Rwentutu School - Summer 2010

What I've Learned...

 Jackie, Evan and I enjoying one of our last days in Kasese!

In no particular order, here are the top seven things (because I couldn't cut it to five, and ten was too long) I have learned this summer:

1. Have Patience
Whether it was waiting all day to see an elephant at a National Park, going over the concept of fractions with my students slower than I ever had before, or waiting, always waiting, for general day-to-day things, my patience was tested and strengthened many times this summer. There is no rush for anything in Uganda, and pace of life is much slower than what I was used to. "Now" doesn't mean "right away," but it means within an hour. In fact, a common phrase among people here is "Now?" or "Now Now?" People don't have schedules, or if they do, there is a general understanding among everyone that it's not set in stone. If it is imperative for someone to be on time, the people here actually refer to it as "American time" (i.e. "The meeting will start at 4:30 American Time"). At first it was difficult to adjust, after living such a fast-paced lifestyle in the States, but eventually I got used to it, and to be honest came to enjoy it. It was nice to relax, take a deep breath, and just let go. Patience sure is a virtue, and I mean it when I say that everything this summer turned out to be worth the wait.

2. Make people come first
Two of the closest friends we made in Kasese taught me this lesson, and ironically they were also two of the busiest people we met. Godfrey, who I have written about before, owns and operates a beautiful hotel near our house. Afan runs an energetic video/music store in Kasese. Despite their busy schedules, whenever we would drop by to say hello they would put their work completely aside to sit and chat with us. Not once did they ask if we could come back another time, or cut the conversation short so they could get back to work. They put friendships and relationships first, work second. They made us feel worth their time, knowing that whatever work was waiting for them would get done, it would just have to wait. Granted, people here do live a slower-paced lifestyle and can usually afford to spare endless amounts of time away from their work without being penalized, but it really is amazing how much people value family and friendship. Make family and friends number one on your priority list. 

Pictured above with our good friend Afan

3. You can't control everything/anything
I can't even begin to tell you how many times this summer things didn't go as planned. In fact, there was no "as planned." We quickly learned that when making plans, there was a 90% chance things wouldn't work out like we expected them to. We had many difficulties with our car, the power would randomly go out at our home (for hours, sometimes days, at a time), our time at school was shortened by a week, and we found ourselves waiting around for things quite a bit, either in town or at school. In these situations, it's easy to get frustrated, but becoming frustrated will only make things worse. We've been playing a lot of Scrabble this summer, and to use a Scrabble analogy, you have your seven tiles in front of you, and you can tentatively plan out where you want to place them on the board, but you never know what the person ahead of you will do. They could block you, forcing you to take a different approach that could lead to a better or worse outcome. They could avoid your original plan completely, and you could lay your tiles like you always wanted to. Or, they could lay a word that opens up a better opportunity (maybe a triple-word score) for you. The point is that you can make plans and have ideas, but things change and there's nothing you can do about it (in Scrabble, you're not allowed to move or rearrange other players' tiles). You still have to play the game and make the best of every situation.

4. Take the time to ask, "How are you?"
In this culture, people greet each other. All of the time. You never ask for something directly or begin a conversation without first extending warm welcomes to each other. The greetings all follow a similar, predictable format. A strong handshake, warm smile, and then:

"Hello, how are you?"
"I'm fine, how are you?"
"Fine, how is the day?"
"The day is good, how is yours?"
"Ah, mine is all right, yes."
"Good, good…do you have yellow bananas today?"

And while it might have seemed simple, the point of the greetings is to acknowledge each others' presence and inquire about each others' lives before doing anything else. I thought of all the times when I'm in a rush at home, and hastily tell the man at Starbucks my order before taking five seconds to greet him and ask how he is doing. Or stop an employee at a department store to quickly ask where something is located without even saying hello. Greetings don’t take long, and while not all answers may be genuine (even over here, people say they are "good" when really they might not be), you are at least inquiring about the person first before taking care of business. It's small, but it makes a difference.

5. Live Simply, Live Passionately

People here don't have much, but they have everything that they need. The lifestyle surrounding me every day sometimes made me forget this was a third-world country. People enjoy each others' company, they bring intensity into their singing and dancing, they are expressive when they tell stories, and they are always grateful.

 

6. Take Risks and Have Faith
Being the pioneers for this program, we took a huge leap of faith when we decided to come this summer. We were the first teachers to come to Rwentutu School from the United States, the first teachers to come and stay for an entire term. There was the chance that the local teachers wouldn't enjoy our presence or our ideas, a chance that being so far from home for such a long time would be too hard for us, a chance that we wouldn’t be able to acclimate to our new surroundings and new culture. But taking risks and having faith go side-by-side for a reason. I’ll admit there were days when I didn’t think I was cut out for this experience, that I questioned my decision and wished I were home. That’s when you have to have faith. Always have faith that everything happens for a reason, everything will work out how it’s supposed to. Relax and enjoy the ride.

6. You don't have to go to Africa to make a difference
I could not have done what I did this summer if it weren't for the support from each and every one of you. Every time I was feeling frustrated or homesick, there was an encouraging email in my Inbox, a comment on my blog, or even a letter in my PO Box. You are the ones who made a difference in this world by your support and encouragement during my time in Uganda.
I was strong in Africa because of you. I approached each day with high hopes and motivation because of you. And I also am excited to come home because of you.
You don't have to go to Uganda to make a difference. We make a difference, no matter who we are or what we do. And you have all made a difference in my life this summer.
As they say in Lugandan, wasingja (wah-seen-ja).
Thank you.

Friday's Farewell

All goodbyes are hard, but this was one of the hardest.  After eight weeks together – eight weeks of reading together, teaching together, singing, running, laughing, and becoming part of the Rwentutu School Community, our time together has come to an end.  It was a bittersweet day on Friday as we spent time cherishing the relationships we had made this summer while at the same time realizing how hard it was going to be to leave.

When I think back to the first day we came to Rwentutu, when all the kids just stared at us in shock and didn't quite know what to make of us, and when we were "the visitors" who really had no idea what to teach or where to start, it seems like it should have taken longer than eight weeks to get to the point where we are now.  But in only eight weeks it has become so comfortable for all of us at the school that Evan, Jackie and I can walk across the schoolyard like we were any other teacher at the school…well, almost :)

We still had kids clamoring for our attention, or crowding around our door at the end of class times to come and play outside (like the little ones in the picture above).  We were still learning more about the school, the children, their families, and our fellow teachers.  But for the most part, we felt like we belonged, which is something to be said about everyone who is a part of Rwentutu School.

What an incredible school.  While I wish I could teach those kids forever, and I am so sad to be leaving, I am comforted by the fact that they are in good hands.  The teachers and staff at Rwentutu are wonderful.  They care about the kids, they want the kids to receive a good education, and they will continue to provide them with that gift term after term, year after year, and visitor after visitor.

In our farewell ceremony on Friday afternoon, the Headteacher, King James, spoke to us and thanked us for an amazing time together.  "We have a saying here," he said, "that an old broom knows all the corners of the house.  And while a new broom might sweep better than an old one, it is because old one has known all the corners."  I think I can safely say this is the first time I have ever been complimented by being called "an old broom."  The three of us this summer were the "old broom" – the first visitors from the United States, and the first students to stay and teach at Rwentutu School for an entire term.  The old broom that grew accustomed to the school system, that learned how the school works and how we could figure ourselves into the school in a way that would both respect and enhance the educational practices that were in place.  I hope, and I really do think, we have done an adequate job of "sweeping" this first year, and I can't wait for more students to come and pick up from where we left off.

 

In some ways, I can't believe eight weeks has come and gone, and in some ways I most definitely can.  While the days were incredibly rewarding, they were also physically and emotionally exhausting.  We gave each day everything we had.  Sometimes it was hard.  I'm not sure yet how much I miss those chaotic moments when it seemed like all 43 of my Primary Three students needed me to give them paper, spell a word, read a paragraph, sharpen a pencil, give them colors, lend them a pen all at the same time without having me lose my patience, but I do miss the moments immediately following the chaos…when all the students were settled, content, and genuinely happy and grateful to be learning.  The days were long, and the days were draining, but the days were always, always worth it.

I wish I could help Beneth finish her book, or once again play Darryne in her favorite game, or kick the soccer ball around a few more times with my Primary Three boys.  I wish I could just have a little more time to read with Lyric and Vasta, and I wish I could see the leader that James is going to become.  They have all worked so hard, and together we have accomplished so much this summer!  The evidence that these kids have grown and developed as thinkers is phenomenal.  All summer long I encouraged them to express their opinions and tell me their thoughts, not someone else's.   The other day I received a letter from a little boy in my class, James, and it read:

"Dear Teacher Whitney.

Please Teacher Whitney, don't go to USA.  You should not go back to USA.  Why?  Because you said that I should be telling you things which I want.  That's why you should not go to USA.  I will miss you and shall not forget you.

James"

And then there was Rachael's, whose letter started off like the kids had been instructed (all of them were told to begin, "Dear Teacher, My name is _________, I am in Primary Three.  I am very happy to write this letter for you."), but then took a little turn from there.  It reads:

"Dear Teacher Whitney.

My name is Rachael.  I am in Primary Three.  I am very happy to write this letter for you.  But actually I am not real happy, and why I am not real happy is because you are going.  You teach us good things.  I will never forget when we were playing games with you.  At our home, I tell my family that I have a friend and she is called Whitney."

I can't make myself believe that I won't be seeing those kids again, but I'm so happy and grateful that we were able to be a part of each other's lives, if only for eight short weeks.  In those eight weeks, those kids taught me to live passionately, to live simply, to laugh hard and laugh often, and to cherish everything life has to offer.  Never have I seen so many kids who yearn for an education, and I think these kids have inspired me more than I have inspired them.

Thanks kiddos, I love you always :)

 All smiles with a few little girls at school

Teacher Whitney and Primary Three

July 2010

From 2 Weeks to 1...

After eight weeks in Uganda, we should be used to expecting the unexpected, but this morning we received a shock we were not prepared for – exams are not next week, like we thought, but are this week instead. Not only that, but they begin on Wednesday! The National Department of Education has decided that all end-of-term exams need to be administered and completed by the end of the week.

And boom – just like that we have two days left of teaching, two days left of exams and a final farewell to the kids on Friday. What we thought was another week and a half of teaching has now become two days, and what we thought was two weeks left with the children has now become one.

My head has not yet stopped spinning from when we heard the news this morning, and I can’t stand thinking about the fact that this is my last week with the kids. I’m not ready to leave them, I want more time with them…but then again, I know that next Friday I’d be saying the same exact thing. There is absolutely nothing that can prepare me for how sad it will be to leave these children and this school – whether it’s in two weeks or in five days.

Among the hundreds of lessons I have learned this summer, one of them has been to make the best of every situation, because as much as you can try to plan and control things, you never know what will happen. Life is what happens, and you go along with it, taking it as it comes with patience, courage, a positive attitude, and a whole lot of faith. If anything, this news just further reinforces the fact that we must cherish every moment and enjoy our last few days here to the absolute fullest.

So what are we going to do this week? Everything we can. We teach today, we teach tomorrow. We administer exams on Wednesday and Thursday. We say goodbye on Friday. Next week, Evan, Jackie and I will return to school on Monday and Tuesday to be with the teachers all day and score the exams and write final grades and reports for the children. Then, plans for us are still in the making, but we will most likely spend our last four days in Uganda doing a little more traveling with our supervisor, Enoch, because according to him there is still so much left for us to see and learn about his country. And finally, next Sunday, we depart for our long journey home. As if these last two weeks weren’t going to go by fast enough already…

While this week will be filled with final lessons and exams, it will also be filled with something else --- kickball. Evan and I taught the children how to play and it was a smashing success. For as terribly as we explained the directions, the kids picked up on the game right away and absolutely loved it. We stayed out on the field for over an hour, and by the final inning the kickball game had everything a good old YMCA-league American kickball game would have…kids trying to steal bases, high fives for homeruns, even kids in the outfield who had become bored and decided to sit and pick grass. It was beautiful.

Ready to kick it out of the park...and into the mountains...

Teacher Whitney's All-Stars up to bat...

I also realize that I have yet to share with you about my adventures this past weekend! I don’t feel justified using “it wasn’t a very exciting weekend” and “we saw zebras” in the same sentence, but to be quite honest, that’s a pretty accurate description of what happened. We drove to Lake Mburu on Saturday, which was approximately 4 hours East of Kasese, and once there we continued to drive around Lake Mburu National Park in search of the striped zebras. We didn’t have to look far, because they were everywhere. Sometimes they even crossed the road right in front of our car! Here are a few more photos from our long safari…

  Why did the zebra cross the road?

Baboon family portrait

Chasing a warthog with Afin, a good friend of ours we have made in Kasese who accompanied us on our trip.

Well, it's time to head home and get to my final day of lesson planning.  Keep the kids in your thoughts and prayers as they take their big exams this week.  They have worked so hard and grown so much this summer, and regardless of how they score on their exams I am really, really proud of them, and the world should be too!  Saying goodbye to them doesn't seem possible, but all good things must come to an end.  Actually, I take that back.  This isn't an end for these kids.  We may be leaving them, but they are well on their way to a thousand new beginnings, hopefully with new knowledge, self-confidence, the ability to ask questions and wonder, and the desire to continue discovering, learning, and thinking for the rest of their lives.  

Peace, Love and four more days...

Eight Weeks Down, Two To Go...

We had some exciting moments in Primary Three this week!  First of all, there isn't a clock in the Primary Three classroom, so I brought my small digital clock to school with me.  After being here for seven weeks, I should have known the kids would be ecstatic about the new item in their classroom, but once again they never fail to amaze me with their curiosity and interest in what I perceive to be the smallest, simplest things.  A genuine cry of surprise and delight circles around the room whenever the hour changes (i.e. 1:59 changes to 2:00), and the kids have really become strict timekeepers and keep me on my toes.  If they are writing in journals and I tell them, "Five more minutes" at 9:38, then at 9:43 you can bet I'll be hearing several voices, "Teacher! Time is up!  It has been exactly five!"  I'll also come in to the classroom after lunch or break to see the chalkboard dotted with random digital clock times that the kids have drawn in their free time.

Anticipating the number change on the digital clock...

I have been trying hard to establish small routines in the few weeks I have been in the classroom, one of which has been daily journal writing.  Thanks to some literacy inspiration from the Canadian team (who sadly had their last day on Tuesday!)  the journal writing allows the children to write freely without fear of receiving bad marks or corrections.  It is a far cry from the direct instruction they are used to receiving, and the first few journal entries were timid – only a few sentences, each sentence written like it was recited directly from a textbook, and lots of questions about what to write, or about whether or not what they had written was correct – but even in a week I have seen children begin to fill up their entire notebook pages with writing.  I told them over and over again, the only way you get better at reading and writing is if you practice, and I think they are also beginning to see some progress themselves.  One of their main frustrations comes when they can't think of the English words to describe what they want to say, so we have started coming up with "Word Lists" together before or during journal time, where we brainstorm a long list of words we might want to use in our stories.  I write all the words on the chalkboard, so if a child becomes stuck at any time during the writing period, they can look up and read the list of words to maybe help them think of an idea.  They can also add words to the list at any point in the journal time.  The only difficulty with this is when I misinterpret what they are saying because of their strong accent – for example, one little girl asked me how to spell what I thought was "coffee table," so I wrote "COFFEE TABLE" on the chalkboard.  It wasn't until I read her journal until I understood what she was trying to say.  She wrote, "After eating bananas and drinking water, I was feeling satisfied and coffee table."  Comfortable.

Semeritah, Doris and Natasha stand in front of our Word Wall from the morning journal about Sports and Games Day

Also this week, for the first time actually, we have been receiving letters from a few children that are addressed to President Barack Obama.  Most of them just ask him to be their friend, maybe pay for their school fees, and one child even requested Obama buy for him a "small car."  This letter, though, is by far our favorite.  It reads:

"Hello Obama,

I am Thembo Amon.  Obama please I am Thembo Amon in Uganda please give me the school fees and give me the clothes and build our home please.  I am in Rwentutu Christian School.

If you need to, give my things to Evan."

We are thinking about actually mailing all of the letters, either that or personally delivering them ourselves.  Contrary to the children's beliefs, we are not, actually, best friends with Barack Obama and we don't know him personally…but this could be our ticket in to see him!

And finally, I don't know if I'm realizing my time left at the school is limited, or maybe it's just something I've seen all summer and have neglected to write about, but the children and teachers at Rwentutu are so incredibly happy and full of life.  When they laugh, they really laugh.  They laugh with their whole bodies, and you can practically see the joy bursting from their faces.  Our friend Katy, who visited for ten days, pointed this out to me and I am so grateful because it is something that is absolutely true.  The excitement, the laughter, the joy…is all so incredibly real and strong that it inspires me to live passionately as well.  This is a picture I took this week of one of my favorite kids, Jetridah, who has one of the best laughs I have ever heard and seen in my life.

With two more weeks to go, I'm getting really excited to come home.  I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss Diet Coke and I miss paved roads.  I miss carpeted floors and actual bathrooms (not just holes in the ground like we have at school).

But I still can't bear the thought of saying goodbye to these children and these teachers.  We have really become a part of their community; the children and teachers not only feel comfortable with us but we all genuinely enjoy each other's company and have grown to love and care for each other.  It makes me wish I could push the continents closer together.

As one teacher put it this week, "Having you here is as natural as the blood running through my veins."

2 weeks...

Walking home from school.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Yesterday, Katy, Evan and I went to visit the Ishasha plains in search of a tree-climbing lion, and while we didn't find a lion, the day was anything but a disappointment. The surprises that unraveled themselves throughout the day, one after another, were absolutely incredible.

We left early in the morning, around 7:00, with a friend and professional Tour Guide, Ouma, to accompany us. I met Ouma a few weekends ago, on the bus on the way to the Bigodi wetlands. He is from Katwe, Uganda, but his father was from Kenya and is a member of the same tribe as (hold your breath) Barack Obama! Ouma is a Tour Guide for Queen Elizabeth National Park near Kasese, and while he knows so much about the animals and the environment, he is an absolute expert when it comes to birds. I don't know how many times we would see a bird fly by our window and go, "Ouma, what was that?" only to have him quickly say the name and find it in his Field Guide.

The early morning sun was astounding, and the first thing we saw driving out of Kasese were herds of African Kob grazing on the tall grass, radiating in the dawn of the day. The road to Ishasha was long, dusty, and bumpy, and once we reached Ishasha the region was flat, dry and desolate. We drove with Ouma through the Ishasha National Park, and while the plains and savannah were fascinating, the animal life was slim to none. After being in the car for almost three hours, we had hardly seen anything we couldn't already see on our drive to and from school every morning…a few Kob, buffalo, birds, and Topi…and absolutely no signs of a lion. It's hard to be disappointed when you're in Africa, but we were feeling a little disheartened driving home on the hot, dusty road.

That's when Ouma suggested we take a quick visit to his home village of Katwe, one of the eleven villages situated inside Queen Elizabeth National Park. With nothing to lose, we said sure, and off we went to meet Ouma's family and pay a visit to the place where he grew up.

It was the best decision we made all day.

Ouma took us to Lake Katwe (above), a fascinating salt-water lake where the people of Katwe collect the salt to use and sell in markets. The crater lake was formed by a volcano over 20,000 years ago and it was gorgeous. The lake is dotted with hundreds of tiny squares where people actually buy plots of water and collect the salt from their plots for their profit. We were at the lake in the early evening, but I could just imagine it on a busy weekday morning.

Then we went to meet Ouma's mother and his childhood home, and continued onward to visit his Primary School down the street (pictured with Ouma and a few of the schoolchildren below).

Next we walked with Ouma behind a few village houses on the edge of Lake Edward where he showed us hippos gently bobbing and swimming in the water. We were fascinated, and even more fascinated by the fact that this was his home. How incredible, to grow up in a place where hippopotamuses swim in the lake behind your compound.

 Ouma telling us about the hippos swimming in Lake Edward, with houses of his village pictured below

Finally, we began to drive back towards Kasese, exhausted from the day and enjoying the light evening breeze, when all of a sudden Evan slammed on the brakes and pointed out the window. There, on the shores of Lake Edward, were six or seven elephants, drinking water from the lake and peacefully moving up and down the shoreline. We quietly drove up a little closer, careful not to make noise to disturb them, and parked the car to just stare and watch in amazement. I don't know how many times I've said this about the summer so far, but this was honestly the most beautiful thing I've seen in all of Uganda. We were stunned…trying to make our brains comprehend what we were seeing right before our eyes. Evan and I had seen elephants before, when we went on a Safari drive through Queen Elizabeth National Park, but when we did that Safari drive it almost didn't even seem real. It seemed like park rangers had stationed elephants along the trails for the tour groups that come through on the game drives. But this sight last evening, on the shores of Lake Edward in Katwe, this was real. And not only that, but it was Ouma's home. We stayed and watched until one of the elephants gave a loud trumpet (giving me goosebumps!) and then we quietly drove away.

 View of the elephants (without zooming in on my camera lens!) from the car window

…only to be stopped a few kilometers later by an African Rock Python! A python!! We were still trying to get over the shock of seeing the elephants when Evan slammed on the brakes again and pointed to the huge snake slithering across the road in front of our car. Ouma told us to quickly roll our windows up (I've never reacted faster to anything in my life), and we sat, astounded, as this python wriggled its way across the dusty track. Ouma told us we were very lucky to see a python because very rarely do they every come out from the grasslands. We couldn't believe it. A few hours ago, we hadn't seen wildlife all day, and now we had seen hippos, elephants, and a python all within an hour, not to mention Ouma's amazing family and village. Just goes to show that good things come to those who wait :)

 Taking pictures of the python crossing the road in front of us.

To top everything off, we drove home to an incredible sunset over the African plains. I rolled my window all the way, rested my head in my shoulders on the windowsill, and let the wind blow my hair in front of my face as we sped along home.

Three more weeks…

We Are The Champions

Before I write this week, I would just like to say thank you to all of you for your concern, and please know that Evan, Jackie, and I are very safe in Kasese. We have many people here who care for us and are looking out for us, our university back home is consistently checking in, we are registered with the US Embassy, and we honestly feel totally safe and very grateful. Please keep the rest of the country, especially the families of those who lost loved ones in Kampala on Sunday, in your thoughts and prayers.

Despite Sunday's tragedy, so many good things have been happening at our school this week that I don't even know where to start.

I guess first of all, we were visited at school on Wednesday by King James' wife, Faith, and their one-month old baby daughter, Klair. King James is the Headteacher at Rwentutu School (not to be confused with the American "King James" aka Lebron James, who apparently is now playing for Miami? What is going on back in the States???) and his daughter was absolutely darling. He was so happy to be able to introduce her to us, and, I realize this is quite the claim, but she is actually the most beautiful baby in the world.

Team Teaching: With the Canadian team here this week to guide our instruction, we have been working together with the Ugandan teachers to teach the Literacy activities the Canadians have planned for us.  Since both we and the Ugandan teachers are learning the activities and lessons at the same time, this has kind of opened the door for opportunities to team-teach with them, and it has really been wonderful.

Over the five weeks that Jackie, Evan and I have been at the school, we have formed great bonds with the teachers and have gently accommodated our presence and our teaching into their system while also trying to integrate some of our own ideas and practices.  The Rwentutu teachers have observed us teaching, and we have observed them, but now I think we have finally reached a point where it has become comfortable enough for us to have deeper conversations with each other about our teaching.  I taught right alongside Erasto this week in Primary Three, and after only a few minutes into our first lesson, we were feeding off of each other like we had been team-teaching for years.  I made a conscious effort to show him my "thinking" when I teach, and I avoided making all the decisions but instead would ask him, "What do you think we should do?" or "Do you think the students are getting this?  Should we keep going?"  This way, we were able to reflect together on how children best learn and get what they need at the school.

I feel like this has lowered the "pedestal" I was put on when I first arrived (and I think Jackie and Evan would agree), and I am so happy to be seen as more of a colleague and as less of an "expert."  Erasto was actually the teacher who handed me the chalk on my first day at Rwentutu and insisted that I please teach the rest of his lesson!  This week Erasto and I have been in the classroom together, and I think the teachers are beginning to see that we don't know all there is to know about teaching, but that's okay!  While we may have some new and helpful ideas about how to teach so children can better understand and comprehend the material, we respect the teachers and their teaching styles and are learning just as much from them as they are from us.  We're not here to drastically change their school system – it certainly may be different than any classroom I've seen in the United States, but different doesn't mean worse.  What they have works for them, and the teachers are wonderful teachers who just approach teaching in a different way.  Evan, Jackie and I are here to share our teaching practices, provide new insights and ideas about how to best educate children, and most importantly, we are here to build trust and community with the students and teachers at Rwentutu so we can continue partnerships like this in the future.  Our bonds with the teachers only continue to get stronger, and I can't believe we only have three short weeks left at the school.  We have really become a part of their community, and it feels awesome.

 Riding the school truck to the other school for the competitions

 

Sports and Games competition: On Thursday this week, there was no school but instead a Sports and Games day held at another school located farther into the Rwenzori Mountain foothills.  Once a year, all the schools in the remote area gather together for a Sports and Games competition which includes a soccer tournament for the boys and a netball tournament for the girls.  The Canadian teachers brought brand-new uniforms for our boys and girls, and they sure looked sharp out there on the fields with the other schools!

There were five other Primary schools at the tournament, and at any given time I would say 30% of the crowd was watching the soccer and the other 70% was watching us.  It was funny because the Rwentutu children treated us absolutely normal and acted like it wasn't strange at all that three white people were a part of their teaching staff – yet another sign that our children have become comfortable with us, and see us as part of their school instead of as visitors.  The Rwentutu teachers thought it was hilarious that we were being gawked at; this was most likely the first time the children from the other schools had seen white people so I guess we were quite the spectacle.  I actually had forgotten what it felt like to have a hundred eyes watching my every move, or what it felt like to sit down to rest for a minute only to look up and see throngs of children surrounding me, wide-eyed and watching to see what I would do.  It reminded us of our first week at Rwentutu, and it was pretty cool to reflect back and see how far we have come.

Our children felt pretty special to have us there, though, and we definitely cheered our hearts out for them.  It was awesome to see these children out there competing; it almost made me feel like a proud parent!

Our boys (in yellow) on the soccer field

Cheering our hardest after our girls scored in netball!

 "Concession stand"

American Flag:

Finally, to top it all off, this week the American Flag was added to the flagpoles of Rwentutu Community School.  We had asked our university supervisor to bring one from the United States when she visited last week, and the students and teachers were thrilled.  The school had been flying a Ugandan flag and a Canadian flag (the Canadians have visited every year for the past four years) but this is the first time anyone from the United States has come to their school, so the American flag has not been flying…until now.  It was an incredible feeling to watch as the students sang their Uganda National Anthem and raised not two, but three flags up on the new flag post in front of their school.  I mean, it's no landing on the moon…but in some ways, it felt even better.

Together We Shall Make It

An inspirational, positive weekend of change, thanks to a full day with the Rwentutu Christian School teachers, the teachers/administrators from Canada, and myself, all working together to figure out how we can inspire all children to be thinkers, not just learners.  The Canadian educators (from Herbert Spencer Elementary, John Robson Elementary, and Lord Kelvin Elementary in New Westminster, British Columbia) had prepared a fantastic day of Professional Development for the Rwentutu teachers, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to attend and participate in the workshop right alongside the teachers because I was truly learning and growing as an educator right along with them.  The Professional Development workshop was held on Saturday, so it also gave me the chance to spend time with the teachers outside of the school day, and oh my goodness are they ever a fun group!  I think it would qualify as a community-building day as much as a Professional Development day :)

With the help of one of my good friends Godfrey (see "Fishing" blog post, a few weeks back), the workshop took place at the Rwenzori Central Gardens Hotel.   I couldn't decide who was happier – the Canadians because of the wonderful location, or Godfrey because of all the compliments (not to mention the business) we brought with us!  All of the teachers from Rwentutu were able to attend, and the Canadians arranged for a mini-bus to pick them up from their school and bring them the 30km distance into Kasese.  The workshop went all day on Saturday, and everyone was provided with a morning tea and a fabulous buffet lunch (made by the fruits and vegetables grown by none other than Godfrey himself!).

The focus of the workshop was Literacy and teaching kids to think using Imagery.  To be completely honest, I was anxious and unsure of how this was going to go over with the Rwentutu teachers.  As fun and as lively as they are in person, their instruction matches what you would see at any Primary School in Uganda –  teacher gives a lecture at the front of the classroom, teacher writes important facts and notes on the chalkboard, students copy the notes, and then complete the assignment in their notebooks.  Thinking is not valued; instead, it is spelling, grammar, neatness, and correct answers that are awarded the highest marks.  What the Canadian teachers (and Evan, Jackie, and I) really hope for these teachers to see, though, is that it's important to teach children to think because thinking leads to knowledge and understanding, no matter what the question or subject.  Teaching children to become deep thinkers can create children who become life-long learners who find knowledge to fill their brains every single day.

Since this was a fairly new and uncomfortable idea for many of the Rwentutu teachers, the Canadians started off very small.  Journal entries.  The topic was, "What did you see on your way into Kasese this morning?" and Carrie (3^rd grade teacher in Canada) had us first begin by drawing a detailed picture of our journey, coaching us along the way to include smells, textures, shapes, sounds, etc. in our pictures.  Then, after a good while of detailed drawing, we could begin writing.  I was amazed at not only what I was able to produce in my writing, but also the incredible stories that came out of the teachers!  The detail and feelings they included in their journals were fantastic, and then they read them with such passion and enthusiasm that it made me see them in a whole new light.  They are truly story-tellers at heart, and if only we can get them to bring this part of them into their teaching in the classrooms, I am certain that wonderful things can come of it.

It was an absolutely perfect "icebreaker," and the day only got better from there.  We practiced brainstorming creative word lists together (stretching our brains to think beyond "happy," "sad," and "mad," for feeling words, etc.) thinking of Journal topic ideas, discussing how these activities could connect to other subject areas…here are some pictures from the activities throughout the morning and afternoon with captions below each one...

Doing partner-talks with the person across from us.  Seated around the table, clockwise starting with me (I'm the pale-skinned red-head in the front) are Rwentutu Teachers: Dorica, Margaret, Emmy, Erasto, Pamela, King James, Nehemiah, Rau, and Jaenina.  We did many activities throughout the morning where we practiced talking in partners so the teachers could experience how it can be more comfortable for students to talk in small groups and gain courage to share with the whole class.

Mirror Imaging Activity.  In this activity, only one half of the table was shown the picture in the story, and we had to describe to our partners a detailed image of the picture while they attempted to draw it.  We had to rely on vivid, descriptive words, and the teachers became very animated in their hilarious attempts to convey the image to their partners!

Mirror Imaging round 2.  Same activity as before, only now the roles have switched.  I obviously didn't know this picture was being taken, but I remember this moment exactly!  Jaenina was doing a fantastic job describing the picture to me, but I am a horrible artist (I'd write a novel over painting a picture any day) and we were both laughing so hard at my failed attempts to draw the animals and the scenery that I finally just threw my head down in my hands in desperation.  Oops.

I love this picture, because I think it captures perfectly the excitement we saw on the faces of the teachers throughout the entire day.  Carrie was reading a picture book while demonstrating how to encourage students to make inferences and predictions as they read.  It created a lot of anticipation as to what was going to happen next in the story!

All in all, it was a wonderfully successful day, and the final reflections in the evening reiterated that even more.  I learned to be more transparent in my teaching, and became more comfortable working together with the teachers to explain why I am teaching the way I am teaching.  I think this workshop came at the perfect time.  Evan, Jackie and I have been gradually fitting into the Rwentutu School schedule, trying to find a balance between our teaching methods and their cultural and educational practices.  We have made a careful point not to be too forceful or overbearing, as these teachers are still getting used to having American teachers teaching at their school for the first time.  Now that we have been here and have gained the respect and trust of the teachers, I'm hoping we can begin to encourage them to step out of their comfort zones, try new methods of teaching, take risks in the classroom, and begin to change the lives of their students.

I close today with something Teacher Rau wrote in his final reflection:

"I will never forget this day in my life…Together, we shall make it."

Bingo!

A crazy, exciting week this week, as we have been joined by many visitors. Our university supervisor, Maggie Hawkins, joined us for a day at school with her son and his friend, and on Thursday we were joined by five teachers and principals from Canada who will be at school all next week, focusing mainly on professional development programs for the Ugandan teachers. It was so wonderful to see three different nations coming together for the sole purpose of educating children, and we are all looking forward to being together for the next week and a half.

I have been teaching the Primary One class this week, and while their English speaking and reading levels are very low, their energy levels certainly are not! This is the youngest class at the Primary level (the school is levels Primary 1-5 plus a Nursery) and most of the children are six or seven years old, but we have a few who are nine and ten. I asked them during a Math lesson this week to guess my age, and I got everywhere from 10 to 78. So, number work was high on my priority list…starting with the number 23…and how FAR AWAY it is from 78…

For the most part, though, the children have been able to understand me (or at least make it look like they know what I’m saying!). My teaching has included a lot of charades, exaggerated expressions, and repeating the same thing multiple times in many different ways (i.e. "Who knows the answer to this question?"…pause…"Can anyone solve this problem?"…pause…"Which one of you knows what would be correct here?"…pause…"Can someone come and fix this?" etc). I don't think I've ever had to be more clear and simple when speaking and giving directions in my entire life. For these children, the fewer and simpler the words, the better. Long explanations lead to blank stares and lost children; short, direct requests bring results and participation because they are able to understand.

These kiddos are just beginning to learn English, and this week we did a lot of letter recognition, letter sounds, sight words, and consonant blends. They loved playing "Sight Word BINGO" (they had never played BINGO before!) and have been mesmerized by the "Sight Words" poster we hung in their classroom. On top of that, the kids are also still learning to read, write, and speak their native language of Lukonzo, so they definitely have my sympathy of learning two languages at the same time! It has been especially helpful to have a Ugandan teacher in the classroom whenever possible so he or she can translate my directions if I'm not making sense, or help me to understand language confusions among the students. For example, in Lukonzo, "th" makes the "T" sound, so when I asked a student to spell the color "white" he responded "W-H-I-T-H." The teacher was able to help the student make the distinction between the two dialects, whereas that was something I definitely would have missed.

Making our BINGO cards

Joab carefully filling in his squares

The highlight of this week was definitely the "Reading Buddies" program that Evan, Jackie and I started with some of the students. Evan is teaching the oldest level this week (Primary Five) and Jackie and I have been with the younger ones (Primary One and Nursery). We have constantly been wishing for some type of one-on-one reading time with the younger kids, but it has been nearly impossible because there are so many of them and so few of us. Pairing the younger kids together or in small groups has been difficult because they are at similar reading levels and become stuck in the same spots. So, finally, this week it hit us – Reading buddies. 45 minutes in the afternoon, pair each Primary Five student with a Primary One, coach them a little bit beforehand, and see how it goes.

It could not have gone more beautifully. Evan prepped the Primary Five students on how to read to the little ones, how to ask them questions about the story, have them read a few words, be patient with them, etc., and I prepped the Primary One kids, reminding them of the words we practiced all week and encouraging them to show their Reading Buddy how smart they were. "Yes!" one little girl exclaimed, "I know the word purple!" "And I know 'pink!'" another shouted. "And blue!" yelled another, "Pink!" someone said again (FYI the Primary Ones know all our color words!!!)

 Reading Buddies

Reading buddies outside.

Crowded around the book

We told the children they could sit outside, and it was amazing to see them all sprawled out on the grass, under trees, on benches, sharing and enjoying books together. The older students were wonderful mentors; it almost brought tears to my eyes to see each and every one of them really take their teaching responsibility seriously, and gently read to and coach the younger children through the books. All of the children benefited so much from this experience, and we hope to continue Reading Buddies a few more times throughout the next couple weeks that we are here.

Finally, the kids had a blast learning the Y.M.C.A dance this week (I brought a little speaker system with my ipod and turned it on for dancing one afternoon…hey, it's letter recognition, right?). Anyway, it's been hilarious to see children off by themselves during Break or lunchtime, just singing the little tune, "it's fun to stay at the…yyyyy emmmm cee aaaayyy" and moving their hands to make the letters. They also learned quite a few disco dance moves, which may or may not be the best thing I've taught them all summer.

And finally, a random picture from the week but I couldn't resist...the kids were ecstatic when they were paging through this book and found "Teacher Whitney" right there on the page!  As much as I tried to tell them that no, the girl in the book wasn't me, they didn't believe it.  I guess the pale skin and light hair is just too much of a convincing argument.  I can live with it :)