementation of planned activities are at the moment greatly done by beneficiaries for example initially Mango Tree was managing everything but now LLB has taken over radio shows entirely and also the graphics, printing and publishing.

Beneficiaries are involved in planning through giving feedbacks. This is not only limited to LLB but also the community members are involved

Beneficiaries provide consultants; take part in activities like writing competition and data collection on specified areas (Text to Change).

Beneficiaries occasionally interact with Mango Tree and LLB/KLB on platforms like radios, workshops, face-face interactions, text messages. Text to Change came in and raised the degree of interacting with beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Messages to people are sent to get their views. Text to change is currently sending the messages but it is preparing to train Mango Tree to manage it themselves.

1b – diversity of political engagement Change: =

3. Number of dialogue platforms with local or national government that SPO is participating in.

4. What is the intensity of involvement in dialogue platforms or sectoral networks?

+1 The main local structures that Mango Tree works with is the Lango Language Board and mainly supports its capacity and the capacity of writers affiliated to the board to enhance the use of the new Lango orthography. Considering that it offers a fairly specialised service Mango Tree does not participate in many platforms.

No change. Only indirectly through LLB

Dimension 2: Level of Organisation Overall Relative change Dimension 2: (no change)

2a – Organisational level of civil society Change: =

5. Degree of participation of the SPO (and possibly CFAs) in sectoral networks of civil society organisations.

6. Nature of the relationship between the SPO

+2 Mango Tree through its various programmes such as Primary literacy society Mango tree primarily supports the work of the LLB and no other sectoral network or umbrella organisation.

Mango Tree’s participation with civil society organizations is good; LLB, KLB and BSU all have direct contact with Mango Tree. However engagement with other networks is still weak.

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(and possibly CFAs) and sectoral networks/ umbrella organisations in the MDG/theme.

2b – Dialogue and communication Change: +1

7. Degree to which a shared analysis of situation in society exists

8. Degree of joint activity as a result of joint analysis

9. Mode, nature and quality of dialogue / communication

+3 Mango Tree and LLB collaborate on popularising the instructional materials and the new orthography through informing parents, district education boards, and the wider Lango population through mass media. For this purpose, Mango tree is working with a Local radio station, Radio Unity, through which it targets the larger population to appreciate the new orthography and to use it. Building on its success with the Lango language, Mango tree plans to extend support to the Kumamu Language Board as well. The Kumamu Language is spread in the districts of Kaberamaido and Serere.

There is an expanding communication network, e.g. Unity FM, Q FM, Text to Change and Radio Delta which LLB got attached to.

Kumama Language Board (KLB) has also kicked off and the orthography approved by the NCDC, learning lessons from the LLB.

The partners (LLB & KLB) are free to choose the radio station they wish to use. They are also free to popularize ortho-graphy changes to the community. Once orthographies have been developed with support from Mango Tree, then it’s the task of LLB and KLB to popularize them to their respective communities.

The Mango tree LLB experience is being exported to South Sudan and Zambia soon.

2c – financial and human resources Change: +1

10. Composition of current financial resource base of SPO

11. Degree of dependency of external funding 12. Human resources management by the SPO

+2 At the moment Mango Tree is fully dependent on external donor support. MFSII funding constitutes approximately 50% of current budget. Other partners that have funded the organisation include: Edukans Foundation, Deaf Child World Wide, ICCO and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Broadly the organisation relies on donor funding without which it would be practically impossible to deliver the programmes. The organisation has a well-established and competent staff both at the national and Lira offices. In the Lira Office the organisation has a fairly small team of highly competent staff with Masters and Bachelor degrees. The team also has a wide range of competencies and experience having worked in different programmes and sectors before including private and public

Organization largely depends on external donor support although LLB is able to provide some services for a fee.

There has however been tremendous growth in both Kampala and Lira offices as reflected in the number of new programs and staff members as compared to 2 years ago.

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Dimension 3: Practice of Values Overall Relative change Dimension 3: (very positive change)

3.a - Internal Governance Change: +1

13. Degree to which organisational structures are involved in strategic management of the SPO

14. Degree of sharing of information to staff (structured and regular)

+3 Mango Tree is a private limited, employee-owned company which depends on clients to pay for its services. An Executive Director heads the organisation. Regular staff meetings and consultations with national and district offices is the most visible way in which internal governance is reflected. There also participation between both the national and district staff in planning and setting organisational priorities. In collaboration with the LLB writers training programme has been out in place.

Sharing of the activity plan with LLB and KLB with budget for each activity appended. Mango Tree now involves LLB and KLB in planning processes e.g. in previous years LLB was quite suspicious that maybe some money remains with Mango Tree but now its fully involved. This is because LLB has grown with staff, has its own operational premises and is also registered. At Mango Tree level in Lira there is the Program Director NULP and two project managers. Mango Tree Lira is now independent and the Kampala office is now only involved in transferring money to the Lira offices accounts.

3b- Transparency Change: +1

15. Independent external (financial) auditing being done

16. Degree of transparency towards beneficiaries 17. Extent of upward and downward

accountability by SPO

+2 Mango tree has a well-established financial management and accountability system and undertakes regular audits. The audit outcomes are made freely available for verification by interested stakeholders. The organisation has received funding from at least three different donors and this is reflected in the audit report that is shared with all donors. This enhances trust and accountability. At the moment it was not clear if there is downward accountability to the beneficiaries, in particular the LLB who are the major partner of Mango tree. In their submission however LLB feel they need more capacity building in the area of managing and accounting for resources and their ability to fundraise through proposal development.

Strong financial management and accountability system

Upward and downward accountability

LLB now ensures that an annual report and annual audit is done with the exception of KLB because they have no operational office.;

Accountability is given to both members and partners.

3c – Internal financial and human resources management

Change:+1

18. Extent to which internal written procedures for financial and human resource management are being respected

+2 The organisation has a very clear and well established financial management system that guide how funds are accessed and utilised.

Clear handbook on financial policy and procedures. With Mango Tree, this has been a great improvement because last year the way money was being circulated to people undertaking activities was not so clear but now there are clear financial procedures. Nowadays Mango Tree staff no longer carries money everywhere. What normally happens is that when an officer is to conduct a training say in a particular Sub-county then registered mobile numbers of the people meant to receive the money are got and the money is sent to those people directly through mobile money

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Dimension 4: Perception of Impact Overall Relative change Dimension 4: +4 (Very positive change)

4a –Responsiveness Change: +1

19. Degree of incorporation of priorities of target groups in plans and activities

20. Degree of alignment with government policies (planned and implemented)

+3 Education is a priority sector in the national and district development programmes. Supporting primary education is well in line with the government policy. The ministry of education has also agreed that school instruction during the first years at school should be in the mother language of the learners. Enhancing learning is the concern of both national and district leadership. Mango tree is involved in supporting refining and updating of the Lango orthography with a view of improving and increasing the effectiveness of education delivery. The organisation in particular works with the Language board and selected schools to increase the availability and utilisation of written materials including a dictionary. These interventions are directly responding to livelihood needs of the people

Incorporating feedbacks from target group during the planning and implementation stages

Works in line with thematic curriculum i.e. planning and implementation. In past years Mango Tree would just write an MOU and the responsible people sign it but now different people have to be involved, make moments and give feedback. Mango Tree now has an MOU and a contract with LLB and this is also because LLB is going to be sub contracted by Mango Tree. There is also an MOU with KLB

4b – Social impact Change: +2

21. Target group satisfaction regarding fulfilment of their primary social and/ or personal concern

22. Degree to which empowerment of target groups towards public and/ or private sectors have been enhanced

23. Degree of sustainability of the social impact

+2 Mango tree sees its impact in the ability of LLB to deliver its own mandate, in particular by enhancing literacy programmes, production of materials, translation and testing of new materials developed. The study which in the coming years will compare the literacy outcomes at the pilot and control schools (EGRA-tool) will make it possible to assess the target group satisfaction. As a result of the support from Mango tree, the LLB are now able to publish books, writing poems, producing a dictionary. sponsorship of writers. This intervention has already had a positive impact on literacy and increasing the number of children in school. The ability to create and read and write will be the livelihood impacts that will be sustained. Language Boards will be introduced to strategic planning process through which they will begin developing organizational strategic plans for 2014. In addition Language Boards will receive capacity-building training to help the LBs operationalize their strategic plans.

LLB’s capacity in planning and implementing projects related to literacy is now reliable e.g. from complete dependence on Mango Tree two years ago they have been able to get their own funding from Trust Africa

It has increased ability in writing successful proposals; does editing; proof reading and translation of documents independently; produces materials

The Primary Literacy Project (PLP)’s major target was to reach 24 schools by the end of 2013 but reached 23. In terms of pupil numbers, out of 10,000 the project managed to reach 8,200 that is around 80% achieved.

The LLB has been able to promote the new orthography into the Primary School Curriculum, to Local Language Writers, to Local Publishers, etcetera.

The success of the Mango Tree approach in collaboration with the LLB will be replicated in South Sudan and Zambia.

4c policy impact Change: +1

24. Level of influence of SPOs towards major policy changes

+2 By supporting the efforts of Lango language board Mango tree is making it possible for the policy that established language

LLB was one of the local language boards that influenced the retention of local languages in the curriculum where NCDC had

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25. Degree to which SPOs are holding government (national and local) and private sector accountable

boards to be operationalised. While Language boards are established by policy, many have not been able to execute their work because of lack of financial and technical support. In terms of policy impact therefore through Mango tree’s support, lessons on how such a policy can be made operational shall be generated. At the moment Mango trees work does not entail holding government accountable.

scrapped them off during curriculum reform proposals. In 2012, NCDC wanted to scrap off languages in the syllabus but the Chairperson of LLB Dr. Okaka raised up to 10,000 signatures which he took to parliament and the languages were not scrapped.

LLB’s board structure has been used by NCDC to develop other language boards country wide. Dr. Okaka, the Chiarperson of LLB, is now the Chairperson of all language boards in Uganda.

NCDC/RTI are using Mango Tree / LLB orthography in teaching pupils.

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Annex 3: List of participants

List of Participants - MFS II Uganda Endline Second Phase

Organisation: Mango Tree

Location: Lira Date: 24th – 25th June 2014

No. F / M Name Position

1 ☐ ☒ James Odongo Project Manager Strengthening a Literate Society (SLS), Mango Tree

2 ☒ ☐ Frances Jane Ofugi Lira Municipal Education Officer

3 ☒ ☐ Joyce Owera Headmistress Otim Tom Primary School Lira

4 ☐ ☒ Dr. Richard Nam Lango Cultural Foundation Prime Minister

5 ☐ ☒ Jogole Christopher Lango Cultural Foundation Minister of Health

6 ☐ ☒ Ayo Bonny Headmaster Lango Quran Primary School Lira

7 ☐ ☒ George Obua District Education Officer Lira district

8 ☐ ☒ Oduch Okall LLB Dokolo District Coordinator

9 ☐ ☒ Ekwang Eugenio LLB Alebtong District Coordinator

10 ☒ ☐ Aceng Agnes LLB Amolatar District Coordinator

11 ☐ ☒ Okello Silver LLB General Secretary

12 ☒ ☐ Apio Flora

LLB Administrator

13 ☒ ☐ Auma Mary Theresa

LLB Executive Member Lira district

14 Writers’ Club of Lango Language Board

Writers’ Club of Lango Language Board

Stakeholders met MT End line evaluation

Organisation: Mango Tree

Location: Lira Date: 11th – 12th April 2014

No. F/M Name Position

1 M Okello Silver LLB Project Officer

2 M Odongo James SLS Project Manager

3 F Apio Flora LLB Administrator

4 M Menno Keizer Program Director NULP

5 M George Obua District Education Officer Lira district

6 M Ayo Bonny Headmaster Lango Quran Primary School Lira

7 M Dr. Richard Nam Lango Cultural Foundation Prime Minister

8 M Jogole Christopher (Lango Cultural Foundation Minister of Health

9 F Frances Jane Ofugi Lira Municipal Education Officer

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10 F Joyce Owera – Headmistress Otim Tom Primary School Lira

11 F Auma Mary Theresa Executive Member Lira district

12 M Oduch Okall, Dokolo District Coordinator

13 F Apio Flora, LLB Administrator

14 M Okello Silver LLB General Secretary

15 F Aceng Agnes Amolatar District Coordinator

16 M Ekwang Eugenio Alebtong District Coordinator

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Annex 4: List of Documents consulted

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Annex 5: Some testimonies from beneficiaries

Testimonies from beneficiaries I: Dr. Richard Nam (Lango Cultural Foundation Prime Minister), and Jogole Christopher (Lango Cultural Foundation Minister of Health).

What exactly happened for Leblaŋo orthography to be easily accepted? Most of the children these days are children of cities and towns and so getting back and speaking their native language properly is a big problem. The government was also talking of introducing the teaching the local language at the lower primary school i.e. Primary one (P1) – Primary six (P6) but the problem here was lack of instruction materials. Besides helping the Ministry, the program has made it easy for the community to introduce it to the children because the way they are talking the language is not the way it is meant to be. The children actually talk something that is mixed with English hence doesn’t sound like the real language. Even the people who were born in the villages (who are now in their 25 – 40 years), when there were a lot of problems in the country and didn’t get ample time to get to know their real language and how it is supposed to be spoken are major beneficiaries of the LLB/MT programme. The programme was an entry point to communities to alert them that there is this document (books or pamphlet) that guide how the language should be spoken and written. Copies would be left with them and even the lower council leaders thus paving the way for language overhaul. How did Mango Tree (MT) and Lango Language Board (LLB) manage to come up with the new orthography? The of insecurity suffered by the northern part of Uganda, especially Lango sub region, severely disrupted the old system where an old man would sit down with his family in the evening near the fire place, teach them how to talk in the language and correct them when they made mistakes. Thus the older people could no longer sit with the young ones to take them through their language. With some peace now, LLB has decided to come back to reintroduce that system. Even the old one of nowadays grew up when there is insecurity so they also don’t know the language very well and so the program is helping them as well. What does Lango Cultural Foundation (LCF) think about the program? The program itself is very good because it is going to put our Lango language back on track. Starting from Primary one (P1) will be a little bit late because children start to learn how to talk when they are almost two years so that should be the entry point. Right from nursery school, the program should just continue and by the time they are in P1 they would already have most of the things. But if the program starts in P1 the children will have already established some things as their basics and changing takes some time as well. The reading and writing should start at nursery school because this is where they are taught how to talk and write. Nursery school should hence be the entry point. A long time ago we benefited from the same system where the language of instruction in lower primary up to P4 was in Luo but then there was a switch to English. How instrumental has Lango cultural Foundation (LCF) been in formulating the new orthography? Most of the members in LCF are also members in LLB hence LCF is contributing manpower for LLB activities. For instance retired Colonel Tony Ottoa who is a language board member and also with LCF as minister of Culture in the cultural institution. At the time the programme came, LCF was already wondering what was to be done because the language was disappearing. At that time quite a number of children born during the years of turmoil had a big problem with language. For example if you picked any child in P6 andasked them to talk in Lango they could not. This is why this new orthography was accepted easily to respond to these challenges and in a space of two years it has been written and has been broadly accepted by LCF and the community.

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LCF has been supporting LLB / MT by sensitizing and creating awareness among people about the process of refining the Leblaŋo language that is ongoing e.g. at funerals. MT is sponsoring older community members selected from the cultural institution to work on the language. Children and teachers are encouraged to pick up the program and refine the language in case the program stops in the near future. How do you see the future of Leblaŋo and the new orthography? There is already so much improvement because when you talk to children on the program they are improving a lot and now everyone is concerned. This means that in the future Leblaŋo will become more alive and active. So far the new orthography is very fine because MT and LLB have really worked very hard on it as most of them are mature people and know the language very well. The older people who are used to the old system will take quite some time to adapt to the new orthography and especially the ones in leadership positions like LCF will have to work very hard to adapt to the new orthography. What kinds of opportunities do you see for sustaining the program ? The DEO should encourage Head Teachers t when budgeting for their schools to include a vote for printing more instruction materials such as books and push it through the sub county to eventually form part of the district budgets. Another strategy is that, since Leblango is now a school program and on school curriculum, the MoES may have a separate budget that may include printing of the books. It is also the role of LCF to lobby at the DEO’s office for this inclusion. The program shouldn’t stop now such that by the time it comes to wind up, there are proper preparations to mainstream it into the district and MoES. To make Leblaŋo better, it must be pushed up to P7 and make it examinable so government needs to be involved by not only adopting it as a mode of instruction in P1 – P3 but also take it as an examinable subject from P4 – P7. How is the new orthography being applied? There are now three newspapers (Rabkop, Etop and Rupiny) in the local language that have started using the new orthography. If you pick an old newspaper of about 2 – 3 years ago and compare with the current one then you realize that the writing is completely different. The new orthography needs to be launched because this is another way of advertising and marketing it. People are already aware that there is something happening but the launch will really make them understand more.

Testimonies from beneficiaries II: Ayo Bonny, Headmaster Lango Quran Primary School Lira The MT program people should have planned in such a way that a teacher who is teaching P1 if he/she is alone should take all the subjects. The language teachers were supposed to teach only language and no other subject. We asked those that were concerned to ensure that one teacher who is teaching P1 in Mathematics and RE goes to another class to have another subject. This is because they were two teachers in one class. We did this because in this school there is a shortage of teachers so we got a lot of problems in fixing teachers in the classes. When this program was introduced the idea was to raise the literacy levels of children This was okay. There was no problem and after one month I went to the P1 class and the children could read and write in Luo and English very well. How long has the school been on the program? This is the first year and now it’s only P1. The teaching in P1 has improved and even our enrolment is increasing every week. Last term we had 30 pupils but this term we have around 50 pupils in P1. The parents bringing their children last are paying fees even better than those that came first. When you

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try to test these children say in reading a newspaper in Luo, they can read well except when they meet an English word. The Luo newspaper like Rupiny sometimes mixes up Lango and English. Do you examine the pupils in Luo? They are given tests in Luo How do you get the Luo teaching teachers? The teachers are normally picked from the infant teachers. Before, Luo was being taught in infant classes but not as intensive as it is now. As a Quran school, Arabic is a major language of teaching, how do you do this? Arabic is not taught seriously. Teaching Arabic comes when they are teaching Islamic religion starting from around P3 or P4. Islamic religion being taught is on the side of examinable questions only although they put some Arabic words so that children can understand. The deputy Head Teacher attended the training by MT If MT or LLB doesn’t provide the support for pupils from P1 to P2 is there any way that the school can finance the activity? The program will then be spoilt because we won’t be able to get the books written in Luo. We are only praying that it should not stop there. It should go ahead at least up to P3. After P3 we still don’t know what next whether they should continue to read in Luo or should stop and then turn to English. I think that even if the program is to stop then some molecules should be taken even to P4 so that they can continue reading to help them. If the program stops in P3 then the pupils will forget reading in Luo because the teachers will intensify reading in English whereby they may end up reaching in P7 when they don’t know how to read in Luo. The thinking was if the children are given a good foundation of reading in Luo in P1 – P3 then by the time they reach P4 they are familiar and so they are able to easily read other subjects. Though they will be able to read other subjects easily, it is the same as planting a tree in very good soil and then cutting the leaves off so it is better that even if they are going to P7 the Luo is put in use for them to even understand other subjects. There are some pupils here whom you can find in P6 who can read English very well but can’t even tell you the meaning of what they have read. This means that the teachers of P3 and P4 taught them how to read in English very well but without knowing the meaning. It is better therefore if the program continues up to at least P6 and leave them in P7 for Primary Leaving Exams. MT is doing very well by trying to improve the reading of the local language and we appreciate it very much. The teachers teaching the Luo subject are also very good and committed. The size of the school is around 260 pupils. Only 2 teachers who are teaching P1 attended the training because MT asked for only two teachers from the school. All the other teachers are not yet exposed to the new system except that maybe if the program continues we may not send any more teachers for training for P2 because we have already one teacher who has got the training who can teach P2. If we are sending we shall send other 2 teachers from other classes to also get the experience to the new system. The two teachers are few but in the mean time we can tolerate it like that. A Memorandum of Understanding with Mango Tree was signed by the deputy on behalf of the school.

Testimonies from beneficiaries III: George Obua – District Education Officer Lira district The introduction of the orthography is raising the literacy levels of lango region and with time the children here will cope with the rest of the country because reading is so basic to learning and MT were able to go to the root of the problem. In urban centres it’s fantastic but the problem is still in

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rural areas. The Ministry of Education has now taken over the whole program as the supply of the materials is now from the Ministry. This is now a national program and no longer a Mango Tree program. The Mango Tree officer, (Gregg) who started this program is now a consultant at the Ministry of education in Kampala. The Ministry is hopeful that the materials will be supplied. Dr. Okaka Opio is a very innovative man who has started a publishing project called Star Publishing Limited and is mainly going to concentrate on publishing local material to support the local language. The issue of materials will eventually be overcome. The teachers were trained and they themselves appreciate the innovation and for that reason are interested in what they are doing. They were trained by MT and also the national level took up in training them. In that respect they are there as a specialized group of teachers and not like the others. When you are different from the rest you want to show that you are different and that inspires them to keep on because there is no other form of motivation being given to them from other teachers but they have picked the interest. The program will eventually go up to primary seven and will be rolled to all classes. At primary level, Lango is not yet an examinable subject but at secondary it is an examinable subject at O and A levels. It is also taught at the university. With the changes taking place in the curriculum, it is not yet very certain that it will be examinable at primary level. Around 36 schools were involved in the program in the 8 districts of Lango so far, how will the program be scaled up to the other schools? After sometime there will Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) which actually is already ongoing as the National Chief of Party is coming to the region to also have a feel of what is going on. This is already M&E taking place. After that, it is possible that the whole program will be scaled up because the Ministry started with very few districts now many more districts have been brought on board and eventually when they bring all the districts on board and find that it’s a good thing then it’s likely that all the schools will now benefit. Some of the monitoring is done through the evaluation of reading (IRA) which is one of the monitoring tool. This program is likely to expand and cover the whole country and then will also cover all the classes but starting from Primary one. Now progress is like how it is done with some other programs that usually start from primary one and then progress to Primary seven. How the parents are responding now? At the beginning the parents’ response was very bad to this teaching of lower classes in local language but slowly they are beginning to understand that it’s the best way to introduce the child to quality schooling as a whole. In any case, some of those parents and some of the older people were taught in the local language in primary one and primary two. English was only a subject. This program is now taking the community back to those days. Now the parents are beginning to reconsider their feelings and with time all parents shall be at par most especially the urban parents who think their children should take the root which they did but these children are different and with the way the country is being moulded things are going to be different. When you look at the curriculum, the Ministry is no longer emphasizing subjects as per say even at primary level there is SST not history or CRE. The same revolution is being taken at ordinary level as the Ministry is coming up with a new set of curriculum and their subjects are going to be called learning areas hence languages will also be a learning area. There shall only be 8 learning areas for secondary schools and then there will be a lot of focus on a child’s strength. The current things that these children are learning in secondary schools are likely to be pruned off e.g. spending time teaching children about Canadian prairies. Those will be there but will not be so much focused on. The teachers will have to do some in service training for that. Slowly the whole country will be able to get there. English is still needed and incidentally in Uganda it is now more or less like a local language even in rural areas. Swahili is also being experimented in some primary schools and it will be in the languages learning area.

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Testimonies from beneficiaries IV: Lango Language Board members (Oduch Okall, Auma Mary Theresa, Apio Flora, Okello Silver, Aceng Agnes,

Ekwang Eugenio)

When did LLB start?

It started in 2003 when the government came up with the idea of local languages and boards started to be formed in all the language areas in preparation for the thematic curriculum. The board was well formed because the criteria and guidelines of how to form the boards was got from government. The problem with LLB was that government never supported it and it was only to be supported by the local districts. LLB was in place but was not effective. The main work it was doing was forwarding what it wanted to the Ministry. LLB was not allowed to get books because teachers were responsible for selection of books from the list brought to them by the head teachers. In 2010, LLB got some little funding from UNICEF and that is when it effectively started and also brought in experts. When did LLB get in touch with MT?

MT was already on the ground through Gregg who had already started the program of supplying schools with locally made instruction materials from sacks and slippers. Gregg would go to the education office to show case his materials who then allowed him to go forward and supply to all schools. The whole package used to cost 70,000/=. This amount was deducted from the UPE money for schools. Private schools would also buy the instruction materials because they were very good. What was the role of the language board in accepting the new orthography?

Within the language board there were experts who studied English like Dr. Okaka Opio and many others. Gregg’s movement to schools made him realize that there was an important aspect that was being neglected most especially the effective implementation of the thematic curriculum. Schools that were practicing this curriculum were mainly those in the villages but not so much for the ones in towns. Gregg’s organization then started centring on developing the orthography and that is when he got in touch with LLB. The coming of MT shed the ideas and understanding of the language board together with linguists such as Dr. Okaka and Okello Ogwang. Therefore those are the people who showed that there was need for revision of the orthography. The orthography we had was the one used by the missionaries and had so many errors and inconsistencies. A workshop that took place in Nairobi was organized where Okony Goodman and James Odongo (Project Manager of Strengthening a Literate Society project under Mango Tree) met with some members of Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). They stayed for nearly a month in Nairobi working on the orthography of Leblaŋo. A first draft was made and then LLB started polishing it. Meanwhile, MT had already contacted some teachers who showed interest of teaching Leblaŋo right from Primary one. It identified teachers and facilitated them to ensure that the project runs on well. This was around 2008. There were books used for the thematic curriculum that were not purely in Lango. These books were in Acholi and teachers opposed this because the two languages are different much as they sound alike. MT saw that LLB had come up with language teachers in English and they started making LLB their partners and funding some of their activities. Research Triangle Institute (RTI) just came in to use the new orthography. When a lot of revisions had been done, NCDC came and approved the orthography in 2012 although there was a lot of resistance from the natives. MT with

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funding from the Dutch government kept on funding LLB to go for talk shows and sensitize the community and the interested would call in. MT in touch with Text to change linked LLB and community members who can now give their views using text messages that are free. There is a fairly bigger number compared to the beginning that has accepted the new orthography. The impact is that previously there was one local newspaper (Rupiny written in Leblaŋo and Acholi) but 2 – 3 years ago the newspapers increased to three. Adwolpiny came up and then Rabkop newspapers. All that is attributed to the struggles of LLB and MT. Rupiny was previously sold at 500/= but because of that they pushed it to 1,000/=. The newspaper is released on Wednesday but when you look for a copy on Friday you can’t get it a sign that readership has grown. Rupiny is not completely using the new orthography but with some funding from International Reading Association (IRA), all media houses were trained in the new orthography. Adwolpiny and Rabkop are also partly using the new orthography because the training that was given to them was not enough for them to understand all the new changes. LLB is in negotiations with the editor of Rupiny such that they give it a section in the newspaper where its members can write using only the new orthography. LLB is thinking of running its own newspaper that will be using only the new orthography because it trained the media houses but they keep on doing the same mistakes. There is a Memorandum of Understanding between MT and LLB. Every time there is an activity, a Memorandum of Understanding is signed and reporting is done to MT. LLB also makes monthly reports to MT. MT is threatening to leave LLB by 14th December 2014 so it’s kindly requesting MT not to leave as yet. What are the main benefits or outcomes from the relationship between LLB and MT?

Children could not read and write well hence they couldn’t then perform well in their exams as they had no foundation. But due to the work that MT is doing through this program, the Lango children are being given a very good foundation and therefore they will be able to perform better at their UNEB exams. Are there any strategies by LLB to continue this program even after MT pulls out?

LLB is willing to continue the program but it is also still soliciting for help for so many other issues. The schools being supported currently are also very few as compared to the total number of schools in the region. LLB’s focus currently is having the program expanded to other schools and to higher levels. MT trains at least 2 teachers per participating school so even if the teachers move to other schools they go to them with that knowledge. When there are certain events where schools that are participating come together to demonstrate, then the other schools also want their teachers to be trained and request to be provided with the materials. Schools in towns are now also yarning to be part of the program. LLB is organizing a fundraising by December 2014 so that it can be able to sustain itself and also provision of the materials. LLB has two head teachers on board. It is a matter of sensitizing the other head teachers that have not yet known the value of teaching Leblaŋo to do their best and sacrifice to help push the program and talk to their teachers. If parents can be involved because they are going to see the impact of teaching in local language from their children then they can contribute something to facilitate these teachers who are handling the local language. If MT pulls out and no donor is coming to support the program, then sacrifice has to be made to push the program forward.

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LLB’s journey together with MT has taken it somewhere as there are now board members who are specialists in language and in proposal writing. LLB wrote a proposal to Trust Africa and got some funding and produced some books. Trust Africa books are not for sale but are just given out. There is hope that some money will be got that will be used to reproduce these books so that other schools are also supplied. It is better now for LLB to fundraise so that it can reproduce the copies of the readers from the community members and after send to schools. The teachers have already been trained by MT. This can help to sustain LLB. There is still need for more lobbying and advocacy for what is already on the ground. The other sustainability strategy is proposal writing. How is the supply of materials going to be sustained if MT moves out of the program?

Although MT is also funded, they are also trying their level best to remain around. The teachers should go and buy more books from MT. LLB wanted to buy the books but MT wanted to see how the performance would be when their books are used and when they are not used. LLB is advocating that the education department also comes in and buys the materials for the schools maybe through the UPE fund. LLB has a very good relationship with LCF although LCF has some confusion at the moment. There is a member of LCF whose is also a member of LLB. Due to the success of the program, government is also picking interest and this is now basis for national policy. With the help of MT, LLB is now one of the most organized language boards countrywide. Other language boards that are staying where the district education office is are collapsing. LLB has moved away and distanced itself from the district. Its relationship with MT has stood out to be one of the most organized. This also includes in terms of the orthography. This happened in 2010 when LLB stabilized. LLB is the only board in the country that has organized mother tongue day. What motivates members of LLB to come together?

There is a criterion the government sets out on membership of a language board. LLB also wanted experts to be among their members like linguists, writers, cultural and local leaders and teachers. All this came by itself. The board consists of members of 40+ years who studied in those years when thematic curriculum was in practice. These are people who know the value of thematic curriculum and studied in the times of the missionaries and were taught using thematic curriculum. When they were told that Leblaŋo was to be taught in schools they saw sense in that and were willing to sacrifice because once the language is killed then the culture is killed. These people are all good speakers of both languages. The strategy of using writers is also a good way of getting the orthography used. This also means that the readers will read in the new orthography. These writers generate stories for teaching in primary schools and community consumption. They write in the old orthography and then trained and to finally write in the new orthography. They are normally trained for three days and given a little token of appreciation. What are LLB’s plans for the future to become a sustainable organization?

i). Material development and production in that if LLB gets more stable and organized, this will help run the organization.

ii). LLB plans to give its human resource of some board members trainings on proposal writing.

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iii). Involving community members in fundraising for those that have love for the language to give a helping hand.

iv). Produce books and sell them v). Advocate and lobby more by reaching more people including even those in Diaspora vi). Creating a website vii). Reaching the government to come in and help viii). Need to get an office space without anybody coming to ask for rent ix). Get heavy duty printers in that if LLB manages to start producing newspapers then its

productions during the course of the week can sustain the organization. x). Books can give LLB money once in a while but newspapers are there throughout and

can also help in popularizing the new orthography. This can be hectic but like last year translators and editors where trained and possibly even this year more will be trained.

xi). Get membership fees from some members because at the moment members are not paying membership.

Testimonies from beneficiaries V: The LLB writers’ club. What motivates you to write?

i). The feedback from the readers. If the readers are contented with our writing then this is a motivation for writing more materials. Materials written for LLB in Leblaŋo include puzzles, poems, long and short stories.

ii). It stimulates our children in knowing more of our local language and as they are growing they get to know more of the local language

iii). Passionate about the local language iv). By seeing stories that other people write gives us interest to participate in the writing. “I was

happy to see my daughter read some books written in Leblaŋo with the new orthography as she only used to ask for books written in English so this motivated me. The school she is in is not on the program by MT but I get for her the books and she reads from home. There is Love for the language”.

What makes you love the Leblaŋo language? Mother tongue is the first language that everyone learns and it is interesting. Even at universities there are associations where people gather according to their natives languages. So when the child joins and doesn’t know his /her mother tongue, then it’s really a big shame as people will start questioning and calling him / her all sorts of names. This makes it very important for a child to know their mother tongue much as the other languages are also important. Do you as writers feel that supporting children in lower classes will raise literacy levels? Yes. By around 2001 some materials were translated from English to Leblaŋo for the lower primary schools due to the lack of materials in Leblaŋo as the language of instruction was English. Schools like St. Catherine Secondary School were teaching Leblaŋo as a subject and even have it at Advanced level. Once you have interest and passion for Leblaŋo then you can easily develop the writing skills with the new orthography. It is not difficult to change from the old to the new orthography as long as you understand the tips because normally how you bring it out and how you pronounce words like those requiring heavy vowels. If you follow the guide of the new orthography then it is easy. Leblaŋo is a tonal language so if you lower or heighten your voice in some words then it may totally means something different. The meaning is contained in the tone and this has to be captured in writing. With the new orthography you have to represent the tonal differences with certain letters.

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How are the readers responding to the new orthography? Mango Tree and Lango Language Board have been sensitizing community members on the radio. The feedback has been coming over messages through an NGO called Text to Change. People have been making positive responses and those that have not understood have been coming to the LLB offices to get more clarification on the new orthography. Generally the feedback has been positive. Much as the community is saying that it is difficult but mere reading the guiding books helps you understand. How do you see the future of writing in Leblaŋo? Is it sustainable? Because of the new orthography the future of the Lango language is brighter. For instance at the moment there is increased interest in writing poetry, stories and novels by people and being published. The new orthography has been publicized on the radio and also through workshops. Leblaŋo is a language of instruction in the lower classes as subjects like mathematics are also taught in Leblaŋo. If it is time for English then it is English throughout except in the terms one and two when they mix for the case of Primary two (P2). The children in P2 are picking up so much as they now can read and write their own stories in Leblaŋo especially during creative time. Background to the most significant outcome as captured in phase one Respondents perspectives on what really happened/the MSO process. The MT workshop where they trained teachers in Leblaŋo lasted for a week (five days) and this was enough to get to know the new orthography because of the good facilitators. Other outcomes /impacts from the MSO Children in Primary one can now read and write some words in Leblaŋo and this is just after one term which was not the case before. In P2 they are very fluent in reading and writing Leblango thus making the later reading and writing English far easier. . It is now not difficult for them to change to English as P2 children are able to read and write well in both languages.

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Annex 2. Description and scoring of relative changes CSS 2012-2014

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Annex 3: List of people interviewed

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Annex 4: List of documents consulted

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Annex 5: ...