Baking, Beatings, and the Bee

This week was so stereotypical of the good, the bad, and the ugly that is life as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

My competing pupils and super helpful
teachers at the Lusoga Spelling Bee.

My teachers now know how to make a cake!

I gave a lesson to them introducing measuring units/items, wet and dry ingredients, and what a Dutch oven is. After their “vocabulary” assessment, we did a demonstration by making a yellow cake. I also put up recipes of other food stuffs I’ve baked them this year. I don’t think they’ve ever paid so much attention or took such vigorous notes as that time. It was a lot of fun!

Lydia reading the recipe and adding
and measuring ingredients

Now time to get very real with you.

The day I had actually planned for this “workshop” to happen, I was bringing the stuff to school when I passed the P7 classroom. (P7 is the last grade for Primary School and since it’s coming to the end of the school year, they have been working very hard from early morning to late at night (7am-9pm) studying so they can pass their Primary Leaving Exams which determine if they can be promoted into Secondary School.) So while I was walking, I heard the too familiar *whacking* sound of a stick hitting a child. Turns out the entire class of 97 pupils was lined up for beatings. When I asked why, they only gave me the response that they had refused to do a test. *smack smack smack* I went into the staff room where my teachers were waiting for my lesson to tell them I could not make a cake while children were being beaten a few doors down. So I went home, furious and upset with my staff, until I calmed down to talk to them later.

It’s like this.

I understand that’s all they know and that’s what they’re used to doing. But I have been here for almost a year and there was a volunteer before me here. I have had talks directly with these teachers before about this subject even. Sometimes Peace Corps feels like such a waste of time and that you might as well be talking to a wall. You ask yourself questions like “Why am I here?” “What have I even accomplished in the last two years?” I can tell you that day I was so ready to be done with this place. The feeling only grew when I had to go to town the next day and my taxi took a very long detour for no reason and the boda (motorcycle) guys were harassing me more than usual.

Today was an interesting combination of frustration and fulfillment.

I have been organizing a Local Language Spelling Bee for schools in my Basoga region for some time now. During Term 1, I walked around to many schools in my area and reached out to local leaders for supports to inform more schools about it. During Term 2, I called in the 20 schools I’d received applications from for a training on how to conduct on with their pupils. 13 of them showed up.

Today, I held the competition inviting those 13 schools.

Only 10 of them showed up. Yes, this was a bit of a letdown and it didn’t help that the sound system people I’d hired showed up 2 ½ hours late. Frustrations rose when teachers started to complain about unfair advantages of other schools and also becoming mad that their pupils were “out” after misspelling a word, even though the rules were very clearly explained by a Ugandan in local language.

But I consider the event a success.

Everyone got to enjoy a very nice tea break, coloring books, singing songs, dancing to music, eating a big lunch, and getting a prize and certificate. The judges I had invited worked together very well to compile the words into organized lists, my MC was energetic and kept the attention, and my speakers actually gave short and concise speeches. As everyone was leaving, spirits had risen, pupils were smiling, and teachers were actually thanking me for the good initiative. Hopefully everyone got a little more appreciation for their culture and language out of this.

The competition underway!

One of the prizes was a book I made in English,
translated into Lusoga, and illustrated by pupils.

Everyone also got their own certificate and some sweets.
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place got a backpack full of
games, colors, and books in addition to this. 

I write this post not to sound bitter, but to give a more clear insight into what working here is like beyond the romanticized idea of living in Africa. I really love Uganda and I am so happy to have been placed here, but sometimes it really sucks. What keeps me going is that even in the worst of times here, I can always find a good outcome and know that it will always be worth it in the end. Now that I only have 2 months left until I “gong out” as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I’m even starting to appreciate these bad moments because they are what have really shaped me into the person I am today. When I’m home with my family at Christmas in 10 weeks, I think that even the bad memories will turn into good ones and I’ll tell them with a smile because they are what makes this place I’ve lived the last 2 years, home.