Hey all. I hope the weekend is going well. Mine has been
great so far. Yesterday, we drove about 40 minutes south of the Equator to King
Fisher Lodge. It was a lodge with a restaurant, pool, and accommodations. We
each paid sh. 10,000 to swim for the day, which was amazingly reasonable for
the atmosphere. The pool was surrounded by thatch hut canopies, and the view
was overlooking miles and miles of Savannah grassland. The weather cooperated
with us for the most part. It only rained mid-day which gave us an excuse to
seek cover in the restaurant area where we all enjoyed tasty lunches. It was
also international woman’s day, so that was a fun excuse to have a good time.
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| Poolside on Woman's Day |
Today was also a wonderful time. The first part of the day
we spent in the small library of the school. Since the beginning of time (the
start of the term), the books have just gotten more cluttered and disorganized.
So the girls and I decided to label and categorize each book to make them more
accessible and easier to organize on a daily basis. We began labeling today.
Because of mid-term exams that will take place on Monday and Tuesday of this
coming week, we will hopefully have time to finish by Tuesday. This is a much
needed job that I am glad to be doing for the school with some of our spare
time. It will make things easier on both the students and the teachers.
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| Library Work |
After some much needed time in the library we headed to the
village where most of our students and teachers live. We had plans to visit
King James and his family for the afternoon. Surprisingly, this was our first
time passing the school and venturing up the hill and into the village. I was
very excited for this. As we drove farther into the foothills, the scenery was
breathtaking. It was definitely a part of Uganda that I would not have wanted
to miss.
When we arrived, we had to hike just a little to access
James’ home. We were warmly welcomed by him and his family as we came upon the
home of his parents, which was on the same property as his. They owned a chunk
of land on the hill that had coffee trees, matoke trees, and a few cocoa trees.
The environment was such a beautiful place to live. After meeting his family,
we moved to King James’ house where we had a wonderfully prepared lunch
consisting of rice, pork, goat stew, cassava, tapeoke, cabbage, onions, and
tomatoes.
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| Walking to King James' House |
For the rest of the afternoon we just chatted about our
lives, education, and he shared his photo albums with us. After spending the
afternoon together, we reunited with his family for a large photo session. I
was so appreciative of the extent to which we were welcomed and taken care of.
This is a day that I will never ever forget.
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| My Lunch |
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| Serving up Deliciousness |
Points of Interest from the Day
1) While talking about politics, King James pointed out how
Uganda is still a very new independent nation. I asked about the election
process. Uganda holds presidential elections every 5 years, however, King James
said that they have already basically lost their meaning. The same president
has been in office for the past 25 years (50 years of independence). King James said that the
American way of politics with checks and balances is an appealing way to
govern.
He related this idea to the economy as well. The way Uganda
is governed, if the President has an error in judgment, the whole nation
suffers. If he makes good decisions, it is good for the nation. Such
responsibility in the hands of one person is why the American way of having
multiple bodies helping to govern makes sense. King James suggested that when
the government becomes more decentralized and democratic, the nation and
economy will begin to improve.
2) King James has a very refreshing outlook on teaching. I
had asked King James if he always wanted to teach. His response was no, and he
told us all about how his path just ended up leading him there. He stated that
he feels blessed to be a teacher. Teaching is a good job to have. He suggested
that teachers have the chance to learn all about the true nature of human
beings, and it is meaningful to facilitate growth within them. He also said
that his passion lies with teaching the young ones. He excitedly talked about
the rewards of helping a student who doesn’t know to know. For instance, teaching
a student that does not know how to make an “A”, to make an “A” is truly rewarding.
He also said that teachers have the power to make the world a better place. He
suggested that if the teachers got together and decided to make things bad for
the world, they could do it. But is they work to make things positive, they are
in a position where it is possible. It is good to know that people like King
James end up in education whether they had originally planned to or not. You
could almost say it was meant to be. He is a great teacher and a thoughtful
individual. Education needs more people
like him.
4) King James has two children. Claire and Clairette (Sp?). Actually
it is funny because Claire fears us because we are Muzungu. When she sees us at
school gets a very scared look on her face and hides behind someone or
something. She can be around us somewhat, but if we make eye contact with her
she fears. A few weeks ago King James said that though she fears, it good thing
because it is a sign of maturation—fearing what is different. Anyways, we asked
him how many more children he plans to have. His response led us into a
discussion about large family sizes and overpopulation. Here in Uganda, or at
least from my experience talking with people, it is uncommon to have small
families. Even many of the students in my class have 6,7, or 8 brothers and
sisters. There are multiple reasons for this, and much of it is embedded in
culture. But here are a few other reasons…
-Like families who own farms, more children means more help.
-Religion plays a role in family
size. Christianity values large families, and for example, Islam encourages
large families to help the faith grow.
-King James also discussed how name
lineage is a factor. Here in Uganda, people have multiple names given to them
that say something about their lineage. For example, I could be called Muhindo
Steven instead of just Steven because I am the second born child in my family. As
children are born, there are names given to them that reflect their sex and
birth order. Some Ugandan’s fear that Uganda will lose its cultural name
lineage by having less children.
So the above information about children combines a
conversation we had today with one we had a few weeks ago. It is a cultural difference
that I enjoy learning about.
4) While taking pictures with different individuals in the
family, we gathered for a photo of King James’ whole family. His wife moved off
to the side. We asked her why she did not want to be in the picture. She said
it was because of her father-in-law. We did not really understand and asked if
they did not get along. She went on to tell us that they must stay a distance from each other. If
they meet on a path, they must turn and go separate ways. Again not really
understanding why, we asked why. Her response was “culture.” Apparently because
she is the daughter-in-law, they are supposed to stay at least three meters
from each other at all times. They still socialize, but they must remain distanced. This was very interesting to me, and I want to
find out more about it. But when culture is the answer to a question, it
instantly makes so much more sense.
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| King James and the Fam |
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| Chillin' in King James' Home |
5) On the way home it started to rain, but it was still
sunny. It is said that if the sun still shines as it rains a lion is
conceiving.
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