Building More Than a School – Noah’s ARC
In 2017, I said “Yes” to an invitation to share some educational best practices with teams of teachers in Uganda. As an educator, I knew at once that this would change my life. I was excited to meet the teachers at Noah’s ARC and to meet Kenneth and Beatrice Kabagambe, who founded and direct this organization. I had never been to Uganda. I have returned five times since.
No amount of training or preparation could have prepared me for the culture shock: Power outages, water issues, and the sights along 170 miles (over several hours) on bumpy roads between the airport in Entebbe to Noah’s ARC in Kyenjojo, were all thoroughly unfamiliar. But I quickly learned that the real culture shock was not external. It was in my heart.
At Noah’s ARC, people come before tasks. We arrived with so many practices we hoped to implement with the teachers. We learned quickly that to Ken and Beatrice, people mattered more than best practices.
I had traveled to Uganda with a very Western view. Over the following days, and by no choice of my own, my attitude began to change. I began to see that the day-to-day interactions with people were God’s primary vehicle for redemptive work and transformation, not a distraction from it. Without authentic relationships, change cannot occur in a community. I was not there to impart wisdom. I was there to experience a beautiful community.
Ken and Beatrice play an essential role in ensuring that students receive an excellent education at Noah’s ARC. Just as relationships open a door to discipleship, so does education. An excellent education is not simply passing information from one person to another. It develops the mind, body, and soul of a child. That is what I saw each day, and in every year that followed. The teachers there have an extraordinary opportunity to disciple students through the quality of the education they give them. I could tell many stories of students I met who were profoundly shaped by their teachers and mentors at that school. Now, with more than 512 children enrolled, there are many more stories to tell.
Though I am in a different place and have a different role now, I am glad to continue locking arms with Noah’s ARC, and I am grateful for the prayers, encouragement, and generosity that ThinSpace Africa contributes as a partner to this organization. I’m confident that as Noah’s ARC’s scope and impact continue to grow, the heart of its ministry will remain exactly the same.
Needless to say, I am proud to partner with them. If you would like to do so as well, you can learn more, and contribute to their work, at thinspaceafrica.org.
By Lisa Glenn, educator and ThinSpace Africa Board member