Week 71 (25 Nov - 1 Dec 2007)
Photos:Left - Mary and her husband Isaac with Tom and his newly renovated wheelchair (see Wednesday)
Right - The Ushindi School Board Meeting (under the mango tree) (see Saturday)
Sunday was supposed to be the school Advent service but was postponed until next week as someone from the Arua Deliverance Church came to preach. He was very entertaining and the students and staff all enjoyed the service. It was a little different from our experience and we would have welcomed the opportunity to discuss further some of the things he said – our interpretation of what is said is not always the same as what folk here hear. Hope that makes sense.
Having failed to get the morning parade cancelled, Andrea and I thought we should give the prefects some support as they too have exams. Therefore, on Monday morning we visited the dormitories (one each) at 7am to persuade, cajole and encourage the students to get up – at least for exam preparation if not for the morning parade. We had our own exams to invigilate and were encouraged when all three exams began at 9am. Not a common occurrence during the last four terms. We continued for the rest of the week and no other teachers appeared at the morning parades to give out important notices. We didn’t have to punish any students and after a few days they were all up by 7am, if not all dressed and ready. By 7.30am the site was quiet as all the students were busy working.
At 8.20am on Tuesday no other teachers had arrived so I decided that maybe it was time to start stapling the 9.00am papers together. At 8.58am two of the other teachers arrived and were a bit surprised to find the papers ready on the desks in front of the students! In the afternoon I had a very productive meeting with the Principal and Deputy as we discussed the role of the Teachers on Duty.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday followed a similar pattern of exams, marking and meetings. All the morning and afternoon exams started on time and the meetings were very productive. On Wednesday we took Mary (our lady who “does” for us) to town to get some large saucepans which can be used to bake bread on a charcoal fire. Her family were complaining that they would not have muzungu bread over Christmas while we are away! Mary usually bakes extra bread and takes some home three times a week. As we are so busy with marking and reports we had to stress many times that we would stop at her home for a cup of tea only – not a full meal. But she couldn’t avoid giving us some cake and biscuits!
We were back in town on Saturday for the Ushindi School Board Meeting (combined Primary and Secondary). It was very pleasant having a meeting under the mango tree! There are some major issues concerning the rented land and buildings the junior school uses and the discussions have given us further insights into Ugandan ways. In a previous board meeting it was agreed that we should explore the possibilities of more ecumenical services on Sundays at the secondary school. Cathy took us to see Father Aquilino, a local Roman Catholic priest whose Uncle used to own the land the secondary school is now on! It quickly became clear that we were thinking along the same lines – the need to explain carefully why different churches worshipped in different ways, the need to plan the services carefully and not to do anything that would be difficult or offensive to those of other traditions. Ushindi is not a Church of Uganda (Anglican) school but seems to have adopted many of their traditions even though the students come from many different backgrounds.
Sunday was supposed to be the school Advent service but was postponed until next week as someone from the Arua Deliverance Church came to preach. He was very entertaining and the students and staff all enjoyed the service. It was a little different from our experience and we would have welcomed the opportunity to discuss further some of the things he said – our interpretation of what is said is not always the same as what folk here hear. Hope that makes sense.
Having failed to get the morning parade cancelled, Andrea and I thought we should give the prefects some support as they too have exams. Therefore, on Monday morning we visited the dormitories (one each) at 7am to persuade, cajole and encourage the students to get up – at least for exam preparation if not for the morning parade. We had our own exams to invigilate and were encouraged when all three exams began at 9am. Not a common occurrence during the last four terms. We continued for the rest of the week and no other teachers appeared at the morning parades to give out important notices. We didn’t have to punish any students and after a few days they were all up by 7am, if not all dressed and ready. By 7.30am the site was quiet as all the students were busy working.
At 8.20am on Tuesday no other teachers had arrived so I decided that maybe it was time to start stapling the 9.00am papers together. At 8.58am two of the other teachers arrived and were a bit surprised to find the papers ready on the desks in front of the students! In the afternoon I had a very productive meeting with the Principal and Deputy as we discussed the role of the Teachers on Duty.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday followed a similar pattern of exams, marking and meetings. All the morning and afternoon exams started on time and the meetings were very productive. On Wednesday we took Mary (our lady who “does” for us) to town to get some large saucepans which can be used to bake bread on a charcoal fire. Her family were complaining that they would not have muzungu bread over Christmas while we are away! Mary usually bakes extra bread and takes some home three times a week. As we are so busy with marking and reports we had to stress many times that we would stop at her home for a cup of tea only – not a full meal. But she couldn’t avoid giving us some cake and biscuits!
We were back in town on Saturday for the Ushindi School Board Meeting (combined Primary and Secondary). It was very pleasant having a meeting under the mango tree! There are some major issues concerning the rented land and buildings the junior school uses and the discussions have given us further insights into Ugandan ways. In a previous board meeting it was agreed that we should explore the possibilities of more ecumenical services on Sundays at the secondary school. Cathy took us to see Father Aquilino, a local Roman Catholic priest whose Uncle used to own the land the secondary school is now on! It quickly became clear that we were thinking along the same lines – the need to explain carefully why different churches worshipped in different ways, the need to plan the services carefully and not to do anything that would be difficult or offensive to those of other traditions. Ushindi is not a Church of Uganda (Anglican) school but seems to have adopted many of their traditions even though the students come from many different backgrounds.
posted by J & A McAdam at 9:45 AM
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