Meet this year's group!
We’re fortunate to have curious volunteers joining us on this summer’s trip to share their skills and learn from our Ugandan partners.
Hillari Hansen
Hillari has had the best career teaching Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade for 30 years in Longmont. When she retired, she landed her “dream job” as the School Development Director for Mwebaza. During all these years, she’s made thousands of connections with students, families, teachers, and communities.
This will be her seventh trip to Uganda and she’s just as excited as her first trip! She loves connecting Mwebaza’s partner schools in Colorado and Uganda by learning together about each other’s cultures, traditions, lifestyles, and environmental needs.
She’s looking forward to being in person with students and teachers at our partner schools and working together on this year’s cross-cultural exchange projects. She’s curious to see if her traveling companions, Nelle and Lulu, love Uganda as much as she does!
Dale Peterson
Dale was an educator in the St. Vrain Valley School District for 26 years. He founded the Mwebaza Foundation in 2008 and currently helps Niwot Elementary run its Mwebaza Club each school year.
Dale believes strongly in the work being done by the Foundation and the relationships forged through this work. He believes that when children and adults learn from and have the opportunity to know and appreciate others from different walks of life and different parts of the world, they will be less likely to judge or dismiss them, and more likely to value and honor them and countless others they encounter in their lives.
This will be his 7th time visiting Uganda with the Mwebaza Foundation. He’s most looking forward to seeing the dear friends he has made there and meeting the one-year-old daughter of his long-time friend, Namatovu Catherine. He’s curious to see how the schools in Uganda have changed since weathering the pandemic.
Lourdes “Lulu” Buck
Lulu Buck has been a public educator for twenty-four years and is currently a Coordinator of Educational Equity and Family Engagement for a local school district. Previously, Lulu was an English Language Development and World Language Senior Consultant for the Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education, and the Standards and Instructional Support Office at the Colorado Department of Education.
Lulu was most passionate about her role as a state trainer for cultural responsiveness and equity for districts and schools, through which she had the honor of training thirty-eight Colorado school districts. She also taught English and Spanish for ten years in public secondary schools.
This partnership is so important to build global awareness and acceptance for all kids. "Sue's Sky" is her first book and was recently translated into Spanish titled "El Cielo de Susana". It is a book about teaching acceptance and inclusion. Lulu has developed a free curriculum to support educators and parents in creating safe spaces for kids. "Sue's Sky" was awarded the gold seal of approval from the Mom's Choice Awards for being named among the best in family-friendly media and services. It also received 2 honorable mentions from the 2022 Purple Dragonfly Awards for Best Illustrations and Schools Issues. "Sue's Sky" was recently selected as a 2023 Book Excellence Award Finalist for the "Children's Inspirational/Motivational" category.
Lulu is most excited about teaching these lessons internationally and making new friends. She is most excited in seeing how the connection through these lesson work globally connecting kids from Uganda to Colorado. Lulu is curious about the culture and school systems of Uganda and is looking forward to learning and being a sponge of all this new learning and experiences.
Nelle Gallegos
Nelle has spent the last 21 years in elementary education - eleven years teaching primary students (Kindergarten, first, and second grade). For the last ten years, she has been working as a dean of students in two different elementary schools. She’s also worked extensively as an interventionist supporting students who may struggle with academics or behaviors.
Nelle worked for 18 years with one of Mwebaza's sister schools and is ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with the students and staff of the schools her students corresponded with. This trip to Uganda has been a dream of hers for the last ten years, “I am truly looking forward to working and learning alongside our Uganda friends.”
