So as you know, I did orientation and began teacher boot
camp. Things went well for the most
part. I had a few good lessons and some
that I will tweek in the future. Before
I tell you specifics about my two weeks of practice in the Ugandan classrooms,
I want to share a few facts with you about the education system here in Uganda.
Fun facts
- About
half the population is under the age of 15
- Students
transition to all English classes in P4
- Corporal
punishment is banned yet still practiced in the country
When I had a good day, man, did I have a good day. I would laugh with the kids and make sure
participation was to the max.
Unfortunately, that was not always the case.
On my first incident, I was giving instructions for a
workstation session on writing. One kid
in particular was not paying attention and headed for the door. In my head I was thinking that this kid was
just so bored by my lesson that he was trying to escape my dull chatter. I stopped him in his tracks and inquired as
to where he was going and to which he responded with the simple word
“outside”. I asked him to sit down and
to be patient since his group would be outside the next day. Thinking the problem was solved I went back
to teaching until I noticed the same boy with his head down. I spotted him crying and as I got closer I
noticed the puddle under his feet. I was
MORTIFIED. I was the reason this kid wet
his pants in front of his classmates. I
quickly turned it into a lesson on respect so there wouldn’t be any
laughing. He finished his business in
the latrines outside and then came back in to the classroom. If he had the guts to come back in, then I
must not have traumatized him too much.
The next day I was determined to not have a kid piss his
pants on my watch. During my observation
of a colleague’s lesson, I spotted my second incident. Two tables ahead of me, I spotted a boy with
his head ducked under the desk and there is smoke coming from his mouth. *Smack my forehead* A 5th grader was smoking in the back of the room in the middle of a lesson! I attempted to get my colleague’s attention but
the message was not clear and instead he called the kid up as a volunteer for a
read-aloud. This kid thought he could be
slick by helping the teacher at the front of the class. Um, I don’t think so! After class I pulled him aside to chat.
Before I said anything, the kid starts begging me for forgiveness. “Please, teacher, have mercy on me. Please forgive me.” Do those words sound like those of an
innocent child??? Clearly this kid was guilty of something. His friends were starting to encircle us so I
had to pull him behind the building. I
asked him what he was doing under the desk; his answer – “I was cleaning my
cup.” I asked him why there was smoke
coming from his mouth; his answer – “I was taking a pill medication.” He handed me his matches and I explained to
him how he was not paying attention to the lesson and what he was doing was
wrong. His head teacher, my supervisor,
and the headmaster were made aware of the situation. I just hope he wasn't caned for the crime. Smoking is bad but beating a child is bad
too. My supervisor was informed that
this kid came from the street so he probably requires more creative methods for
discipline.
The third incident happened less than two hours later at the
end of the school day. Since the wet
child problem didn't feel like it had been resolved, I discussed it with my
group and decided that a common signal for toilet was needed in the
classroom. We agreed on the ASL sign for
the letter “T” which is a closed fist with the thumb between the pointer finger
and the middle finger. During our family
initiative time which could be the equivalent of homeroom time, we discussed
the ups and downs of the day and finally came to the topic of a toilet signal
so we do not have so many students disrupting the lesson by just walking in and
out. I shook my “T” signal and asked the
class to follow suit. Right away I got
giggles and a lot of confuzzled faces.
The head teacher interrupts and tells me that it is a bad sign and it
would be better to change it to a different one with the pinky finger pointing
down. During lunch I asked Fred, our security
officer AKA James Bond, about the hand signal and if he would be kind enough to
tell me the meaning. He tells me that it
is an incredibly vulgar sign for “want to f*&%?” OH EM GEE! My darling
5th graders were flicked off by their foreign teacher. I am lucky that all they did was giggle and
not report me to their parents or the Ministry of Education.
For the second week of teaching practice, I spent time with
the P6 students and they were the best class ever. I saw so much progress from the children and
their love for us touched me to the core.
We were given fruit, including pineapple, papaya, and avocados, and I
even received special visits from one of my students all the way to the college
campus we were staying at. She brought
me a handmade card and a gold chain which must have cost her a fortune. This class was so good to me in that one week
of teaching that I felt like tearing up when we had to say goodbye. Even the P4 class that I accosted said they
missed me and gave me warm hugs on the way out.
If two weeks is all it takes to win the love of 200 students, then I
have to wonder, how much love will I have by the end of two years with a school
filled with 2,000 students?
Which bring me to the topic of my site. My future permanent site is an over-crowded
school of 2k students with 40 teachers that have a ton of teaching experience
and open minds willing to explore new strategies for introducing more literacy
into their lessons across all content areas.
The conversations I have had with my fellow co-teachers seem promising
in that they accept and welcome me to exchange ideas and culture with them. So far I see various areas where I can help
including but not limited to creating a library/resource room, a computer lab
(there is a strong cry for this), enhancing the teaching materials, and once I
actually meet the students, I’m sure there will be more work to be done.
The housing situation remains to be sorted but I have faith
that it will be resolved soon since everyone at the school seems to want me to
be there. I have a home but it is not
furnished. Easily fixed.
On Friday, I am going to be in a different city for homestay
while I complete my 1 month of language training with the rest of the
volunteers in my region. For Christmas,
the volunteers in my region will be meeting at another local volunteer’s house
for dinner and to enjoy the festivities.
Once the language training is finished, I will be in Kampala for a short
workshop and then we will be sworn in on January 23rd. The day after swearing in will be the day
that it gets real and I will not have anyone holding my hand.
Until my next post, I leave you with an expression that a
veteran volunteer has taught me – T.I.U. = THIS IS UGANDA.
If you haven’t called me yet, please do. Peace Corps volunteers need love too.
VSO