UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

NOTRE DAME, IN 46556

Sanitation, Hygiene &

Water Safety Education
in Rural Uganda
PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT AND
DESIGN RESEARCH OUTCOMES

DESIGN RESEARCH TEAM

Emily Hoffmann
Laurel Komos
Jeff McLean

ADVISORS
Robert Sedlack
Penina Acayo
Anne Berry

Contributing designers:
Eileen Murphy, Mia Swift, Carmel OBrien, & Amanda MacDonald

In the fall semester of 2013, our senior level Design for Social Good class, led
by Professor Robert Sedlack and Research Associate Peni Acayo, teamed up
with Lifewater International and Chicago-based design firm Rule29 to work on
global health initiatives regarding safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)
education. The class worked on two projects. Design majors Emily Hoffmann,
Laurel Komos, Amanda MacDonald, and Carmel OBrien worked to redesign
Lifewaters WASH curriculum specifically for use by primary school teachers
in rural Uganda, while design majors Eileen Murphy and Mia Swift created an
educational calendar for the home that reinforces safe water concepts. At the end
of the semester in December, students presented their research findings, along
with their deliverables, to their professors at ND, the leadership team at Rule29
and Pamela Crane at Lifewater International.
Through connections developed by Robert Sedlack and Peni Acayo, Notre Dame
students were afforded the opportunity to travel to Uganda to independently field
test the redesigned curriculum and calendar. A research group was subsequently
formed, based on availability, that included three students, Emily Hoffmann,
Laurel Komos and Jeff McLean, and was led by design professors Anne H. Berry
and Peni Acayo. With the help of on-the-ground contacts in Uganda, including
Laura Anderson and Kristine Sullivan from the non-profit Educate for Change,
the research team visited two primary schools near the rural district of Gulu
in northern Uganda. The team conducted ethnography in both private and
government-sponsored schools, Mother Teresa Primary and Layibi Primary
respectively, created a direct collaboration with the intended users of the WASH
curriculum, and gathered first-hand insights regarding the Ugandan education
system, government influences, available resources, cultural contexts, visual
language appropriate for local communities, and both calendar and curriculumspecific feedback.
Since returning from Uganda, the research team of Notre Dame design students
continued to synthesize their observations into actionable insights and
recommendations for future improvements to WASH education curricula and
resources.
This document provides a summary of project objectives, overall process, research
insights, and recommendations regarding WASH education in rural Ugandan
primary schools.

Hoffmann, Komos, McLean

| 3

process

PROCESS PART 1:

Curriculum & Calendar Prototypes

SEPTEMBER 2013: INTRODUCTION
In September of 2013, Justin Ahrens, principal of Rule29, met with University of
Notre Dame upper-level visual communication design class, Design for Social
Good, led by Professor Robert Sedlack and Research Associate Peni Acayo to
introduce Lifewater International and their safe water initiatives. The class
broke into two groups and worked on two projects: an educational calendar and
a redesign of Lifewater Internationals WASH curriculum.

(i) WASH Curriculum

The WASH curriculum developed by Lifewater
is an international teachers manual and
resource that currently spans over 200 pages.
The curriculum aims to help primary school
health clubs and classroom teachers build on
their current approaches to WASH education and
facilitate age-appropriate, interactive lessons.
Project Brief: Redesign, rethink, rewrite
Lifewaters WASH curriculum with a
thoughtful, fresh perspective for either
southeast Asia or central/east African
audiences, considering educational
universalities when applicable.
Team: Emily Hoffmann, Laurel Komos,
Amanda MacDonald, Carmel OBrien
(ii) Water Safety Calendar
Calendars are regarded as a type of art form in
Uganda. They are rarely replaced, even when

they become outdated. Although the measure

of months is no longer useful, the pictures and
artwork are timeless and enhance the decor of
Ugandan homes.
Project Brief: Design a calendar that educates
its readers about safe water, hygiene and
sanitation topics with a sensitivity to a
Ugandan aesthetic.
Team: Eileen Murphy and Mia Swift
SEPTEMBER 2013: PROJECT OBJECTIVES
(i) WASH Curriculum Team:
Choosing East Africa, specifically Uganda, as
our audience, we endeavor to use research and
design to:
Develop a comprehensive understanding of
the primary school teaching environment
in Uganda, including the education system/
structure, government influences, cultural
context, available resources, economically

Hoffmann, Komos, McLean

| 5

viable distribution methods, and culturally

relevant visual language.
Foster collaborative relationships with
contacts we developed throughout our
research process in order to effectively
leverage their expertise in education,
Ugandan cultural context, or otherwise with
our skill set as designers.
Generate curriculum improvements
and prototypes, when appropriate, to
understand both the role of an educator
in creating curricula and the WASH
curriculum-specific content.
With these objectives, we aim to expand
the WASH curriculum content, originally
collected by Lifewater, into a robust,
culturally-appropriate, well-designed, and
effective teaching resource for primary
school educators in Uganda.

(ii) The Calendar Team:

We endeavor to use research and design to:
Develop the calendar into a learning
tool that educates readers on safe water,
hygiene, and sanitation practices.
Create a culturally-appropriate visual
aesthetic by drawing inspiration from
Ugandan imagery, pattern, and color
studies.

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SEPTEMBERDECEMBER 2013: SEMESTER RESEARCH

& DESIGN STRATEGY
(i) WASH Curriculum Team
Our design team chose to redesign the WASH
curriculum for East Africa, specifically Uganda.
Throughout the semester, we consulted the
following collaborators:

Justin Ahrens Principal of Rule29;

Traveled to Uganda on three separate

design research trips for Lifewater
International
Pamela Crane Director of International
Programs at Lifewater International;
African-born
Penina Acayo Ugandan native-born
and raised; Notre Dame Design Research
Associate
Colin King Notre Dame alumnus;
teacher at Ugandan primary school near
Jinja, Uganda
Designers Without Borders International
organization of designers; Contacted
several designers working in Ugandan
education
Ugandan National Curriculum Development
Centre Online resources regarding
primary school structure and government
mandates. Note: this resources is
presently expanding and, as of July 2014,

1.1

includes government-mandated primary

school curricula for download
Mango Tree Uganda NA non-profit
working in conjunction with the Northern
Uganda Literacy Program (NULP) to
develop primary school curriculums for
rural areas
After extensive interviews and research sessions,
we created a redesigned curriculum prototype
with a specific sensitivity to opportunities in the
organization of the content, transparency of word
choice, visual architecture, student engagement,
and a unifying, contextually-appropriate theme.
(ii) The Calendar Team
Our design team worked to develop a calendar
that was both educational and aesthetically
engaging. Over the course of the semester, we:
Chose educational content from the WASH
curriculum to include in the calendar.
Developed an authentic Ugandan aesthetic
through original patterns and lettering by
referencing different styles of calendars as
well as Ugandan textiles, patterns, imagery,
and color schemes for inspiration.
Contacted photographer David Uttley and
received permission to use his images in
the design of the calendar.
DECEMBER 2013: NOTRE DAME SEMESTER
PRESENTATION
In a December presentation to Notre Dame
design program faculty members, Pamela Crane
of Lifewater International, and Justin Ahrens of
Rule29, each team discussed their overall process,
research findings, and physical deliverables.
(i) WASH Curriculum Team
The final product, a comprehensive WASH
curriculum prototype, transformed Lifewaters
200+ page curriculum into a 56-page teachers
manual, 30-page resource packet, and 12-page

WATER

Why is water so important?

OBJECTIVES

1. Understand the importance of water in our world.

2. Identify various ways our bodies need and use water.

MATERIALS

PREPARATION

BACKGROUND
INFORMATION

Playbooks, 1 per student

Chalk and chalkboard or flipchart
LESSON
PLAN
Introduce
Day
One
Week One Water
poster
(Resource
Packet pg.
xxv)

Football Player poster (Resource Packet God,

pg. i) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Pencils/markers/crayons for writing and coloring, if available Psalm 139:14a
One fresh and one visibly dehydrated plant (or fruit)
Lead the students in a discussion about the meaning of the Bible
verse
above.
Explain
thataGod
created us in beautiful harmony with
Prepare Visual Plant Demonstration: Cut one
plant
(or fruit)
few days
world
around us.
God
us water and designed our bodies to
before the lesson and allow it to drythe
out.
Cut another
plant
of gives
the same
many
wonderful ways.
variety and keep it in water (or cut ituse
thewater
day ofinthe
lesson).
Hang the Week One Water poster.
Hang the Football Player poster. Objective 1: Understand the importance of water in our world
Distribute playbooks to students. Visual Plant Demonstration: Begin this lesson with an exploration of
what/who needs water to stay alive and healthy.
Human beings can live about 2 months without food, but less than a week
Do we need water to stay healthy? Do plants need water to stay healthy?
without water.
notebooks
needdrinking
water toand
staythe
healthy?
Our body needs 2.36 liters of waterDo
a day
1/3 from
rest Do animals need water to stay
healthy? Do shoes need water to stay healthy? Do humans need water to
comes from the food we eat.
stay68
healthy?
A person 1.5m and 20cm tall weighing
kg will have over 45 liters of

Each week
begins with
one scripture
reference to
frame each of
the five lessons.

Refer to 1.1
Preparation for
instructions on
preparing for
this visual plant
demonstration.

water in his/her body at any given time.

Show students the 2 different plants: one that has a flower and looks
The amount of water in our bodies varies according to our age and body
green and alive and the other plant that is dried up and dead. Explain
part. An infant is 75% water. A pregnant woman is 80% water. An adult is
that the flowered, green plant is healthy because of water and the
60% water. An elderly adult is 50% water.
wilted one is dead because it has been dehydrated. Dehydration
Water is as important as the air we occurs
breathe.
Water
in ourorbody
is renewed
when
a plant
person
loses a significant amount of water.
every six weeks primarily by the water we drink, so choosing to drink safe
water is important.
God created us to be made of a lot of water. Our bodies are close to 75%
Phosphoric acid is an active ingredient
found
sodas.
Large
water,
and in
wesome
need all
of that
water to survivejust like plants and
animals
do. Itinis4important
for usatowhole
drink water to stay hydrated and
amounts of phosphoric acid can dissolve
a nail
days; dissolve
healthy,from
especially
as football
players
and leaders in the village. By drinking
beef steak in 2 days and removes calcium
our bones.
Small
amounts
water, water
we become
strong
and can
beat the bad germs in unsafe water.
of this can be found in Cola. Which drink,
or Cola,
is most
healthy?
KEYWORDS

students
to turn
to page 1amount
of their playbooks. Page 1 will have an
Dehydration: occurs when a plantAsk
or person
loses
a significant
outlined drawing of a child playing football. Instruct them to color in
of water.
75% of the child and answer the questions at the bottom.

Playbook pg. 1.

Why do you think that our bodies need so much water? How do we get
water into our bodies? What body parts need water?
Refer to the Football Player poster hanging on the wall. Ask a student
to come up and color 75% of the football players body. Ask the
students to identify which parts of the body they think need water
3
and label the identified parts on the board. Teach
the students the
following facts about water within the body, as deemed appropriate
for the grade level:

Refer to
Resource Packet
pg. i for Football
Player poster.

Brain: Our brains are 75% water. Water keeps the brain active and alert.
Even a 2% drop in water can cause fuzzy memory, trouble with basic
math, difficulty focusing and tiredness.
Eyes: Water washes away any dirt that gets in our eyes and gives us tears
when we need to cry.
4

student workbook. Our design contributions

included the following:

Restructured content. We organized the

existing ten building blocks of Lifewaters
WASH curriculum into three themes:
water access, sanitation, and hygiene.
Lifewaters original schedule for teaching
WASH content spanned five days, lasting
eight hours per day. Our revised curriculum
spans three weeks, each week focusing on
one theme and each lesson lasting 4060 minutes each day, Monday through
Thursday. This schedule allows the WASH
curriculum to be taught concurrently with
regular lesson plans. Each Friday session
focuses on an outreach initiative that
empowers children to educate their families
and surrounding communities. Friday also
includes a team-based oral examination,
giving educators the opportunity to
evaluate student comprehension.

Unifying theme. We explored various themes

as a way to unify the WASH content and
capture students attention. We settled on
using an interactive game strategy to teach
Hoffmann, Komos, McLean

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the curriculum and chose football/soccer

as our first case study due to its popularity
in Uganda and the leadership qualities
that many players exhibit. Each week, the
class takes on a different opponent: unsafe
water, poor hygiene, or poor sanitation.
Through in-class activities, personal
workbook exercises, and homework,
learners score goals against their
respective opponents and subsequently
become leaders of safe water, hygiene, and
sanitation in their communities.

Activities for all learning styles. Students

learn in a variety of ways: visually, orally,
theoretically, and practically, to name a
few. Our curriculum accommodates these
learning styles by providing educators
with suggested interactive group activities,
storytelling, blackboard activities, oral
group examinations, demonstrations,
field trip ideas, and individual workbook
activities.
Note: With the significant reduction of
curriculum length, our team created an
accompanying student workbook, or playbook
in keeping with the football theme, at little to
no additional cost of printing. These workbooks
could be used in a variety of ways throughout
the three-week course and would act as an
additional tool for students to take home and
teach WASH to others.

Visual Architecture. Bearing in mind that

color printing is an expensive undertaking
in rural Uganda, we designed a black and
white curriculum using Lifewaters brand
standards, as developed by Rule29. Relying
heavily on column organization/structure,
various distinctive type treatments, a
basic icon set, and prominent call-outs,
we provided emphasis, noted appropriate
supplemental material, and marked
transitions. We also developed a clean and
easily identifiable illustration style for the
accompanying resource packet and student
workbook.

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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

(ii) The Calendar Team

The final product exists as a twelve month,
spiral-bound calendar. Each month displays a
different educational safe water tip, a David Uttley
photograph, a map of where the photograph was
taken, a calendar grid representing each day,
and original lettering and border details. We
put significant effort into creating a piece that
visually resonates with the people we hope will
use it. By elevating this document to a piece of art
that Ugandans can proudly hang on their walls,
the calendar also becomes an educational tool for
years to come.

PROCESS PART 2:

International Research Trip

Through connections developed by Robert Sedlack and Peni Acayo, University
of Notre Dame students and faculty were afforded the opportunity to
independently conduct design research and field-test our curriculum and
calendar prototypes in Uganda.
Our trip lasted a total of 11 days, and with the help of Laura Anderson and
Kristine Sullivan, founders of Educate for Change in Uganda, we organized visits
to two primary schools, Mother Teresa Primary and Layibi Primary, near the
rural district of Gulu in northern Uganda.

JANUARYMARCH 2014: UNIVERSITY APPROVAL

OF DESIGN RESEARCH TRIP TO UGANDA
Research team:
Students:
Emily Hoffman, Laurel Komos, Jeff McLean
Notre Dame Faculty Members:
Anne Berry, Peni Acayo
MARCH 2014: RESEARCH TRIP OBJECTIVES
Through research, we endeavor to:

1. Cultivate empathy for the cultural differences

between the United States and Uganda.

2. Develop a comprehensive understanding of

the primary school teaching environment
in Uganda, including the education system/
structure, government influences, available
resources, cultural context, economically
viable distribution methods, and culturally
relevant visual language.

3. Foster collaborative relationships with

contacts we developed throughout our
research process in order to effectively
leverage their expertise in education and
Ugandan culture with our skill set as designers.

4. Generate WASH curriculum improvements

and prototypes, when appropriate, to
understand both the role of an educator in
creating curricula and the WASH curriculumspecific content.

5. Uncover future opportunities for the calendar

project through honest, unbiased feedback
regarding its role as an educational tool as well
as its aesthetic qualities.
With these objectives, we aim to (i) continue
expanding the WASH curriculum content
originally collated by Lifewater into a robust,
culturally-appropriate, well-designed, and
effective teaching resource for primary
Hoffmann, Komos, McLean

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school educators in Uganda and (ii) develop

improvements and recommendations for the
calendar as an aesthetically-appropriate and
educational tool for safe water, hygiene, and
sanitation information.
MARCH TO MAY 2014: PLANNING THE
RESEARCH STRATEGIES
(i) WASH Curriculum:

Research Statements

Defining & Organizing our Questions

Creating a Research Strategy & Agenda

Edit & Prepare Logistics

Prepare our Audience

basic WASH curriculum into a robust and well-designed

curriculum packet for primary school teachers.
Step Two: Defining and organizing our questions.
Through brainstorming exercises, we generated
a list of assumptions and questions that we
needed to address and answer in order to achieve
our research goals. We wrote each statement
or question on a post-it note, looked for
commonalities and organized the questions into
specific categories.
Our synthesis yielded three groups: inquiries
about the overall Ugandan education system,
curriculum-specific questions regarding our
prototype, and open-ended, opinion-based
questions for curriculum improvements.
Step Three: Creating a research strategy and agenda.
When developing our research agenda, we used
a table to focus and articulate each activity,
research goal, and logistical information specific
to each element. This table ensured that every
aspect of our agenda was well-prepared and had
purpose.
Our three-part research agenda:

Step One: Research Statements.

In order to establish a direction for subsequent
research techniques, our team articulated
and refined our research goals and purpose
for international travel into a comprehensive
research statement:
As design researchers and visual communication
designers, we have the opportunity to make a major
impact on the quality of hygiene and sanitation
education in rural Uganda. Through direct collaboration
efforts with intended users of the curriculum,
including ethnographic observations, interviews,
and participatory design sessions, we aim to make a
contribution to Ugandan WASH education curricula
and develop a sense of empathy for the intended users
and surrounding cultural context. Empowered by this
cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary experience, we
will be better equipped to expand and transform the
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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

Group Interview Sessions. We planned to split

our research team into two groups and
simultaneously facilitate two 30-minute
group interview sessions with 3-5 teachers per
group. In these sessions, we aimed to answer
our questions about the overall context and
culture of teaching in Uganda, discussing
themes about common teacher preparation
tactics, evaluation practices, resources
available in schools, similar safety education
programs, and the structure of the Ugandan
school day.
Participatory Design Sessions. Secondly, we
planned a 75-minute participatory design
session to better understand how to adapt
our curriculum prototype to the Ugandan
classroom. We would work collaboratively
with teachers to develop ideas for the
curriculum and test the comprehension and

effectiveness of our prototype content and

visuals. This platform would allow for openended and opinion-based questions as well as
curriculum-specific questions.
Alternatively, we discussed the possibility of
turning the participatory design session into
a collaborative lesson planning and teaching
workshop. We would work with teachers
to select a WASH topic, develop a teaching
strategy, and then either co-teach or watch
the Ugandan teachers teach the topic to a
class. This would be an opportunity to observe
both the planning and teaching of a WASHspecific lesson.
Student Dialogue and/or Classroom Observations.
Lastly, we planned to talk with small groups of
students and observe classes while they were
in session. We hoped that these conversations
and observations would provide insights into
student engagement in classroom setting,
student/teacher relationships, and resource
limitations.
Step Four: Edit and prepare logistics.
After creating our research strategy, we sorted
through our list of questions with greater
attention to the connotations of our word choices.

We wanted to ensure that our dialogue would be

easy to understand and would generate unbiased,
authentic responses. See Appendix 1 for a final
list of questions.
Step Five: Prepare our audience.
A month before our visit, we sent copies of the
curriculum to the two schools we would be
visiting. We hoped this would allow the teachers
to become familiar with our curriculum prototype
and discussion topics before our arrival.
(i) Calendar:
Because the use of a Calendar is relatively
straightforward compared to the use and
execution of a curriculum, we prepared an
informal feedback session. Instead of going
into detail regarding the project specifics, we
planned to show the calendar to the teachers
we interviewed with little explanation of the
project in order to capture first-impressions
and unbiased feedback. We planned to followup with an explanation of project objectives and
gather content-specific comments regarding (i)
overall aesthetic, (ii) the success of its educational
content, and (iii) personal tendencies regarding
general calendars use.

As design researchers and visual communication designers, we have

the opportunity to make a major impact on the quality of hygiene and
sanitation education in rural Uganda. Through direct collaboration
efforts with intended users of the curriculum, including ethnographic
observations, interviews, and participatory design sessions, we aim
to make a contribution to Ugandan WASH education curricula and
develop a sense of empathy for the intended users and surrounding
cultural context. Empowered by this cross-cultural and crossdisciplinary experience, we will be better equipped to expand and
transform the basic WASH curriculum into a robust and well-designed
curriculum packet for primary school teachers.

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P2 Classroo
m

at Mother Teresa Primary School

MAY 23RD TO JUNE 2ND: INTERNATIONAL

DESIGN RESEARCH IN UGANDA
Gulu, Uganda:
School Visit #1: Mother Teresa Primary
Background:
Mother Teresa Primary is a small, private school
of approximately 200 students.
Observations:
Upon our arrival at Mother Teresa Primary, we
began noting details such as: the posters on the
walls, materials and resources in classrooms,
and the state of the water pump and latrines on
the compound. We documented these primarily
through photographs .
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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

Group Interview:
Curriculum. Since we had 5 teachers participating,
we chose to interview all of them together, rather
than splitting into two separate groups. We
began the conversation with general questions
about the primary school environment in Uganda
then moved into WASH curriculum-specific
questions. During our discussion, the teachers
showed us physical examples of governmentmandated syllabi, personal lesson rubrics, which
they develop through a process they refer to as
scheming, and the government exams that they
administer to track student progress
Due to the strict government-mandated syllabus,
we were not able to interrupt the scheduled
daily lesson plan to introduce our participatory

teaching session. In addition, the teachers felt the

content of our WASH curriculum was inconsistent
for testing in one age group. For example: our
lesson about handwashing was appropriate for
students in the P1 level; however, information
about specific microbes within the lesson was best
suited to students at the P7 level.

Calendar. We finished our conversation with a
discussion regarding the Calendar project. We
passed out the prototype that our classmates
created, received first impressions, and proceeded
to explain more details about the piece in order to
gather content and aesthetic-specific feedback.
Gulu, Uganda:
School Visit #2: Layibi Primary
Background:
Layibi Primary school is a public, governmentsponsored school of approximately 600 students.
It is much more rigidly structured than Mother
Teresa Primary.
Large Group Interview:
Curriculum. We met with a group of 12-15 teachers,
representing all of the primary levels and subject
specializations. We started by emphasizing the
unfinished nature of the curriculum and the value
of the teachers collaborative role in the success
of the project. After our visit to Mother Teresa,
we had a better understanding of the Ugandan
school structure, allowing us to dig deeper into
discussions regarding effective teaching tools for
teaching WASH principles.
Halfway through our discussion, the teachers
began initiating questions, creating a more
collaborative and candid dialogue comparing and
contrasting the education systems in Uganda and
the United States.
Small Group Interview:
Curriculum. We invited a smaller group of about
7 science teachers to stay for a more in-depth
conversation about the WASH curriculum. They
looked over the prototypes we already created and
gave us curriculum-specific feedback.

Photos (from top): Resources found in the P2 classroom at Mother Teresa

Primary; the ND research team and Mother Teresa teachers we interviewed;
posters in the P2 classroom at Mother Teresa; the P7 classroom at Mother Teresa
Hoffmann, Komos, McLean

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Gulu, Uganda:
Synthesizing our Research from both visits.
After our last visit, we regrouped to synthesize our
qualitative data according to the following steps:
Combined observations and field notes into one
shared document.
Transferred observations onto post-it notes.
Uncovered themes and trends among the
observations. We read each post-it aloud then
clustered correlating post-its together. We kept
the definitions of our clusters fluid, allowing
overarching themes to surface. See below.
Organized clusters into can affect or
can not affect groups.
We further sorted these groups into two silos:
can affect and can not affect. If, through our
design and research skill sets, we could affect the
topic of the post-it note group, we placed it in the
can affect group. The observations outside of
our capacity to change (i.e. government syllabus,

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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

resources, etc.) were placed in the can not

affect group.
Uncovered themes and trends among
observations we can affect.
Looking specifically at the can affect group,
we further sorted observations into trends
and themes. We clustered the groups into five
overarching categories: the teaching environment,
the schools role in the community, how teachers
engage in their context, specific WASH curriculum
feedback, and calendar-specific feedback.
Articulated insights and future recommendations.
Using our observation notes and the clusters as a
guide, we have since sifted through the qualitative
data in order to form the following actionable
insights and potential recommendations for
future iterations of the WASH curriculum and
calendar projects.

OUR RESEARCH SYNTHESIS PROCESS

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insights

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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

MAKING SENSE OF THE DATA

Research Insights

The two schools we visited in Gulu revealed a great deal about water safety,
hygiene curriculum, and the primary school context in general. While Mother
Teresa Primary and Layibi Primary cannot provide a comprehensive overview of
all public and private schools in the region, we can still extract valuable insight
to improve further iterations of the WASH curriculum education materials and
water safety calendar.

BACKGROUND ON THE SCHOOLS:

1. THE PRIMARY SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Mother Teresa Primary is a small, private school

that was founded by Sister Hellen Lamunu in
the wake of the conflict with the Lords Resistance
Army in northern Uganda. About 35 of the 200
students at the school are deaf, and all students
have the option to board as early as age four.
Sister Hellen relies heavily on endowments and
gifts to help keep tuition affordable. Nearly
one-third of the students at Mother Teresa
Primary do not pay tuition (approximately $500
USD) each year.

The school schedule has a definite rhythm.

The Ugandan school year is divided into three
terms per year, with a short break of a few weeks
between terms. Each day is organized into eight
40-minute class periods, and many schools hold
a full-school assembly at least once each week.
Teachers dont necessarily teach for every class
period but are on rotation to teach several lessons
each day.

Layibi Primary School is a public school just

south of the district of Gulu. Although it is
government-funded, students must still pay to
attend. Layibi Primary was much bigger than
Mother Teresa, with closer to 1000 students across
the P1-P7 levels.

Student clubs are a vibrant part of school life.

Each student at Layibi is required to participate in
at least one of the schools student clubs, which
are usually academic or community-focused.
Clubs have elected student leaders and faculty
moderators, and their meetings and programming
fall outside of school hours. At Mother Teresa,
participation in clubs is enthusiastic when
resources are available for them to operate.

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The government syllabus sets the structure for the

curriculum.
Much like the Common Core State Standards
Initiative in the United States which establishes
consistent benchmarks for student academic
achievement from year to year and across states,
the Ugandan government issues a syllabus that all
teachers must follow. This syllabus defines which
topics should be taught for every subject for every
week of the school year.
Teachers at Layibi are audited twice per term (six
times per year) by government representatives
to keep them accountable to this syllabus. As a
private school, Mother Teresa self-audits by the
same rigorous standards to uphold its reputation
as a high-quality institution.
Both schools hold strictly to the syllabus, and if a
teacher cannot get his or her students through the
required lessons for the term, classes run after the
end of the term in order to finish.
Teachers have more freedom with curriculum in
lower-level classes.
In Primary 13, classes are taught on a themed
basis, as opposed to the specific subjects taught
in Primary 4 and higher. Testing also so begins
at the Primary 4 level. At these higher levels,
teachers have more pressure to conform their
class scheduling to the syllabus and would avoid
accommodating any materials that required a
change in schedule.
It is difficult to connect the theoretical
with the practical.
All teachers must walk the line between teaching
practical, useful lessons, and satisfying the
educational content of the government-mandated
syllabus. At the end of a lesson, for example,
students may be able to recite general theories
or answer broad questions on a particular topic.
However, it is also up to the teacher to make
sure they can apply what theyve learned to
real-life contexts.

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Sanitation and hygiene are currently being taught in

Ugandan schools.
Sanitation education is a part of the governmentmandated science curriculum. Lessons are
distributed over the years between Primary 1 and
Primary 7 with increasing complexity and focus
on microbial diseases as the students get older.
Since teachers are already well-informed on the
subject of sanitation, they have taken initiative
to extend that education outside the context of
a class period. Teachers at Layibi often engage
individual students to address personal hygiene
issues they observe, such as dirty school uniforms
or poor washing habits and their root causes,
which usually have more to do with poverty than
lack of education.
Students are often learning in a secondary language.
All lessons in Primary 17 are taught in English.
However, learners in the schools we visited
grew up speaking only local languages such as
Acholi. English proficiency is highly valued in
these communities, but learning new content in
a foreign language is difficult for many students.
The Ugandan government recently allowed
schools to teach Primary 13 in the local tongue, a
practice which Mother Teresa has adopted.
Academic resources are limited and often outdated.
Students at Layibi and Mother Teresa have one
notebook and one pencil each, which they use for
class exercises and homework. Both schools can
only afford to provide teachers with textbooks,
and these resources often arent compatible with
updates to the government syllabus. Teachers
are continually looking for tools they can use in
their classrooms to support lessons and will use
textbooks from other grade levels when nothing
else is available. If they do find better materials,
however, they must pay for them out of their
own pocket. Teacher-created resources, such as
posters or charts, might not last through a given
school year.

Time is precious, and class sizes can be large.

Anywhere between thirty to over one hundred
students might be in one class at the same time.
Layibis P1 class, for example, has close to one
hundred learners. In addition to classroom
management, planning effective lessons and
evaluating students progress is taxing on teachers.
2. THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY
Education is highly valued but equally expensive.
Students at both schools deeply understand that
a good education is the foundation for future
opportunities. Education is not free, and children
may work outside of school to pay their own
tuition. Schools educate as many children in their
communities as they can but are stretched by
limited budgets. One teacher at Layibi expressed
that many children out on the streets would
attend school without hesitation if they had the
funding to do so. If a student at Layibi is failing
or attempting to drop out of school, teachers at
Layibi will personally visit the students home
and work with a community leader, such as a local
priest, to help that child return to school in
better shape.
Student clubs engage with their community.
Layibi Primary has a number of student
clubs, including a debate team and a health
club specifically oriented towards promoting
sanitation habits. Members of the community
attend club-sponsored events and performances,
and the health club in particular cleans a local
pharmacy in exchange for school medications.
Schools are trusted to serve the children well.
Teachers at both schools are trusted to provide
quality education and, consequently, parents do
not interfere with school activities or proceedings.
Parents will, however, enthusiastically attend any
public events or performances held by the school.

3. STRATEGIES USED BY PRIMARY

SCHOOL TEACHERS
Lessons progress from the known to the unknown.
Teachers plan their lessons with a structure
intended to reinforce the foundations of new
content as its being introduced. Teachers at
Layibi keep notebooks with reference grids to help
plan and execute each lesson:

1. Daily lessons begin with a review of past

2.
3.

4.
5.

material and homework, followed by an oral

question/answer session to ensure the whole
class understands the content before moving
forward.
The main concepts are introduced, and the
teacher explains how the new information fits
together with previous content.
The class spends about ten minutes discussing
the context of the new material, how it relates
to students past experiences, and how it
might help them in the future.
The teacher leads the class in an enrichment
activity that engages the students and helps
them integrate what theyve learned.
At the end of the lesson, the teacher assigns
homework prompts for the students to answer
and turn in at the beginning of the next
lesson.

Teachers pursue participatory learning.

Teachers at Mother Teresa see themselves as
learning facilitators and not rigid lecturers. They
are excited about innovative teaching strategies
and brainstorm creative ways to provide their
students with an engaging learning experience.
Whether through interactive demonstrations,
play-acting, open discussions, physical activity,
storytelling, student artwork and illustrations,
or any other method they find, they are willing
to experiment with new ideas if they believe that
students will benefit and that the syllabus will
remain intact. At both institutions, teachers meet
regularly to collaborate and share these ideas.

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Classroom management often requires

more than one person.
Teachers at Layibi who have a class period or two
off often spend their breaks helping colleagues
manage large classes. Further assistance comes
from student leaders who are elected by their
peers. The highest positions are reserved for
Prefects--they represent the students and help
keep their behavior in line during and in
between classes.
Group activities help with classroom management
but also present limitations.
Having students work in small groups makes it
easier for teachers to engage them, particularly
in Layibis large classes of 100 or more where
providing one-on-one feedback is difficult. Group
assignments allow students to work directly with
lesson materials, however, teachers at Layibi
found that they have less opportunity to get direct
feedback on how well students understand the
content. One group might struggle for an entire
class period without getting the opportunity to
ask a question. In addition, group presentations
take more time than is available during a given
class period, so often not every group has a chance
to present.
The school itself is a valuable educational resource.
While they do not have the financial resources to
take students on field trips, instructors at both
schools use their respective grounds and facilities
to complement their teaching. Students enjoy
being outside the confines of the classroom,
and using materials found around the compound
can be a great way to bridge the gap between
theory and practical knowledge for a wide range
of subjects. Students can learn about sanitation

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specifically on-site at the schools latrine, water

well, water collection and storage facilities,
kitchen, gathering areas, and even within the
classroom itself.
Hygiene and sanitation are integral
parts of school culture.
At Layibi, general assemblies twice a week give
teachers the chance to check students clothes
and washing habits, and reprimand them if they
arent taking care of themselves. Students are
individually responsible for maintaining the
sanitation and cleanliness of certain areas within
the school; they maintain the grounds, chop
the grass, and clean up debris on a daily basis.
Teachers understand that good hygiene and
sanitation start at home, and encourage students
to practice these habits with their families as well.
Student efforts build a sense of ownership.
Having students imagine, create, and build
on their own initiatives works well in the long
run: students not only take more ownership of
the class content but are less likely to damage
anything that results from their work. Teachers at
both schools stated that in general, student-made
educational materials last longer than anything
they (the teachers) provide.
4. CURRICULUM-SPECIFIC FEEDBACK
Our curriculum content is not compatible with the
national syllabus.
Teachers at Layibi and Mother Teresa found little
value in a WASH curriculum structured in a way
that interrupted the national syllabusboth
the one-week and three-week schedules were
not well received. They did, however, find value

in the creative ideas, activities, and education

resources within the WASH curriculum as a way to
reinforces lessons in their year-long curriculum.

commented on the beautiful patterns and colors

throughout the document and were eager to hang
the calendar in their homes.

There are too many words.

Even with a WASH curriculum reduced to 56
pages, the teachers we interviewed still saw it
as too dense to be useful. Skimming over large
chunks of text, they said they already knew the
content and would use it only for its enrichment
activities.

Calendars are used to remember the past,

not just plan for the future.
Some teachers and staff members we interviewed
use calendars as a way to plan for future dates,
while others use them as a way to remember past
events. Calendars, in this sense, serve as daily
journals of their personal experiences. These
calendars will be used for longer than a year.

The current WASH curriculum is not

age-specific enough.
Care needs to be taken to understand the
intelligence level of the audience. Teachers at
both schools were unclear about the age-level of
the intended WASH audience; for example, hand
washing songs are appropriate for P1 or P2, while
an in-depth analysis of microbial pathways is
appropriate for P6/P7.
Schools have unique resource limitations.
Both schools had differing demonstration
resources (latrines, wells, water tanks, filters,
etc.) at their disposal. To accommodate this
difference, recommended activities should
include alternatives that do not rely on these
materials being readily available. Anything meant
for disposable use, such as a workbook, will likely
be kept for years out of necessity.

The calendar grid is too small.

Both types of users commented that the size
of the boxes for calendar dates is too small to
accommodate what they would write in the
spaces.
Teachers saw opportunity to use the calendar as a
learning tool in the classroom, not just the home.
While the calendar was originally designed for use
in the Ugandan home, teachers at Mother Teresa
see opportunity to transform the calendar into an
educational tool for the classroom, specifically for
the WASH curriculum. They suggest that (i) the
calendar be reformatted into a series of laminated
posters to hang in the classroom, (ii) the
photographs and imagery relate to WASH-specific
concepts coordinated with the national syllabus,
and (iii) questions or activities accompany the
images to foster classroom participation.

5. CALENDAR-SPECIFIC FEEDBACK
The aesthetic resonates with intended audience.
The first impressions indicate that the overall
aesthetic of the calendar appeals to Ugandan
natives. Those interviewed specifically

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ideas

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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

MOVING FORWARD

Research-Driven Recommendations
Using our research insights as a starting point, we worked together to develop
the following set of recommendations for Lifewater moving forward. These
ideas all leverage the knowledge we gained while performing our ethnography
in Uganda, and would help improve Lifewaters current water safety, sanitation,
and hygiene initiatives in East Africa.

1. THE NEXT EDUCATION RESOURCE PROTOTYPE

In order to provide Ugandan educators with a
useful tool for teaching WASH principles, we
recommend the development of a resource packet
designed to integrate with the government
syllabus for water access, sanitation, and hygiene
lessons for each grade level.
Provide creative resources for teachers.
The resource packet should provide teachers with
a selection of activities and materials well-suited
for each required lesson about WASH concepts.
These could potentially include:
songs
group games
stories
dramas
demonstrations
dances
field trip ideas
posters
flashcards
review questions

Think about large class sizes.

The activities should be flexible for use with
extreme variations in class sizes and should list
alternative methods and resources in the event
that a school has limited or no access to the
recommended resources.
Take advantage of extracurricular student groups.
At the end of the packet, there should be an
additional section giving teachers and school
administrators ideas for how to integrate WASH
principles into student clubs, such as Music,
Dance, and Drama (MDD), and how to establish
community outreach initiatives stemming from
the concepts learned in the classroom.
Package one resource packet per school.
In order to reduce printing and distribution costs
for both rural schools and Lifewater International,
this resource packet would be best designed as
one per school. Rather than being structured
as one single book for all teachers to share, it
can be developed as a series of separate smaller

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installments for each grade level packaged in a

box or large folder.
Make resources for a given sanitation
lesson easy to find.
Resources should be organized according to
topics as well as by syllabus terms. After
locating a lesson, teachers should find activity
recommendations for different class sizes and
varying access to demonstration resources at the
school. A time estimate for each activity would
also be helpful.
Avoid including perishable items in
the resource packets.
Items such as tear-out flash cards are not
durable, so we recommend that teachers work
with students to create their own sets each year
using the set provided in the resource packet as a
model.
The imagery in the calendar should
involve specific sanitation lessons.
The current version of the calendar has beautiful
photos, but their educational value is limited in
terms of sanitation and water safety. The people
to whom we showed the calendars indicated that
best opportunity for education was in the photos
themselvesshowing a child using a water filter,
washing their hands properly, etc. While small
text might be read once, the image is viewed the
length of the month.

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2. EFFECTIVE TESTING STRATEGIES

Travel with a native Ugandan.
With Peni Acayo as our guide, we were able to
experience the country though the perspective of
a Ugandan native. Peni made it possible for us to
quickly immerse ourselves in the culture and build
more personal and authentic relationships with
the people we encountered.
Be intentional about seating arrangements.
At Mother Teresa, we set up a circle of chairs
in order to create a comfortable inclusive
environment for our group discussion. In order
to encourage candid conversation, feedback and
potential side-conversations, we wanted to make
sure that we interspersed ourselves among the
teachers at Layibi.
At Layibi, we were welcomed by the headmaster
and led to an empty classroom that was already
prepared for our interview and full of roughly
20 teachers. Our research group sat in a row
at the front of the room facing the teachers,
who sat around the perimeter of the room (a
U-formation). This created a formal setting that
was less conducive to the candid dialogue of
informal conversation.
Humble introductions are critical.
As Western foreigners attempting to bridge gaps
in Ugandan safe water education through art and
design, we began our research sessions humbly

acknowledging our own limitations, and affirming

the value of the knowledge and feedback of the
Ugandan educators.
At Layibi, rather than referring to our prototype
as a finished deliverable, we emphasized that it is
unfinished in its current state and that feedback
and responses from teachers was a key part to
the success of the project. This subtle change
in semantics fostered a greater sense of open
collaboration and ownership by the teachers.

Recommendation Summary

Provide creative resources

Technology disrupts relationship-building.

We entered the interview at Mother Teresa
with iPhones to record conversations, DSLR
cameras to document resources, and laptops as
a tool for asking questions and taking notes. It
is possible that the presence of this technology
may have had an impact on our ability to develop
a deeper rapport with these teachers as it
further emphasized the economic and resource
differences between privileged Americans and
rural Ugandans.
We entered Layibi with only notebooks and
pencils to record our observations, and the
session went much more smoothly.
Exchange contact information for follow-up.
At Layibi Primary, we asked a group of teachers
for their contact information so we could follow
up with them at an appropriate time. This helped
further the relationship we were building, and
gives us an opportunity to reach out with both
further questions and with a final version of our
curriculum deliverables at a later date.

The Next Education

Resource Prototype

for teachers
Think about large class sizes
Take advantage of
extracurricular student groups
Package one resource packet
per school
Make resources for a given
sanitation lesson easy to find
Avoid including perishable
items in the resource packets
The imagery in the calendar
should involve specific
sanitation lessons.

Effective Testing Strategies

Travel with a native Ugandan

Be intentional about seating

arrangements
Humble introductions are
critical
Technology disrupts
relationship-building
Exchange contact information
for follow-up

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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

To conclude, as designers undergoing this creative and ethnographic process, we

learned a great deal not only about the WASH curriculum and calendar but also
about our role as designers. Delving head first into our prototypes during the fall
semester provided an invaluable working knowledge of the WASH educational
content and a firsthand perspective of primary objectives, important research
questions, and future challenges. Consequently, the work we did to create these
initial prototypes directly informed and guided the success of our ethnographic
field research. As evidenced by this report, the ability to travel to Uganda and
directly empathize with our intended users challenged our initial perceptions,
uncovered valuable insights and provides a substantiated foundation upon which
to expand WASH education.
It is our hope that our design and research work will inform future development
of water safety, sanitation, and hygiene education materials in a way that has
authentic empathy for its end users.

Hoffmann, Komos, McLean

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APPENDIX:

List of Research Questions

GENERAL QUESTIONS
Describe your typical school day.
How many classes do you teach?
How long are the class periods?
How do you prepare for your lessons?
How do you handle break times?
How many students do you usually teach
at the same time?
What is the teacher-student ratio?
Describe how you plan your lessons.
Lecture? Group activities? Discussion? Creative
activities? Games? Homework?
What teaching resources do you use?
Posters? Flash cards? Textbooks? Blackboards?
Have you ever used a curriculum packet
like this before?
What tools are available for use in the
classroom?
Crayons? Markers? Paper? Are there enough
for each student?
How are the levels (primary 1 to primary
7) structured?
How do you evaluate students
performance?
Marks? Homework? Exams? Presentations?
What extracurricular activities do you
offer at your school?
Sports? Clubs?
What is the schools role in the
community?
Are there any activities that already bring
the school and the community together?
Are community outreach programs

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Uganda Research Report for Lifewater International

feasible or relevant?
What kinds of safety education do you
provide?
Sex education? First aid? HIV/AIDS?
How long are these extra lessons?
Do you currently have a water safety
program?
How does ours differ from what you
already have? Does it fall short of
improving? How?
Do you have a textbook for water safety
programs? Can we see it?
What are the essential topics that must be
covered for the test?
What terms could be confusing? Which
ones should be emphasized?

CURRICULUM-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
First Impression. In a few words, how would
you describe this curriculum?
Good and Bad. Is there a specific section
that stood out to you as particularly good
or bad?
Familiarity. Have you ever seen a
curriculum in this format before? (Booklet
form? etc)
Format. Did the structure make sense
format of the script & directives make
sense?
Did the icons make sense? Do you
understand what they mean?
Are the call outs to the resource packet
useful? Are they noticeable?

 Age appropriateness. What age do you

envision this curriculum being used for?

Is the curriculum flexible enough to use in
the Primary 4 to 7 levels?
At which grade level do you think this
curriculum would need to be started?
How would you adapt this for younger or
older grades?

ACTIVITIES
Were there any activities that stood out to
you? The good? The bad? The ugly?
Do you think the curriculum presented
a wide range of different activities that
were suitable for various learning styles?
THEME
What do you think about the football
theme?
How would the students react to this?

OVERALL
Did anything not translate?
Were there any points of confusion?
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
If you were to restructure this curriculum,
how would you do it?
How would you change the team
structure?
How would you change the curriculum to
make it more age-appropriate for each
group?
What theme (if any) would you use/apply
to this curriculum?
What activities would you add or subtract
from the curriculum and why?

How would you adapt this for younger or

older grades?

PLAYBOOK
Did the concept of the workbook/playbook
make sense?
Is it something that is familiar to the
students?
Do you think it would be an effective
learning tool?
Do the illustrations make sense to you?
Would they be effective for students?
RESOURCE PACKET
How would you use this?
Does this add anything to the curriculum?
HOMEWORK
Does homework exist in your school?
Does the term homework translate?
Do you think students would actually do
the homework we ask them to do?
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
What did you think of this idea?
Would any of these proposed activities be
feasible?
Anything specific that you would
implement? or not choose to implement?
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