This year’s Culture Coaching program (Kisaakate) of Her Highness Nabagereka has entered Day Five with students learning morals, culture, and traditions. Today, the students were organized into groups to learn different skills. Students who are 14 years and above were taken to a banana plantation and taught everything to do with banana farming including the importance of a Muganda farmer and his/her plantation. Here, the students learned how carry out several activities while in a banana plantation.
Ssenga Joyce Tomusange, one of the experts and trainers in the Culture Coaching program, said both the girls and boys have been exposed to and taught almost all vital and essential skills concerning a plantation, saying "We have taught them about a plantation right from the banana sucker planting to pruning."
During the upbringing of children in Buganda, children are usually sat down and taught about the responsibilities of a man and woman upon attaining maturity. Ssenga Tomusange further explained “This is so that they can be able to have a heart and mind of self-reflection and to appreciate the skills and knowledge they acquired during the entire Kisaakate program."
Some of the students interviewed said that they learned a lot from the program. One reflected on the fact that they always bought food from supermarkets and she didn’t know where it came from. Another stated that the training has helped her learn how to prune and take good care of banana plantations which she didn't know.
The Executive Director of the Nabagereka Development Foundation Andrew Adrian Mukiibi who is one of the founders of the Culture Coaching (Kisaakate) program said the beneficiaries have so far familiarized themselves with the whole idea of the program which was hosted at St. Joseph of Nazareth located in Kavule Katende. Also, Joanita Kawarya one of the trainers at the Culture Coaching program in our interview with her revealed that many parents have neglected their own children’s upbringing to be respectful towards elders. She said "We have found these children's communication skills lacking in how they speak and respond. For instance, responding to one calling them by names or inquiring if they finished a task. In their responses, they only provide direct translations of English responses of yes or no and give single replies with no referencing or even words that accord respect to the one who asks."
Joanita Kawarya also added that the world is headed to having a generation of people who cannot do anything for themselves due to their laziness and neglect from parents who tend to nurture children the modern way which is a bad substitute for our culture and tradition, stating “Most of the Nations nurture and train their children to have life skills and appreciate hard work. But this is not the case with our children who are lazy and still challenged with language.”
On this note, the Executive Director of Nabagereka Development Foundation Andrew Adrian Mukiibi encouraged parents to continue uplifting the morals and skills embedded in these children when they return home at end of the Kisaakate the Culture Coaching program, saying "After some time, the children may not be able to do all that they learned in case there is no one to help and guide them in such activities."
The students were also taught how to make chapattis because of the popularity it has gained. Mambo Restaurant offered the chapatti making skills training.