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!
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