Rainy Season Begins

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Caught in the Rain

Unlike in Zanzibar where when you ask people they will confidently tell you that the rainy season begins on March 21st, there is no official start date for the rainy season in Uganda. However, everything said that it started near the beginning of March. So it was that this fine day in February that my tale begins. 

Our little home of three had run out of toilet paper, and as this is something which can only be bought in Masaka, Heather and I went out to get the toilet paper. Dropped off at Smart Shoppers we made our way to the man around the corner who sells toilet paper at 13,000 Sh instead of 15,000 Sh and made our way back to Smart Shoppers to oggle the junk food. There were Oreos and Pringles and sweets and even drinking chocolate; things we rarely saw. We bought the Oreos and the Pringles and even some chocolate. Real chocolate, not drinking chocolate. More importantly, however, I also bought myself and 18.5 L jug of water. As we made our way out of the checkout, we noticed a bit of a drizzle. It was the very first we had seen of rain since we had left Vancouver. 

“I hope Joseph is still coming,” I said to Heather as we looked outside. People were heading for cover and bodas were rushing frantically to find somewhere dry to stop. I told her that we should just find one and go. 

“Uh… I don’t really want to go in the rain. We should take a cab,” she said. For a couple minutes I argued that we should just take the boda and bear it; after all, taxis were expensive and what was a little rain? We were from Vancouver. 

A while later the rain was a bit harder. “Yeah, we should just go,” Heather said. A moment later I said I was fine with a cab. We went to one of the staff hanging around at the entrance with us and asked them if they would help us get a taxi.

“Eh…” the man said, “No one is driving right now. You can’t get a taxi.” 

Looking out onto the street, we could suddenly see why. The streets were running with a river of brown water and rain beat at windshields. The rain was intense, like I had only seen once before. Rain in Uganda is not like rain in Vancouver. In Vancouver rain is a constant presence. If it’s not trickling down from the sky, its clouds are hanging overhead to remind you that the rain will soon be trickling down. In Uganda the rain comes fast, and it comes hard. If you have ever seen rain in a Bollywood movie you know what rain is like in Uganda. If you have ever even seen rain in a Hollywood movie, where they turn on giant taps in the studio’s ceiling so that the rain will show up on film, but where it’s clearly raining too hard to be real, that’s what rain is like in Uganda. Thunder crashes and lightning flashes and rain is hard and everywhere. 

So, because everyone was hiding under shelter and not a vehicle was on the street, we stayed in the supermarket. We sat down on upside down cartons that the staff pulled out for us and began eating our Oreos and our Pringles waiting for the rain to end.

Leila was waiting for us to get back for the kid’s program, so we watched on guiltily, but there was nothing we could do. When we finally did get back we took a taxi as the bodas weren’t yet running again, and it made it far easier to lug around the 18.5 L bottle of water. On a sidenote, we both got stomachaches from the Oreos and Pringles and I don’t think I could eat either ever again. Okay, maybe a Pringle, but Oreos make me want to puke.

P7 and the Wimpy Kid Problem

For our Primary 7 class on Friday, we thought we would try reading a different novel with them. We had been reading Akimbo and the Lion in previous weeks, but as we had reached the second chapter and nothing was happening still, we worried that the kids would be bored. Akimbo and the Lion is a story about a little boy somewhere in Africa (the exact location is vague and not mentioned) whose father is a ranger and who takes him on an adventure to help a farmer whose cows have been killed by what the farmer suspects is a lion. Instead, we decided to read A Diary of a Wimpy kid. However, we found that despite our enthusiastic reading, the story was meeting far too many blank looks and bored stares. Cooties? Assigned seating? A diary (and what was the difference between a diary and a journal?)? And why did this little boy care so much about whether he was popular? Clearly that especially, at least in the way in which it has been constructed in North America, is quite foreign. The story just had absolutely no cultural relevance. It was a great story, a story that is very funny, but for kids back home. After all, the reason for its hilarity is its pitch-perfect way that it mocks and understands growing up for North Americans. 

This, I’ve discovered, is an important problem for the library. It’s important to find books that are not only good and engaging, but which are books which are close enough to the real lives of the people who are here that they can connect with them enough to want to read them. After all, that’s why we read, isn’t it? We read to understand different dimensions of our world and to learn and feel. And yet, it’s so much easier to do these things when you are seeing your own world and not the world of someone else.

What is the point of this? I suppose, maybe, it’s a request that if you donate a book to somewhere in Africa, make it relevant. Additionally, a request that you understand that just because it’s your world doesn’t mean that same world is even the slightest bit familiar or relevant to someone else, or more importantly, that you don’t assume that it should be.

After, we asked the kids which book they liked better. Their answer was unanimous: Akimbo.

Weekend in Jinja

That weekend we went to Jinja. It was mostly a chill weekend, but a lot of fun, and it didn’t turn out anything like I expected it to.

Um, February... Good month.

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Julius’s Group and the Secondary School Students

Twice a week on Thursday and Tuesday mornings, Julius, who works with us, is a research assistant for professor at Long Island University. Check out the links below for more information about his work for Professor Geoff studying the relationship between families and reading culture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkAWR9zDhpU&feature=youtu.be

http://vimeo.com/37483491

 Primary 5 and Daudi’s Dream

With the Primary 5 class we read a story called Daudi’s Dream. Before, we had only been reading Akimbo and the Lion by Alexander McCall Smith, but we thought that for this class (we found that the younger classes had a bit of trouble with the chapter book by McCall-Smith) we would read them a picture book. For a picture book Daudi’s Dream is relatively long with three chapters, but it looked really good. It was about a small boy named Daudi whose family was very poor and they didn’t have enough money to buy food. His mother mentions that she used to have a sewing machine but she had to sell it, and Daudi vows that he will buy his mother a sewing machine so that she can support the family. He does this by collecting bottle caps and getting money back for him. The rest of the story is about his trials and successes in doing so. We only got to the first part of the story on this day. 

For me it was difficult to read this story to the kids, because although it was at their level and it was a story they could relate to, I felt bad when I looked in some of their eyes and I could see that the story really hit home. They connected to it like I hadn’t seen kids connect to other stories, but it broke my heart because when we read about Daudi being hungry, they understood. Later though I asked Dan what he thought, if it was bad of us to read this story, he told me that no, it was good. People need to hear stories that they can relate to, even if the stories are sad.

Thinking back on it, I agree. Hearing stories about people who are like you gives you another lens through which to see your own life, but more importantly it shows that your story matters. You matter. Your life matters. It isn’t just something that has no place in the world, but something as significant as the stories about rich white children in West with their blonde hair and their apples. That may have sounded bitter, but this is a cause I have come to have a lot of empathy for. 

Women’s Group B - English and Computers (Go Pheonah!)

This week with the women’s group our theme was Clothing. We did vocabulary, wrote a dialogue about going to the tailor’s, wrote a short segment, and then did it all with the women. Before, as per usual, the women worked on typing on the computers. 

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Vienna

On our way to visit Julius we accidentally chanced upon a place called Vienna. It serves casual drinks and is very nice. We had a lot of fun dancing to muzungu music while no one else seemed to care that it was playing and then sitting and chatting a bit too close to the speakers. Great night; I preferred it to Ambiance.

Saturday, February 11th, 2012

We didn’t do much this Saturday. It was my mother’s yartzeit and I lit the candles in the evening.

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

Valentine’s Day (Ten Tables and Vienna)

Valentine’s Day was wonderful. Dan and Amelia went in the evening out to dinner somewhere in town. Amelia wanted to go somewhere that served tilapia; it’s her favorite fish. We went to Ten Tables, which we had visited once before. Ten Tables is a wonderful place. Downstairs there is a restaurant with, surprise, 10 tables. We always go upstairs, however, where there is a rooftop terrace. There are four or so palappas with tables underneath, and lit by small paper bags filled by sand. 

Every night they have a set menu, which ensures that the food is not only there, but fresh. A three course meal costs 20,000 Sh ($8.14 CAD), and it’s ridiculously good. That night there was an option of the full course and wine. 

We had soup accompanied by the yummiest pastry, mashed potatoes and this beef thing. 

I think my favorite part was the flowers that we were given by the owner. All of the women got one, and it was really cute because those who gave out the flowers went around and asked the women beforehand if it was okay to make sure that no one was offended.

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Prep Work

We did some prep work for the next week - which was all about nutrition with the women's group, as well as some information about the benefits of goat's milk. Interestingly enough, although so many people own goats, goats' milk isn't drunk very much. Apparently this is due to a combination of stigma (people think it tastes goaty) and practicality (local goats don't produce much milk, and foreign goats are sometimes very sensitive to the sun and the like). Anyways, we did vocab and pictures and research etc. all day. 

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

Blessed Foster Family Foundation for Volunteers

BFFF is a big project. Rather, it is a multitude of projects. I am going to try and summarize them all here, but I am writing this a month after I went. We met with Prince, who is one of the founders of the organization. Happily, BFFF is a locally run and started organization. It isn’t too far from the library; only about 5-10 minutes on a boda.

Among the services they offer is, surprisingly, a newly opening guesthouse. There are only a few rooms, but it is a good income-generating project. 

There is also a daycare for orphaned children. Prince wants to turn it into an orphanage, but he doesn’t currently have the resources. People come in and teach the children during the day, hoping to give them access to education. They also have a period during each day where they can play and run around, much like P.E. or perhaps recess back at home. 

They are currently building a health care clinic. There is also a station where people can get easy, close access to affordable filtered and clean water. What is affordable? Only 150 Shillings for 1 full jerry can of water (That’s about CAD $0.06 - not that it matters. Most people where we were don’t earn enough for that to be as cheap as we consider it. However, it is WAY cheaper than the alternative, which is about 1,000-1,500 Sh.)

They also have a small library, which is how they came to be part of the Uganda Community Library Association, where we first met Prince.

There is also a sewing training center where women can practice their sewing skills so that they can learn to be tailors and the like.

New to the project on the self-sustaining end is a pub and bar. We ate there for lunch, and it was really good. They serve the usual fare; squash, beans, cabbage, and rice. They also have drinks like sodas and beer.

On the side, Prince also builds energy saving stoves. These stoves are actually pretty cool. While most people may cook over an open fire, if you use one of these stoves it keeps the heat in and saves energy. Here especially saving energy really matters. Energy in this case is not some sort of magical electrical current that comes in and out when you flip a switch. The energy involved is wood, wood that you actually have to find and get yourself. 

Oftentimes it is schoolchildren who have to get the wood for the stoves after school. Usually they have to walk for a long time, sometimes many kilometers to get the wood. Adding on this is that this is sometimes after a long day of school, and long walks to and from school (which are sometimes over 10 kilometers!). (On a side note, this is why some people are advocating growing fast-growing trees around one’s property line. If you grow these trees, often within a year you will have access to wood to use for stoves.)

Anyhow, my point is that saving energy with stoves is a big deal, and these stoves even have places to put your pots easily.

Several pigs are also being raised for breeding and food purposes. Prince plans to sell the pigs as an income-generating project. Apparently pigs can be quite a good source of income.

Also, not too far away in the village center they are currently building a micro finance center. It’s the red building in the picture.

BFFF currently supports the education of many students, giving them scholarships and financial help to go to school. 

In the future, Prince also hopes to begin a university on his absolutely massive plot of land not too far away. It’s the area we always pass on our way to Masaka, and it’s beautiful. We took an unnatural amount of photos. 

Clearly, there is a lot going on at BFFF. Most of the programs are run by volunteers, many of whom are international, but some of whom are local, like Pheonah, who also comes to the women’s group at the library. The funding comes from a mix of international donors and income-generating projects. Prince aims to eventually be self-sustainable, however, hence the pub and bar, the piggery, etc. It’s hard to do all of these things, there isn’t a lot of money going around, sometimes there is a lack of volunteers or support, but there is a lot of passion in the project. Prince is clearly very passionate, people are involved, and there is a lot going on.

Weekend in Kampala

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

Kampala - Bus and Snacks

To get to Kampala at a reasonable hour we woke up at 6:00 AM and called Joseph as well as another boda. When we got into town we stopped outside of Julius’s house so that he could show us to the bus park - although here they’re apparently called ‘coasters.’ 

The ride to Kampala cost 10,000 Sh, which is about CAD $4.30. The deal is that the bus does not leave until it is full. It does not matter the time, it just goes when it’s full, and you pay about 30 minutes before you arrive. The ride itself is about 2-6 hours, depending on traffic. We were lucky this time and it was only about 4 hours. 

Heather and I quickly got some snacks for the ride, including some muffin type things and some stale crackers and water. Later, after getting on, we scampered out to go to the bathroom, which was 200 shillings each. It was quite dirty, so for the rest of the ride we were both saying, “Don’t touch x, y, and z with your feet because they’re dirty from the bathroom!” We weren’t sure you even had to pay until the man outside, who we thought was a janitor or something of the sort, stopped us and told us we had to pay.

It was another half hour or so before we actually left. Otherwise it was completely uneventful, except for the man who came onboard for about twenty minutes and tried to sell us his dodgy looking medicine. People were outside of our windows trying to sell their wares, and despite her weekend-long curiosity about the Strawberry Fanta, Heather didn’t buy any. 

An interesting thing about the buses is that they use up every bit of space. When everyone has settled in the side seats, they pull down another seat that looks like an armrest on the right side and people sit in that seat. This results in absolutely no walking space. You want to get out? Sorry, you can’t. You’re trapped until the end of the bus ride. Not that it really makes a different anyway -- where are you supposed to go? The bathroom? Nope, there isn’t one. May as well just sit.

Like Kara, we also had a chicken friend, but luckily it was far behind us and not next to us. But we did also have sacks of something on the floor that made it difficult to walk even when the seats were up.

Julie and Lydia

When we arrived at the New City Annex Hotel, the same place that we stayed for our orientation, we were at reception when the woman said, “Oh, the other two girls just checked in.”

The three of us just laughed, “No, no- it’s just us this time,” thinking that she just meant some other mzungus. 

Later, when we were eating in the hotel restaurant downstairs, two figures appeared out of the corner of my eye. “Hi!” I said excitedly, because there to my right were Julie and Lydia. The woman hadn’t been wrong after all. In fact, she had a good memory. 

They sat down and chatted with us. They had left for Kampala at 6, versus our 8, and had arrived at 10 versus our 12. They were on their way to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant (to our dismay - we had already ordered) and then they were going to the Mango Palace, a historic tourist destination where Idi Amin tortured people. 

It was so awesome to see them, and such a surprise, too!

Plane Ticket Fail

After lunch Heather, Leila, and I went to the ticket office for flights around the corner. Despite having to get our bags checked in security, write down our phone numbers (We didn’t know ours, so Heather ended up just writing a random number down. I hadn’t realized so I said, “Wow, I’m so impressed that you know your phone number,” for which I received a glare.) and other information, we still found the office closed. 

Everything was closed. It was a Saturday, and apparently, against our initial thoughts the travel agency was closed. You’d think that they’d be open on a Saturday, when most of their potential clients would be available to book tickets, but no. 

We had to go to the bank quickly for Leila, and then we boda’d up to the other travel agencies, which ended up being so close and Leila went to the Mango Palace with Lydia and Julie. The travel agencies that Heather and I went to were all closed as well. 

It was the entire point of coming to Kampala in the first place, so we were slightly annoyed. So, like good Canadian girls, we decided to treat ourselves to frappes. 

Fraps (and shopping)

While the other three girls went and educated themselves about Ugandan history, Heather and I got a frappe at Bimbo, an American-style restaurant that serves cold drinks, ice cream, and pizzas and burgers. 

We both ordered frappes. Mine came out first. It was lukewarm. “We have no ice,” said the waiter, a tallish guy around our age with a lisp. 

“Okay,” I replied. Sure, I had hoped my frappe would be cold, but if they have no ice, they have no ice.

About 5, 10 minutes later, Heather’s frappe comes out. It has ice. Wait, what? But the guy told me they had no ice! So we drag him back and spend the next five minutes trying to explain that they must actually have ice, because they made my drink first when they supposedly didn’t have ice, but Heather’s had ice and hers came out second. So there must be ice, and I wanted some. It was the most ridiculous conversation I’ve ever had with a waiter before (not to mention a ridiculous problem, and a ridiculous one to care about, but I really wanted some ice… It only made sense), and both Heather and I were laughing by the end of it. Even the waitress who eventually sorted out the problem was giggling a bit. 

I must admit, it’s very funny. What’s also funny is what you care about, and how much you care about those things you care about. When is it ridiculous? When do you leave it? And when do seemingly stupid things suddenly become extremely important?

After frappes we went into the mall. On the side of the road some guy came and tried to sell us sunglasses. “No, we don’t want them,” we said, but the guy was insistent. Finally Heather said, “Five thousand” (Shillings - CAD $2.15) And after a few minutes of bargaining he actually said yes. We didn’t want sunglasses, but we both bought them at 5,000 Sh. I wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity. Also, there was another guy trying to get in on the deal, and he wasn’t happy when the price we set was 5,000 Sh. However, he still sold them to us at that price. I was happy he did, because he had a nice pair of fake Dior sunglasses that I liked.

It wasn’t a long walk, but by the time we got to the mall we were already craving frappes again. We set ourselves down in the coffee shop in the middle of Garden City mall and got another set of frappes. They were amazing, far better than the ones at Bimbo. 

Frappes are actually a lot better in Uganda than in Canada. For one thing, they use actual milk and real ingredients. They don’t taste like preservatives. They don’t feel slimy from the whipped cream. They aren’t hyper sweet. They’re just straight up amazing.

Anyways, after we went to the book store. I told Heather that I felt at home there, and we spent a fair bit of time just looking at the books. Heather had to convince me not to buy anything. I had to save for my trip to Tanzania. 

Later, the two of us went to Woolworths. “This is home to me,” said Heather, looking over the clothes.

Dinner and Dance

For dinner we went to a very nice Indian restaurant on the top of the Garden City Mall. After, we went dancing. Watching everyone dance, knowing exactly how to move, while the music confounded our ears and our limbs, was the first time Heather and I felt truly like ‘Others.’ The music was so different from what we were used to, and so was the dancing, and people were looking through us as though we weren’t there. Usually, mzungus draw attention to themselves like a fire in a forest whether through their dress, mannerisms, language or, as it most common, the color of their skin. When this happens people usually wanted to speak to us, to get to know the foreigners or to see if one can get something from them. When we were dancing, or not dancing but sitting against the wall, as it were, it was as though we were not there at all. Non-people, because everyone there was there to socialize with each other. Or, at least, so it felt. It was interesting and worthwhile, I suppose, because everyone should know how it feels to feel like an Other once in a while.

However, it changed soon when a group of friends all living in Kampala invited us to their table to chat. That was fun, and soon as they tried to drive the crowds out they began to play American music. Like a charm, the crowds began to peter away and we began to dance the way we knew how.

Later, when we danced again, we learned to copy the way people moved and bobbed and danced, which made it easier and much more fun, for me at least. 

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

The Bus Home - Transmission Failure Etc.

Our last day in Kampala was a lot of fun, but on our way home we had a bit of a transmission failure. It was dark and we had to find a minibus that would take us. We were supposed to pay for half but then Heather and I went to the bathroom, not realizing that the guy would be gone when we came back. Anyhow, our first option of transport was a cattle car. Leila knew it was safe because the woman she had been sitting next to on the bus had gotten on it, and she said it was fine. However, we accidentally paid the wrong people as there was a huge swarm around us trying to get us to pay, and we weren’t able to get on. A minibus finally came around and let us on. We were so relieved. When we finally got to Masaka and Joseph picked us up we were so excited to see him. He managed to take all three of us and our bags on his motorcycle. 

Now, don’t worry (I’m talking to you, Dad…). This sort of thing doesn’t happen often. We have taken buses before and since and that has not happened again. Even at the time it was nothing even close to dire. There were other options we could take and we got home just fine. Everything was alright, and we weren’t the only ones who needed an extra ride, so it wasn’t as though we were left completely lost. It was really no big deal in my eyes, just a delay.

First Week of School!

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Lazy Day

After Friday, and after a busy couple of weeks, we were just exhausted, and literally spent the day doing absolutely nothing. I believe I read, slept, and watched some Downton Abbey. That was it, and it was great. Later, Julie and Lydia visited and stayed for dinner, but that was the only thing that happened in our day. It was brilliant.

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

School Starts

Sadly, very sadly, Elizabeth, Monica, and little Dan left for boarding school on Sunday. Everyone was sad to see them go, but they were super excited. All of their friends are at school and they get to play sports and things, and they work at home, so for them it was no tragedy at all. Apparently their parents very skillfully dropped them off and signed them in, showed them to their friends and left, thereby avoiding too many tears. 

The house feels so much emptier without them. I am so glad I got to meet them though. They are honestly wonderful children, and they made us feel so welcome. :(

We will be visiting them soon, make no mistake.

Cafe Frikadellen Again

For lunch, we went to Cafe Frikadellen. Um. Again. This time we all got burgers. So good. 

On the way back on the boda I took some awesome photos of the village and of the setting sun.

Monday, January 30th, 2012 

Women’s Group A - English

I think this was our second women’s group meeting. When we asked the week before, one of the women suggested that our theme for our English lesson be piggery, so throughout the week before we researched piggery and gathered some materials for a lesson. Leila drew and diagramed the pig on the left, showing different parts of the pig in English. I came up with Vocabulary words, and Julius translated them. We used an article for this lesson, and Heather came up with some discussion questions.

When we began the meeting, we tried to start with reading the article. However, we found that the women’s English level was nowhere near high enough to just jump into an article. We managed to get Geoffrey, a man who often comes to the library to use his computer, to translate the summary of the article that Heather wrote. The women were very interested in the article, which talked about an outbreak of African Swine Fever. African Swine Fever is a rather serious disease that affects pigs, but for which there is no cure. Meanwhile, despite there being a vaccine against fowl pox, at 1,000 Sh per vaccine it gets very expensive when there are over 50 chicks (especially when you factor in food and school fees and wages of less than 100,000 Sh a month - CAD $42.)

Anyhow, afterwards we tried to discuss with them how it related to their lives. We asked them if they had pigs and the like, but it was slightly difficult because of the severe language barrier. Geoffrey had to translate everything, which we felt was a disadvantage because we can’t assume that he will always be there. Furthermore, it doesn’t really help much with the actual language learning if there isn’t a need to pay attention to the English words. 

Our last activity was we had written out the vocabulary words on construction paper in Luganda and English, and we had them match them on the board. This would allow them to use problem solving and to physically put the words together. First, we had the women read the words in Luganda and English, and then they did the activity. This activity was a bit of a relief, because we had struggled with the first two activities. This one felt successful, though.

At the last minute I thought it would be a good idea to do a dialogue, and I wrote one quickly before the women left. It was too late to actually implement, however. Nevertheless the other girls saw it and liked the idea and we’ve been doing it since. The dialogue was slightly difficult to explain, but I’ll try. Basically, you have two people, 1 and 2 or whatever you’d like to call them, and they have a discussion. The discussion is already written out, mostly, and the women just have to read the parts and sometimes pick an option. This is a good exercise because it forces the women to actually participate in and do the discussion, which makes a larger impression in one’s memory than just listening. A lot of the things we are doing now are things which I remember from or have adapted from Mme. G’s French classes in high school. She gave me some tips before I left, actually, and they’ve been very helpful with what I’ve been doing so far.

This group’s first lesson was something of a learning experience. Because of what we did this first day we had to adapt our lesson. We learned that we can’t use large amounts of text, especially when it’s with more complicated language. We’ve set a general 250 word limit. Nevertheless, local and relevant topics are very important. They were extremely interested in the piggery article, for example, it just wasn’t feasible in English. We also learned that pictures are especially useful. More importantly, we learned that activities that have them doing things, especially things that they can see the effects of, are especially good. The Women’s Group B meeting was a lot better this week because of what we learned and changed.

Trip Planning

Heather and I have begun to plan a very exciting trip from February 23rd to March 5th. We plan to go on a 4 day 3 night safari with a company that a friend of Heather’s had used before (aka: Trustworthy) that is relatively cheap. It’s ‘roughing it,’ so we’ll be sleeping in tents (albeit on mattresses) at night. In it we’ll be going to the Serengeti (which is where most of the African stuff was filmed for the Nature channel, apparently), another reserve in Tanzania, and a crater which is apparently worth the trip all on its own. After, we plan to head to Dar Es Salaam for 2 or so days, and then Zanzibar for another three. Zanzibar, especially Stone Town, looks amazing. We are psyched. 

We plan to go to Rwanda as well some other time. Rwanda will be a very cheap trip, especially if we bus, as buses are only about 20,000 shillings and hotel rooms are only about $10-15. This trip, however, is not fully planned as of yet.

We hope to book plane tickets (Entebbe to Kilimanjaro, Dar Es Salaam/Zanzibar to Entebbe) on Saturday the 4th or Sunday the 5th of February in Kampala if we are able to make it there.

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Women’s Group B Meeting

This Women’s Group Meeting went really well. This group is super cute, and all of the women were very enthusiastic and friendly. This time we trashed the article, although we still discussed it in Luganda, and we still did the vocab, but this time we also did the dialogue. The women were very keen and supportive of each other, which was great to see. Before and after many women used the AlphaSmarts keyboards to practice their typing skills.

Leila’s Evening Grocery Shopping

We needed groceries, so Leila hopped on Julius’s scooter and he took her to the grocery store in Masaka. No one else went with her, but apparently she drove and had to ride the motorcycle up the hill because it wasn’t able to take two people up. The whole time Julius had to run behind her. When she asked if they ought to switch places, he declined, although she suspects it’s because it wouldn’t have been as safe for her to run behind his scooter. Anyways, she got the groceries (junk (including Pringles - the only chips you can get here), brown bread, jam, margarine, and honey), Julius told her which bodaboda to take home, and she managed to get back in time for dinner. 

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Pineapple Man

It turns out that there is more than one pineapple man. One has a huge plantation, and comes occasionally at request. The other is Moses and Julius’s brother. His pineapple crop is smaller, but Dan and Amelia buy from him to support his business. It kind of blew my mind that someone comes to deliver pineapples here, much like a milk man would have done. The first time we saw the other guy also gave Heather and Leila a few laughs. When I saw him I said, “The, uh, the pineapple guy is here,” to Amelia, who was in the kitchen. Apparently that was funny, although I can’t think of any other ways to describe him. Anyways, Moses and Julius’s brother came today, so Heather and I both took pictures with him and his pineapples.

Computer Disaster

We had a fun disaster on Wednesday. I don’t remember who, but someone said that we needed to sync up our library catalogue with Goreth’s (Dan’s assistant) because the books that we had put in had the same numbers as the ones she had put in. So, me, figuring that there wasn’t a computer program which I couldn’t figure out (yeah, already going badly, eh?) said I could figure out Microsoft Access. Anyways, apparently you can’t paste things so I ended up messing up the whole thing. Heather helped a WEE bit, but it was mostly (99.99%) all my fault, and I felt really angry at myself afterwards. We had to go through all of the books, pull out EVERYTHING that had had been catalogued by Goreth AND us, and give it to her to redo (because Dan rightly doesn’t want us to do it anymore). Luckily, Dan had a more updated version of the file, so we only have to redo half, but still…. Half is 77 books. He was very relaxed about it and told us that we would do it “Slowly by slowly,” which is comforting. Luckily nothing is permanently and irrevocably damaged. It’s just a small thing, but it’s a small thing which is also a hassle.

Later, however, we’ll be alphabetizing the library, a task for which I am quite excited. It will make it SO MUCH easier to find the books than it is now. At the moment all the books are numbered in the categories according to when they were received. However, a lot of books are mixed up and not actually in the right category, and within the categories there is absolutely no order because it’s simply too difficult to maintain when they’re organized numerically. Alphabetically by author, however has a billion advantages. For example, you group all of the books by the same author together, it’s easier to figure out because the author’s last name is usually on the spine of the book anyway so it’s much easier to catalogue. Also, you can go in, knowing what you want, and FIND IT, which is a huge benefit. I never realized how wonderful alphabetization was before.

Roosters

In books, they tell you that the rooster’s crows wake you at daybreak. What they don’t tell you is that after the rooster has woken you, it does not stop trying to wake you even though its job has already been done. In other words, the bird doesn’t ever stop crowing until nightfall. This does not bother me, although it seems to bother the other girls. Apparently they both heard it crowing at midnight (I sleep like a log and did not), and whenever one of the girls hears it she jokingly conspires at the roosters’ demise.

Getting Materials Ready

Because school finally started on Monday, we are finally beginning to get busier. We have another women’s group meeting on Friday and then Monday, and today we worked on preparing the materials for the meeting on Monday. Our theme is going to be clothing, so Leila has been cutting and drawing some very pretty dresses with pens and construction paper (she’s very artistic and once had a cake business, which seems unrelated but isn’t), and I’ve been doing a short story about buying a dress and coming up with some vocab words, and Heather did the dialogue. 

Also, Friday is our first time to work with the primary school kids. Yay! 

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Meeting the Teachers

The main event of the day was going to the Primary school - which is basically 2 minutes away - and meeting the teachers. We also popped into the Primary 1 and 2 and the Primary 6 and 7 classes. The school compound is rather large. We learned some rather interesting things about the schools here. There are two types of schools, private and public.

Strangely, even though public school teachers are paid considerably more, they apparently tend to have a far less adamant work ethic because of their job security. That is, they cannot be fired unless by the district, and whenever they are at risk of being fired, they may go to the person in the district in control of these things and make excuses or give a bribe. 

On the other hand, private schools’ enrollment is dependent on the number of students that they get to pass the grades, especially the exam the Primary 7 students must take at the end of the year. They literally cannot go to high school without passing this exam, so it’s a very serious test. As more students pass, the school can put its school fees up, so it’s worth it to pay for a more expensive school because it’s more likely that they will pass and succeed with their studies. Unlike in Canada, where the school system is fine and you really have to be apathetic not to pass, it really makes a difference here where you go because it can be the difference between passing or failing.

Dan’s Flu

Dan isn’t feeling very well and has the flu. Amelia will be making him some of her ginger, garlic, lime, onion(??), and honey mixture that has apparently worked wonders on the family’s illnesses. As a result of his illness, though, Dan has, obviously not been feeling very well, and it’s so strange to see him without his characteristic smile. 

Lwannunda Development Center

Lwannunda Development Center is just up the hill from the library; a very short walk. It is a place that offers affordable lessons in variable things, such as Tailoring and English and Music and Catering and Computers. They also have a model farm where people can learn agricultural skills, as well as a model pig keep and a clinic.

 Apparently although they have really great programs, their problem is ‘community mobilization.’ This means that they are getting difficulty getting people to use them. It was quite cool, and we are all hoping that we will get the chance to help out and to try and take some of the traditional Bagandan music and dance classes on weekends.

Movies

Heather, Leila and I watched 127 Hours, which Leila had downloaded onto her computer before she came. It’s not bad for a movie about a guy who spends over 5 days stuck in a cliff face and then has to cut off his own arm. Sorry for the spoilers.

After, Heather went to sleep but Leila and I stayed up to watch The Ides of March, which is a political movie which was nominated for about 8 Academy Awards, but which wasn’t as good as the hype. It was basically a moral film about how politics corrupts.

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Reading With Primary 7

We were told we would be meeting Primary 6 at 11, but then when we got there the teacher told us that Primary 6 was busy now, but we could take Primary 7 at 3, the usual time. We were happy to be in the sun, so it wasn’t a total loss. When 3 PM finally rolled around, we went back to the primary school again and picked up the kids. There were Primary 6 and 7 in the classroom, and they all got excited when we came in. Their teacher was on the other side of the courtyard sitting under a tree and had left the kids alone. We gestured to the teacher to ask if we could take them and they gestured back that it was alright. The kids then followed us out in their pink uniforms to the library.

One group in particular was walking quickly with me. Their names, that I can remember, are Rusty, Betty, Pasha, and another girl named Rusty. The girls named Rusty were both out of their uniform. The shorter girl was wearing a bright yellow shirt and a pretty necklace, the other a white shirt. They were chatting with me and asking me if I knew Luganda. I told them I knew about 10 words. Then they were prodding at my hair, telling me that it was pretty. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I mean, one never tires of hearing they have pretty hair, but I think complimenting me on my hair is affirming the wrong standards of beauty. 

Anyhow, everyone gathered in the big hall and sat in a circle on the mats. Someone had put away the books which we had prepared to give out to them so we had to run in and quickly get them out again and then hand them out to the kids. This is how it worked: they sat in a circle and read, and whenever they wanted a different book, whether because the one they were reading was too easy or too hard or they just didn’t like it, we would come around and give them a new one. Leila and I just carried a selection with us so that they could choose.

Sometimes we sat down with a small group and had them read to us, or we read to them. I read one story about Martin Luther King Jr. I felt kind of bad about the rather morose ending. 

We definitely noticed a preference for local books in the kids. Unfortunately, none of the books were in the local language, Luganda, which I found incredibly tragic. After all, it is SO much harder to learn to read when you’re not even learning your own language. You have to learn the meaning, the pronunciation, and understand the letters and words. It would be like having to learn to read in French when you can barely even speak the language.

Next time we will be reading to them afterwards as well. We have free reign with the kids, so hopefully we’ll be able to think of fun things to do with them that will encourage their reading. I would really like to get them to read at home;  to take one book and read it over a course of a couple of days and really read it to get the meaning. We’re thinking of doing a type of “Read Around the World” in order to achieve this. Basically, they would write down the books that they have read, and whenever they have read a certain amount they get a sticker, and if they read a large amount (say 25 books) they get a book of their own to take home or something. 

Anyways, we took them back and I chatted with the same group of girls. I only hope I am able to remember the names and faces, and also that this reading thing really helps and encourages independent reading.

Women’s Group - A

The Women’s Group A meeting wasn’t too eventful. We just put the women on the AlphaSmarts and two women tried a Typing Puzzle Game on the white computers donated by the Maendeleo Foundation (I think) and one of those women proceeded to use the Typing Tutor. Typing Tutor was especially good because it very distinctly instructed the women in finger placement, which was EXACTLY perfect and needed. I’m really hoping that the women will be willing to learn to use actual computers soon, because as useful as typing is, a computer is even more useful - especially because computers have the internet.

Pineapple

Before I forget I thought I would write this down. There was a funny moment the other day at dinner. The cat, who is quite young and thus quite small, was making some noises near my chair at dinner. It was growling. Naturally, I looked over to see what was happening. At this point I could see it, and everyone else at the table was speculating. The other girls were horrified and terrified and were crouching on their chairs, their hands clutching at the back. “Yeah, it’s definitely got something,” I said, peering over my chair into the dark shadow of the table where the cat was wrestling with some small dead animal. “I think I see a tail. Yeah, I smell something.” I paused, then and reached out over the table. “Can you pass me the pineapple?”

Except for I didn’t actually ask them to pass me the pineapple. I really just said, “Can you pass-” meaning to finish my sentence with the lantern or the light. However, I realized that I could grab it myself and use it to look at the cat situation with anything being passed. Nevertheless the other girls thought I asked to pass the pineapple while the cat was butchering a rat beside me and they were terrified in their seats and thought it was hilarious. 

Heather was imitating me at dinner on Thursday night and Leila had pineapple in her mouth. She started laughing so hard that she was clutching her mouth with her hands and had to sprint out the kitchen so she wouldn’t laugh the half-eaten pineapple onto the table. She nevertheless managed to spill a few drops. Now that was funny.