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.  

What-ifs, What-nexts, and What-the-heck-is-this-dress?

Because I've been having way too many
freak-out, life-contemplating thoughts lately
and this picture reminds me what life's all about.
Enjoying it!

This past week, I went to my original site/village/school for the first time since I had to leave last November. I imagine the feeling I had going back there is going to be very similar to the feeling I’ll have when I go back home to the U.S. Everything was still so familiar and basically the same, only very small changes. The pupils surrounded me with hugs and I sat and talked with the teachers like I had just seen them yesterday. Felt like I hadn’t actually been away for a year. Their lives were still very much the same, but I had changed so much since the last time I saw them. Of course that’s a difficult thing to communicate and their eyes would glaze over after a few stories from my new site.

My old shopkeeper friend
and supervisor

My old school

My old counterpart and his family at home

I’m glad I went back. It gave me a sense of closure as well as a feeling of preparation for going home, but I couldn’t stop thinking “What if I would’ve stayed here? What would my service have been like? What would I be like? What would the school be like? Would there be any difference?” I then in turn related these questions to my life in general. “What if I wouldn’t have joined Peace Corps? What if I would have ignored the flyer for that study away information meeting? What if I wouldn’t have transferred to MSU? Would I still be in my hometown? Would I have settled down and began my career?” It’s wonderful that people can do that, but at this point in my life, it’s basically the opposite of what I’m wanting. I never would have imagined that about myself only a few short years ago and honestly, I’m super excited/terrified to see what happens in the upcoming ones, because I have absolutely no clue where I’m headed!

By the way, happy October! This is my personal favorite month. Favorite meaning in Missouri where the leaves are changing beautiful colors, the weather is turning to a refreshing coolness, and the festivities are comforting and fun (corn mazes, bon fires, hay rides, haunted houses, Halloween, etc.). As I lit the pumpkin spice candle I received in a package sometime back, I became a little sad that this is the 4^th one I’ve missed. At the same time, I’m very thankful for all of the amazing opportunities I’ve been given and wouldn’t change anything. I can only wonder if I’ll be around for next year’s October at home… Guess I’ll just have to see where life takes me.

While I was traveling around the Southwest this week, I also got to hang with my original language training group! There’s just something special about the people you go through homestay with. I even got to see my host family and enjoy one final (delicious) meal with them <3

We've all changed so much!
...especially Carl ;)

Love the fam

It was a bit heartbreaking to say goodbye to all the friends I’ve made in my 1^st region, but it was nice to come home to my 2^nd region where I’ve also made some really great relationships. In fact, right before I left, I was invited to attend an introduction ceremony. This is the event that takes place before a wedding where the families meet and exchange gifts. Not only was it my 1^st time to wear the traditional dress called a “Gomesi”, but also my 1^st African/European wedding. My Ugandan friend married a Dutch man she’s been seeing for the last 20+ years. It was quite the experience. 

The bride and groom

My counterpart and I (me?)
in our lovely and super practical dresses

Can't think of a title worthy enough for this epicness this contains

Going up?
Our second rest stop 4 hours into
climbing Mt. Muhabura

The past month was school break between Term 2 and 3. Awwww, the holidays. A time to relax and refresh… HA! Not this time. It was… how do you say? “packed full”.

1. ALL VOL

Yeah, Prom!

            The all volunteer conference is exactly what it sounds like: a crazy, drunken mess of all the 100+ Peace Corps volunteers in Uganda getting together for a week to discuss serious ideas/projects or to share silly/ridiculous stories since the last time they were together who knows how long ago. It’s a lot of fun. Especially the dancing part (duh)

2. BOOOOOOKS

Easy to use book label
identifier 

            My school received (with the initiative of other PCVs) a shipment of boxes containing 1000+ Books for Africa books. It took awhile to sort through all of them and to categorize them into different levels, but I did it! And in a very simple way too. Just look at the identification sticker on the spine of the book to see where it goes on the shelf and what level it is :D Library time is going to be very enjoyable this term (I’ve already read quite a few of my favorites)

Good thing I gave myself a library card ;)

Interactive kids books!

3. CAMP

            I was chosen to be a counselor for the 1^st ever Conservation Camp in Uganda started by some amazing PCVs. The camp was held in the most beautiful part of Uganda down in the southwest part. It’s very far from where I currently live, but I was able to pass through the area I kind of lived in during the 1^st year of my service for the first time since March. (It still felt like home to be there again)

Go red team! :D

            It was a day camp and I had 4 secondary school student campers in my group. It was a fun and informative week where we learned how we can make crafts out of old straws, how to weave baskets, and also how to construct a bee hive. We also planted trees, did a street cleaning, dug a permagarden, and discussed how to share these important lessons with the community.

4. MUHABURA

            The district where I was for camp boarders Rwanda and Congo. There is a mountain range in this area and this time last year when I had my friend, Gerald visit me, we hiked the one whose peak is where the three countries meet. This time after camp, me and another PCV friend/counselor decided to hike up the tallest one in Uganda. It was a tuff trek up the slippery rocks and rickety ladders, but we made it and had beautiful weather and views the whole way (which is very rare!) We even went “swimming” in the crater lake at the top- COLD AS KNIVES! We started up at 8 and made it back down at 5. (my legs=so much jello)

I look so disgruntled, but I promise
I'm happy we did it!

5. COS

#bestie bathroom selfie

            This… this was the most emotionally exhausting conference of my service. Even now I still can’t believe it’s over. When I first arrived almost two years ago now, my Close of Service conference felt like light years away. This was the last time my Peace Corps group, Cohort 2-the education group of November 2013, would all be together. The last time I’ll probably see most of them, because even though we still have some months remaining, everyone lives so far away that we hardly see each other, other than at conferences.

The most beautiful rendition of
"Don't Stop Believing"
ever played ever.

It was so insane to me to spend our last week together reflecting on our service and memories. Of course we had informative sessions like “Resume Tips”, “Mock Interviews”, and “What To Get Done Before COSing”, but there were also a lot of emotions stirred by making a diagram of our highs and lows, sitting in a circle and saying 1^st or best memories of each other, and the slideshow. Especially the slideshow. (Thank you Ravi and Marvin for holding my hands during the whole 40 minutes <3) Some PCVs also made a year book for our cohort that everyone was signing :)

It was simply beautiful looking and thinking back to the beginning when I didn’t know who any of these people were or any idea what I was getting myself into and now seeing how everyone has grown and the huge impact they have had on my life. I love these people so much and I’m so sad to be leaving them so soon, but I’m so so blessed to have been part of such a solid group. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better one <3

delicious desserts at
every meal!

All sappy emotions aside, there were also a lot of really exciting emotions because we got to stay in a super swank hotel and actually looked and felt like a real hotel from the states! Hot showers every night, staff who actually had fast and friendly customer service, a TV, refrigerator, and kettle in every room, real mattresses, three pools, a full gym and sauna, a legit conference room, air conditioning, and such amazing amazing food (cheesecake, lunch meats, cream cheese, lettuce, blue cheese, honey ribs, poached eggs, bacon, steak, chicken tikka masala, coconut tilapia, croissants, and all the fruits). I never wanted to leave (in fact I wrote that on their comment card).

On my comment card I wrote
"never want to leave"

6. VIEWER DISGRESSION IS ADVISED

            After climbing the mountain, the bottom part of my big toe nail was a little loose. As I was saying goodbye to a friend at the hotel, my nail was accidentally ripped (mostly) off. Blood is coming out and everyone comes to my rescue. My PCV friends help me to a room where the manager has told me to go for the doctor to fix me up. Firstly, the fact that the manager came running like that was so unlike typical Uganda hotel behavior. Secondly, this place has a doctor??? Thirdly, they brought me a wheelchair XD So I get it cleaned up and luckily the PC coaster had just arrived so I was able to go to the office where the PC doctor cut most of the nail off that wasn’t attached. Wrapped it up and I headed home where I then was able to remove the rest of it.

Need some red nail
polish to match now

7. HOME

            It feels amazing to come home after being on the move for two weeks. Especially when your teachers are all around and greet you with a “Well be back!” Except when you don’t have a ceiling (like me) and now your house is a dusty, dirty mess after letting it sit untouched for so long. But it’s times like those that I like to remember the wise words of Snow White: “Whistle while you work”. Monday begins not only the last term of the academic year, but also of my Peace Corps service. EEK! :O

9 Hours on a Bus

I’ve been kind of a “site rat” these days so I thought it high time to get out of Jinja and go see some new sights. That place is called The West Nile (not to be confused with the mosquito disease) and it’s in the North West corner of Uganda.

Now, Uganda is a small country (they say about the size of Oregon), but in case you’ve missed my saying so before, transportation is VERY BAD and it takes FOREVER to go the shortest distance, let alone across the country. So I had to stay overnight in the capital before I could continue the journey the following day.

The good thing about that was that I got to have my first hot shower since February.

Wowwww….. so nice! ^_^

So I wake up bright and early to walk to the bus park. It’s dark and raining and there’s people everywhere fighting for a seat on the 7:30 bus. Thankfully, I had reserved my seat the previous day. Even got a window! :) We arrive at our stop around 4pm.

The ride overall actually wasn’t that bad, just very long. I’m just glad it wasn’t the worst case scenario: bus breaking down, non-stop road blocks, construction, etc. But that wasn’t my final stop… I met my friend to go to her place…which was another 2 hours away! WOW!

***I just wanna take this moment to give mad props to her and everyone else who lives SO FAR away and has to do that journey ALL THE TIME!

Uganda has many different tribes, each a little different than the other. The ones who live up there speak a language not related at all to the ones they speak down country so I had no idea how to greet other than in English. The people in the north are also known for being very friendly and polite. They’re usually darker and taller as well. The land is more flat, the climate is hotter, the rain is less, and the houses are usually huts. It's a totally different world. It’s beautiful.

Arua is a very nice, clean, and well organized town. It also has a bomb-dot-com kitenge (fabric) market! I wish I would’ve brought more money. MAKE ALL THE CLOTHE-EZ!

On my way back home, I stopped at another PCV friend’s site for a 2 night layover. We went on a hike up a random hill and were instantly surrounded by the village kids who lived nearby. These kids acted as our tour guides showing us how to get up this rocky hill without a trail. On the way back down, they got out their broken jerry cans and started sledding down a really long and smooth stone. One kid had been carrying a machete so he chopped some tree branches to also use as a sled. ***This is how deforestation actually happens*** They all piled on and slid down. It only got better when my friend and I joined in. I’m so sad I didn’t have my camera with me, but I don’t think any picture could ever capture how simply amazing that moment was.

Sometimes, I really love this country <3

This is the Land that I Love

Firstly, if you don’t know the song reference in the title, please click here.

Now that that’s settled, moving along…

At the end of last year, I was thinking that I might go home during the month of June and stay ‘til after the 4^th to celebrate with my family. Every year since I can remember I’ve spent it at my grandma’s house because it was my grandpa’s birthday. Over the years, less and less family members have showed up, so it’s just been grandma and my siblings lately, but it’s always a fun time. We eat a ton of food and shoot off fireworks carefully (reckless) into the field to remember grandpa. It’s one of my favorite holidays for these reasons. But I didn’t go home. I stayed in Uganda.

I didn’t post a blog in June, but a lot of really great things happened that month. One being a certain USA Supreme Court ruling that made me very happy and, as a result, feel very patriotic for my country’s birthday just yesterday passed.

To share this appreciation with my teachers, I made them an American lunch: burgers (with cheese!), salad (with lettuce!), and sugar cookies (with red, white, and blue food coloring!). Also played them some songs that truly capture the essence that is ‘Murica. #alotofTobyKeith #we’llputabootinyourassitstheamericanway

"What is this?"
"It's meat."
"Meat?!"
"Minced meat."
"What animal?"
"Cow."
"Oooh..."
Teacher Paul then proceeds to eat
with caution and curiosity haha!

Is there a more beautiful way to
do Goal 2 of Peace Corps?

This weekend, a lot of us PCVs met up to celebrate this big day. In preparation for it, I had the saloon nnyabo (hair dresser lady) tie my hair into braids with red, white, and blue thread my seamstress friend lent me. I also browsed the market for some good ‘ol patriotic attire. I came out with a red shirt that had the Soviet Union symbol and a bunch of famous communist leaders (Castro, Stalin, etc) holding red solo cups. It was the “Communist Party” XD Marx even had a lampshade on his head, haha!

Yesterday was full of hugs, laughter, and catching up with friends I hadn’t seen in months. Also dancing and a eating more meat at one time than I have in awhile :P Sometimes it’s hard to be away from home, family, and friends, but this is also my home and it makes me happy to know I have such good family and friends here to celebrate and share these good times with <3

 

Cohort 2!

All protocol observed, let the reading commence!

As I eagerly shared in my last post, the library room has been completed! So you may be asking, "What is the way forward?" Trainings and implementation of course! :D

Doing a read aloud to explain
good and bad library etiquette

Last Monday was the 1^st day of Term 2 for primary schools, but there has been a national strike so no teaching happened the whole of last week. The teachers still showed up however, so I tried to keep their minds a bit occupied.

I held a “Library 101” training to inform them of how to properly use and run a functioning library. It was a lot of information to absorb, but it went very well! They seemed to enjoy and had a lot of questions.

Information covered was:

• ·         Introducing what a library card is
• ·         Demonstrating how to use a book mark and place holder
• ·         Reading a story that shows good and bad behaviors
• ·         Discussing the rules of the library
• ·         Explaining fees and other consequences
• ·         Giving examples of how to rate a book’s condition
• ·         Practicing filling out a log book and library card
• ·         Touring the shelves and how the books are organized
• ·         Determining a set library time for pupils use
• ·         Deciding to do a test run with the P7 class first

The story I made is a somehow knock off of
"Goofus and Gallant" from "Highlights" ;)

A pupil informing the teachers
how to use a book mark

Explaining and showing examples
of books ranked as
New, Good, Fair, Poor, or Bad

Practicing how to fill out
the log book

Demonstrating borrowing a book
and how to fill out a library card

Today, even though the strike is still on, the teachers called the P7s to attend lessons because they don’t want them to miss out. P7 is the last level of primary school. At the end of the year there is a huge test that determines if they are qualified to move on to secondary school. It’s very important and I appreciate my teachers for taking this initiative to help them during this strike.

I used this to my advantage to do my “Library 101” lesson with them. This also went well and they had a lot of questions which was very encouraging. At the end, every pupil got his or her own library card. During library time after classes, 42 of the 63 pupils came to browse and borrow a book. Sorry to say, that was way too many to be in that small room on the first day, so I had to send some away, (haha, I rhymed) but this whole week is theirs alone so everyone will have a chance.

They got their library cards!

Perusing the library for the first time :')

Checking out books!

I’m sure there are going to be a lot of improvements that we’ll have to make as we work out the kinks, but I consider this a successful first attempt. Pretty sure this term is gonna be bomb :D

Take a look, it's in a book,

READING. FREAKING. RAINBOW!

The library is (basically) done! Look at it!!! :D

Ok so maybe it doesn’t look like much, but look at it before!

Did that help impress you?? >:)

I knew it was going to be a good day the moment I woke up.

Let me derail for a sec and tell ya about that because it’s still just so unreal to me. Picture this: I’m lying in bed, my eyes open, and I’m instantly confused. Can you guess what I hear? ….absolutely nothing. It’s TOTALLY quiet! Not that where I live is absurdly loud, but it’s Uganda, there’s always some noise somewhere. I immediately go outside to see if the apocalypse happened overnight and I just didn’t get the memo, then proceed to sit and enjoy the silence. I’m there for 15 minutes before I hear the voice. Whose voice? Couldn’t tell you. There’s always someone lurking behind some bush somewhere. “Mzungu, bye!” And it’s like the universe was waiting on that signal! All of a sudden everything’s happening normally again. The rooster crows, the wind hits the leaves against my tin roof, the hens come to peck at my compost, music starts playing in the distance, and I also hear a baby. I bring myself back to reality and get to work.

So this library. My school doesn’t have one. As you can see in the before picture, the room was being used as a staff room with books put on broken desks as shelves along the walls, never ever used or touched by teachers or pupils.

I had some small funds for library purposes and I knew I wanted to use it for shelves, but that’s expensive, so after brain storming with a fellow PCV, I came up with a cost-efficient way to do it!

Two and a half weeks ago, my friend and I began tearing it up, literally! We broke apart the already broken desks to use the timbers from them.

Safety 1st

His family sells bricks so we acquired some and began constructing.

Neither of us had used cement before,
but they turned out strong!

Then we found a place that sold timbers a bit on the cheap side, so we got some of them and constructed ourselves some wooden shelves.

Look at me now, Sharits!
Using a book and a ruler as a square because
these carpenters don't know how
to make anything straight :P

One of my teachers showed me where to get the cheaper paint, lent me his brushes, and even did the painting for us.

Next came the daunting task of organizing the books, cataloging and numbering them, then placing them on the shelves.

and we'll be getting 1,000 more in a month or so!

Don’t forget printing & cutting 1,000 library cards and making a log book!

Today I swept up the room, straightened out the desks, put labels on the shelves, and hung up a few posters. I declare that as basically done ;)

There’s still a lot of small things to do, (tidying up, making rule charts, what) but I’m so very excited for Term 2 to start on Monday! Gonna get right to work on doing trainings with my teachers on how to use a library so we can bring the knowledge to our pupils so they can start reading and checking out books :D

Kids and adults have been shuffling
in everyday since we began!
Some just to see a white girl doing
"man's" work, but some are
actually excited for it! 

**I’d like to give a special shout out to my amazing friend, Tonny, who will never see this post, but still deserves recognition. Without his help, none of this would have been possible! He’s a 15 year old student struggling to find school fees for his S1 year, but he still refused to accept any payment from me because all he wanted to do was help, which he did in more ways than I could ever name! :)