Values-Driven Education - Community

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

EXAMPLE #1 of Values-Driven Education - Community

Many would say that “community” is already a value that Ugandans hold to strongly. But truth be told tribe, political party, economic status and educational status often separate us. To have true community we must be a people that share common values and vision for the future.

At Africa Renewal Christian College there are plenty of individual needs; faculty would like larger salaries, students would like more computers and faster internet, administration would like more resources but you won’t hear complaining every day around the lunch table because our community has a common vision of where we are headed.

At ARCC we define community as living and working together in unity. We are specifically working together, staff and students to create a greater tomorrow for ourselves by building a greater institution together. Our aim is to become a University. As the institution becomes great staff have greater pride over what they have accomplished and students have greater pride in where they have studied. If the people of Uganda were united with a common vision for developing a great country directed by values that promote transformation they could experience the same pride. As the universities of Uganda we should lead in this charge towards greatness.

One way in which we promote community is through diversity. At ARCC we believe that the more diverse our staff and student population becomes the more evident the unity within our community will become. At ARCC our management team is made up of three nationalities from five different tribes and our twenty-five member administrative staff and full-time faculty come from a total of twelve different tribes. This can make communication and conflicts challenging at times but by putting in the effort to overcome our differences we are able to achieve a greater sense of unity as we work together. Students are encouraged to do the same as we have had students from 9 nations and 54 tribes among our 160 alumni since 2008. 

A second way in which we promote community is through working together for the common good of all. At ARCC classes are not scheduled for Friday mornings but everyone still gathers for Community Day. All staff and students appear in blue jeans, t-shirts, gumboots and gloves as we spend the morning hours working on projects together. For example, students requested a more diverse diet in the dinning hall so we spent one community day planting 250 fruit trees around the campus. Together we solved the problem of diet by combining our efforts for the good of all.

Each week areas around the campus that need improvement are identified by staff and students and together we work to solve the problems as a community. Through our Community Days we have started an on-campus recycling program, created new sidewalks and pathways around the campus, prepared and planted 12 acres of land with matoke, sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, carrots, onions and peppers and improved the overall cleanliness of the campus. Through working together we are creating an environment that is conducive to study and a source of pride to staff and students a like.

As our student population continues to grow it is our desire to put this value of community into practice in the community that surrounds us. Our plan is to continue to gather students on Fridays and eventually send them out in the area outside the campus to help in local community projects much in the same way that Rwandans gather one Saturday a month to work on community projects within their local areas. This practice has brought true transformation in Rwanda where the streets are clean, the traffic is organized and overall the people are more committed to working for the common good of their fellow man.  

Click here to see our Community Video.