Two and a half years ago, you may remember that I spent a month in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement, teaching sport and music in the secondary school there. Inspired by time there, it has always been in the back of my mind that I will one day return to do my own research. Over the last six months, this idea has developed into a fully-fledged research project complete with endorsement from the Royal Geographical Society, UCL and a local partnership in the form of the UK charity Windle Trust. The most vital part of this research project, is of course, the team! Our team is made up of myself, along with two geographers from the University of Bristol; my old friend Kate Neville-Towle and a new friend; Robyn Mather. Together we are going to be spending one month in Kyaka II investigating the portrayal of refugees in the media and the role that secondary education plays in the development of adolescent refugees.

With flight day just three days away, we are all very excited and feverishly packing our backpacks and reading as much as we can in the last few days that we have before we leave for Uganda. With a friend, Denis, meeting us at the airport and an invitation for dinner for our first night in Kyaka II already on the table, our arrival into Uganda is imminent, and I couldn't say that I am more excited!

If you are interested, have a look at our website which we wil be updating regularly while we are out there. http://www.educatingkyaka.weebly.com/
I will also be keeping you posted on this site, so if you would like to, you can click 'subscribe' to be kept updated.

JH-J