Personal and Cultural Development
This week consisted of quite a lot of walking. I have decided that there is no excuse for jumping on boda’s all the time and that I should walk when possible. On Monday I walked to Shoprite Lugogo which is a supermarket about an hour away from my hostel. It was really hot but an enjoyable walk. I even bought a basin whilst there, boiled the kettle when I got back and washed my hair in warm water. Words cannot describe how good it felt, my hair actually felt clean for the first in a long time.
One of my friends didn’t have a very good day on Monday so we had a little girly treat on Monday evening. We went to a restaurant just for dessert. Toblerone fondue with marshmallows, apple, mango, banana and pineapple! Mouth-wateringly good and chocolate is always a girl’s cure for a bad day.
On Tuesday afternoon, one of my Ugandan friends took me on a trip to Baha’i Temple. We just went for a walk around the scenic grounds and then had a quick look inside at the beautiful architecture. There was a tour guide there who was able to answer some questions that we had. It was very interesting to find out what they believe about the numerous different Gods that people worship. They believe that there is only one God but there many incarnations of him. The faith, from my understanding, seems to be a mixture between Hindu and Muslim traditions.
On route to Ultimate Frisbee on Tuesday evening, I witnessed my first road accident in Kampala. A taxibus clipped the rear end of a car denting the car a little but causing more damage to itself. The entire front of the taxi was crushed and the windscreen shattered. No-one in the taxibus was injured, they all just had to pile out and into another one but it was definitely frightening to witness the collision and hear the bang. It has made me choose my modes of transport even more carefully.
For lunch on Wednesday, Tony (the hostel driver) offered to take us to somewhere where we had not yet visited to try some more traditional Ugandan dishes. He took us to a restaurant in Mengo where we were able to taste some Matoke, rice, posha, beans, and chicken. I have mentioned most of these dishes before but posha is a white, stiff porridge made from Maize. Apparently it is made from Maize that has been processed so that it has no nutritional value...oh well. Dessert of some fresh pineapple finished off this meal nicely.
Friday morning was really sunny again after a miserable rainy day on Thursday so Rachel and I decided to make the most of the good weather again and walk to Garden City to get new books. I have probably read more here in 6 weeks than I would in a year at home. When I returned back to the hostel, I really wanted a shower to freshen up. I was meeting friends very shortly after so I planned a quick turnaround but to make things worse, when my hair was lathered in shampoo, the shower suddenly stopped. I had to use a bottle of water that I had to rinse it in a basin with a cup.
The sky is so clear in Uganda that the stars are a real beauty. One of my friends was teaching me about the different constellations on Friday night. I now know all about Orion’s Belt and Sirius, and how many light years they are away. You learn something new every day!
As it is Woman’s’ Day on Monday (8th), it is a public holiday in Uganda so we all had the day off so we decided to make the most of this and headed away on Saturday morning to Ssese Islands. This is the group of islands situated in Lake Victoria. We had to take an hour taxibus ride to Entebbe and then take a three and a half hour ferry journey across the islands. It had been raining throughout Friday night so the roads were pretty muddy on walk between the taxibus (also known as matatu) and the ferry. I was wearing flip flops which were probably not the best idea and my feet were rather dirty by the time I reached the boat. The men on the boat were washing peoples feet as they entered so one took my flip flops whilst another washed my feet (even in between my toes!). It felt so strange!
We spent most of the time on the island on the pure white sand beach. It was like something you would see in a movie with a shipwrecked boat on the shore. I felt like I was on a paradise island until I discovered the toilets. Disgusting is an understatement when describing them. A wooden hut had been built on top of a hill and basically there was a toilet seat with a huge tank below. The smell was vile and everyone avoided using them as much as possible, especially at night time as they seemed even worse when you had a torch.
Sunday morning was spent lying on the beach, and then we decided to hire a fishing boat and spend some time out on the lake in the afternoon. We made a pit-stop at a desert island which we named ‘msungo island’ (white person island) and we swam here and explored the land a little. We also tried to master the art of floating on water but I wasn’t very successful. The guide took us to a spot so that we would hopefully so some hippos but unfortunately we were not so lucky.
I did manage to see some animals back on shore though. When we got back, I decided to have a shower which was outdoors on the campsite. Whilst washing my hair, I could feel several things falling on my head. I could not figure out what it was until I looked up and saw a monkey in the tree throwing leaves at me. It made me laugh but also feel a little uncomfortable as I felt like someone was watching me.
Professional Development
On Monday morning, Rachel and I did not start the week off on the best foot. We got up bright and early and headed to class for 8am to then realise that our class didn’t actually start until 9am. We are obviously just too keen but I suppose it is better to be early than late. The extra hour in bed would have been lovely though. When we attended class at 9am, we studied the child centred curriculum including its history, the ideal environment, extremists, and how it is an attempt to meet criticisms of subject centred curriculum. Yet again, it was beneficial to hear the Ugandans views on this approach and also engage in discussion with them regarding the approach.
Classes on Wednesday and Thursday were cancelled again this week as Mark and Gillian were both out of the country. We did contact Gillian though and she apologized about us not having started in our schools yet as she had passed the responsibility onto someone else, so hopefully we will get started soon. I never thought I would be so keen to get on teaching practice, but I am really curious and intrigued about seeing the difference and similarities in our school systems. I also want to influence the children’s lives as all of the children that I have met so far here have been so inspiring as they have so little but are still so positive and happy. I want to be able to make an input into their education, even if it is only going to be a little.
Hope everything in Stran is good and that as everyone has a successful School Based Work.
Natalie
xx
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