Since 2005, Fontes Foundation has been facilitating an exchange between Oslo Montessori School and Katunguru-Rubirizi Primary School, a village school situated close to Fontes’ very first water installation in Queen Elizabeth National Park, south-western Uganda. The students at Oslo Montessori School in Norway have regularly raised funds in order to provide their sister school in Uganda with safe water and school uniforms. The donated pens, books and footballs have been highly appreciated and, through the years, the older students of both schools have been writing letters to each other in English.
This autumn, the Montessori art teacher Lisa Pacini came up with the idea of exchanging art works between the two schools. The art works by a group of children at Oslo Montessori School was brought to Katunguru-Rubirizi, as well as the materials to produce similar pieces of art. During a recent field visit, the Norwegian art works were presented to a group of children at Katunguru Primary School and the the Katunguru pupils were shown how to handle paint and brush, something which was completely new for them. Then, the children were allowed to paint freely. They were getting totally absorbed by their art works, mixing colours and creating shapes on their canvasses. These children have hardly come across a piece of art before, except from the colourful materials of their mothers’ dresses. Indeed, one girl painted a pattern similar to the one on her own dress. Another source of inspiration was the Ugandan flag with its colourful horizontal stripes.