Stop Existing and Start Living: 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)