A Bingley mum will travel to Uganda this summer to help develop the skills of teachers in one of the country’s poorest rural areas.

Rachel Johnson will join a group of UK-based teachers in designing and running a forum for 250 teachers from 50 schools in the Buikwe district of Uganda.

“The average monthly salary for a primary school teacher in Uganda is 100 dollars and the average class size is 50 children. Underqualified and underpaid, teachers work against the odds,” said Rachel.

“Pupils are keen to expand their minds, despite the lack of provisions and comfortable learning environments that so many of us are accustomed to here. Buikwe district is one of the poorest rural areas in Uganda, a country that is one of the poorest in the world.

“The level of co-operation for the forum is unprecedented, with the Ministry of Education and local Members of Parliament supporting the initiative.”

Rachel, an English language tutor at the University of Huddersfield, will travel to Uganda in August.

She will leave her husband and two young children at home during the two-week project and says she is “excited but nervous” about the trip.

“I expect the journey to be an extremely emotional experience, not least being away from my family, but if our team can make the smallest of positive impacts to the education of the children we meet, it will be an invaluable contribution,” she said.

She will be working with the First Buikwe Teachers’ Forum run by the Great Generation, a social enterprise which has delivered more than 50 successful projects in Uganda over the past eight years.

*To find out more about the project or to sponsor Rachel, visit her fundraising page at mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/racheljohnson.