Week 18 (19 - 25 November 2006)
We thought this morning’s church service was going to be the Christmas carols but discovered during the service that it was at 2pm instead of the Bible study. At the end of the morning service one of the student organisers of the Carol service asked if we would ‘preach’ – with just over 2 hours notice! We gently quizzed him about why it was such short notice but agreed to try to get something together. We arrived at the appointed hour (2pm) but, as usual, the service didn’t start until 3pm and ended at 4.30pm. There were a few carols that we recognised but the student in charge wasn’t happy that ‘Silent Night’ had been sung with sufficient gusto so it was sung again at full volume! We though that no baby could sleep through that until we discovered that there was a baby asleep in the congregation! Perhaps we need to clarify the meaning of ‘silent’. Our shared bit seemed to be OK in the end. There was a meal prepared by students following the service. This seems to be standard practice when visitors are present. There were a few visitors but we discovered later that most of the staff didn’t know the carol service was today and were disappointed to have missed it – and the meal. Being so weary after yesterday, we had a quiet remainder of the day chatting with the neighbours.
Well, today (Monday) we have to work out what to do with the car and the possibility of not being able to leave the site for a while. It was still damp but seemed to be drying out. I tried to phone several people but the signal was almost non-existent. This has been a problem for a few days now and is affection others as well. In the end, we decided to try the roads and turn back immediately if it seemed too risky. But it was OK with the mud having dried and been compacted a bit from other traffic. We collected some parcels and a letter from Laura as well as some money from the bank. We were down to our last 30,000 (£9) although it would have been enough for a week or so! We visited Diguna, a German mission agency which has links with AIM (the ones who transported our belongings from Kampala many moons ago). They have a very able mechanic, Thomas, who had a look at the car and confirmed that it was safe to drive but that the 4 wheel drive was not engaging properly. The power steering wasn’t working either. But as I learnt to drive in the days before power steering this isn’t too much of a problem for now. I will take the car back in on Wednesday so that Thomas can have a better look at it from underneath. We returned to Ushindi safely and spend a happy hour unwrapping the parcels and reading the long letter from Laura. Just as we were settling down to our evening preparation and e-mail writing, we had two sets of visitors and spend the next hour or so chatting and looking at wedding photos in the laptop. Not our wedding, but those of our neighbour, John, who was married in June of this year. The photos were on CD and he has not been able to see them all except for those that have been printed. It was good to see them but used up most of the battery so I couldn’t do all the e-mails and get up to date with the blog – which is nearly complete.
S3 start their practical exams on Tuesday thus giving them three weeks of exams and no more teaching. Pity, as I only found this out today and had prepared two more Physics lessons. So I only had one (S1) Chemistry lesson and started preparing for the exams. Their English is not strong and I’ve suspected that they don’t understand me or the chemistry. I managed to confuse them by saying as slowly as I could “Open your exercise books and find the question I set for prep last week.” Fortunately, one student did understand and translated for the rest. So I don’t hold much hope for good results. As I had some extra free time and managed to charge the laptop I have been able to make, for me, minor history. After exactly 11 weeks I have now caught up with the blog! So caught up that it is now 4pm on Tuesday 21 November and nothing more has happened so I’ve nothing more to write today! Hurray! I’ll probably get behind again by Saturday though. I went up to the S1 Chemistry ‘club’ at 4.30pm to find only 8 students there, but they were keen and kept asking questions so it was worthwhile – and enjoyable.
The weather on Wednesday morning was dull and damp and it had been raining heavily during the night. It’s supposed to be dry in November. The rain would not usually be a concern except that I was due to take the car to Arua to be checked but if the road is too muddy then I’ll get stuck again. I tried with the option of returning at the first sight of mud, but managed to get to Diguna safely. Then it rained very heavily! The mechanical expert, Thomas, showed me how the front wheels should engage for four wheel drive and why they weren’t. He managed to fix it without too much trouble and we tested the difference by reversing backwards up a very steep hill – what a difference! The power steering is another problem that will have to wait until we can get the car back to Kampala. But it’s not serious and will build up the arm muscles a bit. The return journey was OK and I got back in time to lead the staff devotions on the independence of God. Andrea says she enjoyed it – but then she would. Wouldn’t she? (Not always!) I’m not sure about the rest.
Four lessons on Thursday morning were tiring. Andrea wasn’t well enough to teach her lesson – just a stomach upset. I managed to cook for myself this evening before we watched our second DVD since coming here – “Defence of the Realm” (1985).
Last lesson today (Friday) as the exams start on Monday. It seems strange not to have any lessons to prepare for about 10 weeks! No doubt we’ll be busy doing other things. Andrea is feeling a little better but sleeping quite a lot – I’m weary too, especially as the temperatures are rising a bit again. The school assembly lasted an hour with one of the main topics being one of the boy’s pit latrines! I won’t go into details. The punctuality of the students, particularly to the early morning assembly, but also to lessons, is causing some concern. I think we need some imaginative solutions!
Saturday started with the usual trip to town – mainly to get a large bag of flour (12 kg). We got our last one on Monday. One of our neighbours has been buying some of the flour from us because it’s cheaper to buy in bulk but too heavy for most people to carry. She makes chapattis to sell to the students as a sort of ‘tuck shop’. We also collected a desk, two stools and a coffee set i.e. as set of coffee tables, one large and four small. We have one remaining desk to collect than will have all the furniture we ordered. A reassessment may be necessary when it’s all here to see what we would like to do next such as upgrade or tidy the solar system or add a few more shelves etc. Our afternoon was spent with Cathy Asiki and eating pizza with her children. Very enjoyable – both the pizza and the chat! Cathy lectures in Maths at the local teacher training college and will try to arrange a visit for us during the next week or so. There is a possibility that we might be able to do some ‘visiting’ lecturing. We had a long discussion with our neighbours about the role of women and marriage in northern Uganda. Very interesting, especially as Brenda was giving Andrea lessons on how to look after her husband and kneel when passing him food and drink! I can’t understand why Andrea was less keen to learn these important cultural traditions than new words in Lugbara! Later in the evening we re-arranged our furniture – twice - to allow for the new items before watching another DVD “A Handful of Dust” (1988)
Well, today (Monday) we have to work out what to do with the car and the possibility of not being able to leave the site for a while. It was still damp but seemed to be drying out. I tried to phone several people but the signal was almost non-existent. This has been a problem for a few days now and is affection others as well. In the end, we decided to try the roads and turn back immediately if it seemed too risky. But it was OK with the mud having dried and been compacted a bit from other traffic. We collected some parcels and a letter from Laura as well as some money from the bank. We were down to our last 30,000 (£9) although it would have been enough for a week or so! We visited Diguna, a German mission agency which has links with AIM (the ones who transported our belongings from Kampala many moons ago). They have a very able mechanic, Thomas, who had a look at the car and confirmed that it was safe to drive but that the 4 wheel drive was not engaging properly. The power steering wasn’t working either. But as I learnt to drive in the days before power steering this isn’t too much of a problem for now. I will take the car back in on Wednesday so that Thomas can have a better look at it from underneath. We returned to Ushindi safely and spend a happy hour unwrapping the parcels and reading the long letter from Laura. Just as we were settling down to our evening preparation and e-mail writing, we had two sets of visitors and spend the next hour or so chatting and looking at wedding photos in the laptop. Not our wedding, but those of our neighbour, John, who was married in June of this year. The photos were on CD and he has not been able to see them all except for those that have been printed. It was good to see them but used up most of the battery so I couldn’t do all the e-mails and get up to date with the blog – which is nearly complete.
S3 start their practical exams on Tuesday thus giving them three weeks of exams and no more teaching. Pity, as I only found this out today and had prepared two more Physics lessons. So I only had one (S1) Chemistry lesson and started preparing for the exams. Their English is not strong and I’ve suspected that they don’t understand me or the chemistry. I managed to confuse them by saying as slowly as I could “Open your exercise books and find the question I set for prep last week.” Fortunately, one student did understand and translated for the rest. So I don’t hold much hope for good results. As I had some extra free time and managed to charge the laptop I have been able to make, for me, minor history. After exactly 11 weeks I have now caught up with the blog! So caught up that it is now 4pm on Tuesday 21 November and nothing more has happened so I’ve nothing more to write today! Hurray! I’ll probably get behind again by Saturday though. I went up to the S1 Chemistry ‘club’ at 4.30pm to find only 8 students there, but they were keen and kept asking questions so it was worthwhile – and enjoyable.
The weather on Wednesday morning was dull and damp and it had been raining heavily during the night. It’s supposed to be dry in November. The rain would not usually be a concern except that I was due to take the car to Arua to be checked but if the road is too muddy then I’ll get stuck again. I tried with the option of returning at the first sight of mud, but managed to get to Diguna safely. Then it rained very heavily! The mechanical expert, Thomas, showed me how the front wheels should engage for four wheel drive and why they weren’t. He managed to fix it without too much trouble and we tested the difference by reversing backwards up a very steep hill – what a difference! The power steering is another problem that will have to wait until we can get the car back to Kampala. But it’s not serious and will build up the arm muscles a bit. The return journey was OK and I got back in time to lead the staff devotions on the independence of God. Andrea says she enjoyed it – but then she would. Wouldn’t she? (Not always!) I’m not sure about the rest.
Four lessons on Thursday morning were tiring. Andrea wasn’t well enough to teach her lesson – just a stomach upset. I managed to cook for myself this evening before we watched our second DVD since coming here – “Defence of the Realm” (1985).
Last lesson today (Friday) as the exams start on Monday. It seems strange not to have any lessons to prepare for about 10 weeks! No doubt we’ll be busy doing other things. Andrea is feeling a little better but sleeping quite a lot – I’m weary too, especially as the temperatures are rising a bit again. The school assembly lasted an hour with one of the main topics being one of the boy’s pit latrines! I won’t go into details. The punctuality of the students, particularly to the early morning assembly, but also to lessons, is causing some concern. I think we need some imaginative solutions!
Saturday started with the usual trip to town – mainly to get a large bag of flour (12 kg). We got our last one on Monday. One of our neighbours has been buying some of the flour from us because it’s cheaper to buy in bulk but too heavy for most people to carry. She makes chapattis to sell to the students as a sort of ‘tuck shop’. We also collected a desk, two stools and a coffee set i.e. as set of coffee tables, one large and four small. We have one remaining desk to collect than will have all the furniture we ordered. A reassessment may be necessary when it’s all here to see what we would like to do next such as upgrade or tidy the solar system or add a few more shelves etc. Our afternoon was spent with Cathy Asiki and eating pizza with her children. Very enjoyable – both the pizza and the chat! Cathy lectures in Maths at the local teacher training college and will try to arrange a visit for us during the next week or so. There is a possibility that we might be able to do some ‘visiting’ lecturing. We had a long discussion with our neighbours about the role of women and marriage in northern Uganda. Very interesting, especially as Brenda was giving Andrea lessons on how to look after her husband and kneel when passing him food and drink! I can’t understand why Andrea was less keen to learn these important cultural traditions than new words in Lugbara! Later in the evening we re-arranged our furniture – twice - to allow for the new items before watching another DVD “A Handful of Dust” (1988)
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