Week 13 (15 -21 October 2006)
The special Sunday service started 30mins later that usual – the S4 were about to start there ‘O’ level examinations and then leave the school for good! Needless to say (but I’m going to anyway) the emphasis was on examinations, results and working hard. There was a special breakfast for everyone, including the governors and parents. It’s still hard to get used to chicken and other cooked meat for breakfast although for us it was our first lunch of the day. The car had it’s first ‘bathe’ today. Boys from the Scripture Union have agreed to wash it weekly and in return we will contribute to the funds for new musical instruments. After 2 hours washing they were interrupted because a girl was taken ill and we were asked to take her to the hospital. So I had to drive the very rough and steep road BOTH ways. Fortunately, the girl was not seriously ill and returned with us an hour or so later. After my driving I suspect she felt worse that before she left the school. The boys finished the car on our return and did a brilliant job both inside and outside, especially has it had last been washed three weeks ago in Kampala and looked as though it had been on safari! We also discovered, by chance, that our shipping parcels had arrived in Arua last week. Pity no one told us even though there was a contact number on the paperwork.
We taught our first English lessons on Monday and realized that we only speak the language and often can’t explain why we say things in particular ways. But we hope we can help them a little and it’s better than missing the lesson completely. We collected our shipping in Arua and met with Cathy Asiki to help us open a bank account. The main sticking point is that a current account holder has to recommend you and needs to have known you for 2 or more years. Fortunately, we met Cathy on our first visit to Uganda 3 years ago! We found another almost impossible road to try out as we visited John, or home-stay host while in town. The roads seemed to be much easier when we walked them! Eventually, we got home and Christmas arrived early as we unpacked and discovered all the things that we had forgotten we’d packed. There were a few surprises but much pleasure as we were reunited with books and kitchen tools. But what to read first and what to cook first? Such problems we’re having!
Tuesday: We seem to be settling into the lessons a bit more but it’s still difficult to get the students to speak and when they do, loudly and slowly enough for us to understand them. They do seem to be content to listen and copy – more passive learners. But they are getting used to our accents too. Tried (and failed) to light the fridge again. The first round of the inter-class debating competition took place this afternoon. Fortunately we declined the offer to be judges as I had great difficulty making out what they were saying even though we were seated on the front row.
After a fairly tiring day of teaching on Wednesday, I was asked to lead the staff devotions – with 30 mins notice. I explained that more notice would be required but would see what I could do. It was OK but I would have liked more time. On the other hand, we should have been prepared for such an eventuality.
The assembly over ran on Thursday so the lessons started late. Some students were late for the assembly which starts as 7.10am so were kept out of lessons and given some ‘gardening’ work as punishment. Unfortunately this meant that Andrea had only 12 in her first lesson and she had planned an interactive exercise which needed a full class. We also discovered that the arrangements for the mid-term exams (next week) were not as we had been led to believe. All the lessons were cancelled and there was a separate exam timetable. Some of the exams were set for 8pm. We had both planned all our lessons for the week. One of the teachers, Vita Patrick, then went through all the exam procedures, marking and recording requirements and answered all our questions. This was very helpful. We were asked to set and mark the English Language examinations too. Later we went to Anne Houghton’s for lunch – and let off some steam! She also works in an educational institution so understood our frustrations!
Friday was a quieter day today, mainly preparing the exam papers. We haven’t seen any examples so are guessing what is required, especially for the English.
On Saturday I gave Anne Houghton a lift to town and collected two chairs and a wardrobe. Andrea judged the next round of the debating competition. These are hand made from mahogany. Heavy. It took for of the carpenters to lift the wardrobe onto the roof of the car. I drove back VERY slowly as I wasn’t sure how safe the wardrobe was on the roof. But there were no problems. John, our neighbour, found some of the site staff to help unload and carry the furniture into the house. I tried to help by lifting one of the chairs but decided it was too heavy! But it was good to sit on a soft, comfortable chair again. We should get the sofa next week.
We taught our first English lessons on Monday and realized that we only speak the language and often can’t explain why we say things in particular ways. But we hope we can help them a little and it’s better than missing the lesson completely. We collected our shipping in Arua and met with Cathy Asiki to help us open a bank account. The main sticking point is that a current account holder has to recommend you and needs to have known you for 2 or more years. Fortunately, we met Cathy on our first visit to Uganda 3 years ago! We found another almost impossible road to try out as we visited John, or home-stay host while in town. The roads seemed to be much easier when we walked them! Eventually, we got home and Christmas arrived early as we unpacked and discovered all the things that we had forgotten we’d packed. There were a few surprises but much pleasure as we were reunited with books and kitchen tools. But what to read first and what to cook first? Such problems we’re having!
Tuesday: We seem to be settling into the lessons a bit more but it’s still difficult to get the students to speak and when they do, loudly and slowly enough for us to understand them. They do seem to be content to listen and copy – more passive learners. But they are getting used to our accents too. Tried (and failed) to light the fridge again. The first round of the inter-class debating competition took place this afternoon. Fortunately we declined the offer to be judges as I had great difficulty making out what they were saying even though we were seated on the front row.
After a fairly tiring day of teaching on Wednesday, I was asked to lead the staff devotions – with 30 mins notice. I explained that more notice would be required but would see what I could do. It was OK but I would have liked more time. On the other hand, we should have been prepared for such an eventuality.
The assembly over ran on Thursday so the lessons started late. Some students were late for the assembly which starts as 7.10am so were kept out of lessons and given some ‘gardening’ work as punishment. Unfortunately this meant that Andrea had only 12 in her first lesson and she had planned an interactive exercise which needed a full class. We also discovered that the arrangements for the mid-term exams (next week) were not as we had been led to believe. All the lessons were cancelled and there was a separate exam timetable. Some of the exams were set for 8pm. We had both planned all our lessons for the week. One of the teachers, Vita Patrick, then went through all the exam procedures, marking and recording requirements and answered all our questions. This was very helpful. We were asked to set and mark the English Language examinations too. Later we went to Anne Houghton’s for lunch – and let off some steam! She also works in an educational institution so understood our frustrations!
Friday was a quieter day today, mainly preparing the exam papers. We haven’t seen any examples so are guessing what is required, especially for the English.
On Saturday I gave Anne Houghton a lift to town and collected two chairs and a wardrobe. Andrea judged the next round of the debating competition. These are hand made from mahogany. Heavy. It took for of the carpenters to lift the wardrobe onto the roof of the car. I drove back VERY slowly as I wasn’t sure how safe the wardrobe was on the roof. But there were no problems. John, our neighbour, found some of the site staff to help unload and carry the furniture into the house. I tried to help by lifting one of the chairs but decided it was too heavy! But it was good to sit on a soft, comfortable chair again. We should get the sofa next week.
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