I'm in Kansas for a wedding right now so I can't upload anymore videos until I'm back with my laptop and wireless internet. So....here's the link for the pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=after%20tears,%20expect%20joy&psc=G&filter=1#
Enjoy!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Baby Class performing "Dance Chippy Chippy"
The kids entertained me while my classes took their mid-terms.
Meeting Patrick
Disclaimer: This was taken after having already met Patrick. Hence the beginning of, "one more time."
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Stupid layout!
The blue font is suppose to be captions for the pictures. However, this website isn't the best and didn't understand that. So, use your imagination and contact me with any questions :)
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The End
There is a little more to talk about in the concluding days of my trip, including the most frustrating and stressful travel experience, a malaria scare, the bombing in Kampala (where I was NOT present, don't worry), and a trip to the busy craft market where we actually ran into some teachers from the school. However, considering the kids were the reason that I came to Uganda, I think the last entry was a good place to stop for this trip. I will of course post a link to my pictures later on. This was a great growing experience and I will carry it with me for the rest of my life. I appreciate things so much more now: like warm showers, toilets you can sit on, not having to wear bug spray, having air conditioning, having the means to travel the world and get a good job. I have it pretty good. I will always be thinking about my kids in Uganda though and I hope to return one day. When I do, there will definitely be some additions to this blog :)
P.S. If you have questions or want to know about the additional experiences not mentioned here, give me a call, shoot me an email, or just ask the next time you see me. I would be happy to tell you.
P.S. If you have questions or want to know about the additional experiences not mentioned here, give me a call, shoot me an email, or just ask the next time you see me. I would be happy to tell you.
Day 22: Bye Uganda
9 July, 2010
We didn't do much productive work today. I worked with P2 until break time. After having some delicious, and possibly my last taste of cassava, I taught math to P1. Then we did some English vocab and practiced verbs, where I told them "show me [insert appropriate verb of choice]" and they did what I asked.
When I told P1 that I have to go back to America this weekend half of them said, "yes, Teacher," but the other half, including Nambooze, said, "no, Teacher." The half that said, "no," started yelling at the other in Luganda, I'm assuming translating what I had said because then everyone said, "No, Teacher!"
After waiting for the P2s to finish their mid-term exam (they took one yesterday, I'm not sure
why they were taking it again???) I gave the kids mango and orange biscuits. They were excited. Teacher Susan and Teacher Christine gave me gifts (which made me feel horrible because I had run out of cash and could not get to an ATM until that weekend, so I had nothing for them). From Teacher Susan I got a bracelet and a necklace, which I immediately put on, and a basket. Teacher Christine gave me jewelry, a purse, a mat, and a number of baskets. She demonstrated how, since Americans don't need to use natural resources for household objects (a.k.a. we can go to almost any store and buy what we want to hold our fruit or put it in the fridge without worrying about bugs eating it) I could hang them on the wall and they would make nice
decorations.
There's all the stuff on the right. All handmade! And Teacher Christine's mother made the mat.
I had my last lunch with Betty. After having answered yesterday that my favorite foods so far were spaghetti and pineapple, I was kind of hoping that would be my last meal there. But alas, it was matoke :( Oh well!
Lyton, one of my P2s, was not at school all week. I think her parents hadn't paid her school fees
and that's why.
After lunch was over, I told the teachers I didn't plan on doing anything and they broke out the banana fiber to make a jump rope and a doll! It was so cool to watch them make everything! The teachers said that the kids wanted to make a doll for my cousins they had seen pictures of, so that gift is for them! It occurred to me later that I should have asked them to give her a Ugandan name, but maybe I'll name her after one of my kids, something easy for American kids to say.
Lyton (age 9). Very sad that I wasn't able to see her before I left.
"The Doll"
Soon after, Teacher Christine said something in Luganda and the kids grabbed the jump rope and ran outside screaming. I told them I wanted to try jumping rope (hey, I did jump rope for heart in elementary school!) and they loved it. They loved it even more when the teachers in their 50s jumped in with them. It was so much fun.
All of a sudden all the kids scrambled and ran toward these benches other kids had brought out and sat down. They brought out a chair and told me to sit. I sat down and they sang about 20 songs for me. One song they sang about 4 times because the teacher insisted on them using sweaters as skirts. They I told them I wanted to try. They let me, but unfortunately (more so for you, not me) there is no video of this because I tried to teach Teacher Susan how to use the video function on my camera but she didn't understand. Betty presented me with a mat and told me how much they will miss me. I said that I would miss them too and love them very much. I told all the kids to keep doing well in school and that I would miss them very much, would never forget them, and that hopefully I would see them in the future. Then I played with the kids while waiting for Mi Jeung...for over an hour. I'm not complaining though, it was a lot of fun. I got the feeling, though, that Teacher Betty was not happy with my decision to stay longer because they had already said goodbye, but walking home alone is so boring that that opinion didn't phase me too much.
I tried to joke around with Ddamba, one of my P1s, but I could tell that he was upset. He is always very smiley, and he would barely even look at me. On the way home, Teacher Christine told me that he was crying :'(
I played games with the kids for a while. One was like London Bridge, one was dodgeball, and they even got me to play tag for a bit but they kept only tagging me so I got tired and quit. Mi Jeung brought her kids outside and we played a game with a song that went something like:
[Insert name] has a police case (x3)
Open the door and she/he enters
She/he has a wiggy wagga, wiggy wagga on her shoe (x3)
Turn around and point someone.
Me and Ddamba
This game consisted of pointing to a person who then had to run around the outside of the circle, and then come to the middle of the circle and dance. The kids liked to see the teachers do it, so they kept picking Mi Jeung and I.
Soon after this game was another assembly. I was going to take a picture with Ruth who is in P4 and was taking a test the whole afternoon, but she was running to assembly and I didn't want her to be late, since I'm assuming assembly meant some possible caning. I went back into my classroom to get my things and Joen (whose name I was misspelling until yesterday) was crying and freaking out. She kept saying something about a book but when I asked if she lost her book she said, "no." Mi Jeung suggested that maybe she was sad. I gave her a hug and then started tearing up. Teacher Susan came in and said that Joen had thought she lost her book, but it was in the dorms. I'm assuming, from this freak out moment, that this assembly did include caning, especially if you didn't even have the material you had to present.
Later I found this picture of Ruth and I when she showed up at the house the week before
When Joen left the room to go to the assembly I looked over and Yawe and Kiiza were sitting with their heads down. Yawe looked up and there were tears streaming down his face. I'm not going to lie, I totally thought he was faking for a minute, but he definitely wasn't. As I was gathering up my stuff, Yawe, the toughest boy in P1, came up adn voluntarily gave me a hug. None of these kids are big on hugging and some of them didn't even know what I meant, when I asked, "can I have a hug?" Teacher Christine said tha tYawe was proud because I had given him a shirt earlier in the day. He missed school the day before because his only shirt was dirty. I told Teacher Christine and Teacher Betty that he's a bright kid and I didn't want him missing school because he doesn't have another shirt, so I asked if I could give it to him. I washed it the night before and had Mi Jeung bring it so that it would have time to dry completely. Yawe kept that shirt folded nicely the whole afternoon and carried it around with him until he went home. Teacher Christine said he was proud because only HE got a shirt, no one else. I swear tha tkid htought I didn't like him because I was always telling him "sit down, stop talking." He respected me though and wanted to be able to be involved in classroom activities, so he quickly learned to quietly raise his hand and wait patiently to be called on. He's a good kid, goofs off sometimes, very very sweet, and definitely has potential. I was just as surprised to see Kiiza crying because she seemed so disinterested in anything I was saying most of the time. I was always telling her to be quiet too. She likes to talk.
Joen is the little girl in purple on the left. Cute girl with attitude :)
I started to walk out of the classroom and Agnes and Teddy both walked up to me and said,
"Teacher, see you tomorrow."
I said, "no."
I guess they remembered it's the weekend, because they asked, "see you on Monday?"
I said, "No, I have to go home to America." I think they understood what I said. I followed that with, "but hopefully I'll see you again someday, ok?" They nodded and I gave them all hugs.
Left: Nakate Teddy/Right: Me and Nakato Agnes
When Namale and Nambooze left school that day I saw them off on their dad's motorcycle. Then a funny thing happened when Mi Jeung and I were walking up the last stretch of hill before hitting the pink building (I know no one knows what I'm talking about, I'm just demonstrating the importance of land-or in this case, building-marks in getting around in the village of Bulenga). I heard, "Hi, Teacher Danyelle." I turned to look and saw the two sisters standing in normal clothes (the schools of course have uniforms) on their front porch. We've been passing their house every weekday for the last 3 weeks. Now I know where they live and if I get to come back I can stop by. Everyone knows each other around here, so it shouldn't be too hard to find them even if they move.
Namale (age 6) and Nambooze (somewhere between 7 and 10)
Besides biscuits, I didn't have anything to give the kids or teachers on my last day. I plan to send them their individual pictures with little notes on the back. I'm sending a photo album for each class (P1 and P2), equipped with "We Are the World" lyrics. Promise to post that, as people keep asking me about it.
Teacher Christine's 2 youngest daughters wrote me letters and Teacher Christine gave me a letter to send to a former volunteer.
This is Teacher Christine's family at their house.
I'm glad my short stay in Uganda ended on a happy note, playing with the kids I've grown to love, not me crying into some kid's hair. I definitely got a little upset when I got home. It was weird being the one who had to comfort the kids and tell them that everything would be okay. That's been the first goodbye I've said this year, where things weren't the other way around (a bit of personal disclosure, if you really need details ask me in person). Leaving the school and realizing that I very well could never see these kids was probably the saddest thing of all the thoughts going through my mind (besides them dying from a disease for lack of money to pay for adequate medical care. Call my cynical, but it happens). After seeing them everyday for the last 3 weeks, not going back on Monday and sitting on my comfortable, air conditioned plane, watching a movie will keep me wondering how they are doing. I hope they don't forget me because I know I won't forget them. I hope one day they come to understand how much they impact the lives of others just by being the sweet kids they are and flashing that infectious smile. They will always hold a place in my heart and in the hearts of all those who meet them. I hope to see them again some day.
My P1 class
(from left: me, Nambooze, Kiiza, Nandoyse, Yawe, Kibbuka, Fred, Nabukalu, Namale, Ddamba)
My P2 class
(back row from left: Olivia, Teddy, Mapori, me
front row from left: Joen, Daniel, Jo Van, Nambooze, Agnes, Dorothy)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Day 21: "We Are the World"
8 July, 2010
This morning Alissa, Brittany (who all Ugandans we've met call, "Britton," it's ironic becuase they put "ee" on the end of everything else), and I waited for Sam so that we could do home visits. He showed up around 8am and waited until after 8:30am to tell us that he was going to Kampala...without us. So we hung out at the house for a while, then wandered into town to eat chapat and see any new sites. We did run into quite a few creepers who blew kisses and thought it was appropriate to yell, "hey, sweetie!" They stared us down and I stared right back and said, "good morning," ignoring their obnoxious gestures. I wasn't sure if they were staring at me because my hair was down or if they were staring at all of us because we are mzungus, or a combination of both.
At Hope, the kids had a mid-term after lunch. During the test I was entertained by kids of all ages. The P6s were having a debate about whether land or money was better. The baby class entertained me with songs that I soon realized they were being forced to sing, because when I left to go to the toilet they began working in their books.
The P1s taught me more Luganda and Teacher Christine gave me some vocabulary words to take home with me. Let me know if you want to learn any ;). The kids saw a chameleon outside and Teacher Edith ran to get it down because I couldn't see it. When I said I wanted to take a picture she ran back toward the classroom with the chameleon on a branch, and all the kids following. I got the picture, but was thoroughly amused by the efffort taken to bring the chameleon to ME. I would have been just as fine, taking the picture from the window.
When Brittany and Alissa finaly arrived with Sarah and Doreen, after getting lost and going in a huge circle for almost an hour, I jumped up and down and screamed, "They're here!" My kids probably thought something spectacular was about to happen becuase I was so excited (we needed Brittany and Alissa to record our performance, which Mi jeung has so graciously allowed me to put on YouTube, Facebook, this blog, wherever. I will post when and where it is available). All the kids and teachers gathered around the new mzungus and then we all went into the classroom. We did our performance of "We Are the World." The video pretty much speaks for itself.
Apparently Teacher David thought today was my last day so all the kids started singing good-bye and welcome (?) songs. I informed him that Friday is my last day but the kids continued to sing. Then he said, "maybe you will say 'good-bye' tomorrow." It's funny because everyone thinks I teach a different class. Some of the teachers think I teach only P1 and some think I teach only P2. I think only Teacher Betty, Teacher Christine, Teacher Edith, Teacher Susan, and the other volunteers of course know that I teach both classes.
When school ended all the kids were lined up for assembly...not completely sure what that meant, but I hope it wasn't like the last assembly. Mi jeung and I went to Tacher Christine's house which wasn't too far away. We met her family, including her brother and mother. Her daughter said that everyone had been wanting to meet me for a while. Her mother asked her, "why don't you bring her to the house?" They were all so excited. It's so cool that whenever you are even remotely involved in someone's life, especially if you are a mzungu, everyone else in their life wants to meet you too. They took pictures and everything. Teacher Christine walked with us most of the way home. She bought us more sugar cane (which I am trying to finish before I leave :/)and promised to "prepare" something for me tomorrow.
Mi jeung and I went to the well after getting back from Teacher Christine's. On the way down, this high school kid asked Mi jeung what he could do to be with her for a long time and said he wants to come to America. Her response was, "I'm leaving soon so I think that would be a bad idea." The kids that we usually see jumping around the well followed us from their house, down to the well, and back up all the way to our house. One kid was carrying a medium jerry can on his head and a small one in his hand. He made it look so easy. We later found out this kid is 7 years old! We hung out with the kids for a while taking pictures and having fun, and then went inside.
I have to go prepare myself for the last day. I bought biscuits (pronounced "bis-quits") and I'm going to take pictures with each kid and send them to the school so that the kids and teachers will have copies they can take home. I have run out of cash and can't go to an ATM until Saturday. Oh well, gotta make do with what you got.
This morning Alissa, Brittany (who all Ugandans we've met call, "Britton," it's ironic becuase they put "ee" on the end of everything else), and I waited for Sam so that we could do home visits. He showed up around 8am and waited until after 8:30am to tell us that he was going to Kampala...without us. So we hung out at the house for a while, then wandered into town to eat chapat and see any new sites. We did run into quite a few creepers who blew kisses and thought it was appropriate to yell, "hey, sweetie!" They stared us down and I stared right back and said, "good morning," ignoring their obnoxious gestures. I wasn't sure if they were staring at me because my hair was down or if they were staring at all of us because we are mzungus, or a combination of both.
At Hope, the kids had a mid-term after lunch. During the test I was entertained by kids of all ages. The P6s were having a debate about whether land or money was better. The baby class entertained me with songs that I soon realized they were being forced to sing, because when I left to go to the toilet they began working in their books.
The P1s taught me more Luganda and Teacher Christine gave me some vocabulary words to take home with me. Let me know if you want to learn any ;). The kids saw a chameleon outside and Teacher Edith ran to get it down because I couldn't see it. When I said I wanted to take a picture she ran back toward the classroom with the chameleon on a branch, and all the kids following. I got the picture, but was thoroughly amused by the efffort taken to bring the chameleon to ME. I would have been just as fine, taking the picture from the window.
When Brittany and Alissa finaly arrived with Sarah and Doreen, after getting lost and going in a huge circle for almost an hour, I jumped up and down and screamed, "They're here!" My kids probably thought something spectacular was about to happen becuase I was so excited (we needed Brittany and Alissa to record our performance, which Mi jeung has so graciously allowed me to put on YouTube, Facebook, this blog, wherever. I will post when and where it is available). All the kids and teachers gathered around the new mzungus and then we all went into the classroom. We did our performance of "We Are the World." The video pretty much speaks for itself.
Apparently Teacher David thought today was my last day so all the kids started singing good-bye and welcome (?) songs. I informed him that Friday is my last day but the kids continued to sing. Then he said, "maybe you will say 'good-bye' tomorrow." It's funny because everyone thinks I teach a different class. Some of the teachers think I teach only P1 and some think I teach only P2. I think only Teacher Betty, Teacher Christine, Teacher Edith, Teacher Susan, and the other volunteers of course know that I teach both classes.
When school ended all the kids were lined up for assembly...not completely sure what that meant, but I hope it wasn't like the last assembly. Mi jeung and I went to Tacher Christine's house which wasn't too far away. We met her family, including her brother and mother. Her daughter said that everyone had been wanting to meet me for a while. Her mother asked her, "why don't you bring her to the house?" They were all so excited. It's so cool that whenever you are even remotely involved in someone's life, especially if you are a mzungu, everyone else in their life wants to meet you too. They took pictures and everything. Teacher Christine walked with us most of the way home. She bought us more sugar cane (which I am trying to finish before I leave :/)and promised to "prepare" something for me tomorrow.
Mi jeung and I went to the well after getting back from Teacher Christine's. On the way down, this high school kid asked Mi jeung what he could do to be with her for a long time and said he wants to come to America. Her response was, "I'm leaving soon so I think that would be a bad idea." The kids that we usually see jumping around the well followed us from their house, down to the well, and back up all the way to our house. One kid was carrying a medium jerry can on his head and a small one in his hand. He made it look so easy. We later found out this kid is 7 years old! We hung out with the kids for a while taking pictures and having fun, and then went inside.
I have to go prepare myself for the last day. I bought biscuits (pronounced "bis-quits") and I'm going to take pictures with each kid and send them to the school so that the kids and teachers will have copies they can take home. I have run out of cash and can't go to an ATM until Saturday. Oh well, gotta make do with what you got.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Day 20
7 July, 2010
After learning
2 tens and 8 ones=28
yesterday,
__ (which at Hope they call, "dash") tens and __ones=28
was sooo much easier. They caught on so quickly and even Kibuuka understood (he doesn't understand anything I say unless I accompany it with the same word in Luganda).
Teacher Betty gave me fene (jackfruit) at break. She even gave me some to give to Mi jeung.
I played with the kids and asked them random questions after an hour and a half long chapel. I told them how old I am and asked them how old they are. I asked where they are from and told them where I am from. I let them go to games soon after and they played hopscotch and a game that looked similar to dodgeball. Nambooze asked me to get her ball which was in her bag in the classroom and one of the P2s was getting caned right in front of me. This kid was trying so hard to get away and the lady kept pulling him back. All the other kids followed me in the room to stare. I made them all get out and tried to find Nambooze's ball as quickly as possible. It's so weird because I never heard or seen caning until this past week, and it's been almost everyday since. Later the other Nambooze was repeating the action by pretending to beat Nabukalu with a piece of banana fiber. It's really soft and it doesn't hurt, but I told her to stop. Debbie and Daniela were doing this yesterday too.
Mi jeung and I took individual pictures with all of our kids. A couple of the P5s didn't want their pictures taken but we made them. I don't ever have that problem with my P1s and P2s. They always want to be in pictures. If I wasn't leaving so soon, it would be obnoxious.
On the way home, Mi jeung and I kept singing "A Whole New World" and decided we would sing it for the kids tomorrow. After making a trip to the supermarket, photocopying, and buying chapat, we came home to discover the electricity was out. We looked up the lyrics on Mi jeung's Blackberry and wrote them down. We practiced and then discovered that neither of us sounds like a man. We then went through a list of many songs including "Tik Tok" (that was for you, Jen) before landing on "We Are the World," which surprisingly I did not know (the 1980s MJ version, not the new crappy one with Miley Cyrus...and there were others). We rehearsed, after looking up the words, in front of Alissa and Brittany, Susan (the maid), the guard (who speaks French and Luganda and probably concluded that we are both a little crazy), and probably the whole neighborhood. Remember, the power was off so we were singing outside. At one point there was the sound of a cough at the gate and I shined my flashlight in that direction. I'm pretty sure a kid ran away. I'm excited that I learned the words to this in Africa.
Gotta go get ready for our performance tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes.
After learning
2 tens and 8 ones=28
yesterday,
__ (which at Hope they call, "dash") tens and __ones=28
was sooo much easier. They caught on so quickly and even Kibuuka understood (he doesn't understand anything I say unless I accompany it with the same word in Luganda).
Teacher Betty gave me fene (jackfruit) at break. She even gave me some to give to Mi jeung.
I played with the kids and asked them random questions after an hour and a half long chapel. I told them how old I am and asked them how old they are. I asked where they are from and told them where I am from. I let them go to games soon after and they played hopscotch and a game that looked similar to dodgeball. Nambooze asked me to get her ball which was in her bag in the classroom and one of the P2s was getting caned right in front of me. This kid was trying so hard to get away and the lady kept pulling him back. All the other kids followed me in the room to stare. I made them all get out and tried to find Nambooze's ball as quickly as possible. It's so weird because I never heard or seen caning until this past week, and it's been almost everyday since. Later the other Nambooze was repeating the action by pretending to beat Nabukalu with a piece of banana fiber. It's really soft and it doesn't hurt, but I told her to stop. Debbie and Daniela were doing this yesterday too.
Mi jeung and I took individual pictures with all of our kids. A couple of the P5s didn't want their pictures taken but we made them. I don't ever have that problem with my P1s and P2s. They always want to be in pictures. If I wasn't leaving so soon, it would be obnoxious.
On the way home, Mi jeung and I kept singing "A Whole New World" and decided we would sing it for the kids tomorrow. After making a trip to the supermarket, photocopying, and buying chapat, we came home to discover the electricity was out. We looked up the lyrics on Mi jeung's Blackberry and wrote them down. We practiced and then discovered that neither of us sounds like a man. We then went through a list of many songs including "Tik Tok" (that was for you, Jen) before landing on "We Are the World," which surprisingly I did not know (the 1980s MJ version, not the new crappy one with Miley Cyrus...and there were others). We rehearsed, after looking up the words, in front of Alissa and Brittany, Susan (the maid), the guard (who speaks French and Luganda and probably concluded that we are both a little crazy), and probably the whole neighborhood. Remember, the power was off so we were singing outside. At one point there was the sound of a cough at the gate and I shined my flashlight in that direction. I'm pretty sure a kid ran away. I'm excited that I learned the words to this in Africa.
Gotta go get ready for our performance tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes.
Day 19: Learning Luganda Part II
6 July, 2010
The welcoming to school this morning was interesting. The kids were at an "assembly," meaning they were outside getting caned, I assume for grades or Friday's test. Two of my P2s and one of my P1s (my favorite) came in crying. I tried to comfort them. Soon after the teachers came up to me smiling and asked how I was doing. It was hard to talk to them after listening to all that.
There are two kids I would love to take home with me, all of them really, but two in particular. I learned that the U.S. recognizes Ugandan citizenship. That's a plus.
One of my P1s had malaria but said that she wanted to come to school to study, she didn't want to stay at home. She was laying on the desks when I walked in.
Today in class both classes taught me Luganda.
Right after work we went to the supermarket. We got a picture of Andrew the guy who runs the market. We got somosas at the chapat stand on the way home. They were out of chapat :( I bought bananas at one of the fruit stands. I asked how much they were and she said, "500 shillings...no, 700 shillings." I gave her 700, knowing full well that she was totally ripping me off because it was only 200 extra shillings. I will have to up my game for this weekend's craft bargaining though :)
We went to the well and met these guys who thought we were the same age as them, so they started hitting on us. They said they were 14, 15, and 16 (and clearly, some of them were lying about their age). One of them looked about 12 and said he was 16. He then proceeded to ask us personal questions, at which point we just started walking again.
Gotta go study for tomorrow's Luganda test!
The welcoming to school this morning was interesting. The kids were at an "assembly," meaning they were outside getting caned, I assume for grades or Friday's test. Two of my P2s and one of my P1s (my favorite) came in crying. I tried to comfort them. Soon after the teachers came up to me smiling and asked how I was doing. It was hard to talk to them after listening to all that.
There are two kids I would love to take home with me, all of them really, but two in particular. I learned that the U.S. recognizes Ugandan citizenship. That's a plus.
One of my P1s had malaria but said that she wanted to come to school to study, she didn't want to stay at home. She was laying on the desks when I walked in.
Today in class both classes taught me Luganda.
Right after work we went to the supermarket. We got a picture of Andrew the guy who runs the market. We got somosas at the chapat stand on the way home. They were out of chapat :( I bought bananas at one of the fruit stands. I asked how much they were and she said, "500 shillings...no, 700 shillings." I gave her 700, knowing full well that she was totally ripping me off because it was only 200 extra shillings. I will have to up my game for this weekend's craft bargaining though :)
We went to the well and met these guys who thought we were the same age as them, so they started hitting on us. They said they were 14, 15, and 16 (and clearly, some of them were lying about their age). One of them looked about 12 and said he was 16. He then proceeded to ask us personal questions, at which point we just started walking again.
Gotta go study for tomorrow's Luganda test!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Day 18: Cultural Differences Are A Bitch!
5 July, 2010
There were NO other teachers in my classroom until 2pm today! Remember, I have two classes in the same classroom. I was running back and forth from one side of the room to the other, trying to keep P2 busy doing board work while I was teaching and grading P1 papers, and vis versa.
In the middle of the morning, Teddy showed me her wound again and it had opened up for at least the second time. She was also limping and looked pained whenever she walked. Joan, one of her classmates, took her to see her gradnmother who lives or works nearby and is a nurse. When they came back they were both acting very strangely. I saw one of the girls give Joan a few shillings, I'm assuming for breakfast. When I asked both girls if they were okay, they said no. They wouldn't or couldn't tell me what was wrong, I'm not sure which. They may not have known how to explain it to me in English.
Soon after breakfast, I noticed that Teddy had welts on one of her arms. They were purple and the wound part was scabbed over. This girl is dark, dark skinned. You wouldn't normally be able to see bruises on her. They looked a day or 2 old though, because they had already scabbed over. Then I realized she had one on her head. That was really concerning. I bandaged up her arms because the wounds looked like the other one did on Friday, like it was going to open up. These were not wounds that could have come from falling down, or scraping your arm on a rock, but there's no law against that here, there was no one in my classroom to tell and even if there was, these kids get caned for not knowing their multiplication tables. I'm keeping an eye on her for the next few days though. Maybe when the other teacher is there I can ask Teddy again and get the teacher to translate for me. Now, is one of those times that I really wish I spoke/understood Luganda.
I had lunch with Betty and I told her that the kids stopped by on Friday to see Theresa and Hollie. Then she told me how wrong it was for them to stop by after having already said goodbye and how disappointed she was in them. I tried to explain that they are kids, they realized they may never see them again, and they knew they would miss them. She wasn't buying it. However, Ruth told me that she stopped by on Saturday morning. I was very proud :)
Right after lunch I had to go to the bathroom and as soon as I came out, I heard the most awful screams I have ever heard come from a person. The kid was screaming, "uncle, uncle!" because the man they call "Uncle James" was caning him. I saw him in my room and assumed he was beating the P2s. I stopped outside and talked to David because I just couldn't watch. When I got inside none of my kids were crying, but I saw and heard him hitting something with a stick in my classroom. Mi jeung said the P3s came back into the classroom crying, and she heard it too.
The cultural differences are so hard to get used to. I could never accept beating a kid as a means of teaching. Those screams are too much to handle. I wish I could take them home with me. Especially Teddy and Ddamba.
Ending this one on a depressing note. Sorry, guys.
There were NO other teachers in my classroom until 2pm today! Remember, I have two classes in the same classroom. I was running back and forth from one side of the room to the other, trying to keep P2 busy doing board work while I was teaching and grading P1 papers, and vis versa.
In the middle of the morning, Teddy showed me her wound again and it had opened up for at least the second time. She was also limping and looked pained whenever she walked. Joan, one of her classmates, took her to see her gradnmother who lives or works nearby and is a nurse. When they came back they were both acting very strangely. I saw one of the girls give Joan a few shillings, I'm assuming for breakfast. When I asked both girls if they were okay, they said no. They wouldn't or couldn't tell me what was wrong, I'm not sure which. They may not have known how to explain it to me in English.
Soon after breakfast, I noticed that Teddy had welts on one of her arms. They were purple and the wound part was scabbed over. This girl is dark, dark skinned. You wouldn't normally be able to see bruises on her. They looked a day or 2 old though, because they had already scabbed over. Then I realized she had one on her head. That was really concerning. I bandaged up her arms because the wounds looked like the other one did on Friday, like it was going to open up. These were not wounds that could have come from falling down, or scraping your arm on a rock, but there's no law against that here, there was no one in my classroom to tell and even if there was, these kids get caned for not knowing their multiplication tables. I'm keeping an eye on her for the next few days though. Maybe when the other teacher is there I can ask Teddy again and get the teacher to translate for me. Now, is one of those times that I really wish I spoke/understood Luganda.
I had lunch with Betty and I told her that the kids stopped by on Friday to see Theresa and Hollie. Then she told me how wrong it was for them to stop by after having already said goodbye and how disappointed she was in them. I tried to explain that they are kids, they realized they may never see them again, and they knew they would miss them. She wasn't buying it. However, Ruth told me that she stopped by on Saturday morning. I was very proud :)
Right after lunch I had to go to the bathroom and as soon as I came out, I heard the most awful screams I have ever heard come from a person. The kid was screaming, "uncle, uncle!" because the man they call "Uncle James" was caning him. I saw him in my room and assumed he was beating the P2s. I stopped outside and talked to David because I just couldn't watch. When I got inside none of my kids were crying, but I saw and heard him hitting something with a stick in my classroom. Mi jeung said the P3s came back into the classroom crying, and she heard it too.
The cultural differences are so hard to get used to. I could never accept beating a kid as a means of teaching. Those screams are too much to handle. I wish I could take them home with me. Especially Teddy and Ddamba.
Ending this one on a depressing note. Sorry, guys.
Day 17: Happy 4th of July!
4 July, 2010
Happy 4th yesterday all my American friends!
Today was pretty laid back. No celebrations here, beside another day of life. We drove back from Jinja. When we got back we spent a lot of time on the internet.
Mi jeung and I went to the supermarket and ran into Jeremiah (a guy that accompanied Hollie, Mi jeung, and Theresa to Murchison Falls) on the way there. He invited us to Martin's place (the guy who took them to Murchison Falls), which we learned we have been passing for the last 2 weeks almost every day without knowing it. We stopped by on the way home. His place is huge. There is so much green grass and so many plants. He has an umbrella tree which is the coolest plant I've ever seen. It really lives up to its name, too. He has 3 or 4 buildings on his property which he uses to house volunteers and adopted children (or at least children he has taken in). We had pineapple and watermelon at his house, along with some good conversation. He gave me his card because I said I am interested in his NGO. He has a building project in Northern Uganda that I would love to be a part of. You volunteer for 3 weeks and then tour for 1 week. I would love to come back and do that for a month, teach at Hope for two weeks, and then build/paint/teach at schools in Jinja for 2 weeks. Time to start saving up!
Sarah cut up the sugar cane I got from Teacher Christine on Friday. When I ate sugar cane on Wednesday or Thursday last week, the kids thought it was so funny because I had such a hard time biting down on it. She cut up so much that I had to put another bowl over it and put it in our room to save it for later after giving some to everyone on the compound. Praying for no ants tonight!
Happy 4th yesterday all my American friends!
Today was pretty laid back. No celebrations here, beside another day of life. We drove back from Jinja. When we got back we spent a lot of time on the internet.
Mi jeung and I went to the supermarket and ran into Jeremiah (a guy that accompanied Hollie, Mi jeung, and Theresa to Murchison Falls) on the way there. He invited us to Martin's place (the guy who took them to Murchison Falls), which we learned we have been passing for the last 2 weeks almost every day without knowing it. We stopped by on the way home. His place is huge. There is so much green grass and so many plants. He has an umbrella tree which is the coolest plant I've ever seen. It really lives up to its name, too. He has 3 or 4 buildings on his property which he uses to house volunteers and adopted children (or at least children he has taken in). We had pineapple and watermelon at his house, along with some good conversation. He gave me his card because I said I am interested in his NGO. He has a building project in Northern Uganda that I would love to be a part of. You volunteer for 3 weeks and then tour for 1 week. I would love to come back and do that for a month, teach at Hope for two weeks, and then build/paint/teach at schools in Jinja for 2 weeks. Time to start saving up!
Sarah cut up the sugar cane I got from Teacher Christine on Friday. When I ate sugar cane on Wednesday or Thursday last week, the kids thought it was so funny because I had such a hard time biting down on it. She cut up so much that I had to put another bowl over it and put it in our room to save it for later after giving some to everyone on the compound. Praying for no ants tonight!
Day 16: Jinja owes me a few breaths of air
3 July, 2010
We woke up around 5am this morning to head to Jinja for some white water rafting and to say goodbye to Hollie and Theresa.
The ride to Jinja was not too interesting, but we did see an accident that involved 3 18 wheelers turned over and crashed on the side of the road. White water rafting is so much fun...and a little terrifying. I had to take off my glasses and I started the day by accidentally dropping my contact in the toilet (not taking it out, definitely not here), so I saw blurry colors most of the day. I even missed seeing the monkeys jumping from tree to tree :'( But at least I didn't lose my glasses, as I most definitely would have. At one point, though I saw birds flying just above the water. Absolutely beautiful, with or without good vision.
Oh, did I mention that we did all this rafting ON THE NILE?! Absolutely amazing! Mi jeung and I got thrown from the boat on the biggest rapid of the day. I was pretty calm at first and just kept thinking, "this isn't THAT risky. I'll be up for air in a few seconds," but then I couldn't find the surface. I started runnning out of breath and completely freaked out. I started panicking and then I found air. During all this, my shorts fell off (was wearing my swimsuit underneath) and I managed to grab on to them. I came out of the water with my shorts in my hand. I tried to climb on the nearest kayak, which I promptly tipped over, and then the safety boat came for me. One of the guys asked what I was holding and I yelled, "my shorts!" While they were taking me back to my raft, I had a lovely conversation with one of the guys who saved my life who was from Denmark. I later found out that Mi jeung and I were very close to each other after we fell out of the boat.
After that, there was only one other scary rapid that was really shallow, but we were wearing helmets. The other rapids were really fun. There was one where he told us not to close our eyes. The water looks like it is all coming straight at you and then you go over the wave. It was so awesome! We got to eat lunch on the raft and I was not thrown from the boat again. Our guide was really funny, and I still claim that the reason I fell out was because his girfriend jokingly told me I could jump out of the boat on Silverback.
After the awesome rafting we got to ride to the hostel we stayed at in Jinja inside a truck with no top. We stood up the whole time and it was really bumpy. We rode through the village and through a market. Oh, and we (minus the driver) drank beer the whole time. My first drink in 2 weeks, and first drink in Uganda!
Once we got to the hostel we got dinner. Ham and cheese Paninis after 2 weeks of foreign food was so tasty. I hadn't had cheese in 2 weeks!!!! Not complaining about the food by the way, most of what I've had is pretty good, especially the fruit. We were going to go back to the bar and watch the World Cup with our British hostel-mates, but now I'm too tired. Plus, I couldn't care less about soccer/football. Sorry, my European friends ;)
We woke up around 5am this morning to head to Jinja for some white water rafting and to say goodbye to Hollie and Theresa.
The ride to Jinja was not too interesting, but we did see an accident that involved 3 18 wheelers turned over and crashed on the side of the road. White water rafting is so much fun...and a little terrifying. I had to take off my glasses and I started the day by accidentally dropping my contact in the toilet (not taking it out, definitely not here), so I saw blurry colors most of the day. I even missed seeing the monkeys jumping from tree to tree :'( But at least I didn't lose my glasses, as I most definitely would have. At one point, though I saw birds flying just above the water. Absolutely beautiful, with or without good vision.
Oh, did I mention that we did all this rafting ON THE NILE?! Absolutely amazing! Mi jeung and I got thrown from the boat on the biggest rapid of the day. I was pretty calm at first and just kept thinking, "this isn't THAT risky. I'll be up for air in a few seconds," but then I couldn't find the surface. I started runnning out of breath and completely freaked out. I started panicking and then I found air. During all this, my shorts fell off (was wearing my swimsuit underneath) and I managed to grab on to them. I came out of the water with my shorts in my hand. I tried to climb on the nearest kayak, which I promptly tipped over, and then the safety boat came for me. One of the guys asked what I was holding and I yelled, "my shorts!" While they were taking me back to my raft, I had a lovely conversation with one of the guys who saved my life who was from Denmark. I later found out that Mi jeung and I were very close to each other after we fell out of the boat.
After that, there was only one other scary rapid that was really shallow, but we were wearing helmets. The other rapids were really fun. There was one where he told us not to close our eyes. The water looks like it is all coming straight at you and then you go over the wave. It was so awesome! We got to eat lunch on the raft and I was not thrown from the boat again. Our guide was really funny, and I still claim that the reason I fell out was because his girfriend jokingly told me I could jump out of the boat on Silverback.
After the awesome rafting we got to ride to the hostel we stayed at in Jinja inside a truck with no top. We stood up the whole time and it was really bumpy. We rode through the village and through a market. Oh, and we (minus the driver) drank beer the whole time. My first drink in 2 weeks, and first drink in Uganda!
Once we got to the hostel we got dinner. Ham and cheese Paninis after 2 weeks of foreign food was so tasty. I hadn't had cheese in 2 weeks!!!! Not complaining about the food by the way, most of what I've had is pretty good, especially the fruit. We were going to go back to the bar and watch the World Cup with our British hostel-mates, but now I'm too tired. Plus, I couldn't care less about soccer/football. Sorry, my European friends ;)
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Day 15: All you need is love!
Mi jeung and I had to go to the ATM, which here is an hour long ordeal, at the least. Derrick took us to drop off Debbie at school, then to an ATM. The trip to the bank was the most interesting one I have had. They had a long stick with a mirror on the end that they used to check under the cars for weapons. We ran across the street and back arm in arm. We didn't know which way to look and were trying hard no to get hit by the boda-bodas. As soon as we could cross we yelled, "OK, now!" The guard laughed at us. Mi jeung's card wouldn't work in the ATM so Derrick left me in the car to take her to another bank. I thought it would be scary but no one was paying any attention to me, the doors were locked, and I was paying attention to my surroundings, so I was fine. Next, we went to pick up Derrick's other daughter, Daniela. We sat around for a while to wait for Daniela to come. Mijeung and I both go car sick on the way home. We both laid down once we got back and after 30 minutes I went to Hope.
The kids were good. I got to teach P2 this time!!! In the middle of an assignment Nakato Teddy looks at me and then points to her knee. She is gushing blood from what looks like an old wound that just opened up again. I asked Teacher Christine what to do and she took her outside to wash the wound with salt water. I wondered how healthy it is to put the water on an open wound, but there was nothing else. I put a bandage on her leg and all the kids looked at the bandages like it was the most amazing thing they'd every seen.
Ddamba is becoming one of my favorites. He's in my P1 class. He really tries to speak English and is speaking to me in full sentences sometimes.
We drew a picture on the board in which the kids just added body parts. It was a pretty hilarious drawing
Teacher Christine walked me half way home and then Teacher Edith caught up with us. She came all the way to the house looking for Hollie and Theresa. They weren't back yet so she said she would come back at 8pm, when it's dark :/ She also asked me to find a sponsor for her little boy. I tried to explain that he needed to be sponsored through an organization, that people cannot just send money to Uganda.
Mi jeung and I talked for a while and all of the sudden we heard a knock at the gate. A bunch of kids in purple uniforms (Hope's colors) asked for "Teacher Theresa" and "Teacher Hollie." They walked all the way from the school to our house, led by an 11 year-old, to say one last good bye. After about an hour of waiting outside with the kids, and passing the time asking questions, getting to know names, and taking pictures (some of which the kids took themselves), Ruth said she wanted to walk to the main road to wait for the Teachers. We locked up the house and walked with the kids to where we knew Hollie and Theresa had been picked up by World Vision that morning. We walked the whole way there holding hands with the kids and singing kid songs (including ones in Luganda and The Jackson 5's "ABC." Of course, you know me). I felt like we were doing a Civil Rights march through the streets of Bulenga. Everyone was staring at us. It was pretty fun. We turned to walk toward the post office and who do we see walking toward us, but Hollie and Theresa! I yelled, "There they are!" and all the kids bolted. They gave the kid's biscuits and bought them sodas at the supermarket.
It was a pretty awesome testament to how much the volunteers meant to the kids and how much they love them. One of my kids was there too, Nanyose. Her brother was in Theresa's class. We told the kids everyone needed to go home and Ruth promised to stop by in the morning to say goodbye again. Really adorable, but goodbyes are hard enough without having to do them multiple times. These kids are the best :)
Tomorrow, it's off to Jinja for some white water rafting!!!
The kids were good. I got to teach P2 this time!!! In the middle of an assignment Nakato Teddy looks at me and then points to her knee. She is gushing blood from what looks like an old wound that just opened up again. I asked Teacher Christine what to do and she took her outside to wash the wound with salt water. I wondered how healthy it is to put the water on an open wound, but there was nothing else. I put a bandage on her leg and all the kids looked at the bandages like it was the most amazing thing they'd every seen.
Ddamba is becoming one of my favorites. He's in my P1 class. He really tries to speak English and is speaking to me in full sentences sometimes.
We drew a picture on the board in which the kids just added body parts. It was a pretty hilarious drawing
Teacher Christine walked me half way home and then Teacher Edith caught up with us. She came all the way to the house looking for Hollie and Theresa. They weren't back yet so she said she would come back at 8pm, when it's dark :/ She also asked me to find a sponsor for her little boy. I tried to explain that he needed to be sponsored through an organization, that people cannot just send money to Uganda.
Mi jeung and I talked for a while and all of the sudden we heard a knock at the gate. A bunch of kids in purple uniforms (Hope's colors) asked for "Teacher Theresa" and "Teacher Hollie." They walked all the way from the school to our house, led by an 11 year-old, to say one last good bye. After about an hour of waiting outside with the kids, and passing the time asking questions, getting to know names, and taking pictures (some of which the kids took themselves), Ruth said she wanted to walk to the main road to wait for the Teachers. We locked up the house and walked with the kids to where we knew Hollie and Theresa had been picked up by World Vision that morning. We walked the whole way there holding hands with the kids and singing kid songs (including ones in Luganda and The Jackson 5's "ABC." Of course, you know me). I felt like we were doing a Civil Rights march through the streets of Bulenga. Everyone was staring at us. It was pretty fun. We turned to walk toward the post office and who do we see walking toward us, but Hollie and Theresa! I yelled, "There they are!" and all the kids bolted. They gave the kid's biscuits and bought them sodas at the supermarket.
It was a pretty awesome testament to how much the volunteers meant to the kids and how much they love them. One of my kids was there too, Nanyose. Her brother was in Theresa's class. We told the kids everyone needed to go home and Ruth promised to stop by in the morning to say goodbye again. Really adorable, but goodbyes are hard enough without having to do them multiple times. These kids are the best :)
Tomorrow, it's off to Jinja for some white water rafting!!!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Day 14: Goodbyes are hard, even when they're not yours
1 July, 2010
The home visits today went well. We gave a mosquito net that I actually bought for myself, but they already had one up for me when I got here, to a lady with HIV that we visited last week. Thanks again donors! Maria and I put it up in her room. That was an interesting task. I wasn't even sure how to hang it so I'm proud, although Maria did most of it. I basically just did what I was told. We are so concerned back home about the way everything in our home looks and this lady was so happy to have this mosquito net that was not put up nicely but was functional. We also gave clothes to another lady that we visited.
Once we came back from home visits I hung out with Maria for a while and then told Sarah I wasn't going to be at home for lunch. She insisted that I eat before I leave for Hope, so I had 3 chapats (AMAZING! and I even asked her how to make them. Look out roomies!) and beans.
When I got to the school I was so full from all the food and tired from all the walking and the teachers could tell. It was almost lunch time so they told me to rest and teach after lunch. Once the kids left for lunch, Theresa, Hollie, and I headed inside to eat with Betty. Luckily she was not there when I served myself because I took very little. I was still full, but not too full for pineapple :)
During the math lesson I made up a ridiculous song for counting sets of ten which went something like this: "1 ten is 10 [10!]/2 tens is 20 [20!], etc..." Then we did 10 problems on the board and I discovered a more effective way to teach the material. After that I told them to free draw. Fred especially, got really excited. They drew things from our lessons such as sweeping and family members. Ddamba drew pictures of a camera and me driving a car. I took pictures of all but one of my kids in their drawings. Nabukalu refused to let me take her picture because she was not done coloring. They did not want to leave class because they were not finished coloring. I told them they could finish tomorrow and even told them the same thing in Luganda. They were a little more willing to go outside after that.
After school was Hollie and Theresa's goodbye which was this week's festival of tears. It was so sad and the older kids were so emotional. No joke, they were bawling. Not just a few of them and not just the girls, all of them. The little ones didn't understand what ws going on though. The two of them had to leave before Mi jeung was finished because the goodbyes were too much. I waited for Mi jeung to finish teaching and one of my kids came up and said, "Teahcer, Ddamba iz crying." They always tell me somebody is crying and it's never true and I always fall for it so I didn't even listen this time. Soon enough, Ddamba walks out of the classroom, eyes red and sniffling. He said something to the teacher in Luganda and all the teachers started laughing. She turned to me and said, "he is crying for those who have gone" (meaning Hollie and Theresa). I don't think he even really knew them, but he was still visibly upset. He walked back to the classroom and sat down, still sniffling. I went to comfort him and of course all the kids followed me in the room. I gave him a little hug and he just stared ahead, refusing to look at me.
The kids taught me a little more Luganda and I played ball with them outside before walking into P5 to get Mi jeung. We walked home and discovered that the water was working!!!! We immediately filled up all of our jerrycans and 3 of us did laundry. I took a shower, Hollie took a shower...and now the water pressure is down again :( At least we got some good use out of it.
FYI: the stars here are absolutely amazing!
The home visits today went well. We gave a mosquito net that I actually bought for myself, but they already had one up for me when I got here, to a lady with HIV that we visited last week. Thanks again donors! Maria and I put it up in her room. That was an interesting task. I wasn't even sure how to hang it so I'm proud, although Maria did most of it. I basically just did what I was told. We are so concerned back home about the way everything in our home looks and this lady was so happy to have this mosquito net that was not put up nicely but was functional. We also gave clothes to another lady that we visited.
Once we came back from home visits I hung out with Maria for a while and then told Sarah I wasn't going to be at home for lunch. She insisted that I eat before I leave for Hope, so I had 3 chapats (AMAZING! and I even asked her how to make them. Look out roomies!) and beans.
When I got to the school I was so full from all the food and tired from all the walking and the teachers could tell. It was almost lunch time so they told me to rest and teach after lunch. Once the kids left for lunch, Theresa, Hollie, and I headed inside to eat with Betty. Luckily she was not there when I served myself because I took very little. I was still full, but not too full for pineapple :)
During the math lesson I made up a ridiculous song for counting sets of ten which went something like this: "1 ten is 10 [10!]/2 tens is 20 [20!], etc..." Then we did 10 problems on the board and I discovered a more effective way to teach the material. After that I told them to free draw. Fred especially, got really excited. They drew things from our lessons such as sweeping and family members. Ddamba drew pictures of a camera and me driving a car. I took pictures of all but one of my kids in their drawings. Nabukalu refused to let me take her picture because she was not done coloring. They did not want to leave class because they were not finished coloring. I told them they could finish tomorrow and even told them the same thing in Luganda. They were a little more willing to go outside after that.
After school was Hollie and Theresa's goodbye which was this week's festival of tears. It was so sad and the older kids were so emotional. No joke, they were bawling. Not just a few of them and not just the girls, all of them. The little ones didn't understand what ws going on though. The two of them had to leave before Mi jeung was finished because the goodbyes were too much. I waited for Mi jeung to finish teaching and one of my kids came up and said, "Teahcer, Ddamba iz crying." They always tell me somebody is crying and it's never true and I always fall for it so I didn't even listen this time. Soon enough, Ddamba walks out of the classroom, eyes red and sniffling. He said something to the teacher in Luganda and all the teachers started laughing. She turned to me and said, "he is crying for those who have gone" (meaning Hollie and Theresa). I don't think he even really knew them, but he was still visibly upset. He walked back to the classroom and sat down, still sniffling. I went to comfort him and of course all the kids followed me in the room. I gave him a little hug and he just stared ahead, refusing to look at me.
The kids taught me a little more Luganda and I played ball with them outside before walking into P5 to get Mi jeung. We walked home and discovered that the water was working!!!! We immediately filled up all of our jerrycans and 3 of us did laundry. I took a shower, Hollie took a shower...and now the water pressure is down again :( At least we got some good use out of it.
FYI: the stars here are absolutely amazing!
Day 13: That's what it's all about!
30 June, 2010
Kelly left for Kenya this morning. He is missed and the teachers at Hope keep asking about him.
Today was my first day walking to the school by myself, which will be a normal thing come Friday :( It's much less interesting without other people to enjoy it with.
Namale, one of the kids in my P1 class got sick today. She seemed a little off and then she fell asleep in class and was taken to the headmaster's house to rest. The teacher said she had a fever and she was going to get her some medicine.
This morning was much more productive than yesterday. Nothing of great note happened until the afternoon. I was having lunch with Betty and she said, "They go to chapel now," speaking about the kids. So she walked me to the "chapel," which is one of the classrooms. I sat at the front of the classroom, facing all the kids at first. Then I moved next to Mi jeung who was sitting at the side of the room. The kids led everyone in praise and worship (I'm not sure of the difference there). Then James, the man who runs the orphanage, introduced as the "man of God," came and preached to the kids. Parts of it were uncomfortable because of the emphasis on converting, the fact that he was speaking Luganda almost the whole time and the kids would all start looking at us and laughing, and that he mentioned that we are from "developed countries" and none of our schools look like this, then all the kids laughed. We weren't sure how to react to that. I tried to keep a neutral face. It was a good experience though, different I must say, but good nonetheless. I'm glad we went. The teachers laughed when they asked me how it went and I took longer than 2 seconds to respond.
After chapel I didn't feel like teaching so I took the kids outside to sing and dance. P1 was the only class allowed to come out. I wanted P2 to come out because they are always stuck in the classroom doing work from the board and they look so sad when the other kids get to sing songs in the classroom and I put up their art work. I work with P1 more so there is nothing I can really do about it, but next week they are definitely coming out to sing and dance. Anyway, the kids were tired so we went outside. I taught them the hokey pokey and they taught me a song that has "tippy, tippy" or "chippy, chippy" in it, and one other one I can't remember. Then we sang "10 Little Monkeys" (which I changed to 5, because 10 is just too long), "Old McDonald," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "10 Little Fingers." I'm pretty sure my voice is almost gone. Some of Hollie's kids in the baby class escaped and came to join in our singing. A few of them were promptly forced to go back, but others stayed.
Nambooze had a lot of fun being able to go outside and participate in the song and dance with the other kids. When we started to do the "whole self" and "booty" parts of the Hokey Pokey the first time, she looked at me and said, "Teacher..." She looked so sad, so I put her on my back so she could do it too, since she has to lean against the wall the whole time. They all had so much fun! When we went back in, close to 4pm, the P2 class was being whipped. I'm not sure what for, but a few of the kids were crying. I felt so horrible. I wanted to take them out too but they were in the middle of an assignment. Next time, I will ask the teacher if they can come out with us as they finish their assignment, so at least they will have something motivating them and they can participate in the fun.
Social work time:
It is interesting that in the U.S. if you put your hand close to a kid's face for a high five or shake your finger at them as part of a song and their first reaction is to flinch, you automatically think there is something wrong and may even call CPS if there are other songs. Here, though, it's normal. It's a hard decidion too, whether to use a branch as a pointer, because it is hard to point to everything on the board from where I am standing. It's so sad and it hurts to see a kid associate you holding a stick with beating. I don't want them to think of me that way, but it's part of the discipline and part of the culture here. I try to use my finger and extend my arm as far as possible. Not that long ago, it was part of the culture in the U.S.
This is a depressing way to end an entry so here's something happier...
I love the music here. There is always music playing and birds are always chirping and making strange bird calls. It will be weird not hearing those strange cackles every morning once I go home.
Kelly left for Kenya this morning. He is missed and the teachers at Hope keep asking about him.
Today was my first day walking to the school by myself, which will be a normal thing come Friday :( It's much less interesting without other people to enjoy it with.
Namale, one of the kids in my P1 class got sick today. She seemed a little off and then she fell asleep in class and was taken to the headmaster's house to rest. The teacher said she had a fever and she was going to get her some medicine.
This morning was much more productive than yesterday. Nothing of great note happened until the afternoon. I was having lunch with Betty and she said, "They go to chapel now," speaking about the kids. So she walked me to the "chapel," which is one of the classrooms. I sat at the front of the classroom, facing all the kids at first. Then I moved next to Mi jeung who was sitting at the side of the room. The kids led everyone in praise and worship (I'm not sure of the difference there). Then James, the man who runs the orphanage, introduced as the "man of God," came and preached to the kids. Parts of it were uncomfortable because of the emphasis on converting, the fact that he was speaking Luganda almost the whole time and the kids would all start looking at us and laughing, and that he mentioned that we are from "developed countries" and none of our schools look like this, then all the kids laughed. We weren't sure how to react to that. I tried to keep a neutral face. It was a good experience though, different I must say, but good nonetheless. I'm glad we went. The teachers laughed when they asked me how it went and I took longer than 2 seconds to respond.
After chapel I didn't feel like teaching so I took the kids outside to sing and dance. P1 was the only class allowed to come out. I wanted P2 to come out because they are always stuck in the classroom doing work from the board and they look so sad when the other kids get to sing songs in the classroom and I put up their art work. I work with P1 more so there is nothing I can really do about it, but next week they are definitely coming out to sing and dance. Anyway, the kids were tired so we went outside. I taught them the hokey pokey and they taught me a song that has "tippy, tippy" or "chippy, chippy" in it, and one other one I can't remember. Then we sang "10 Little Monkeys" (which I changed to 5, because 10 is just too long), "Old McDonald," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "10 Little Fingers." I'm pretty sure my voice is almost gone. Some of Hollie's kids in the baby class escaped and came to join in our singing. A few of them were promptly forced to go back, but others stayed.
Nambooze had a lot of fun being able to go outside and participate in the song and dance with the other kids. When we started to do the "whole self" and "booty" parts of the Hokey Pokey the first time, she looked at me and said, "Teacher..." She looked so sad, so I put her on my back so she could do it too, since she has to lean against the wall the whole time. They all had so much fun! When we went back in, close to 4pm, the P2 class was being whipped. I'm not sure what for, but a few of the kids were crying. I felt so horrible. I wanted to take them out too but they were in the middle of an assignment. Next time, I will ask the teacher if they can come out with us as they finish their assignment, so at least they will have something motivating them and they can participate in the fun.
Social work time:
It is interesting that in the U.S. if you put your hand close to a kid's face for a high five or shake your finger at them as part of a song and their first reaction is to flinch, you automatically think there is something wrong and may even call CPS if there are other songs. Here, though, it's normal. It's a hard decidion too, whether to use a branch as a pointer, because it is hard to point to everything on the board from where I am standing. It's so sad and it hurts to see a kid associate you holding a stick with beating. I don't want them to think of me that way, but it's part of the discipline and part of the culture here. I try to use my finger and extend my arm as far as possible. Not that long ago, it was part of the culture in the U.S.
This is a depressing way to end an entry so here's something happier...
I love the music here. There is always music playing and birds are always chirping and making strange bird calls. It will be weird not hearing those strange cackles every morning once I go home.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Day 12: The rain down in Africa
29 June, 2010
This morning I woke up extremely well rested. Too well rested actually. Right before we left it started to pour. We walked to school in the muddy rain. Word of advice: rain water falling off the roof is NOT used for shower water. Just a little piece of wisdom for anyone who is planning on showering out of a bucket any time soon. The walk wasn't terrible. I did forget my rain jacket, though. Luckily I remembered my umbrella.
I got to the school and NONE of the teachers showed up for an hour or so. I started teaching P2-and by teaching, I mean I reviewed what I think we did last time-and then P1 started getting out of control (I think I already mentioned that they are in the same classroom and face different directions). I gave P1 an assignment labeling body parts and headed back to P2 to grade their science assignment. Once I finished grading, P1 finished their assignemnt, then I graded it, and then the teacher FINALLY came back. She didn't know where the science book was and went to look for it. Soon the other teacher walked in with the book. Needless to say, I was exhausted by breakfast/snack time.
I was with P1 all day from then on. They were crazy! They would not stop talking...and I don't understand most of what they said. I made them put their heads down for 60 seconds without talking, and that took 25 minutes. They almost missed their break. The thing is that with that punishment I feel guilty because for some of them, this is their first meal of the day. Luckily, they all got to go to break. I wouldn't take it away completely, but I would take away their free time for misbehaving and not listening. I got offered popcorn and bread by 3 different students.
I forgot to mention that at snack we tried paw-paw (a fruit, the taste of which I don't remember) and we had spaghetti for lunch. I also had more casava for snack. 300 shillings. Soooooo good!! :)
I played a few games with the kiddos at lunch and after school. I played catch with Nambooze. Hollie bought her her own ball because she wanted something to play with since she can't run around with the other kids. She had so much fun the last few days with that ball. It has her name on it and everything. Her English name is Angel, though, so I wasn't sure who Hollie had been talking about these last few weeks. She even got the other kids to play ball with her. The other kids are so good with her. They play with her and help her do everything that she cannot do herself. Yawef, one of the boys, is her friend. He is so sweet and very protective of her. It's really adoreable.
At the end of the school day, I gave all the P1 and P2 students new pencils and pencil sharpeners. They all sharpen their pencils with razor blades and it scares me every time. They were very excited and by the time I got outside ALL the kids at the school were saying, "Teacher, Teacher, give me sharpener!"
After school we all walked home and then headed straight to the supermarket. Appareitnly Mi jeung was famous today. She had so many kids run up and hold her hand and one little boy asked her for money.
We went to fetch water as soon as we got back from the supermarket. I wish I had my camera today at the well. There was a great view of the rays of sun coming out of the clouds over the hill. The village kids were all playing by the well as usual, and our "water, water, water" kid was there. Every day there is a boy who is probably about 11 or 12, who says, "water, water, water" really fast as we walk down the path to fetch water. His Luganda accent makes it even more adorable. I really like fetching water with the other girls. It's always the end of the day, the sun is going down, and all the kids are laughing and yelling, "how are you, muzungu?!"
When we got back, we ate dinner and got ready for tomorrow. After dinner we made "fruit salad," which consisted of cutting up mango and papaya (which was not as good as I thought it would be), putting it in a bowl, and cutting up pineapple into slices, eating it seperately. Pineapple here is AMAZING! I wish I could take it home with me.
This morning I woke up extremely well rested. Too well rested actually. Right before we left it started to pour. We walked to school in the muddy rain. Word of advice: rain water falling off the roof is NOT used for shower water. Just a little piece of wisdom for anyone who is planning on showering out of a bucket any time soon. The walk wasn't terrible. I did forget my rain jacket, though. Luckily I remembered my umbrella.
I got to the school and NONE of the teachers showed up for an hour or so. I started teaching P2-and by teaching, I mean I reviewed what I think we did last time-and then P1 started getting out of control (I think I already mentioned that they are in the same classroom and face different directions). I gave P1 an assignment labeling body parts and headed back to P2 to grade their science assignment. Once I finished grading, P1 finished their assignemnt, then I graded it, and then the teacher FINALLY came back. She didn't know where the science book was and went to look for it. Soon the other teacher walked in with the book. Needless to say, I was exhausted by breakfast/snack time.
I was with P1 all day from then on. They were crazy! They would not stop talking...and I don't understand most of what they said. I made them put their heads down for 60 seconds without talking, and that took 25 minutes. They almost missed their break. The thing is that with that punishment I feel guilty because for some of them, this is their first meal of the day. Luckily, they all got to go to break. I wouldn't take it away completely, but I would take away their free time for misbehaving and not listening. I got offered popcorn and bread by 3 different students.
I forgot to mention that at snack we tried paw-paw (a fruit, the taste of which I don't remember) and we had spaghetti for lunch. I also had more casava for snack. 300 shillings. Soooooo good!! :)
I played a few games with the kiddos at lunch and after school. I played catch with Nambooze. Hollie bought her her own ball because she wanted something to play with since she can't run around with the other kids. She had so much fun the last few days with that ball. It has her name on it and everything. Her English name is Angel, though, so I wasn't sure who Hollie had been talking about these last few weeks. She even got the other kids to play ball with her. The other kids are so good with her. They play with her and help her do everything that she cannot do herself. Yawef, one of the boys, is her friend. He is so sweet and very protective of her. It's really adoreable.
At the end of the school day, I gave all the P1 and P2 students new pencils and pencil sharpeners. They all sharpen their pencils with razor blades and it scares me every time. They were very excited and by the time I got outside ALL the kids at the school were saying, "Teacher, Teacher, give me sharpener!"
After school we all walked home and then headed straight to the supermarket. Appareitnly Mi jeung was famous today. She had so many kids run up and hold her hand and one little boy asked her for money.
We went to fetch water as soon as we got back from the supermarket. I wish I had my camera today at the well. There was a great view of the rays of sun coming out of the clouds over the hill. The village kids were all playing by the well as usual, and our "water, water, water" kid was there. Every day there is a boy who is probably about 11 or 12, who says, "water, water, water" really fast as we walk down the path to fetch water. His Luganda accent makes it even more adorable. I really like fetching water with the other girls. It's always the end of the day, the sun is going down, and all the kids are laughing and yelling, "how are you, muzungu?!"
When we got back, we ate dinner and got ready for tomorrow. After dinner we made "fruit salad," which consisted of cutting up mango and papaya (which was not as good as I thought it would be), putting it in a bowl, and cutting up pineapple into slices, eating it seperately. Pineapple here is AMAZING! I wish I could take it home with me.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Day 11: I missed a day of writing, so this one is short
28 June, 2010
I went to the school and the kids were great. They tried to teach me Luganda again. I think I'm catching on to a little bit of vocabulary. I wish I could become fluent in 3 weeks. Teacher Betty let me try Uandan pineappple and it was excellent!
Once we got home, Teresa, Mijeung, and Hollie were suppose to go to the craft market as part of their safari trip. I found out later that I could go with them because Doreen asked Jeremiah if I could. Brittany and Alissa came too. The craft market was pretty fun and I even did a little bit of bargaining! My first time. And I was successful! I got tired of it after a while, though and stopped trying. I got gifts for people and a few fun things for myself. [Jorge, if you are reading this, I bought your necklace. Hopefully it isn't girly. If so, I'll take it and consider your $10 a donation]. They had a lot of cool things. I want to go back to Kampala one of the coming weekends and buy more things-gifts though. I'll even try bargaining again.
I went to bed really early because I came home with a hunger headache. The first time since I've been here. There was spaghetti on the stove when we got home though. They have the best spaghetti here. Next year, I'll make it to Italy and discover which is better. See you there my Italian friends :)
I went to the school and the kids were great. They tried to teach me Luganda again. I think I'm catching on to a little bit of vocabulary. I wish I could become fluent in 3 weeks. Teacher Betty let me try Uandan pineappple and it was excellent!
Once we got home, Teresa, Mijeung, and Hollie were suppose to go to the craft market as part of their safari trip. I found out later that I could go with them because Doreen asked Jeremiah if I could. Brittany and Alissa came too. The craft market was pretty fun and I even did a little bit of bargaining! My first time. And I was successful! I got tired of it after a while, though and stopped trying. I got gifts for people and a few fun things for myself. [Jorge, if you are reading this, I bought your necklace. Hopefully it isn't girly. If so, I'll take it and consider your $10 a donation]. They had a lot of cool things. I want to go back to Kampala one of the coming weekends and buy more things-gifts though. I'll even try bargaining again.
I went to bed really early because I came home with a hunger headache. The first time since I've been here. There was spaghetti on the stove when we got home though. They have the best spaghetti here. Next year, I'll make it to Italy and discover which is better. See you there my Italian friends :)
Day 10: I know where I'm going!!!
27 June, 2010
Today started out seeming like it would be a boring day. The new volunteers arrived and I showed them to the supermarket and the well. I felt like I knew so much since I could get to these two places. Mind you, they are within walking distance and not hard to get to. After our wanderings, Teacher Susan came over and helped me wash clothes. She got the stain out of my white dress, dropped my soap in the sewer, and bought me new soap that is actually used for washing clothes. I tried to pay her back but she wouldn't let me. While my clothes were drying she took me, Brittany and Alissa (the new volunteers) to her house. I thought we were just going to see where she lives and then come back, but instead we ended up staying for a couple hours and meeting her extremely hyper son (Dalton), 2 brothers (Brian and Emmanuel), and some of her neighbors' children who dropped in to stare at us.
We ate so much matoke today. Teacher Susan gave us a lot of matoke and some eggs with salt and tomatoes. Those were really good. We couldn't finish all of it, but in the mean time we had great conversation with Dumba (a guy who knows Derrick) and Susan's brothers.
When we left, Teacher Susan's house we went to visit Dumba's mom's shop. He was so proud of his mom and told us about how he was working so hard and how much she has been through. It was so adorable! We took a lot of pictures. Most of them Dumba took himself. We got email addresses from him and Teacher Susan so that we can keep in touch after we leave.
Dumba taught me Luganda words today.
No=neda
sugar cane=chicanjo
knife=kambe
Teacher Susan, Emmanuel, Brian, and Dumba walked us back to the compound. We found out that Derrick had been worried about us because apparently they did not know who we were with. I figured since she worked for the school they knew Teacher Susan. When Derrick came back I had to apologize for worrying him. I am still not used to the communication difference here. When someone we don't know comes onto our property in the U.S. we immmediately ask who they are, why they are there, etc. Teacher Susan just came in and walked up to my door. How she knew which one is mine, I don't know. Maybe I was standing near the door. I can't remember. She was at the house for over an hour and no one said anything so I figured they knew her.
Dad, you will be happy to know that while we were walking to Susan's I was actually paying attention. I knew how to get home from where we were going.
After the adventure to and from Teacher Susan's, I took Brittany and Alissa to the well. The girls walking behind us were a little obnoxious as they were laughing very loudly and you can almost be positive they were laughing at us. I'm pretty sure I was grumpy at this point.
The other girls are coming back later tonight. Can't wait to hear about their Murchison Falls adventure! But my weekend was awesome too.
Today started out seeming like it would be a boring day. The new volunteers arrived and I showed them to the supermarket and the well. I felt like I knew so much since I could get to these two places. Mind you, they are within walking distance and not hard to get to. After our wanderings, Teacher Susan came over and helped me wash clothes. She got the stain out of my white dress, dropped my soap in the sewer, and bought me new soap that is actually used for washing clothes. I tried to pay her back but she wouldn't let me. While my clothes were drying she took me, Brittany and Alissa (the new volunteers) to her house. I thought we were just going to see where she lives and then come back, but instead we ended up staying for a couple hours and meeting her extremely hyper son (Dalton), 2 brothers (Brian and Emmanuel), and some of her neighbors' children who dropped in to stare at us.
We ate so much matoke today. Teacher Susan gave us a lot of matoke and some eggs with salt and tomatoes. Those were really good. We couldn't finish all of it, but in the mean time we had great conversation with Dumba (a guy who knows Derrick) and Susan's brothers.
When we left, Teacher Susan's house we went to visit Dumba's mom's shop. He was so proud of his mom and told us about how he was working so hard and how much she has been through. It was so adorable! We took a lot of pictures. Most of them Dumba took himself. We got email addresses from him and Teacher Susan so that we can keep in touch after we leave.
Dumba taught me Luganda words today.
No=neda
sugar cane=chicanjo
knife=kambe
Teacher Susan, Emmanuel, Brian, and Dumba walked us back to the compound. We found out that Derrick had been worried about us because apparently they did not know who we were with. I figured since she worked for the school they knew Teacher Susan. When Derrick came back I had to apologize for worrying him. I am still not used to the communication difference here. When someone we don't know comes onto our property in the U.S. we immmediately ask who they are, why they are there, etc. Teacher Susan just came in and walked up to my door. How she knew which one is mine, I don't know. Maybe I was standing near the door. I can't remember. She was at the house for over an hour and no one said anything so I figured they knew her.
Dad, you will be happy to know that while we were walking to Susan's I was actually paying attention. I knew how to get home from where we were going.
After the adventure to and from Teacher Susan's, I took Brittany and Alissa to the well. The girls walking behind us were a little obnoxious as they were laughing very loudly and you can almost be positive they were laughing at us. I'm pretty sure I was grumpy at this point.
The other girls are coming back later tonight. Can't wait to hear about their Murchison Falls adventure! But my weekend was awesome too.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day 9: The original reason for coming to Uganda
26 June, 2010
I forgot to mention that yesterday I was sitting in the compound eating dinner on the steps and this girl who was probably 14 opened the door that separates our compound from another, walked over to me smiling ear to ear, and handed me a note that said "To My Best Friend." I saw her look through the slit in the door to see if I was reading it. Inside it said something along the lines of I want you to be my friend, "gril." It was really adorable. I haven't seen this girl again yet, but I learned that her name is Caroline and Debbie knows her so I am sure I will see her after school one day. Mijeung and Teresa have received similar letters and verbal questions. It is so cute!
Last night I was so bored that I fell asleep around 8pm. I was waiting for Sam to get off the computer and there was no light in my room. My iPod battery died 2 nights ago and I haven't charged it yet. I woke up around 10pm to go to the bathroom and slept until almost 7am this morning. I think I am well rested now.
I'm wearing my hair down for the first time since I arrived in Uganda. Sarah asked me what I put in it to make it curly. When I told here it was natural she looked very surprised. Also, because I am not African everyone here seems to think I will die from sunlight. I am not a vampire! The teachers keep telling me and ARM workers told me today, that I am getting too dark, too much sun, and I should sit in the shade. I told Sarah (one of the ARM workers) that I don't burn easily and she seemed surprised. I explained that I already have a darker complexion and am half Black so I tan easily, but do not burn easily.
The water is on again! Of course, I probably spoke too soon (I did. When I tried to turn it on after writing this, it was off again) and I'm sure it will go out again before I leave. Unfortunately, I am not taking a shower until tomorrow morning.
Africa Renewal Ministries (ARM) came to pick me up to visit two sponsored children (one of which is my Patrick!) around 10:30am. First, we went to Gaba to visit Kenneth, a 14 year old boy that my mom's friends Liz and Joe sponsor. The drive to Kenneth's home was very long. Luckily today was not one of my car sick days. Thanks to long drives through the Eastern U.S. through mountainous roads and in circles, I may be immune now! Probably not. I took a lot of pictures and videos to give them when I go home because I'm sure they wish they were there too. I don't want to write too much about Kenneth because I want to tell Liz and Joe in person but he likes school and thanked them for sponsoring him. He was very quiet but loosened up a little bit at the end of my visit. His brothers and sister were so cute and they all loved the gifts for Kenneth. His little sister was afraid of me at first. She didn't want to come in the house and sit with her brothers.
At the end of my visit Kenneth's mother cut matoke from the tree outside and gave it to me to take home. KAACD will have matoke for a long, long time. Kind of unfortunate, because I am getting quite tired of it. At least it comes with sauce. His mother was so sweet. She thanked me for coming to represent Kenneth's sponsors. I took pictures with Kenneth and of Kenneth's family. I can't wait to get home to show Liz and Joe.
There are many more muzungus up in the hills in Gaba. It is a much nicer area and I saw 2 White people today. It's like siting a rare species of human. I can see why people get excited. It is very uncommon, still getting old though.
Next was the visit to Patrick's house, the boy I sponsor! He is 10 years old and so cute! He speaks English very well too. Kenneth did not speak much English to me but I think it was because he was being shy. On the way to Patrick's we went by an event that Africa Renewal was putting on called African Child's Day. The kids were singing and dancing...and staring at this foreign person sitting in the car. After we picked up two more people and one of the lady's 6 year old son, Benjamin (a handful), we headed to Patrick's home. In retrospect I didn't like the fact that there were so many people there. It made me a little uncomfortable so I'm sure the 10 year old boy was very overwhelmed. Plus, Patrick's caseworker kept taking pictures and it was getting quite annoying. I understand it is a big deal for someone to visit their sponsored child on another continent but seriously, that's nerve-wrecking for everyone involved, especially the child. Patrick was such a quiet boy I can imagine he was not liking the situation too much. I too got a little quiet and shy with eveyrone staring and the slight language barrier.
Mom, I took a video. It is a bit cheesy because I didn't know that Patrick was standing right outside and was heading to his caseworker to explain that I needed a video when I first met him. I don't think Patrick understood that it was a video and not a picture because he kept looking at the camera.
I started out showing him pictures of my family. We talked a little bit. He was very manly. He shook my hand upon meeting me and told me that he likes meat. I met two of his sisters, Justine, who is two years older, and a younger one whose name I cannot remember. Three of his siblings were in the villege when I stopped by. His older brother had a slight case of malaria so the father took him to the doctor and the other kids went with him.
We talked about his school. He said he enjoys school and learning. His mother prepared a meal for us, which was wonderful, except that we had just eaten :/ I felt bad because I could not finish the food. She served us everything on platters and when we were done, Patrick got down on his knees and thanked his mother for the meal. That is something new, but cute nonetheless. I was going to do the same thing but she didn't come back for a while and I forgot. I asked Patrick to show me around and he showed me where he sleeps, his kitchen, and outside where he plays. He got out the football I gave him and we played for a while. It was at this point that I realized when he said he likes football he meant FOOTBALL, not American Football. Thanks America. Why do you have to be so different? Different measurements, names for sports, drive on the wrong side of the road...geez. I didn't get a picture of his family together because when I asked his mother she offered to show me around the house and then I forgot. I should be more assertive.
I gave his mother a picture frame and Patrick seemed to like his new hat and ball. Thanks Liz! They loved the hats! Oh, and I have pictures of both boys giving the Longhorns sign (they got UT hats)! I saw a couple of things that I have sent him over the yerars in his house. That was nice to see.
When I said goodbye Patrick's mom gave me a lot of bananas, a pineapple, what looks like a handweaved mat (I have to ask in my next letter if she made it), and a ball that Patrick made from some fibers. His mother says they use it to play football (not the American kind).
Patrick also taught me a few words in Luganda. I remember "chair" because it is "entebbe," the name of the airport.
It was sad to say goodbye to Patrick because I know this may be the only time I ever see him. I am glad I got to go and I hope I can go back. Next time I would like to see his school. We passed his school on the way back to Bulenga (and stopped by his church). Neither is very far from his home, but the school is closer. Maybe at his school so many people would not be there just for that purpose.
Overall, it was a great day. Very intense and I was exhausted by the end of it. I even stayed up until almost 1am because I took a nap when I got home.
Getting ready for the new volunteers tomorrow!
I forgot to mention that yesterday I was sitting in the compound eating dinner on the steps and this girl who was probably 14 opened the door that separates our compound from another, walked over to me smiling ear to ear, and handed me a note that said "To My Best Friend." I saw her look through the slit in the door to see if I was reading it. Inside it said something along the lines of I want you to be my friend, "gril." It was really adorable. I haven't seen this girl again yet, but I learned that her name is Caroline and Debbie knows her so I am sure I will see her after school one day. Mijeung and Teresa have received similar letters and verbal questions. It is so cute!
Last night I was so bored that I fell asleep around 8pm. I was waiting for Sam to get off the computer and there was no light in my room. My iPod battery died 2 nights ago and I haven't charged it yet. I woke up around 10pm to go to the bathroom and slept until almost 7am this morning. I think I am well rested now.
I'm wearing my hair down for the first time since I arrived in Uganda. Sarah asked me what I put in it to make it curly. When I told here it was natural she looked very surprised. Also, because I am not African everyone here seems to think I will die from sunlight. I am not a vampire! The teachers keep telling me and ARM workers told me today, that I am getting too dark, too much sun, and I should sit in the shade. I told Sarah (one of the ARM workers) that I don't burn easily and she seemed surprised. I explained that I already have a darker complexion and am half Black so I tan easily, but do not burn easily.
The water is on again! Of course, I probably spoke too soon (I did. When I tried to turn it on after writing this, it was off again) and I'm sure it will go out again before I leave. Unfortunately, I am not taking a shower until tomorrow morning.
Africa Renewal Ministries (ARM) came to pick me up to visit two sponsored children (one of which is my Patrick!) around 10:30am. First, we went to Gaba to visit Kenneth, a 14 year old boy that my mom's friends Liz and Joe sponsor. The drive to Kenneth's home was very long. Luckily today was not one of my car sick days. Thanks to long drives through the Eastern U.S. through mountainous roads and in circles, I may be immune now! Probably not. I took a lot of pictures and videos to give them when I go home because I'm sure they wish they were there too. I don't want to write too much about Kenneth because I want to tell Liz and Joe in person but he likes school and thanked them for sponsoring him. He was very quiet but loosened up a little bit at the end of my visit. His brothers and sister were so cute and they all loved the gifts for Kenneth. His little sister was afraid of me at first. She didn't want to come in the house and sit with her brothers.
At the end of my visit Kenneth's mother cut matoke from the tree outside and gave it to me to take home. KAACD will have matoke for a long, long time. Kind of unfortunate, because I am getting quite tired of it. At least it comes with sauce. His mother was so sweet. She thanked me for coming to represent Kenneth's sponsors. I took pictures with Kenneth and of Kenneth's family. I can't wait to get home to show Liz and Joe.
There are many more muzungus up in the hills in Gaba. It is a much nicer area and I saw 2 White people today. It's like siting a rare species of human. I can see why people get excited. It is very uncommon, still getting old though.
Next was the visit to Patrick's house, the boy I sponsor! He is 10 years old and so cute! He speaks English very well too. Kenneth did not speak much English to me but I think it was because he was being shy. On the way to Patrick's we went by an event that Africa Renewal was putting on called African Child's Day. The kids were singing and dancing...and staring at this foreign person sitting in the car. After we picked up two more people and one of the lady's 6 year old son, Benjamin (a handful), we headed to Patrick's home. In retrospect I didn't like the fact that there were so many people there. It made me a little uncomfortable so I'm sure the 10 year old boy was very overwhelmed. Plus, Patrick's caseworker kept taking pictures and it was getting quite annoying. I understand it is a big deal for someone to visit their sponsored child on another continent but seriously, that's nerve-wrecking for everyone involved, especially the child. Patrick was such a quiet boy I can imagine he was not liking the situation too much. I too got a little quiet and shy with eveyrone staring and the slight language barrier.
Mom, I took a video. It is a bit cheesy because I didn't know that Patrick was standing right outside and was heading to his caseworker to explain that I needed a video when I first met him. I don't think Patrick understood that it was a video and not a picture because he kept looking at the camera.
I started out showing him pictures of my family. We talked a little bit. He was very manly. He shook my hand upon meeting me and told me that he likes meat. I met two of his sisters, Justine, who is two years older, and a younger one whose name I cannot remember. Three of his siblings were in the villege when I stopped by. His older brother had a slight case of malaria so the father took him to the doctor and the other kids went with him.
We talked about his school. He said he enjoys school and learning. His mother prepared a meal for us, which was wonderful, except that we had just eaten :/ I felt bad because I could not finish the food. She served us everything on platters and when we were done, Patrick got down on his knees and thanked his mother for the meal. That is something new, but cute nonetheless. I was going to do the same thing but she didn't come back for a while and I forgot. I asked Patrick to show me around and he showed me where he sleeps, his kitchen, and outside where he plays. He got out the football I gave him and we played for a while. It was at this point that I realized when he said he likes football he meant FOOTBALL, not American Football. Thanks America. Why do you have to be so different? Different measurements, names for sports, drive on the wrong side of the road...geez. I didn't get a picture of his family together because when I asked his mother she offered to show me around the house and then I forgot. I should be more assertive.
I gave his mother a picture frame and Patrick seemed to like his new hat and ball. Thanks Liz! They loved the hats! Oh, and I have pictures of both boys giving the Longhorns sign (they got UT hats)! I saw a couple of things that I have sent him over the yerars in his house. That was nice to see.
When I said goodbye Patrick's mom gave me a lot of bananas, a pineapple, what looks like a handweaved mat (I have to ask in my next letter if she made it), and a ball that Patrick made from some fibers. His mother says they use it to play football (not the American kind).
Patrick also taught me a few words in Luganda. I remember "chair" because it is "entebbe," the name of the airport.
It was sad to say goodbye to Patrick because I know this may be the only time I ever see him. I am glad I got to go and I hope I can go back. Next time I would like to see his school. We passed his school on the way back to Bulenga (and stopped by his church). Neither is very far from his home, but the school is closer. Maybe at his school so many people would not be there just for that purpose.
Overall, it was a great day. Very intense and I was exhausted by the end of it. I even stayed up until almost 1am because I took a nap when I got home.
Getting ready for the new volunteers tomorrow!
Day 8: Learning Luganda
25 June, 2010
The morning began with a pretty violent thunderstorm, or so everyone says. I didn't hear much of it. I only woke up because I had to go the the bathroom. Of course this is the second day in a row without water so I had to wander to the pit latrine by the side of the house in the rain. Once I figured out where the key was and opened the lock, the rain had slowed down a bit.
We did the usual morning routine, without bread and jam because ants burrowed themselves in our bread yesterday :(
Hollie, Teresa, and Mijeung left work at 10 to go to Murchison Falls. I talked with the teachers during lunch and snack time and they need sponsors for their children. I told them that people are generally skeptical if they are not sponsoring through an organization so if their children are in an organization that lets the sponsor pick the child I could advertise, but not promise anything. Later, on the way home, a guy asked me to help his sick daughter with my medical connections. Muzungu does not equal doctor! When I said I can't help him out monetarily and I don't have any medical connections he very politely thanked me and walked away. Yesterday Hollie got offered a baby to take back to Canada because the mom said she would have a better life there. It is interesting because here there is no shame in asking for help when you need it. At home, it is an embarressment to have to ask for help. It is the result of a different society mentality. Americans don't have the communal teaching, for the most part. Here, even those with very little will offer you something. The little kids offer me their food. Even today, the teachers bought me casava and maize even though they have very little. Mind you, I didn't ask for this. I asked how much casava is because I wanted to buy some on Monday and they insisted on buying me some.
I ate lunch with Teacher Betty. Rice, beans, and passion fruit juice. We had a good talk. We always talk about the differences of food, weather, and life in general between Uganda and the U.S. (and Canada if Hollie and Teresa are there). Teacher Betty asked me if the U.S. had a cure for AIDS. Apparently that is a widely spread myth here.
I taught all day today, P2 in th morning, P1 after morning break. I reviewed with P2 because I didn't have a text book. In P1 I taught them about extended family. We drew pictures and this weekend I am going to buy scissors and use string to hang them on one of the beams from the ceiling. I hope the kids will enjoy having their art work displayed. It is very plain in the classroom.
I broke out my camera today and the kids went crazy! They also started trying to teach me the names of objects in Luganda. I don't remember any of them :/ I will ask them at the end of the day on Monday and write them down. They also sang a song for me at the end of the day. Something about fingers..I think. It was funny because the song is suppose to go up to the number of fingers they have on their hands and they got all the way to twenty. When they finished I asked how many fingers they have and they said, "10!" I just wanted to make sure. I think I will teach them the monkeys jumping on the bed song next week...or at least part of it ("no more monkeys jumping on the bed"). Of course, being me, I will have to teach them a Michael Jackson song before I leave. Or at least the moonwalk (my version anyway) :)
The morning began with a pretty violent thunderstorm, or so everyone says. I didn't hear much of it. I only woke up because I had to go the the bathroom. Of course this is the second day in a row without water so I had to wander to the pit latrine by the side of the house in the rain. Once I figured out where the key was and opened the lock, the rain had slowed down a bit.
We did the usual morning routine, without bread and jam because ants burrowed themselves in our bread yesterday :(
Hollie, Teresa, and Mijeung left work at 10 to go to Murchison Falls. I talked with the teachers during lunch and snack time and they need sponsors for their children. I told them that people are generally skeptical if they are not sponsoring through an organization so if their children are in an organization that lets the sponsor pick the child I could advertise, but not promise anything. Later, on the way home, a guy asked me to help his sick daughter with my medical connections. Muzungu does not equal doctor! When I said I can't help him out monetarily and I don't have any medical connections he very politely thanked me and walked away. Yesterday Hollie got offered a baby to take back to Canada because the mom said she would have a better life there. It is interesting because here there is no shame in asking for help when you need it. At home, it is an embarressment to have to ask for help. It is the result of a different society mentality. Americans don't have the communal teaching, for the most part. Here, even those with very little will offer you something. The little kids offer me their food. Even today, the teachers bought me casava and maize even though they have very little. Mind you, I didn't ask for this. I asked how much casava is because I wanted to buy some on Monday and they insisted on buying me some.
I ate lunch with Teacher Betty. Rice, beans, and passion fruit juice. We had a good talk. We always talk about the differences of food, weather, and life in general between Uganda and the U.S. (and Canada if Hollie and Teresa are there). Teacher Betty asked me if the U.S. had a cure for AIDS. Apparently that is a widely spread myth here.
I taught all day today, P2 in th morning, P1 after morning break. I reviewed with P2 because I didn't have a text book. In P1 I taught them about extended family. We drew pictures and this weekend I am going to buy scissors and use string to hang them on one of the beams from the ceiling. I hope the kids will enjoy having their art work displayed. It is very plain in the classroom.
I broke out my camera today and the kids went crazy! They also started trying to teach me the names of objects in Luganda. I don't remember any of them :/ I will ask them at the end of the day on Monday and write them down. They also sang a song for me at the end of the day. Something about fingers..I think. It was funny because the song is suppose to go up to the number of fingers they have on their hands and they got all the way to twenty. When they finished I asked how many fingers they have and they said, "10!" I just wanted to make sure. I think I will teach them the monkeys jumping on the bed song next week...or at least part of it ("no more monkeys jumping on the bed"). Of course, being me, I will have to teach them a Michael Jackson song before I leave. Or at least the moonwalk (my version anyway) :)
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day 7: Getting lost and finding my way
I just returned from the first day of HIV/AIDS home visits. Very surreal. I don't really know what else to say about it. It was much sadder than working at the school. It was sad to see people in such dire situations that were in such extremely poverty (one woman's home literally looked as if a bit of rain could bring it down in seconds, and another woman did not have transportation or money to get to a doctor and was too weak to walk that far, and she was getting worse) but they couldn't do anything about it and no one could help them because everyone else is poor too and organizations that can help are not receiving enough funds.
I got lost on the way back, but two men digging helped me find my way back. All I had to do was ask if they had seen a muzungu man pass by. I'm so glad Kelly was with us too. They pointed me in the direction and I found my way back from there. When I got back I crawled back into bed to write, thinking we were done until lunch time. Then Sam came in and asked if I wanted to come to Life Skills Training. I said I thought that was on Wednesday but I don't think he understood me because he said, "Okay, see you later." I jumped out of my mosquito net off of the top bunk and went to put my shoes on. By the time I got outside, Sam and Kelly were both gone. So I hung out for the afternoon and waited for Mijeung to come home so we could eat lunch and then her, Kelly, and I could head off to school for the afternoon.
I finally know my way to the school and back, which is good because tomorrow the other volunteers leave for Murchison Falls and I have to walk home alone.
School was fun today. The teacher I didn't think liked me said hello and we talked beore I started teaching. It is so hard because some of the kids can sound out letters and some do not understand at all. I only taught English today and apparently the teachers thought I was coming this morning. They did not seem too upset that according to them I was about 6 hours late. Everyone is sooooo laid back here.
After school I played ball with some of the kids and gave Peace, the headmaster's adorable daughter (what kid here isn't adorable? Apparently God gave all the REALLY cute kids to Africa), about 30 high fives. She's about 3 and she's going to break my hand!
There is one boy in my class who is older than the rest and he has no idea what is going on. He knows his numbers but even math is hard for him. Counting by tens is just not coming to him and I know that the kids have gone over it before because they were already receiting it when I got there the first day. The teachers say that he has only been there a month though. Maybe he needs more time, but I think what he really needs is extrahelp. I don't know how to try and get him extra help. I doubt tutoring is a popular thing here and it costs money. There is no point in me giving him extra help for 2 weeks and then leaving. Maybe it's motivating, but it seems like it would be more frustrating than anything because he would soon go back to being behind because he just needs extra help. The teacher described him as "weak." The lingo difference is interesting.
I put stars on the kids papers today and soon I had to do it for each box (I had them draw pictures of certain verbs, there were 12) on each kids paper.
Teacher Susan and the other teacher thought it was hilarious that I was going to do all of my laundry by hand. I told them I live in the same gate as Derrik and they said they would come on Sunday and help me. I told them I could manage but they insisted. We'll see what happens.
Names I learned in P1:
Kaazi
I got lost on the way back, but two men digging helped me find my way back. All I had to do was ask if they had seen a muzungu man pass by. I'm so glad Kelly was with us too. They pointed me in the direction and I found my way back from there. When I got back I crawled back into bed to write, thinking we were done until lunch time. Then Sam came in and asked if I wanted to come to Life Skills Training. I said I thought that was on Wednesday but I don't think he understood me because he said, "Okay, see you later." I jumped out of my mosquito net off of the top bunk and went to put my shoes on. By the time I got outside, Sam and Kelly were both gone. So I hung out for the afternoon and waited for Mijeung to come home so we could eat lunch and then her, Kelly, and I could head off to school for the afternoon.
I finally know my way to the school and back, which is good because tomorrow the other volunteers leave for Murchison Falls and I have to walk home alone.
School was fun today. The teacher I didn't think liked me said hello and we talked beore I started teaching. It is so hard because some of the kids can sound out letters and some do not understand at all. I only taught English today and apparently the teachers thought I was coming this morning. They did not seem too upset that according to them I was about 6 hours late. Everyone is sooooo laid back here.
After school I played ball with some of the kids and gave Peace, the headmaster's adorable daughter (what kid here isn't adorable? Apparently God gave all the REALLY cute kids to Africa), about 30 high fives. She's about 3 and she's going to break my hand!
There is one boy in my class who is older than the rest and he has no idea what is going on. He knows his numbers but even math is hard for him. Counting by tens is just not coming to him and I know that the kids have gone over it before because they were already receiting it when I got there the first day. The teachers say that he has only been there a month though. Maybe he needs more time, but I think what he really needs is extrahelp. I don't know how to try and get him extra help. I doubt tutoring is a popular thing here and it costs money. There is no point in me giving him extra help for 2 weeks and then leaving. Maybe it's motivating, but it seems like it would be more frustrating than anything because he would soon go back to being behind because he just needs extra help. The teacher described him as "weak." The lingo difference is interesting.
I put stars on the kids papers today and soon I had to do it for each box (I had them draw pictures of certain verbs, there were 12) on each kids paper.
Teacher Susan and the other teacher thought it was hilarious that I was going to do all of my laundry by hand. I told them I live in the same gate as Derrik and they said they would come on Sunday and help me. I told them I could manage but they insisted. We'll see what happens.
Names I learned in P1:
Kaazi
Day 6: Incredible hospitality and sacrifice. Where is this in the U.S.?
23 June, 2010
The muzungu thing is on the verge of getting old. It's cute when the kids do it, but with adults it's almost offensive. I know they don't mean it that way, but still... I am excited to go walking to the market by myself, just to see if they still call me muzungu. (Obviously this is a few days old so NOTE: they do).
It has been so nice to get to bed early, wake up early, and actually have time to get ready, eat, read, anything I need or want to do.
Derrick had a talk with us last night that made me and Hollie both a little paranoid about where our sponsorship money is going. He made a good point about paying during holiday. Where does the money go? I am still going Saturday but I will ask about his school and where money goes when he is on holiday.
Today was an even less organized day at school. There was one woman that we saw on our way to school and on our way back. She asked how our day was and told us, "welcome back" on our way home. So friendly!
I taught measurement to the P2 class this morning. We measured things with our hands and feet and talked about the difference between height and length.
One of the boys, Ddamba offered me maize today at snack time. It was the sweetest thing ever...until Namale (a 6 year old girl in my class with the biggest, brightest eyes I've ever seen on a child) got down on her knees, offered me a piece of her bread, and said "for you, teacher." I didn't take the maize. I told Ddamba to keep it because he needs to eat more than I do, after which I realied he probably thought I was being rude or didn't like him or something. So when Namale offered the bread I asked Teacher Susan if I should take it or give it back since I clearly have less financial troubles (I made it all the way here, what does that tell you?). She said I should take it so I did and thanked Namale for her offering. It amazes me that kids who are orphaned, living in poverty, and know they have very little are still kind enough to offer you the one thing they DO have. Why can't we teach spoiled rich American kids to be that generous? You'd think it'd be easier, not harder. I love how much this village values hospitality and kindness. Almost everyone you pass says, "hello, how are you" without knowing you and clearly realizing you are not from around here.
We also tried jack fruit (not sure of that spelling) at lunch time today. It is very sticky. The outside of it is kind of spikey and greenish-brownish colored. The inside has these sticky/stringy things that you have to peel off, then you take out the seed, and eat the covering. Very foreign fruit, but very good. Teacher Susan laughed at us because we had no idea which part we were suppose to eat. The kids thought this was funny too and kept staring at us and laughing. Teacher Betty says she will let us try every food we have not yet tried before we leave Uganda. Yay!
After lunch I taught about the nuclear family again. I figure that repetition is a good thing, it helps kids learn. We went over it many times and I drew pictures on the board. I also showed all the kids pictures from home of me and my parents. Namale pointed to the picture of my mom and said, "muzungu." Tomorrow I will ask her if she thinks I am a muzungu too. All the teachers say, [pointing to my mom] "oh yes, this one is very muzungu."
I am going to start doing warm-ups for every subject so that we can review what they learned the day beefore without having to repeat the whole lesson.
We walked to the market after school and bought some school supplies, food, and drinks. I know where it is now and I think I will do some wandering on Sunday since I will be the only one here with the new volunteers who are arriving Sunday morning around 12 or 1am. Maybe I will give them a quick tour since that is something I appreciated.
I created a lesson plan for tomorrow. I am excited to try it out! I just wish the teacher wouldn't stare at me so much :(
Oh, I almost forgot: first day with running water since I arrived!!! I have never been more happy to take a cold shower in my life. Oh, and I was able to charge my iPod! Okay, now I feel guilty. Americans are to damn spoiled.
Tomorrow is my first day doing HIV/AIDS home visits with Sam. Should be fun!
Names I have learned in my P1 class:
Namale
Nambooze
Yawe
Fred
Names I have learned in my P2 class:
Jo Van
Roboti
The muzungu thing is on the verge of getting old. It's cute when the kids do it, but with adults it's almost offensive. I know they don't mean it that way, but still... I am excited to go walking to the market by myself, just to see if they still call me muzungu. (Obviously this is a few days old so NOTE: they do).
It has been so nice to get to bed early, wake up early, and actually have time to get ready, eat, read, anything I need or want to do.
Derrick had a talk with us last night that made me and Hollie both a little paranoid about where our sponsorship money is going. He made a good point about paying during holiday. Where does the money go? I am still going Saturday but I will ask about his school and where money goes when he is on holiday.
Today was an even less organized day at school. There was one woman that we saw on our way to school and on our way back. She asked how our day was and told us, "welcome back" on our way home. So friendly!
I taught measurement to the P2 class this morning. We measured things with our hands and feet and talked about the difference between height and length.
One of the boys, Ddamba offered me maize today at snack time. It was the sweetest thing ever...until Namale (a 6 year old girl in my class with the biggest, brightest eyes I've ever seen on a child) got down on her knees, offered me a piece of her bread, and said "for you, teacher." I didn't take the maize. I told Ddamba to keep it because he needs to eat more than I do, after which I realied he probably thought I was being rude or didn't like him or something. So when Namale offered the bread I asked Teacher Susan if I should take it or give it back since I clearly have less financial troubles (I made it all the way here, what does that tell you?). She said I should take it so I did and thanked Namale for her offering. It amazes me that kids who are orphaned, living in poverty, and know they have very little are still kind enough to offer you the one thing they DO have. Why can't we teach spoiled rich American kids to be that generous? You'd think it'd be easier, not harder. I love how much this village values hospitality and kindness. Almost everyone you pass says, "hello, how are you" without knowing you and clearly realizing you are not from around here.
We also tried jack fruit (not sure of that spelling) at lunch time today. It is very sticky. The outside of it is kind of spikey and greenish-brownish colored. The inside has these sticky/stringy things that you have to peel off, then you take out the seed, and eat the covering. Very foreign fruit, but very good. Teacher Susan laughed at us because we had no idea which part we were suppose to eat. The kids thought this was funny too and kept staring at us and laughing. Teacher Betty says she will let us try every food we have not yet tried before we leave Uganda. Yay!
After lunch I taught about the nuclear family again. I figure that repetition is a good thing, it helps kids learn. We went over it many times and I drew pictures on the board. I also showed all the kids pictures from home of me and my parents. Namale pointed to the picture of my mom and said, "muzungu." Tomorrow I will ask her if she thinks I am a muzungu too. All the teachers say, [pointing to my mom] "oh yes, this one is very muzungu."
I am going to start doing warm-ups for every subject so that we can review what they learned the day beefore without having to repeat the whole lesson.
We walked to the market after school and bought some school supplies, food, and drinks. I know where it is now and I think I will do some wandering on Sunday since I will be the only one here with the new volunteers who are arriving Sunday morning around 12 or 1am. Maybe I will give them a quick tour since that is something I appreciated.
I created a lesson plan for tomorrow. I am excited to try it out! I just wish the teacher wouldn't stare at me so much :(
Oh, I almost forgot: first day with running water since I arrived!!! I have never been more happy to take a cold shower in my life. Oh, and I was able to charge my iPod! Okay, now I feel guilty. Americans are to damn spoiled.
Tomorrow is my first day doing HIV/AIDS home visits with Sam. Should be fun!
Names I have learned in my P1 class:
Namale
Nambooze
Yawe
Fred
Names I have learned in my P2 class:
Jo Van
Roboti
Day 5: First Day of School
22 June, 2010 (This is how we write it on the chalkboard at school)
6am is when we wake up every morning. I've been going to bed much earlier since I've been here. Part of it, I'm sure, is jet lag, but a lot of it is just exhaustion from walking all over.
I forgot to mention that last night I took a bucket shower...in the dark. Hadn't showered in 4 days, so I was desperate for a shower. I couldn't wait until the water came back on, whenever that would be. It wasn't bad actually, except for the fact that you could accidentally step in the toilet. Luckily I didn't though.
So I walked with Hollie and Teresa to the school. The walk there is so pleasant because everyone says "hello" and "how are you?" Of course, you get some strange looks as a muzungu, but once you break the ice with a friendly greeting all seems to go smoothly. All the kids wave and scream and yell "muzungu! muzungu!" and "see you." It still amazes me that almost all the kids are willing to say "hello" to a complete stranger, and the kids in my class back home have known me for 9 months and some of them don't say a word to me, even if I greet them first.
As soon as we got to the school the kids from Hollie and Teresa's class ran out and hugged all of us. A few of them grabbed me by the hand and insisted that I come into the classroom with them. After I was there for a few minutes, Teacher Susan came to fetch me and take me to P1 and P2 classroom. Both classes are in the same room and the children face opposite directions. It gets a bit distracting at times, especially when we are reading things off the board or one side is having more fun than the other. First, I taught the P2 class about plants, which I know nothing about. They did an exercise at the end, which seemed completely pointless to me because I don't think they understood the material. The class took a break and I taught math and "science" (a.k.a. who is in a family) to the P1 class. I don't think they understood the material that time either. Everything seems to be basically memorization, hopefully they are actually understanding what is being said.
Next, they had lunch and Holly, Teresa, and I got to eat lunch at the headmaster's home which is on the school/orphanage campus. They made us potatoes, which were absolutely AMAZING and avocodoes and juice. Best thing I've had so far, although rolexes (food, not the watch) were pretty good as well.
After lunch I continued the lesson and then we worked on some English. The kids went home after that and one of them walked about 1/8 of the way with us before breaking off to go to his home.
There are 2 sisters (twins, I think) in the P1 class who are absolutely adorable.
Names I learned today:
Ddamba (P1 class)
Teacher Susan (self explanatory)
Peter (a guy that works at the school. I can't remember what he does)
That's it for today!
6am is when we wake up every morning. I've been going to bed much earlier since I've been here. Part of it, I'm sure, is jet lag, but a lot of it is just exhaustion from walking all over.
I forgot to mention that last night I took a bucket shower...in the dark. Hadn't showered in 4 days, so I was desperate for a shower. I couldn't wait until the water came back on, whenever that would be. It wasn't bad actually, except for the fact that you could accidentally step in the toilet. Luckily I didn't though.
So I walked with Hollie and Teresa to the school. The walk there is so pleasant because everyone says "hello" and "how are you?" Of course, you get some strange looks as a muzungu, but once you break the ice with a friendly greeting all seems to go smoothly. All the kids wave and scream and yell "muzungu! muzungu!" and "see you." It still amazes me that almost all the kids are willing to say "hello" to a complete stranger, and the kids in my class back home have known me for 9 months and some of them don't say a word to me, even if I greet them first.
As soon as we got to the school the kids from Hollie and Teresa's class ran out and hugged all of us. A few of them grabbed me by the hand and insisted that I come into the classroom with them. After I was there for a few minutes, Teacher Susan came to fetch me and take me to P1 and P2 classroom. Both classes are in the same room and the children face opposite directions. It gets a bit distracting at times, especially when we are reading things off the board or one side is having more fun than the other. First, I taught the P2 class about plants, which I know nothing about. They did an exercise at the end, which seemed completely pointless to me because I don't think they understood the material. The class took a break and I taught math and "science" (a.k.a. who is in a family) to the P1 class. I don't think they understood the material that time either. Everything seems to be basically memorization, hopefully they are actually understanding what is being said.
Next, they had lunch and Holly, Teresa, and I got to eat lunch at the headmaster's home which is on the school/orphanage campus. They made us potatoes, which were absolutely AMAZING and avocodoes and juice. Best thing I've had so far, although rolexes (food, not the watch) were pretty good as well.
After lunch I continued the lesson and then we worked on some English. The kids went home after that and one of them walked about 1/8 of the way with us before breaking off to go to his home.
There are 2 sisters (twins, I think) in the P1 class who are absolutely adorable.
Names I learned today:
Ddamba (P1 class)
Teacher Susan (self explanatory)
Peter (a guy that works at the school. I can't remember what he does)
That's it for today!
Day 4-Rule #1: You are a muzungu no matter how far away you are from being purely white...and muzungus walk slow
Today was orientation day for me, which meant a lot of walking. First thing this morning (around 6am), I woke u and got ready with the other volunteers who had to start teaching between 8 and 9. Hollie made tea on the stove in our closet kitchen and I had passion fruit for the first time with a piece of somewhat stale bread. I learned though, that putting bread on top of your tea almost makes toast!
When Sam came back (Sam is one of the project directors...I think) he took Kelly and Mijeung to work and I tagged along. We hailed a van (taxi) with, what in the states would be an illegal number of people, and proceeded to the school (I later discovered this is a taxi). Once we dropped them off, Sam took me to the school I will be teaching at. It was a very long walk and as I walked, the local kids kept screaming "how are you muzungu?!" I waved at them and they got a big kick out of a muzungu walking around Uganda.
The school is called Good Hope and it is in Bulenga where I am staying. I am suppose to be teaching English and Math to Primary 1 and Primary 2 classes. As soon as we got to the school, a little girl came up to me and gave me a big stool to sit on. Later, when Kelly and I were waklking back to the house from the same school, a little boy ran up to him from out of nowhere and grabbed him by the hand. He walked with us for a few meters and then broke off to hang with his brother.
I did see something really sad. There was a kid walking through the bushes, couldn't have been more than 2 years old, who looked to be malnourished. His belly was swollen and he was just standing there and he started crying. There was no one else around and it got me wondering how, with all these kids walking around by themselves, how do you tell the ones who are cared for from the ones who are orphaned? Too used to Western culture, I guess. I'm a social worker, I can't help it.
Kids here bathe naked...outside. It's even in their textbooks under the word "bathe." At home that would border along the lines of neglect and suspicion of something wrong. There goes my social work thinking again.
After Sam showed me some of the other projects, the wells and the pig farm, we came home for lunch. Once we got back I sat on the deck and figured out a lesson plan. I have no idea where the kids are in their education so I just wrote down page numbers and concepts in hopes that I will magically figure this all out tomorrow. The school was a brick building that is missing a ceiling, half the bricks on the walls, and windows. It also doubles as an orphanage. It amazes me that kids can learn and sit and pay attention in such poverty here, and back home half the kids don't want to learn or be at school because there schools are shitty, but better than here. How is the mentality that different? Somehow I don't feel like I have traveled THAT far from home.
Upon finishing lunch, Derrick informed me that my luggage had been delivered to Entebbe. Here are the modes of transportation Kelly--who graciously forfeited his own plans to accompany me to the airport--and I took: taxi van, taxi-van, boda-boda (my mother will kill me, by the way, after she googles this). Then it took about 30 minutes to get my bag, which they never checked :/ Then we took a bus to the outskirts of Kampala, wandered around the market place looking for his friend, ate rolex (an egg wrapped in a tortilla-like thing) and bananas, wandered back to take a van that took us to the taxi park, caught a taxi van to Bulenga and finally got off and walked down the dirt path back to the house. All of this took roughly 5 or 6 hours. Now, I've vinished my lesson plan and am exhausted. Good night!
When Sam came back (Sam is one of the project directors...I think) he took Kelly and Mijeung to work and I tagged along. We hailed a van (taxi) with, what in the states would be an illegal number of people, and proceeded to the school (I later discovered this is a taxi). Once we dropped them off, Sam took me to the school I will be teaching at. It was a very long walk and as I walked, the local kids kept screaming "how are you muzungu?!" I waved at them and they got a big kick out of a muzungu walking around Uganda.
The school is called Good Hope and it is in Bulenga where I am staying. I am suppose to be teaching English and Math to Primary 1 and Primary 2 classes. As soon as we got to the school, a little girl came up to me and gave me a big stool to sit on. Later, when Kelly and I were waklking back to the house from the same school, a little boy ran up to him from out of nowhere and grabbed him by the hand. He walked with us for a few meters and then broke off to hang with his brother.
I did see something really sad. There was a kid walking through the bushes, couldn't have been more than 2 years old, who looked to be malnourished. His belly was swollen and he was just standing there and he started crying. There was no one else around and it got me wondering how, with all these kids walking around by themselves, how do you tell the ones who are cared for from the ones who are orphaned? Too used to Western culture, I guess. I'm a social worker, I can't help it.
Kids here bathe naked...outside. It's even in their textbooks under the word "bathe." At home that would border along the lines of neglect and suspicion of something wrong. There goes my social work thinking again.
After Sam showed me some of the other projects, the wells and the pig farm, we came home for lunch. Once we got back I sat on the deck and figured out a lesson plan. I have no idea where the kids are in their education so I just wrote down page numbers and concepts in hopes that I will magically figure this all out tomorrow. The school was a brick building that is missing a ceiling, half the bricks on the walls, and windows. It also doubles as an orphanage. It amazes me that kids can learn and sit and pay attention in such poverty here, and back home half the kids don't want to learn or be at school because there schools are shitty, but better than here. How is the mentality that different? Somehow I don't feel like I have traveled THAT far from home.
Upon finishing lunch, Derrick informed me that my luggage had been delivered to Entebbe. Here are the modes of transportation Kelly--who graciously forfeited his own plans to accompany me to the airport--and I took: taxi van, taxi-van, boda-boda (my mother will kill me, by the way, after she googles this). Then it took about 30 minutes to get my bag, which they never checked :/ Then we took a bus to the outskirts of Kampala, wandered around the market place looking for his friend, ate rolex (an egg wrapped in a tortilla-like thing) and bananas, wandered back to take a van that took us to the taxi park, caught a taxi van to Bulenga and finally got off and walked down the dirt path back to the house. All of this took roughly 5 or 6 hours. Now, I've vinished my lesson plan and am exhausted. Good night!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 3-Arrival
I got to Entebbe at around 8am. Lufthansa, somehow in a total of 16 hours of layover time did NOT transfer my bag, so it is arriving tomorrow morning. I'm using on of the other volunteers' bug spray and hand sanitizer until then.
I used a pit latrine for the first time, so that was an experience. Not the worst thing though.
My first meal in Uganda was cooked and delivered by a woman named Susan who works here. I had mashed bananas (matoke), rice, and I think fish. I wish the other volunteers were here, I would feel more comfortable wandering around since they know the area. They went to the Equator for the day.
I saw a butterfly land in the road and just walk around with its wings up. Beautiful.
The stories from the other volunteers about teaching here are kind of scary. They say that pretty much you get handed a piece of chalk and asked to teach.
I can see some of the local children from my window and I'm convinced that African kids are cuter than any others.
Apparently someone is suppose to come brief me about what I'll be doing, but I don't know when. I've been here for nearly 5 hours and haen't seen anyone new show up.
I spent most of this first day hanging around the compound where we are staying. I met the other four volunteers (Kelly, Mijeung, Teresa, and Hollie) and we talked and got to know each other a bit. After I collapsed for a couple hours I came outside to find Kelly (who is a guy by the way) washing clothes. I observed and asked questions about where we get the water. Toward sundown we walked down to the well to get water for tomorrow. One of the women (Dr. Sarah, they call her) said I wouldn't be able to carry the jerrycan back up the hill (almost the entire walk back is up hill). So I did it! Kelly was my witness, you can ask him. Plus, I have a picture! On the way there and back the local children kept waving at us and laughing because clearly we are foreigners and we are trying to lug these huge jerrycans from the well.
The rest of the day I spent playing with Debbie, the little girl who can't be more than 3 who lives in the compound too. I was her perseonal servant, carrying here bag of toys and books, and also her personal walking jungle gym. She got most of my clothes wet with Kelly's clothes washing water and Kelly and I soaked her shirt, which she then took off and laid out in the sun to dry. Debbie also fell head first into a bucket of dirty water. She just thought this was funny.
Tomorrow is orientation, hopefully getting my luggage back, and shopping for water and toilet paper. Taking a shower should be interesting...it's in the same space as the toilet. The middle of the shower floor is the toilet. Hope I don't fall in!
I used a pit latrine for the first time, so that was an experience. Not the worst thing though.
My first meal in Uganda was cooked and delivered by a woman named Susan who works here. I had mashed bananas (matoke), rice, and I think fish. I wish the other volunteers were here, I would feel more comfortable wandering around since they know the area. They went to the Equator for the day.
I saw a butterfly land in the road and just walk around with its wings up. Beautiful.
The stories from the other volunteers about teaching here are kind of scary. They say that pretty much you get handed a piece of chalk and asked to teach.
I can see some of the local children from my window and I'm convinced that African kids are cuter than any others.
Apparently someone is suppose to come brief me about what I'll be doing, but I don't know when. I've been here for nearly 5 hours and haen't seen anyone new show up.
I spent most of this first day hanging around the compound where we are staying. I met the other four volunteers (Kelly, Mijeung, Teresa, and Hollie) and we talked and got to know each other a bit. After I collapsed for a couple hours I came outside to find Kelly (who is a guy by the way) washing clothes. I observed and asked questions about where we get the water. Toward sundown we walked down to the well to get water for tomorrow. One of the women (Dr. Sarah, they call her) said I wouldn't be able to carry the jerrycan back up the hill (almost the entire walk back is up hill). So I did it! Kelly was my witness, you can ask him. Plus, I have a picture! On the way there and back the local children kept waving at us and laughing because clearly we are foreigners and we are trying to lug these huge jerrycans from the well.
The rest of the day I spent playing with Debbie, the little girl who can't be more than 3 who lives in the compound too. I was her perseonal servant, carrying here bag of toys and books, and also her personal walking jungle gym. She got most of my clothes wet with Kelly's clothes washing water and Kelly and I soaked her shirt, which she then took off and laid out in the sun to dry. Debbie also fell head first into a bucket of dirty water. She just thought this was funny.
Tomorrow is orientation, hopefully getting my luggage back, and shopping for water and toilet paper. Taking a shower should be interesting...it's in the same space as the toilet. The middle of the shower floor is the toilet. Hope I don't fall in!
Day 2-Why are we driving on the wrong side of the road???
After two flight cancellations in the last month and a half and a huge mishap this afternoon which resulted in taking United Airlines to London instead of Lufthansa to Frankfurt for my first stop, taking off 2 hours late, and making back $800 for my "troubles," I am in London...for the next 12 hours. I landed here at 9:42am and leave at 9:12pm. Woo hoo! First time in Europe and I'm not leaving the airport. I think I can with a U.S. passport but I wouldn't know where to go or how to get there...and I'm tired.
There are sugar cubes everywhere! Which is by far the most adorable thing I've ever seen.
Waking up in an airport, especially when you don't realize you've fallen asleep, has got to be one of the strangest feelings. It feels like when you are trying not to sound sleepy on the phone when you first wake up and for some reason lie about being half-asleep.
I had to buy a cheesy tourist sweatshirt that says "London, England" on it and has pictures of various attracions with the UK flag becaues I'm a genius and forgot to bring a sweat shirt and the airport is FREEZING.
Well, that's it for today, nothing too exciting. Can't wait until I get to Uganda tomorrow.
There are sugar cubes everywhere! Which is by far the most adorable thing I've ever seen.
Waking up in an airport, especially when you don't realize you've fallen asleep, has got to be one of the strangest feelings. It feels like when you are trying not to sound sleepy on the phone when you first wake up and for some reason lie about being half-asleep.
I had to buy a cheesy tourist sweatshirt that says "London, England" on it and has pictures of various attracions with the UK flag becaues I'm a genius and forgot to bring a sweat shirt and the airport is FREEZING.
Well, that's it for today, nothing too exciting. Can't wait until I get to Uganda tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
June 19, 2010 (Day 1)-Anxiety attacks and interesting travel experiences
When I woke up this morning I had a full on anxiety attack, with shortness of breath, having to focus on breathing, everything. I don't know if I was nervous about the flight, the whole experience or what. The plane from Chicago to London was uneventful inus a little turbulance. And, I got to sit in the middle! Luckily between two fairly skinny people.
Changing my flight was a lot of fun once I told the airline my final destination is Kampala, Uganda. They kind of looked at me like, "where" and kept referring to Entebbe airport as EBB, whic is accurate but equivalent ot referring to Midway as MID (plus, I could tell the guy had no idea where he was talking about).
Changing my flight was a lot of fun once I told the airline my final destination is Kampala, Uganda. They kind of looked at me like, "where" and kept referring to Entebbe airport as EBB, whic is accurate but equivalent ot referring to Midway as MID (plus, I could tell the guy had no idea where he was talking about).
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