Week 14 (22 - 28 October 2006)
Due to the public examinations the Sunday service moved venue to the “dining area”. This is a more traditional African hut structure, mainly a straw roof. It seemed to be a more fitting setting for a service – provided there is no rain. We were able to enjoy the surroundings and animals as they passed by – superb visual aids to worship! After lunch we held the first of the Bible Studies with 15 boys and 8 girls. They were quietly enthusiastic. It’s difficult to get them to talk and then so that we can hear what they say! We went to see our Scottish neighbours for pancakes and tea as well as a good chat about our experiences so far.
On Monday I only went out of the house for essential services – to the toilet and washing line. It was something of a trek as they are in opposite directions and at least 10 paces from the door. I spent most of the time preparing an English exam – another new experience!
Tuesday started with the S1 (Year 8) Chemistry mid-term exam. All the questions had to be written on the board. They should have taken an hour but spent at least 40 minutes copying the questions even though this was not necessary. I marked them in the afternoon – not an encouraging experience as the highest mark was 45% but it raised many questions. Were the questions to hard, had they not learnt anything from my teaching, could they not understand my accent, could they understand the questions and had they done any revision? The answer is probably a mixture of them all but it will be interesting to see how they do in their other subjects and how the other classes manage.
Wednesday – so it must be S2 (Year 9) English exam. They have textbooks and I set some questions from these which was a good idea except that 5 didn’t have books and it took 40 minutes to explain what questions to do and how to go about answering them. It would have been quicker to have a lesson. Again, they copied the questions in spite of being told several times in different ways not to as it wastes exam time. At the end of the exam I discovered that the five students did have books in their dormitories (about 5 mins there an back) but they didn’t tell me as they thought I wouldn’t let them out. It’s a pity they didn’t ask as it would have made things much easier. But communication does seem to be a problem – even in an English lesson.
No lessons or exams for either of us on Thursday so caught up with marking instead. The range of marks for the English was encouraging although I’m not sure what was being tested! Isaac was due to come today to finish the varnishing on the shelves and arrived at 4.15pm. There was a very heavy shower of rain which stops everything and as it gets very dark inside the house from about 6pm he couldn’t finish all the work. It seems that what was in our minds about what we wanted was different from what was in his mind. We’ve decided that any future work we get done by anyone will be preceded by carefully drawn scale diagrams in duplicate.
Friday afternoon was the last exam for me with the S2 Chemistry. I tried to simplify some of the language in the questions and just assumed that they would spend time copying the questions. They still took longer than I expected but I guess it would take me forever to do any exam in Lugbara! The school assembly was much longer than usual today, possibly because it was the S4’s last one. Many of them finish their ‘O’-level exams during the next week and then return home. A number of teachers seem to speak for a long time and we’re not exactly sure what about.
We’ve been here 6 weeks today (Saturday) and British Summertime ends tonight. And we miss the extra hour in bed. Still, we’re generally only sleeping for between 9 and 11 hours each nigh so can’t really complain. Heavy rain slightly delayed our trip to town and the roads were a bit muddy in places so that I had to engage the 4 wheel drive for one section. We have four passengers so that may have made a difference. We collected our sofa only to discover that they are made in two sizes but no one mentioned this. Of course the cushions are for the larger size and the sofa the smaller.
In the evening, just as we were sitting down to eat, one of the teachers called to say that one of the students was injured and probably needed to be taken to the hospital. Andrea went to check the student and I did what I had been taught to do in such circumstances many years ago by a member of a mountain rescue team. I ate my tea! There’s no point getting stuck up a mountain and running out of energy yourself. But it also gave me time to think about the journey and what might be needed. The lad did look to be in a bad way and not responding to anyone but conscious. Andrea concentrated on the nursing part while I focussed on climbing the mountain – yes the imitation of a riverbed that some call a road to the hospital in the dark. The car was full and I guess everyone was praying for a safe and speedy journey. While he was being checked out, Andrea and I went to seen Molly & Isobel for more tea and pancakes. They teach in the nursing school so were nearby and the Ushindi teacher, Vita Patrick, stayed with the student. In the end, the lad stayed in overnight. On the return journey, Vita helped us to understand what the assembly was about. There had been some strange happenings in the dormitories and during one of the devotions and it seems possible that some of the girls had or have been in contact with some occult activities or witchcraft. The teachers were reassuring the students as, understandably they were a little scared.
On Monday I only went out of the house for essential services – to the toilet and washing line. It was something of a trek as they are in opposite directions and at least 10 paces from the door. I spent most of the time preparing an English exam – another new experience!
Tuesday started with the S1 (Year 8) Chemistry mid-term exam. All the questions had to be written on the board. They should have taken an hour but spent at least 40 minutes copying the questions even though this was not necessary. I marked them in the afternoon – not an encouraging experience as the highest mark was 45% but it raised many questions. Were the questions to hard, had they not learnt anything from my teaching, could they not understand my accent, could they understand the questions and had they done any revision? The answer is probably a mixture of them all but it will be interesting to see how they do in their other subjects and how the other classes manage.
Wednesday – so it must be S2 (Year 9) English exam. They have textbooks and I set some questions from these which was a good idea except that 5 didn’t have books and it took 40 minutes to explain what questions to do and how to go about answering them. It would have been quicker to have a lesson. Again, they copied the questions in spite of being told several times in different ways not to as it wastes exam time. At the end of the exam I discovered that the five students did have books in their dormitories (about 5 mins there an back) but they didn’t tell me as they thought I wouldn’t let them out. It’s a pity they didn’t ask as it would have made things much easier. But communication does seem to be a problem – even in an English lesson.
No lessons or exams for either of us on Thursday so caught up with marking instead. The range of marks for the English was encouraging although I’m not sure what was being tested! Isaac was due to come today to finish the varnishing on the shelves and arrived at 4.15pm. There was a very heavy shower of rain which stops everything and as it gets very dark inside the house from about 6pm he couldn’t finish all the work. It seems that what was in our minds about what we wanted was different from what was in his mind. We’ve decided that any future work we get done by anyone will be preceded by carefully drawn scale diagrams in duplicate.
Friday afternoon was the last exam for me with the S2 Chemistry. I tried to simplify some of the language in the questions and just assumed that they would spend time copying the questions. They still took longer than I expected but I guess it would take me forever to do any exam in Lugbara! The school assembly was much longer than usual today, possibly because it was the S4’s last one. Many of them finish their ‘O’-level exams during the next week and then return home. A number of teachers seem to speak for a long time and we’re not exactly sure what about.
We’ve been here 6 weeks today (Saturday) and British Summertime ends tonight. And we miss the extra hour in bed. Still, we’re generally only sleeping for between 9 and 11 hours each nigh so can’t really complain. Heavy rain slightly delayed our trip to town and the roads were a bit muddy in places so that I had to engage the 4 wheel drive for one section. We have four passengers so that may have made a difference. We collected our sofa only to discover that they are made in two sizes but no one mentioned this. Of course the cushions are for the larger size and the sofa the smaller.
In the evening, just as we were sitting down to eat, one of the teachers called to say that one of the students was injured and probably needed to be taken to the hospital. Andrea went to check the student and I did what I had been taught to do in such circumstances many years ago by a member of a mountain rescue team. I ate my tea! There’s no point getting stuck up a mountain and running out of energy yourself. But it also gave me time to think about the journey and what might be needed. The lad did look to be in a bad way and not responding to anyone but conscious. Andrea concentrated on the nursing part while I focussed on climbing the mountain – yes the imitation of a riverbed that some call a road to the hospital in the dark. The car was full and I guess everyone was praying for a safe and speedy journey. While he was being checked out, Andrea and I went to seen Molly & Isobel for more tea and pancakes. They teach in the nursing school so were nearby and the Ushindi teacher, Vita Patrick, stayed with the student. In the end, the lad stayed in overnight. On the return journey, Vita helped us to understand what the assembly was about. There had been some strange happenings in the dormitories and during one of the devotions and it seems possible that some of the girls had or have been in contact with some occult activities or witchcraft. The teachers were reassuring the students as, understandably they were a little scared.
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