Week 57 (19 – 25 Aug 2007)
Picture: This is our plot of land at the back of our house.
It had been dug over twice (but not by us). Mary and Joyce helped Andrea to pland soys seeds and Andrea has planted carrots. Mary and Joyce will come to tend the patch while we're away. The groud is very fertile so we expect a good crop.
As term has ended, we visited the local church, Kuluva Hospital Chapel on Sunday. It seems that most people were away at the local Scripture Union conference.
We celebrated hearing of the exam successes at home by investigating a new eating establishment. I avoided the “T-Born” steak but had grilled steak instead. Andrea had chicken of some sort, not boiled as is usual here. Very good. Admittedly it was much more expensive than our usual meals out. The bill, including a soft drink and fruit dessert came to about £8. That’s for both of us, not individually! We usually pay around half that! Not all of the buildings are completed yet but the overnight accommodation is a world away from Ushindi. They have showers with “warm” water! And we intend to go swimming there when the pool is completed.
On Monday Andrea continued with her marking while I did some reading and preparation. I also went to enter my marks on the student report cards only to find that the way I though we had agreed to calculate and report them was not what was being done by other staff. And on closer inspection, there were difference in what had already been entered. One of the other science teachers also complained that it had not been made clear. I did two classes and then hid with the laptop and tried to send some e-mails before the signal went elsewhere. I suspect, being in working hours, the system is unable to manage the demand. I’ll have to think again about when to try to log on.
On Tuesday our 10am Science and Maths meeting was early (9am) and the result is that I will now be teaching Biology to S1 instead of Physics and will try to help with the S4 Chemistry revision for the 4 weeks before their exams. This is to cover for the Head of Science who has left for further studies and while we find out if there is a replacement. A did a quick trip to town (quick being a relative term) before going to the Asiki’s for lunch. The girls taught us how to play canasta again, but I was on the loosing team. The other team had two maths teachers who seem to be able to calculate the merits of which cards to play. I just look at the pictures. Andrea and I played a singles game in the evening before we forgot the rules again. I lost again – but not by much and it does depend on the cards you draw. I don’t like games of chance. I need to know that when I loose it’s entirely my fault! Or more likely, but less “missionary-like”, that when I win it’s due to my skill. I tend to loose so that’s not an issue for me!
Mary and Joyce were a bit later that usual on Wednesday. They were bringing our lunch with them and it ran away! They buy a chicken for us and it was so fresh today that it escaped from the bag and they had to chase after it in the undergrowth. Fortunately, they say the funny side of it too but were a bit hot and bothered when they arrived. Mary was carrying Jonathan on her back too. Anyway, it was delicious when cooked and eaten with fresh vegetables (boiled) and actual mashed potato. Andrea finished her marking today and I spent most of the afternoon on the laptop. I mean using it. It’s not that strong. I got a good connection and downloaded some VirusScan updates etc. in between some other work.
Thursday was something of a remarkable day. We visited town again for a few things but also managed to get one of the tyres repaired. It has had a slow puncture for several months but we’ve never go around to doing anything other that filling it with air. One of the filling stations also does tyre repairs so, with great trepidation I tried. They said it would take about 30 minutes. It did. I watched how he took off and replaced the tyre – all competent and as one would expect (except in Uganda). He found a nail and repaired it – and after 24 hours the tyre is still inflated! The whole job was a bit expensive at Ugs5000 – that’s less than £2! Then we visited Diguna and collected our new solar panel, solar battery and a box of laboratory glassware that was given to the school by friends in Entebbe. We bought the battery and panel on May 9th so it’s only taken about 4 months to get them here – and then we’re going away so can’t even wire them up yet! Still, what’s another two weeks? We spent the afternoon with Anne Houghton at Ringili before she sets off for her home assignment in the UK. She leaves on Monday. In the evening we played canasta again. I lost again – but by an impressive margin. I still don’t like games of luck.
On Friday morning we completed our report card writing duties. Due to staff changes, we (i.e. Andrea) volunteered to write the class teacher comment for one class so I felt obliged to do the another class. It only means reading the report and writing a two sentence comment. In the course of doing this we read previous comments. They would make excellent training materials for any school. Unfortunately, they included all the mistakes, errors and comments that should be avoided with almost nothing on how the student might improve other than work harder, be more serious and aim higher. These are the better comments! The teachers are writing in their second language too, so it’s hardly surprising that some of the sentences are incomprehensible too. Still, at least we know how to help and advise. Although I might need some help with the English. The rest of the day was spent packing and preparing to leave the house.
We were up earlier than usual on Saturday - not difficult, in that we don’t get up too early on Saturdays normally but very difficult because, well, we don’t get up too early on Saturdays normally! Eventually we woke up on our way to the airport to catch the plane to Entebbe and then a taxi to Lubowa, near Kampala, where we changed to another taxi for Jinja. We met an accident on the way. A huge container lorry had come off the road and ended up “head-first” on its side in a ditch at least 30 feet deep. Our detour gave us a good view of the lorry and the chance to find out what had happened. No one was injured as the driver jumped out when he realised what was happening and it occurred a WEEK before but they hadn’t been able to get any cranes big enough to get it out! The one we saw working didn’t seem to be having much success either. We arrived at our hotel (Nile Resort) where we stayed three years ago. And it’s just as picturesque as it was then. We rested and ate a little while our stomachs arrived in a later taxi.
It had been dug over twice (but not by us). Mary and Joyce helped Andrea to pland soys seeds and Andrea has planted carrots. Mary and Joyce will come to tend the patch while we're away. The groud is very fertile so we expect a good crop.As term has ended, we visited the local church, Kuluva Hospital Chapel on Sunday. It seems that most people were away at the local Scripture Union conference.
We celebrated hearing of the exam successes at home by investigating a new eating establishment. I avoided the “T-Born” steak but had grilled steak instead. Andrea had chicken of some sort, not boiled as is usual here. Very good. Admittedly it was much more expensive than our usual meals out. The bill, including a soft drink and fruit dessert came to about £8. That’s for both of us, not individually! We usually pay around half that! Not all of the buildings are completed yet but the overnight accommodation is a world away from Ushindi. They have showers with “warm” water! And we intend to go swimming there when the pool is completed.
On Monday Andrea continued with her marking while I did some reading and preparation. I also went to enter my marks on the student report cards only to find that the way I though we had agreed to calculate and report them was not what was being done by other staff. And on closer inspection, there were difference in what had already been entered. One of the other science teachers also complained that it had not been made clear. I did two classes and then hid with the laptop and tried to send some e-mails before the signal went elsewhere. I suspect, being in working hours, the system is unable to manage the demand. I’ll have to think again about when to try to log on.
On Tuesday our 10am Science and Maths meeting was early (9am) and the result is that I will now be teaching Biology to S1 instead of Physics and will try to help with the S4 Chemistry revision for the 4 weeks before their exams. This is to cover for the Head of Science who has left for further studies and while we find out if there is a replacement. A did a quick trip to town (quick being a relative term) before going to the Asiki’s for lunch. The girls taught us how to play canasta again, but I was on the loosing team. The other team had two maths teachers who seem to be able to calculate the merits of which cards to play. I just look at the pictures. Andrea and I played a singles game in the evening before we forgot the rules again. I lost again – but not by much and it does depend on the cards you draw. I don’t like games of chance. I need to know that when I loose it’s entirely my fault! Or more likely, but less “missionary-like”, that when I win it’s due to my skill. I tend to loose so that’s not an issue for me!
Mary and Joyce were a bit later that usual on Wednesday. They were bringing our lunch with them and it ran away! They buy a chicken for us and it was so fresh today that it escaped from the bag and they had to chase after it in the undergrowth. Fortunately, they say the funny side of it too but were a bit hot and bothered when they arrived. Mary was carrying Jonathan on her back too. Anyway, it was delicious when cooked and eaten with fresh vegetables (boiled) and actual mashed potato. Andrea finished her marking today and I spent most of the afternoon on the laptop. I mean using it. It’s not that strong. I got a good connection and downloaded some VirusScan updates etc. in between some other work.
Thursday was something of a remarkable day. We visited town again for a few things but also managed to get one of the tyres repaired. It has had a slow puncture for several months but we’ve never go around to doing anything other that filling it with air. One of the filling stations also does tyre repairs so, with great trepidation I tried. They said it would take about 30 minutes. It did. I watched how he took off and replaced the tyre – all competent and as one would expect (except in Uganda). He found a nail and repaired it – and after 24 hours the tyre is still inflated! The whole job was a bit expensive at Ugs5000 – that’s less than £2! Then we visited Diguna and collected our new solar panel, solar battery and a box of laboratory glassware that was given to the school by friends in Entebbe. We bought the battery and panel on May 9th so it’s only taken about 4 months to get them here – and then we’re going away so can’t even wire them up yet! Still, what’s another two weeks? We spent the afternoon with Anne Houghton at Ringili before she sets off for her home assignment in the UK. She leaves on Monday. In the evening we played canasta again. I lost again – but by an impressive margin. I still don’t like games of luck.
On Friday morning we completed our report card writing duties. Due to staff changes, we (i.e. Andrea) volunteered to write the class teacher comment for one class so I felt obliged to do the another class. It only means reading the report and writing a two sentence comment. In the course of doing this we read previous comments. They would make excellent training materials for any school. Unfortunately, they included all the mistakes, errors and comments that should be avoided with almost nothing on how the student might improve other than work harder, be more serious and aim higher. These are the better comments! The teachers are writing in their second language too, so it’s hardly surprising that some of the sentences are incomprehensible too. Still, at least we know how to help and advise. Although I might need some help with the English. The rest of the day was spent packing and preparing to leave the house.
We were up earlier than usual on Saturday - not difficult, in that we don’t get up too early on Saturdays normally but very difficult because, well, we don’t get up too early on Saturdays normally! Eventually we woke up on our way to the airport to catch the plane to Entebbe and then a taxi to Lubowa, near Kampala, where we changed to another taxi for Jinja. We met an accident on the way. A huge container lorry had come off the road and ended up “head-first” on its side in a ditch at least 30 feet deep. Our detour gave us a good view of the lorry and the chance to find out what had happened. No one was injured as the driver jumped out when he realised what was happening and it occurred a WEEK before but they hadn’t been able to get any cranes big enough to get it out! The one we saw working didn’t seem to be having much success either. We arrived at our hotel (Nile Resort) where we stayed three years ago. And it’s just as picturesque as it was then. We rested and ate a little while our stomachs arrived in a later taxi.
posted by J & A McAdam at 9:30 AM
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