12th week in Uganda - Best week yet...

This was one of those great weeks where I was able to just enjoy being in this amazing country!  I feel very blessed to have this opportunity to work and live here.

1.  Bumpy, bumpy boda ride- So it’s possible that I got a little over confident on my boda-boda riding skills. To get to one of my schools this week I had to take a boda-boda for nearly 30 minutes over a bumpy, windy, hilly, dirt “road”.  I now understand the expression holding on for dear life! Many of the “roads” here are barley big enough for one vehicle and are impassable if it has just rained.

 

2.  Running though the village- In a village where no woman is seen in public in pants, I got more than a few looks as I went jogging in my yoga pants Sunday morning as folks were on their way to church! It is not in the culture here to just go out for a walk or a run. So, I always get questions of “where are you going”, even in my workout gear and headphones a boda-boda driver asked me if I needed a ride!

 

3.  Two wonderful days in Kibale National Park- I live on the boarder of Kibale National Park which is famous for the chimpanzees that live there. Even though I live so close, I enjoy every opportunity I get to go into the park. 

 

This weekend I got to spend two wonderful days in the park with 20 P6 (6^th grade) students that were part of a conservation camp. Two students were picked from ten primary schools that border the park to come and spend a weekend in the park. Even though these students live so close to the park, most had never been on an official “visit”. It is critical that students in this area understand the importance of Kibale National Park and their impact on it. Many families in this area trespass into the park to take out firewood, hurt baboons and chimpanzees when they crop raid, and cut down tress- all things that negatively impact the ecosystem of this area.

 

During the weekend the students participated in forest walks, learned to indentify different species of primates and trees, visited the park headquarters, made wonderful chimpanzee masks, watched conservation films, went on a field trip to the Amabere caves and waterfall, and stayed at Mackere Universty Biological Field Research Station.

 

4.  For the love of reading- There are no books in the classrooms of the schools that I work with out here in the villages. Children don’t have books in their homes and they certainly don’t know about the joy that comes with reading. So imagine my surprise and delight when a group of children grabbed the picture books I was carrying, sat down on the grass and started reading in English (their second language)!!!  

 

5.  Monkeying around- Normally, when I see monkeys here they are high up in the trees but Sunday I was lucky enough to see a group of seven black and white colubus monkeys playing only feet from where I was walking. It was delightful to see them leap and jump in the trees as they were eating their breakfast of leaves. I must have watched them for 30 mins!

6.  I know I am not supposed to have favorites- Just like you're not supposed to have a favorite of your children, I probably should love all of my schools the same. The truth is two have a special place in my heart. One is a private well funded Montessori type school that does incredible things with their students and the other is a small poor rural school with no permanent structures but where real learning is going on. I was lucky enough to spend a day at each this week visiting classes and leading activities.

7.  Village Life- Other than offending the locals by running though the village in lryca (actually I think they are getting too used to it- one girl even patted my behind), I think I am adjusting quite well to village life. I have my favorite bar, I know most of the shop keepers – they even put out my bottles of water when they see me coming and this week I even joined the locals to watch a football match on the one TV in Bigodi!

Being a Celebrity- My eleventh week in Uganda

1. Being a celebrity- While I will probably never be a famous musician or a movie star, I do know what it’s like to be surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans! At some of the schools we visit, the students see very few if any Mzungas’s so when our car pulls up, hundreds come out of their classes to surround me saying” Mzunga , Mzunga how are you?”. It is a little surreal! I left the local primary school recently to walk home for lunch and there were 40 kids following me!

2. I’ll never complain about housework again- I decided to sweep and mop my house last week, since it is only 11 by 11 this should have been an easy task. It wasn’t. The broom we have doesn’t have a handle so I’m bending over the entire time and there is certainly no dust pan. I’m not entirely sure that I got any of the dirt out of my house or if I just moved it around. We don’t have a mop, so instead we use a basin with water from the cistern and an old rag. I will be very happy to see my Swiffer when I get home!

3. 19 classes in three days- In March, I trained 96 P1-P7 ( 1st-7th grade) teachers on integrating hands-on environmental education into their teaching. I now have the task of observing each of their classes to see if they are using the methods that they learned. I observed 19 classes this week! It was amazing to see the improvements in the teachers’ instruction. My program’s goal is to see more environmental education taught at school and better teaching methods used in all subjects.

4. Using peanuts as a teaching tool- One of the challenging/rewarding parts of my work has been to develop learning activities that align with the national curriculum and use commonly found items. The schools don’t provide the teachers with learning materials like we have in the states. Because coffee beans, groundnuts (peanuts), mangos, and dried corn are easily found, I use them a lot in my activities. At the UNITE meeting this past Saturday, I taught the teachers an activity about carrying capacity (how many people or animals can a particular area support) using only groundnuts!

5. Jingle bells- Like every 1 and a half year old, Leon gets fussy at times. Being that I am tone deaf and can’t remember the lyrics to most songs, one evening I resorted to singing “Jingle Bells” to him. Miracles of miracles he stopped crying. Imagine there I am in Africa singing Jingle Bells t a kid who has never seen snow!

6. Hanging around- I had been trying to find a scale for weeks. I knew from how my clothes were fitting that I had lost weight but I wanted to see the number on the scale. Since there appeared to be no scales in Bigodi – Tinka bought out the produce scale and I hung from a piece of rope like a bag of flour! Only in Uganda!

7. Football – Ugandan’s love their football ( soccer) ! Since we don’t have a TV at home ( I don’t believe anyone in Bigodi does) we listen to all the games on the radio. One of the bars in town does have a TV and it is always packed when a football match is on! I can hear the cheers from the bar at my house when Manchester scores!

8. Supplies needed- If you’re putting together a care package and there is room, please consider adding in one of the following items for the students that I work with.
- Books in English- children’s picture books or young adult
- Deflated playground or soccer balls
- Sanitary supplies ( just pads no tampons)
- General school supplies

9. Dancing- Often when I go to schools, the students will perform traditional songs and dances for me. They are so talented. Twice this week at two different schools, they pulled me from the crowd to dance!

10. Won’t you be my neighbor- It occurred to me last night as I was walking though my village talking to people who I knew along the way, that I know more people in Bigodi than I do in Clayton where I have owned a home for 5 years! Please don’t get me wrong, I love Clayton but in the 5 years that I have lived in my subdivision, I think I have only met 4 of my neighbors. Yet, I have been in Bigodi less than 3 months and I know half the village!

My tenth week in Uganda

1. My new alarm clock- We got a new rooster this week, the problem is that he wakes up much earlier than I. So at 5 am as he starts announcing his presence to the neighborhood, I am still trying to get a few more hours of sleep. Luckily, we had chicken for dinner a few days later so I am no longer awaken at 5am!

2. White little fluff balls-There are eight different species’ of monkeys living in this area. One of the more common is the Black and white colobus monkey. They are beautiful with their black bodies, white facial markings, and long white tail. This week, I saw my first baby black and white colobus monkey and it was solid white. These monkeys are born solid white than at about 3 months they turn black!

3. A trip to the big city- This week, I decided to venture back to Kampala, the capital city. This was actually a big deal, since to be honest I hated Kampala when I first got here. Okay, maybe hate is too strong of a word but I was completely overwhelmed by the chaos of the city, there seem to be no order at all and so much poverty. Tinka was going for a workshop I tagged along.

We took the bus into the city which took five hours, thankfully I had just gotten a book in the mail (thank you Sara) so that kept me entertained. I stayed in a nice hotel the first two nights and a not too nice one the last night (more about that later). It was such a luxury to have a TV with CNN, a tub, and room service. In the three days I was in Kampala, I saw three American movies (it’s the closest theater ). I also had my first ice cream in months!

4. Random Acts of Kindness- One of the main reasons I decided to make the trip to the city was I needed to get supplies for my schools. You can not buy children’s books or educational posters where I live. Even in Kampala, the selection is limited and is very expensive. However, I was able to get some great things for my schools. I was at the register about to pay for my items when the total came to more than what I had (the store didn’t take plastic), as I was deciding what to put back, a man behind me insisted on paying the difference (about 13000 shillings or $7). Turns out he’s from VA and is here working on a military contract.

5. Ben the Boda-boda driver- I’ve met amazing people in this country and this week was no exception. Twice, I was picked up at my hotel by the same boda-boda (motor bike taxi) driver. Turns out he’d been driving his boda-boda for the last ten years. His parents died when he was very young and he was raised by an Aunt. At the end of primary school ( 7th grade), she could no longer afford his school fees. He then got his boda-boda and made enough money to pay for secondary school and University. Currently, he is in his last year of University working on a IT degree! I was very touched by his story as there are many children here who don’t finish school because their families can’t afford the school fees (which range from about $150-$600 a year).

6. It’s a small world after all- I was in line at the ATM in Kampala, when I heard someone ask “are ya’ll in line”, turns out he was from Louisville Kentucky! During my trip to Kampala, I met a missionary couple from Iowa with their two children who have been here four years, a Canadian professor who has lived here with his family for the past three years, a German education administrator who has worked here since 2003, a British Architect who had been here for over 5 years, and two women from Michigan.

7. Don’t let the bed bugs bite- I switched hotels for my last night in Kampala to save a little money. On hindsight, that may not have been the best idea. I woke up with bed bug bites all over my body! It’s three days later and they are still very itchy.

8. You’re the one I was sent for- I was walking though Bigodi to buy some water when a station wagon pulled up next to me, the female Mazuga driving the car said “I think you’re the one I was sent for”. Turns out a friend of mine who runs a guest house in Fort Portal had told Julia to look me up next time she was in Bigodi as she lives in the neighboring village. She said she was going to the local bar and asked if I wanted to join her there. Five hours later we were still there!

9. A goat for Easter- Trophy and Leon’s great Aunt gave them a new goat for Easter! I don’t really know why we needed another since we already had four but….

10. Easter in Uganda- In Bigodi, most people are Christians so Easter is a big deal here. On Good Friday, there was mass and people walked though the village with crosses. Saturday night, there was an Easter Vigil. Sunday morning, I went to mass with the family. Of course, I could only understand two words: Amen and Hosanna as the mass was held in the local language. We came back to the house for an Easter dinner of Chicken, matooke, and rice. Thanks to my friend Rachel who had sent me some Easter candy, the kids had their first taste of Easter chocolate!

My ninth week in Uganda

1.Leapin Lizards- It seems in addition to the geckos, cockroaches, and spiders that visit my banda often, I now have a guest lizard. He’s over a foot in length and has a beautiful green blue color! While I like to admire him when he is running across the rafters, I do get startled when he runs out from under my bed.

2. Emails, two care packages, and phone calls- I got two fabulous care packages from home this week- thank you for the books- I was getting desperate for reading material! I started and finished one of the books on the 5 hour bus ride to Kampala. I continue to get calls from a few dear friends in the states which help me to feel not quite so far away. One discovered that Skype is a very affordable way to call Uganda! It was also great to get emails from some old friends and co-workers-Thank you!

3. Speaking to a thousand- It was only a few years ago that a friend had to trick me into public speaking as I was fearful of speaking to a large group of my peers. Thank goodness, I had that practice because Sunday, I walked into a private catholic school gymnasium thinking I was speaking to a class of students (50 or so) and there were over 400 seated in there waiting for me! After speaking to them for about an hour on the UNITE program, environmental problems in Uganda, and taking questions- I was off to another presentation. Again I was just told I’d be speaking to a group of parents, no one mentioned there would be 600 parents!

4. Baboons, civet cats, and bushbucks- On our trip to Fort Portal we saw over 30 baboons just hanging out in the road, eating berries and corn. Than on the way back we saw a bushbuck (small deer) and a civet cat (a wild cat). It was a great week for animal sightings, as earlier in the week, I went for another walk in the wetland and saw three kinds of monkeys and a ton of birds.

5. Reading, Writing and 'Rithmetic- This week we visited 8 classes to evaluate if there had been a change in content and teaching methods since the teachers attended my trainings. Most teachers in the rural schools here teach by lecturing since they have very large classes (over a 100 students is common) and no resources (no text books, very few learning aids, etc…). One of my jobs here is to train the teachers in experiential hands on education; it was great to see them using some of methods that I had modeled for them in the trainings. The students presented me with sugar cane and avocados to thank me for my visit! It still breaks my heart to see students in school with bare feet, no buttons on their shirts, and torn clothing- there are some things I just won’t get used to.

6.Welcome home- Leon, his mom, younger brother, and older sister were away for about a week visiting the grandparents. When Tinka went to pick them up from the bus station, Leon recognized the car and started calling “Jamilyn, Jamilyn” even though I wasn’t even there!

7. Elections- Ugandan style- In the rural part of the country where I live there is no advertising your candidate on TV or on billboards. Instead to announce a candidate, I’ve seen 20 plus people pilled in the back of a pickup truck shouting the merits of their candidate as they drive though villages. In this particular local election, there was gun fire in a neighboring village and charges of corruption against the election officials so the election was declared invalid and will have to be held again.

8. Will a Harley be in my future- Never thought of myself as the motorcycle type but I do love ridding the boda-bodas here!

9. Allergies, go away- After being sick most of the month of March – my allergies seem to have taken a reprieve for which I am so grateful.