Post #9: By My Side

Hello!

It was another amazing and incredible week here in Uganda. I can’t believe I am approaching my final month. While it makes me really sad to think about leaving, I am really excited for these next few weeks. Everyday, I get better at being here than the day before. I learn new tips and tricks that help me teach and effectively explain things. I now know how to make small talk with people in Luganda, what questions to ask a kid based on his/her height, and how to navigate Bulenga as well as some of the surrounding villages. I’ve also learned some new and creative ways to help people. I can’t wait to see what else I’ll learn as I approach this next month!  I think I will be the most capable here on my very last day.

Here are some stories from the week! Usually I add photos at the end but I decided to mix a few into the post this time! Enjoy :)

Monday morning, I was exhausted from the weekend but excited to be greeted in the by my wonderful Primary 4 class at Faith! These kids are GREAT. This group specializes in neat handwriting and accurately drawn diagrams. Even something as insignificant as a dash is drawn using some kind of straight edge. This week we practiced telling time using analog clocks. As you can imagine, this took a lot of time, as they made sure a perfectly drawn clock accompanied every example in their notebooks. This is the group with the widest range in abilities. Fortunately, the ones who used to lag behind seem to have caught up quite a bit!  Here’s a class photo we took earlier in the week!

My persistent Primary 4 students: Doreen, Lukia, Precious, Lydia, Shaluah and Patrick, Edison, Ferdinand, Travis, Victor (left to right)

Teaching at Faith has been fun but busy! There are 5 classrooms- Nursery (has 3 age groups), Primary 1 & Primary 2 combined, Primary 3, Primary 4, and Primary 6. There are 4 teachers at the school, but it’s rare for them all to show up.  On Thursday, Teacher Betty and I were the only teachers for the day. The concept of “substitute teachers” is foreign and teachers here don’t lose their jobs if they don’t show up to school for a few days. Things come up and sometimes a teacher can’t make it. The unfortunate result is that often times, students will sit in a classroom without a teacher, sometimes for a few hours at a time. On Thursday, I did my best to teach the 3 higher classes at the same time but I still haven’t figured out how to be 3 places at once. Fortunately, the kids were able to do work I wrote on the board while I was out of the room. Usually, when I return to the classroom, the kids are working quietly. If they finish early however, chaos can break out.

In addition to lacking teachers, the students at Faith are lacking basic school supplies.  Notebooks, pencils, and pens are luxury items in Bulenga. Obviously, they are necessary for school. but it can be difficult when families simply can’t afford them.

Before I came to Uganda, I was advised to be very careful about when I give things away. I came with a suitcase full of clothes, toothbrushes, shoes, and school supplies thanks to many generous friends, neighbors, and family members. If I arrived at Faith and Good Hope with all those goodies on my first day, the kids would expect me to come with things for them everyday. The most valuable thing I have to give these kids is my time. Once that runs out, I’ll leave them with the other goodies, all of which I know will go far. Waiting to give out the donations also allows me to identify which kids need them the most.

That being said, I have given a few things away to the group at Faith! I’ve brought some pencil sharpeners to each class, because I got so nervous seeing kids sharpen their pencils with razors! I’ve also brought coloring materials on some days for special activities. The other day, I watched my class of P.3 students share one pencil as they constructed lines and shapes.  It’s great that they are so good at sharing, but 12 students sharing 1 pencil was pretty inefficient. That night, I was reminded of 1 John 3:17 and thought about the giant bag of pencils just sitting in my suitcase. These kids needed the pencils NOW so the next morning, I showed up with a pencil for everyone in my class. A #2 pencil is probably one of the least exciting gifts in my opinion, but these kids were thrilled when I handed each of them a pencil. They asked me if they could borrow my permanent marker so they could each write their name on the pencil.  They kept thanking me for my generosity and I almost laughed. But it really gave me a perspective into how sacred school supplies are for these kids. I can’t wait to see the faces of these kids when I tell them my friends in America have donated many more pencils and other things for them!

Promise, one of my beautiful Primary 3 students, with her new pencil!

I’ve been spending my afternoons at Good Hope, which have been lots of fun! While the school has difficulties of its own, school supplies are much less scarce! Additionally, there are enough teachers for each class. The school is organized and a number of parents are very involved in supporting the school. Everyday there has looked a little different for me! Sometimes, I teach a class or help a teacher mark papers. Other days I play games and sing songs with the kids when they get out of class. I love hanging out with the kids and getting to know them! While I know a smaller percentage of the Good Hope students due to the large size, the kids there are so welcoming and eager to learn! They ask me all types of questions from “Are vampires real?” to “are you married?” to “in your country, do you have chickens?”   They are so curious and it’s fun to chat with them!

Good Hope is preparing for a ceremony/fundraiser next month. It’s a big event! A selected group of students perform a dance for the event in the style of the Buganda. This dance includes some vigorous and isolated hip movements, quick steps, low squats, neck jolts, and lots of jumps. It’s extremely energetic! A dance instructor came on Tuesday to begin teaching the routine. The teachers told me I should come and watch. I eagerly agreed- I was so excited to get to see a traditional dance!

The instructor held a quick dance audition to select the top dancers of the group. Once he had about 40 or so, he began to teach the routine. This guy taught so quickly and whenever he didn’t like the way someone was doing something, he simply dismissed the dancer. The group shrunk down to about 20 by the end of the lesson! The instructor kept yelling at them because they weren’t smiling, and I wanted to help out! I decided I should hop in and join the group. I figured seeing an American try out their traditional dance would make them all laugh. I was also quite curious about the dance- it looked like fun!

I may have reconsidered that decision if I knew how I would feel the next day!

As soon as I joined the group, all eyes were on me. Not just the eyes of the dance instructor and the dancers, but the eyes of the other 250+ students and all the teachers. I think some kids from the houses around even peeked into the school yard to see this entertainment! A few girls brought me a sweater to tie around my waist (I’m not sure why they do this, but I think it helps with the separation of the upper body and lower body movements) and a stick to hold in front of me (something they do to help with balance). The dance instructor started continuing with his directions and I tried to follow along. Wow! It was not easy! I definitely was not a natural at the Buganda dance style. BUT I did successfully bring smiles to many faces! Everyone was laughing! I was glad my failure could be so entertaining. After my initial rough start, a few students came by my side and helped me out. As the instructor continued shouting directions, they held my hand and walked me through the whole thing. It was so sweet!!

As the routine continued, the moves increased in difficulty. Soon we were shaking our hips while walking and spinning and jumping. It was impressive watching some of the young kids pick up these complex movements with ease! It was clear I was getting tired. The students kept asking me, “Teacher Hannah- are you tired? You can stop!” and I replied with, “yes, I’m tired, but I’m not going to give up!” If I was tired from dancing along in the back row, taking an occasional sip of water, I couldn’t imagine what it was like for the group of kids in the front under the strict gaze of the dance instructor. These kids were working so hard and I wanted to just spend a little bit of time walking (dancing!) in their shoes!

To say I mastered the Buganda dance would be the overstatement of the century. I did however pick up a few of the moves and manage to follow along with the flow of the dance! As I walked away, the dance instructor pointed to me and said, “see you next time!” I was shocked he didn’t banish me far away from the group for putting his moves to shame! I definitely look forward to the challenged the next lesson brings!

The next day, I could barely get out of bed! My neck hurt so bad from the aggressive neck jolts throughout the dance. My quads were aching and even my feet had a hard time functioning!  While pain isn’t fun, it was definitely worth it to get to dance with those kids.  And I hope the memory of me flapping around will bring smiles to their faces when they perform!

Here are some of the wonderful students at Good Hope!

The wonderful Salma was very helpful, standing by my side to make sure I picked up the moves correctly!

I hope you enjoyed these snippets from what was a wonderful week! It’s time for bed over here but I hope as you’re reading this, you’re enjoying your weekend! Make sure to try something new!

Love,

Hannah

The "Boys side" of the Primary 4 classroom at Faith

Wrapping a cylinder and some boxes to learn about surface area in Primary 6!

Faith is in a rural area. Many people work as farmers! This is the beautiful view out of one of the classroom windows! The walk is long but gorgeous

One student who lives close to the school showed me this- this is what his family uses for a mirror!! Definitely different than the full length mirrors we have in the U.S.