Week 19 (26 Nov - 2 December 2006)
The Principal preached at the service this morning with other staff taking part, including Andrea who read. This was followed, as usual by breakfast together and when we returned to our house we were invited next door for our third breakfast. It’s a hard life! The car had two week’s mud washed off but I stopped the students from washing the inside of the wheel arches! They are very keen to do a good job. Our Bible study on prayer was attended by around 20 students even though they are preparing for their very important end of year exams this week. This was followed by tea sitting outside with our neighbour, John, while watching the children and animals playing until dark.
We were a bit weary on Monday so worked quietly at home. Well, I worked quietly. Andrea spent some time visiting neighbours. John asked us in the eveining to set up an e-mail account for him using our laptop. It only took 2 hours due to the slow connection! He sent an e-mail so some other AIM people who used to work at Kuluva Hospital and who we have heard of but not met yet.
Our exams started on Tuesday morning. The timetable said that they began at 9.00am and there has been an effort to improve punctuality in the school. So we were a little surprised to find only 3 students (out of about 60) had arrived by 9.05am. Were they so frightened of us and the Maths and Chemistry exams? No. At least not that we’re aware. Breakfast runs from 8.50am to 9.20am!!! We did start at 9.30am but the planned 2hr exam ran into the next break. The S3 class missed the break completely as their exam was 30 min longer. In the afternoon we met with Isaac (Principal) and John (Deputy Principal) to discuss some of our observations and comments on what we have seen this term. They were very encouraging and open to our views, even when some were a bit hard for them to hear – such as the timing for the exams and the hidden messages that gives to the students. We hope that the discussion has opened the way for further meetings but only time will tell what they are able and willing to take on board.
We visited town on Wednesday to collect the last of our first furniture order (made on 23 Sept) – the remaining desk. It was a busy time going around several stops in town in the heat and making arrangements with the other staff we met to take things back for them. On our way back we stopped at Kuluva Hospital to see Molly & Isobel – and give them some cards and letters to post when they arrive at Heathrow at the weekend. Molly gave us a guided tour of the School of Nursing and the facilities for the students as well as some background to the issues they face. It was interesting to be able to compare our situation with theirs and see where they work. We’ll miss them while they are back in the UK for a while. John, our neighbour, dropped in during the evening for a lesson on using e-mail. We’re getting a number of visitors now which shows that were are more a part of the community – even if it can be a little inconvenient at times!
We spent most of Thursday morning visiting Muni National Teacher Training College, thanks to Cathy Asiki who is a full time Mathematics lecturer. It is about 2km off the main road into Arua, about 20 minutes drive from Ushindi. We had visited before in 2004 but there has been some re-development since then. We met the only full time Chemistry lecturer who did some of his training at Kings College, London where I (James) did my PGCE. We started teaching within two years of each other and had a good discussion about teacher training and chemical education in Uganda. We have been invited back again and are likely to be able to take some sessions with the students. During normal term time the secondary teachers have lectures and within a few days of them leaving for the holidays the primary teachers arrive – straight after teaching in their own schools! So the lecturers do not have any official holidays and the primary teachers working for their diplomas get no break at all for three years. Crazy. The rest of the day was hot and all we managed to do was cut Andrea’s hair. There are one or two bits left. It’s amazing what you can do with super-glue. Andrea has been appointed the Chairperson of the Organising Committee for Godwin’s birthday. The committee also has a secretary. Godwin will be 2 years old on Wednesday 6th. She is preparing the invitations on her laptop – they also contain the programme and timing for the event which will take place in our home. And yes, there will be some speeches but as hosts ours will probably be very very short!
It was very quiet on Friday morning. Andrea went to invigilate an exam leaving me with the usual chores of getting up, ‘showered’ and dressed. When I say ‘showered’ we have a very high tech system. The red bucket is filled with cold water from a jerry can (any colour) then hot water is added from either a saucepan or a vacuum flask (usually the blue one). The temperature of the water can vary considerably, as can the colour – usually brown. A green plastic cup is then filled with the warm mixture and poured over the head. Preferably your own and after removing clothing, again, preferably your own. The water runs away through a hole in the floor but sometimes needs a little encouragement. We do have a plastic mat which brightens up the bathing cubical a little as it’s painted dark grey with a concrete floor. But if you close your eyes then you can imagine one of those nice power showers in a large tiled bathroom. Finding the off switch is a bit tricky with your eyes closed but when you open them you realise that there is no switch. You also have to be careful not to use the Dettol instead of shampoo. But that’s another story. I realise that how we shower isn’t really very interesting but compared with marking a chemistry exam it’s riveting. And that’s just about all I did today. Apart from the last school assembly of the year which was different from all the others this term only because we were asked to give a greeting and message after the assembly had started. Still we had a whole 5 minutes warning. Tomorrow promises to be more interesting. And, yes, I got all the papers marked and there was a slight improvement from the mid-term exam results. Perhaps the paper was easier.
On Saturday we collected Lyn Cooke from the airport. For those who don’t know, Lyn is from Brentwood and our church and works in the AIM office in Kampala. After our usual shopping, and lunch in town, we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with news from home and Kampala. Lyn brought generous gifts sent by the church in Brentwood. We haven’t seen so many luxuries for a long time and look forward to tasting the coffee, chocolate and soups as well as watching the DVDs. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the items and the postage. It’s hard to express how grateful we are, not just for the gifts, for the time and effort taken to collect them and arrangements for their delivery, but also that we have been remembered! We were joined for tea outside with some of our neighbours. Later in the evening w watched part of a DVD together.
We were a bit weary on Monday so worked quietly at home. Well, I worked quietly. Andrea spent some time visiting neighbours. John asked us in the eveining to set up an e-mail account for him using our laptop. It only took 2 hours due to the slow connection! He sent an e-mail so some other AIM people who used to work at Kuluva Hospital and who we have heard of but not met yet.
Our exams started on Tuesday morning. The timetable said that they began at 9.00am and there has been an effort to improve punctuality in the school. So we were a little surprised to find only 3 students (out of about 60) had arrived by 9.05am. Were they so frightened of us and the Maths and Chemistry exams? No. At least not that we’re aware. Breakfast runs from 8.50am to 9.20am!!! We did start at 9.30am but the planned 2hr exam ran into the next break. The S3 class missed the break completely as their exam was 30 min longer. In the afternoon we met with Isaac (Principal) and John (Deputy Principal) to discuss some of our observations and comments on what we have seen this term. They were very encouraging and open to our views, even when some were a bit hard for them to hear – such as the timing for the exams and the hidden messages that gives to the students. We hope that the discussion has opened the way for further meetings but only time will tell what they are able and willing to take on board.
We visited town on Wednesday to collect the last of our first furniture order (made on 23 Sept) – the remaining desk. It was a busy time going around several stops in town in the heat and making arrangements with the other staff we met to take things back for them. On our way back we stopped at Kuluva Hospital to see Molly & Isobel – and give them some cards and letters to post when they arrive at Heathrow at the weekend. Molly gave us a guided tour of the School of Nursing and the facilities for the students as well as some background to the issues they face. It was interesting to be able to compare our situation with theirs and see where they work. We’ll miss them while they are back in the UK for a while. John, our neighbour, dropped in during the evening for a lesson on using e-mail. We’re getting a number of visitors now which shows that were are more a part of the community – even if it can be a little inconvenient at times!
We spent most of Thursday morning visiting Muni National Teacher Training College, thanks to Cathy Asiki who is a full time Mathematics lecturer. It is about 2km off the main road into Arua, about 20 minutes drive from Ushindi. We had visited before in 2004 but there has been some re-development since then. We met the only full time Chemistry lecturer who did some of his training at Kings College, London where I (James) did my PGCE. We started teaching within two years of each other and had a good discussion about teacher training and chemical education in Uganda. We have been invited back again and are likely to be able to take some sessions with the students. During normal term time the secondary teachers have lectures and within a few days of them leaving for the holidays the primary teachers arrive – straight after teaching in their own schools! So the lecturers do not have any official holidays and the primary teachers working for their diplomas get no break at all for three years. Crazy. The rest of the day was hot and all we managed to do was cut Andrea’s hair. There are one or two bits left. It’s amazing what you can do with super-glue. Andrea has been appointed the Chairperson of the Organising Committee for Godwin’s birthday. The committee also has a secretary. Godwin will be 2 years old on Wednesday 6th. She is preparing the invitations on her laptop – they also contain the programme and timing for the event which will take place in our home. And yes, there will be some speeches but as hosts ours will probably be very very short!
It was very quiet on Friday morning. Andrea went to invigilate an exam leaving me with the usual chores of getting up, ‘showered’ and dressed. When I say ‘showered’ we have a very high tech system. The red bucket is filled with cold water from a jerry can (any colour) then hot water is added from either a saucepan or a vacuum flask (usually the blue one). The temperature of the water can vary considerably, as can the colour – usually brown. A green plastic cup is then filled with the warm mixture and poured over the head. Preferably your own and after removing clothing, again, preferably your own. The water runs away through a hole in the floor but sometimes needs a little encouragement. We do have a plastic mat which brightens up the bathing cubical a little as it’s painted dark grey with a concrete floor. But if you close your eyes then you can imagine one of those nice power showers in a large tiled bathroom. Finding the off switch is a bit tricky with your eyes closed but when you open them you realise that there is no switch. You also have to be careful not to use the Dettol instead of shampoo. But that’s another story. I realise that how we shower isn’t really very interesting but compared with marking a chemistry exam it’s riveting. And that’s just about all I did today. Apart from the last school assembly of the year which was different from all the others this term only because we were asked to give a greeting and message after the assembly had started. Still we had a whole 5 minutes warning. Tomorrow promises to be more interesting. And, yes, I got all the papers marked and there was a slight improvement from the mid-term exam results. Perhaps the paper was easier.
On Saturday we collected Lyn Cooke from the airport. For those who don’t know, Lyn is from Brentwood and our church and works in the AIM office in Kampala. After our usual shopping, and lunch in town, we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with news from home and Kampala. Lyn brought generous gifts sent by the church in Brentwood. We haven’t seen so many luxuries for a long time and look forward to tasting the coffee, chocolate and soups as well as watching the DVDs. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the items and the postage. It’s hard to express how grateful we are, not just for the gifts, for the time and effort taken to collect them and arrangements for their delivery, but also that we have been remembered! We were joined for tea outside with some of our neighbours. Later in the evening w watched part of a DVD together.
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