Week 16 (5 - 11 November 2006)
We took John and Brenda to Okufura Secondary School on Sunday morning. This is about 20 mins drive from Ushindi going towards Vurra and the Congo boarder. John was preaching at the Scripture Union service which also starts at 8am. We were given breakfast afterwards and shown around part of the school. It’s mainly a day school of around 600 students with about 100 in each class. The rooms are little bigger than at Ushindi where they are full with 40 students. There didn’t seem to be many desks in the rooms we saw. The décor was more like Zeu SS, basic unplastered walls etc. The teachers are expected to do marking as in most schools but with a class of 100 it’s not easy! Back at Ushindi, it was open day where parents come to visit their darlings and find out the mid-term exam results.
A staff meeting on Monday to discuss and plan the “Careers Day” started 15 minutes late. It was suggested that the same topics that were used for a similar day be used again with all 120 students enduring 5 one hour lectures while sitting on stools in the hall. As there was little comment from the staff we were asked if we would do the session on “Life Skills”. On Friday. In 4 days time. We asked for clarification about the organisation of the day and their understanding of “Life Skills” before declining to take a session so soon and in the suggested format. It was eventually agreed that there would be smaller groups on a rotation and that further details of the Life Skills was needed so the way was postponed until the following Friday, 17th Nov. I then spent about an hour making an inventory of the chemicals and equipment. Yes, the lot in less than an hour and also included the main physics and Biology materials. Very little practical work is done and then mainly for the practical examinations. So after a rather frustrating day it was of great encouragement that I got something to work at last after 7 weeks of trying. No, it wasn’t the fridge. I haven’t done that one yet. It was the PRINTER. A simple, silly little machine but it wouldn’t talk to the laptop – until now. So I printed my second sheet of paper since 3rd July!!!!!! What fun and what potential there is now for – well, printing! You who read this with permanent electricity and easy access to printing be grateful, one day it might happen to you too!
On Tuesday S1 asked me to help them with their Chemistry “Club”. The clubs meet twice a week, Tuesday and Saturdays at 4.15pm – 5.30pm. One of the students is expected to ask the relevant subject teacher (Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics) to set a question for the students to answer as a group but without the teacher. Except that they forgot to tell me the part about providing a question. Anyway, they provided some and proceeded to answer them using the board. In the end it worked well and was much more enjoyable than some of the lessons! But I’m not sure how they know if their answers to questions are correct if there is no teacher there to check and confirm their answers and avoid them re-enforcing wrong ideas and understanding. At 8.15pm I took some Physics equipment to S3 to demonstrate some colour and light experiments. Although there is little equipment, a dark room is no problem. Just switch off the light (solar powered) and there is a complete blackout. I couldn’t see the students even with a small torch. Except when they smiled! Now with the printer working and as we are settling in more there seems to be much more to do even though the teaching load is not high.
We visited town on Wednesday to investigate the clothes market and a dressmaker. Most of the second-hand shirts had recognisable labels (e.g. M&S, C&A) and we both made a few purchases. We met a fellow missionary (from the US) that we were introduced to at the Bishop’s meal. She invited us back to her house to meet some of her six children. It was a brief visit as we had promised to return to school for the staff devotions. And there was another major breakthrough today. The toilets are finished!!! We can’t bring ourselves to use them just yet and feel that some sort of celebration may be required – possibly at the weekend.
On Thursday I tried my first ‘practical’ lesson with S2 in the hall/lab. Not easy with the limited equipment, especially at 7.30am but it made a change from the usual theory lesson. I forgot about an art ‘O’ level exam in the hall so we had to vacate quickly but I had just competed all the demos. Later I discovered that the S1 class have real difficulty in understanding any Chemistry. Is it me or their limited English in a subject with a difficult vocabulary or their passive learning style? I typed up (and printed, what joy!) the chemical list (less joy).
On Friday we planned in outline our session for the “Careers Day” in a weeks time. We seemed to agree on what was needed and had no difficulty with the ideas but need to reflect and add some detail during the next week. There was another success today. As we are using the printer and therefore the laptops more, the power to charge them is becoming more of a problem. I inquired about using the school solar power to charge the laptops occasionally and this was readily agreed by the Principal. I was surprised how much this cheered me up. I showed him my printed chemical list and he told me to let him know if there was anything we needed. So I’ll try to consult with the other science teachers to draw up a list in order of priority and cost – a long term project but may help them too in the future. I later went back to the lab to clear up from yesterday and ended up putting all the chemicals in alphabetical order and throwing away some junk. Sad. There was an advertisement pinned on the notice board about 1600 teaching vacancies in government schools throughout Uganda. The application process is horrendous but the government pay scales are almost double private schools. There are too many teachers in Uganda so every position is hotly contested. It’s a serious issue and I was discussing it with the staff for some time. Later, we were invited to carryout the dormitory inspection, award marks and report to the school assembly. This was both an eye-opener and a privilege to be asked. We couldn’t wait another day. The toilet was baptised (both sprinkling and total immersion!).
We had planned for a quiet Saturday without a trip to town but the say started with 10 students ‘slashing’ (cutting) the grass around our house as part of their community service. When I say cutting it’s more like hitting the grass repeatedly from both sides until if finally submits and leaves the safety of the ground only to land a few feet away. I can’t help thinking that a lawnmower would be more efficient and leave more mud hidden. Still it is necessary to keep is short. The snakes can’t travel as quickly as in the longer grass. That’s reassuring, I think. Andrea had intended to do some washing (by hand) outside but decided it was too dangerous while the students were around. Saturday is when the students also do their washing in groups around the pump which is about 50 feet from our house so we also had the noise of the pump and the students chatting almost all day. Otherwise it was quiet and we were able to spend some time with the neighbours just chatting. Some of the family stories are complicated and very sad. There is a mixture of cultures within families especially of some are more educated than others. To many, education implies more money regardless of the actual situation and cultural pressures can be brought to bear in what seems to be selfish and even uncaring ways. It is undoubtedly a harsh life for many here and education may help to alleviated it a bit but also creates its own problems.
A staff meeting on Monday to discuss and plan the “Careers Day” started 15 minutes late. It was suggested that the same topics that were used for a similar day be used again with all 120 students enduring 5 one hour lectures while sitting on stools in the hall. As there was little comment from the staff we were asked if we would do the session on “Life Skills”. On Friday. In 4 days time. We asked for clarification about the organisation of the day and their understanding of “Life Skills” before declining to take a session so soon and in the suggested format. It was eventually agreed that there would be smaller groups on a rotation and that further details of the Life Skills was needed so the way was postponed until the following Friday, 17th Nov. I then spent about an hour making an inventory of the chemicals and equipment. Yes, the lot in less than an hour and also included the main physics and Biology materials. Very little practical work is done and then mainly for the practical examinations. So after a rather frustrating day it was of great encouragement that I got something to work at last after 7 weeks of trying. No, it wasn’t the fridge. I haven’t done that one yet. It was the PRINTER. A simple, silly little machine but it wouldn’t talk to the laptop – until now. So I printed my second sheet of paper since 3rd July!!!!!! What fun and what potential there is now for – well, printing! You who read this with permanent electricity and easy access to printing be grateful, one day it might happen to you too!
On Tuesday S1 asked me to help them with their Chemistry “Club”. The clubs meet twice a week, Tuesday and Saturdays at 4.15pm – 5.30pm. One of the students is expected to ask the relevant subject teacher (Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics) to set a question for the students to answer as a group but without the teacher. Except that they forgot to tell me the part about providing a question. Anyway, they provided some and proceeded to answer them using the board. In the end it worked well and was much more enjoyable than some of the lessons! But I’m not sure how they know if their answers to questions are correct if there is no teacher there to check and confirm their answers and avoid them re-enforcing wrong ideas and understanding. At 8.15pm I took some Physics equipment to S3 to demonstrate some colour and light experiments. Although there is little equipment, a dark room is no problem. Just switch off the light (solar powered) and there is a complete blackout. I couldn’t see the students even with a small torch. Except when they smiled! Now with the printer working and as we are settling in more there seems to be much more to do even though the teaching load is not high.
We visited town on Wednesday to investigate the clothes market and a dressmaker. Most of the second-hand shirts had recognisable labels (e.g. M&S, C&A) and we both made a few purchases. We met a fellow missionary (from the US) that we were introduced to at the Bishop’s meal. She invited us back to her house to meet some of her six children. It was a brief visit as we had promised to return to school for the staff devotions. And there was another major breakthrough today. The toilets are finished!!! We can’t bring ourselves to use them just yet and feel that some sort of celebration may be required – possibly at the weekend.
On Thursday I tried my first ‘practical’ lesson with S2 in the hall/lab. Not easy with the limited equipment, especially at 7.30am but it made a change from the usual theory lesson. I forgot about an art ‘O’ level exam in the hall so we had to vacate quickly but I had just competed all the demos. Later I discovered that the S1 class have real difficulty in understanding any Chemistry. Is it me or their limited English in a subject with a difficult vocabulary or their passive learning style? I typed up (and printed, what joy!) the chemical list (less joy).
On Friday we planned in outline our session for the “Careers Day” in a weeks time. We seemed to agree on what was needed and had no difficulty with the ideas but need to reflect and add some detail during the next week. There was another success today. As we are using the printer and therefore the laptops more, the power to charge them is becoming more of a problem. I inquired about using the school solar power to charge the laptops occasionally and this was readily agreed by the Principal. I was surprised how much this cheered me up. I showed him my printed chemical list and he told me to let him know if there was anything we needed. So I’ll try to consult with the other science teachers to draw up a list in order of priority and cost – a long term project but may help them too in the future. I later went back to the lab to clear up from yesterday and ended up putting all the chemicals in alphabetical order and throwing away some junk. Sad. There was an advertisement pinned on the notice board about 1600 teaching vacancies in government schools throughout Uganda. The application process is horrendous but the government pay scales are almost double private schools. There are too many teachers in Uganda so every position is hotly contested. It’s a serious issue and I was discussing it with the staff for some time. Later, we were invited to carryout the dormitory inspection, award marks and report to the school assembly. This was both an eye-opener and a privilege to be asked. We couldn’t wait another day. The toilet was baptised (both sprinkling and total immersion!).
We had planned for a quiet Saturday without a trip to town but the say started with 10 students ‘slashing’ (cutting) the grass around our house as part of their community service. When I say cutting it’s more like hitting the grass repeatedly from both sides until if finally submits and leaves the safety of the ground only to land a few feet away. I can’t help thinking that a lawnmower would be more efficient and leave more mud hidden. Still it is necessary to keep is short. The snakes can’t travel as quickly as in the longer grass. That’s reassuring, I think. Andrea had intended to do some washing (by hand) outside but decided it was too dangerous while the students were around. Saturday is when the students also do their washing in groups around the pump which is about 50 feet from our house so we also had the noise of the pump and the students chatting almost all day. Otherwise it was quiet and we were able to spend some time with the neighbours just chatting. Some of the family stories are complicated and very sad. There is a mixture of cultures within families especially of some are more educated than others. To many, education implies more money regardless of the actual situation and cultural pressures can be brought to bear in what seems to be selfish and even uncaring ways. It is undoubtedly a harsh life for many here and education may help to alleviated it a bit but also creates its own problems.
posted by Anonymous at 9:05 AM
1 Comments:
From John Acton of Brentwood Bap. Ch. (otherwise known as 'pianist-storyteller') Congratulations James on a very interesting and detailed account of your early missionary experiences in Africa. Good to see you and Andrea this a.m. in Brentweood. 31.12.06
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