Back in the Swing

Back at School

Nehemiah, a Primary 3 and 4 teacher, reads to the kids,
practicing some of the strategies taught over the weekend.

What a relief to get back to teaching this week!  The beginning of the week involved assisting in some professional development which the second group of Canadians began with the teachers over the weekend.  Perhaps I should clarify:  Three weeks ago a group of three Canadians, Dominique, Caleb, and Christie, came to work on the new health building being constructed on the school grounds.  Christie is also here to work with the younger children as she runs a day care back in Vancouver and went to school for Early Childhood Education.  Two weeks ago, a group of four Canadians, two of whom are teachers and one of whom has been here every year for the past 5 years, came to work specifically with the teachers and check up on how the school is doing.  They help the school stay accountable to Amos, its founder in Canada.

Over the weekend, these four did some specific professional development work with the Ugandan teachers in the areas of reading and writing, focusing on helping students to think creatively and deeply about what they read and write.  This week, they observed the teachers putting into practice what they learned.  It was a great opportunity for me to both observe and help, and learn along with the Ugandans, from more experienced professionals.  The strategies and techniques are some which I can bring back and use in my own classroom (whenever and wherever that may be!)

I had a great time teaching again.  We have begun talking about decimals in Primary 4, and I had the student construct a number line to show tenths and hundredths, and to help reinforce the understanding that a decimal, like a fraction, represents a part of a whole.  The activity went very well and I am loving doing more and more group activities with the students as I get to know them well enough to plan groups to achieve a specific purpose, such as mixed-ability grouping, or grouping for accommodation of instructions.  English, as always, is a bit of a struggle to keep interesting, but I have decided to read a short story every day, to help the students gain an appreciation for books and because, as one of the Canadians said, the more a child is read to aloud, the easier it will be for their own process of learning to read.  I also had an observation for English.  Enoch again had encouraging things to say, and although I raised my concerns with him about getting through the material and making it interesting for the students (and myself), he was positive in his feedback and offered a few suggestions, mostly regarding managing the tardiness of students, a veritably institutionalized part of the school system here. J

School fees continue to be sent home.  Often students pay for a few days at a time, and the “balance” (here used to refer to what is owed) is sent home weekly.  This results in highly fluctuating class numbers and, this week, not enough food for all of the kids.  On Thursday, although I was not scheduled to teach in the afternoon, I had an inkling the teacher might not show because lunch was quite late.  When the students arrived at class after the bell finally rang, several of them asked me to please play a game, as they were too hungry to do work.  We went outside and sat in the shade of a tree while I finished a read-aloud we had begun earlier in the day.  Unfortunately, the same thing happened on Friday.  As the term draws to a close, it is especially important for the students to be in school ready to prepare for exams, and the combination of students going hungry and missing school because of fees is making the process of preparing them for exams very challenging.  It is very hard to see the students going hungry and yet wanting to keep pushing their learning, hoping this might provide the opportunity for them to get out of the poverty cycle.

And as I get to know the students better, it is beginning to sink in that I only have two weeks left of teaching at Rwentutu Christian School.  While I enjoyed the students from the beginning, I have now formed relationships and attachments, particularly with my Primary 4 students (whom I will remain with for the last two weeks here).  Although numbers and language makes those relationships difficult to develop initially, I am now really getting to know the personalities of the individuals in my class, what they like, what kind of teaching strategies engage them, what makes them laugh…well, I still have two weeks, but as I looked around during games last week, I realized how much I have grown to love my kids here 

and how much I will miss them when we go. 

Back on the Road

While I have thought this with each experience I have had traveling here, I would say that this weekend has topped any other weekends we have yet spent in Uganda.  We got up Saturday morning, packed two Land Cruisers full of supplies, and headed off to Queen Elizabeth Game Reserve for a weekend of camping in the bush!  Rob, our South African friend, and a co-worker of his are both seasoned campers.  Wanting us to get an authentic wildlife experience and being camping lovers themselves, they graciously offered to take us on an overnight camping trip and act as guides on our own personal safari.  I have been blessed again and again by the friends that we have made here, and this experience was no exception...

Rarely was there not a hippo in the water just
downriver from our camp!

On our way into the park we briefly saw a tree lion before it scampered down to hide in the bushes.  Hoping it would be a sign of good things to come, we continued on and made our camp at a lovely little bend in the Ishasha River, which forms the border with the DR Congo.  The first thing we saw as we pulled into the campsite?  (aside from the latrine, the presence of which I marked happily) A pod of hippos plodding into the water just downstream!  After setting up camp, a few of us passed along a track near the water to spy out where the hippos were lounging on the bank.  As we watched, several made their way down the bank and into the water.  As though to make sure we were not deceived by their bumbling appearance, one looked our way and took a few steps in our direction, reminding me that these animals are wild and known to be somewhat dangerous…we crouched back into the bushes and a few minutes later the enormous mother hippo relaxed and lay back down on the bank.

After munching on delicious homemade samosas, pies, and boiled eggs for lunch, we went for a walk across the river.  By this time the hippos had all moved downstream and were well away from where we planned to cross.  We waded across the thigh-deep water and arrived in Congo on the other side-just thirty seconds’ wade away!  We stayed long enough to check out some prints (ostensibly leopard, which was confirmed later that evening as you will read ahead) and take a photo before heading back to Uganda. 

Tree-climbing lion

That evening, we took a drive through the park.  Our good luck omen proved true, and we came upon three gorgeous lions lounging in a fig tree, sleeping off what must have been (according to their bulging stomachs) a large kill.  They were absolutely stunning and we circled the tree several times photograph them before moving on.  Over the course of the drive we saw hundreds of kobs, topi (both of which are types of antelope), buffalo, crested cranes (the national bird and the centerpiece to the Ugandan flag), warthogs, all kinds of birds, baboons, and water bucks.  We returned to the camp satisfied and famished.  We cooked kebabs over an open fire, then enjoyed an after-dinner coffee as the moon rose, lightening flashed away to the northern sky, and the southern cross sparkled in the south.  As we sat we listened to the sounds of Colobus monkeys, hyenas, and hippos just downstream.

Kob

What happens if you have to use the toilet in the middle of the night you might ask?  Well, shine the flashlight out around the tents.  If the eyes you see are red, nothing to worry about-those are prey animals.  Green on the other hand, means lion, leopard, or hyena.  A group of Spanish overlanders (read “way intense backpackers”-they travel all over Africa in big trucks for months at a time) stopped by to warn us they had indeed seen a leopard near the latrine so we should take care when moving away from the tents during the night. 

Topi

In the morning we went for a far less eventful (we just saw a few birds and lots of kob and buffalo) but just as stunning game drive.  We returned for brunch then broke camp before going for a final swim in the river, taking a last look at our hippo pod, and departing Queen Elizabeth.




This last week was one of my favorites here in Uganda so far.  It is hard to believe there are only two weeks left of teaching, and that in about three weeks I will be boarding a plane to return to the States…plenty of time for a few more fantastic experiences though, and plenty to look forward to!