Field Notes Received 2/19/10

NOTES FROM UGANDA - Week 6

Friday, Feb. 12: I went to the Internet Cafe today instead of TLT. It was great! It only took me 1 1/2 hours and was much less expensive but best of all, everything went smoothly! So I had some extra time before class. I went to Smile Africa Women's Center and bought 15 necklaces to take home for 36,000 UGX or roughly, $18.00. These necklaces take hours to make because the ladies make the beads first from rolled paper. I had a short visit with Pastor Ruth's mother.

Afterward, I went to Smile Africa in Beeson and had a nice long chat with Janet. Actually, she shared her history around HIV with me and said she should make a testimony about it. Perhaps, when my son, Kent, comes in April, he can bring his video camera for an interview / testimony with Janet.

We made Valentines in both classes. I had four people make Valentines for me. It was so nice.

We three (Kathy, Leah and I) were invited to Pastor Ruth's for dinner along with Andrew (IT) and a friend of Ruth's from the Salvation Army from Jinja, Ezra. We had those wonderful samosas and a crispy-on-the-outside chapati, chicken and rice with eggplant and a sauce. We also had pineapple, watermelon and bananas for dessert. We took along a large pineapple as a hostess gift. We got home about 8:00.

Sat - Feb. 13: I got up early = cooked beans and rice and boiled water for purity. My ride to Busowa came early so went to town to do a bit of shopping, then a long, slow, HOT drive to Busowa. As Pastor Peter had to go to Kisimu, Kenya, he sent a driver, Peter also, to take me. This Peter was telling me how difficult it is for this small group of Christians in Busowa as they are surrounded by Muslims who do not want them there. Pastor Peter has said many times how much he wants to help the people in Busowa because they are trying so hard and are doing so many good things. Hope 4 Kids dug the village a well, which is shared by all, Muslims and Christians alike.

We made Valentines. I was given a papaya and a huge bag of sweet potatoes as thank you gifts plus I received another Valentine. There is only one sticking point: they keep making food for me that I am to eat before I leave. I told Pastor Peter this poses a problem for me re gastro-intestinal reactions and he said he would take care of it. Well - without him there today, it again was an issue. Obviously, he did not make this point clear. I feel so bad turning them down as they are just being hospitable and showing their gratitude but I have experienced too many ill effects on previous trips to risk it. I have several weeks left before I leave and I don't want to be having health issues the whole time. This is such a hard thing to try to explain.

Kathy wanted to eat out so though I had done much prep already, we walked to the Rock. Leah and I had fish which was good. Kathy had spaghetti. This time we were smart and brought flash lights so we could see to walk home in the dark -no street lights.

Sunday - Feb. 14 - St. Valentine's Day - Last night I forgot to tell you of something very important. Pastor Charles at Busowa told me of a plan his small congregation has come up with for micro-loans. They are pooling what little money they can spare. He is recording the contributions of each. They want to save until they have 30,000 UGX ($15.00). He thinks they will have this amount by the end of March. Their plan is to then take applications for business ideas from their members. They will then vote on who will receive the first loan to start a small business. When the loan has been repaid, they will then make another loan to someone else, and/or people will continue to pool their money. I understand why Peter is so excited about this group and their leadership. They are not waiting for the muzungu (whites) to step in and "save" them, they are taking steps to help themselves. They are trusting in God and each other. It is beautiful to see.

I went to Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Alex today. It was wonderful! The music was spectacular - lovely, harmonic singing and some drumming with minimal electronic keyboard. They sang in various languages including English, which I could understand, so I could sing along. I could also join in with many of the responses. They sang a lovely version of the Creed and they had Eucharist - what a joy! They announced Imposition of Ashes on Wednesday so Alex said he would find out what time the service would be so I will be able to observe Ash Wednesday corporately.

On arrival at home, I hurried through a quick lunch and then waited for 2 hours trying to reach Peter. He called me at 2:15 saying he would not be coming. He returned from Kisimu last night but was involved in some kind of crisis today - he had been praying all day. Either he or Peter (driver) will pick me up tomorrow for Wikus. So I had a very leisurely day - cleaned the gift papaya, did a little cooking and read Leah's cookbook. It has been stifling hot all day.

Leah and Kathy went out to Aquari's compound. Kathy went hiking to find some monkeys and Leah "mudded" the hut being built out there for H4K. They also took some food out for Wazemba. Apparently, she is in a bad way with no one to help her as both Janet and her sister are currently living in Tororo. Leah has plans for next Saturday (Kathy's farewell party out there) to bring her a clean dress, bathe her and try to do a bit of laundry. The concern is her family will come and steal her food that we are giving her. She can't walk so I don't know what she is doing for water and firewood for cooking.

Monday - Feb. 15: Started the day slowly (both Leah and I did) waiting for our rides. True Vine forgot Leah so at noon she went to Smile Africa. Peter (driver) arrived about the same time Leah left. We picked up Sarah, Pastor Peter's wife, in town to give her a ride home to Paya, near Wikus where we were going. I gave Pastor his Valentine and gave Sarah a large bag of sweet potatoes which she was happy to get. The drive to Wikus is a dirt road with bad pot-holes and vey narrow with barely a shoulder. The road has a variety of traffic: motorcycles, bicycles, cars, vans, trucks and pedestrians all trying to use the middle of the the road. So, as we are driving Peter is constantly beeping his horn to tell others to move over. This works pretty well until he has to go between motorcycles and bicycles OR meets on-coming traffic bigger than we are, as no one really slows down - they just swerve a bit to the side. I forgot to mention there are also cows and goats using the road.

One of the mothers in my last class today had 2 sick children with her. A little girl had a fever and the boy she was holding had large blisters all over 1 leg, with a few on the other leg and it looked like some were forming on his back. I had to stop for a minute so I didn't burst into tears and then told the mother I would try to bring a nurse with me next Monday. Another mother had a small boy with her who seemed very tired. I was afraid he would fall off the bench and hurt himself on the concrete floor. He would talk to himself, then his eyes would close, his head would sag and then he would jerk and talk to himself again.

On the edge of Tororo, returning home, we got a flat tire. The spare Peter put on had a 10 inch long loos piece of tread, about the width of the tire. Fortunately, he got me to my drive and I walked home from there. I don't know what happened to Peter and the car after that.

Leah talked about her experience at Smile Africa today. It was "fruit day" when the kids receive a banana - once a week. She said the reaction of the children when the van came with the bananas brought tears to her eyes. The kids were as excited about getting a banana as our children are at Christmas when they have received just what they wanted.

Tuesday - Feb. 16 - Roy's Birthday (my late husband): I have a friendly gecko sharing my room with me. I've also had 2 GIANT cockroaches in my bathroom. THEY are not welcome and have been disposed of.

We had a lovely cooling rain this morning. My English class at Smile today had requested learning body parts so they 16 new words today - 4 members of the family and 12 body parts.

Alice Joyce came for the LS class and we proceeded to new material. She is a very bright woman and is taking a computer class which she is excited about. She would like a Good News Bible. Perhaps I will give her the one I brought. We'll see.

We went to dinner at a new Indian restaurant. It is a tiny building, in back of the Shell station, that recently opened. The food was excellent. I was a bit leery at first - hopefully all will be well with my GI tract. If all turns out fine, it is a treasure. We ate under the trees and dinner only took about 2 hours so that wasn't bad. A long-term missionary, age 68, from Albany, NY, who has been working at Smile Africa took us in her car and returned us home as she lives on our road. She is a very entertaining conversationalist, so it was a great evening. It will be so nice to sleep comfortably tonight.

Wednesday - Feb. 17 - ASH WEDNESDAY: This was to be my day of contemplation and solitude ending with Imposition of Ashes at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Though I did have an easy, relaxing day, none of it turned out as planned. The big disappointment was I lost my ride to church.

Thursday - Feb. 18: I have been watching the most spectacular lightning display behind the clouds on the horizon. It was like watching the aurora borealis in winter or stage effects behind a scrim.

I went back to True Vine today and observed a P2 class. I will come up with something to bring to a lesson for them - possibly creating words like I do with my adult Reading classes.

Mary returned to my Reading class today. Pastor Godfrey said she showed up yesterday because she didn't know I wouldn't be there. He seemed surprised she returned today. I was glad she did.

Also, Samuel (LS class) was back from Kenya, but will be gone again next week. Two of my students wrote essays for me; the others promised one next week. I will also put together a "test" for next week going over what we have covered so far. We did prepositions today.

In planning for my Friday Smile classes, it has become a bit difficult. I don't know quite what direction to go and/or what material to cover so that all the students are challenged and they are all learning what they wish to. I assigned homework which was to figure out a personal weekly budget. We'll see what the results are tomorrow. Maybe I will just have to back off from that tack.

There are 2 going-away parties planned for Kathy tomorrow - one at True Vine at 1:00 and one at Smile at 3:30. It will be interesting to see what happens with such close scheduling.

Please keep all of us here in your prayers as we keep you in our prayers. God bless you!

NOTES FROM UGANDA - Week 5 Friday -

Feb. 5: What a trial to get last week's Notes sent. I was really upset because it cost me an extra 3000 UGX for an hour of which I had 53 minutes left. I kept losing what I had written and when I tried to save it, I would get kicked out. O well - such is life or as Tom Eggum (H4K Director) says TIA - this is Africa. We figured money out tonight and I went over budget again. the $25 in gas each week to go out to the villages is tough, plus what I spend on school supplies and the reading glasses I purchased for the ladies who needed them. Transport is the big item. we are doing well regarding food. It would be less if I took a piki- piki but I am concerned about safety. The roads are bad, and the driving is crazy. The ladies in my LS class today are mostly women with small businesses. Pastor Ruth wanted me to help them make improvements with record-keeping, etc. So today we talked about Rukia's business of selling charcoal. We talked about overhead, the selling price the market would bear and a weekly budget of her personal needs. A personal budget was new for all of them so I asked them to figure out their own personal budgets as art of their homework. It will be interesting to see the results. After class Rukia showed me the account book she keeps for her customers. She is very meticulous with each customer's name, dates of transactions, cash, credit and balance due. If any of the other ladies wishes to do something similar, she said she would be glad to help, which is good because it is all way beyond my expertise. I was also thinking of doing some role-play scenarios for meeting and selling to the teams (muzungus - whites) that come. We are also working on spelling and will work a bit on sentence structure. We had another major rainstorm today. It was difficult driving home with much standing water in the roadway. It made it difficult to see the pot holes and to meet oncoming traffic.

Sat - Feb. 6: Kathy and Leach went to Sipi Falls today up to MBale where the mountains are. It is beautiful up there. On other visits here I have been to two different villages in that area, on being Bhupotu. I am envious BUT I go to Busowa today to teach. My English class went well with a full complement of students. My Reading class was not so good. I don't seem to be getting through to the students regarding the sounds of letters, NOT names. I had one student most of the class period - it just wasn't working - the other came at the end of the class. I spent just a bit of time with her as I had others waiting for the next class. I am moving 3 of the LS students to the Reading class after reading their essays, so I will be left with 3 in the LS class which is fine. I think it will work. The only "iffy" thing is that one student is a man who is very verbal and 2 are very soft-spoken women. I had given Peter the T-shirts and socks I had from donors at McFarland Lutheran. He distributed these in Busowa to people who were very happy to receive thee clothes. On the way home, Peter and I had an interesting discussion about the Amish and the Mormons. He wants me to find a book about these groups when I get home to send back to him. I told him I would try. I am developing quite a long "Peter" list of things for Kent to bring when he and his wife, Laura, come with the H4K team in April.

Sun - Feb. 7: Peter picked us up about 9:30 for church in the Juba area. It was Pastor David's church but Peter preached. Peter gives a good sermon and is very comfortable dramatizing/miming the Bible stories he uses to illustrate the points of his sermon. It was so nice to be in a more intimate setting without a sound system. Both Leah and Kathy stayed to teach my classes about pure drinking water, personal hygiene, compound hygiene and nutrition. People were very interested, had comments and asked questions all through an interpreter. I was able to make announcements regarding my classes for next week. Some people were disturbed who had done their homework and I didn't look at it, but I think they were okay to bring it next week. We went to Town Lodge Tororo (TLT) for dinner. I got my protein fix which I needed badly as I was quite woozy the last couple of days which is now all gone. At the hotel we met Pastor Ruth's pastor who insisted upon introducing us to his bishop and party. I was embarrassed as I failed to recognize him, but when he had called Kathy and I forward last Sunday, I had not really looked at him. Also, we met a Canadian man who was with World Wide Church of God, first time in Africa, traveling alone, after his mission team had returned home. I admire his "chutzpah" for traveling on his own to remote locations. He was planning on visiting refugee camps in Uganda and Kenya. The wonderful thing is, once one begins a journey like this, one meets so many committed people venturing out, trying to do the work they feel God has called them to do.

Mon - Feb 8: Cautiously, I will say the rains have begun. We had rain again last night. We have sunrise about 7:00 and sunset about 7"00. As we are close to the equator, these times are quite the same all year round. Electricity is a problem. In drought, the electricity is rationed BUT there are power outages every time it rains. No one has explained why to me, but it is a sonstand occurrence when it rains. I went with Peter to Wikus. The youth at my church, McFarland Lutheran, had made small yarn and cloth dolls for me to bring along to Africa. This morning we got an early enough start that I took them out to Wikus to distribute. The kids were so cute. One little girl had her hands full with a paper pad, a pencil, her photo of the young person who had made the doll AND the doll. The doll had a shawl/scarf on, that was coming off and the poor little girl was very seriously struggling to fix the doll and hand on to everything else. She was just a wee mite of a thing. I helped her dress the doll and she went happily on her way. If you will recall, the drummer from Peter's school in Juba is sitting in jail awaiting trial for a murder he did not commit. His baby from the birth that killed his wife, died this morning. Of his remaining children, the oldest is only 10. Please remember this man and his children in your prayers.

Tues - Feb 9: This is my morning off of the week. I cleaned up the kitchen and did some pleasure reading. As this coming Sunday is Valentine's Day, I decided to teach only 1/2 classes this week and use the other 1/2 of each class period for making Valentines. At first reading, this may seem a bit absurd BUT from my first class's reaction today, it was a good idea. The ladies were very excited about making a special card to give to someone they love, telling them so in the card. It was GOOD. They left with smiling faces.

Wed - Feb. 10: I went and observed for the first time today at True Vine School. I observed in P3, P4, P5 and P6. My thinking about the teaching going on here was confirmed. There are no visual aids of any sort, no practical examples. Everything is written on the blackboard (very sophisticated information) and copied by the students into their individual notebooks. While the teacher is lecturing there are key words and/or phrases he/she wants the children to learn which he will keep repeating and and they parrot back. The P3 teacher was teaching her class how to alphabetize a word list. I thought she actually did the best job. She had over 55 students. The smallest class I was in, was 45. Not alot of individual attention is possible. Also, the teacher walks around with a switch and corporal punishment is applied at the teacher's whim for misbehaviors. I observed a P4 social studies class which was about the various roles of members of the family. The children struggled to read what they had written in their notebooks to ask and answer the questions the teacher had written on the board. In P5, they were studying longitude and latitude with very confusing information and sophisticated words I doubt they understood. There was alot of talk about the Greenwich Meridian and hemispheres. I am going back tomorrow to teach. I will report tomorrow. The Pt class was ending a geography lesson with a hand-drawn map of Africa on the blackboard with chalk with all of the countries AND a hand-drawn map of East Africa showing topographical features with a key. The work the teacher put into this lesson was prodigious BUT I'm not sure how much really reached the kids. This was followed by a science lesson on sound, again very sophisticated terms and concepts with confusing illustrations being offered. My classes went well though I missed one of my students in Literacy Skills. However, I was told there was a funeral. Kathy assisted with eye surgeries today at Smile Africa. She was very excited about her experience.

Thurs. - Feb. 11: I tramped all over True Vine compound today, going to both schools, the office, the clinic, the computer lab and back again and it was SOOOO HOT. The rains have not really begun. The teacher of the P3 class wanted me to teach music, particularly solfeggio (singing using the Italian names for the notes of the scale). So I used a basic major scale and spoke a little about pitch, dynamics and chords, illustrating all with the help of the class. I planned on using the "Do, Re, Mi" song from the Sound of Music. I explained what I wanted them to do and what I would do. As we started t sing, to my surprise, they knew the whole song. Obviously, their teacher had used the same idea. We sang a major tonic chord and did a little with piano and forte and sang patterns of using the syllables of a major scale. WE had a good time. One of the boys I sponsor was in the class. Next I went to P4 and read a story, asking questions afterward to gauge their comprehension. (This had been what the teacher had requested.) The class was good with the facts of the story but when I asked "why" (think for yourself) questions, they had difficulty. I don't think they are very often asked to reason for themselves. Please understand, what is written for them every day on the board, which they copy into their notebooks is very sophisticated BUT their understanding of the material is questionable. Also, there are children of varying ages in each grade level. They are not promoted automatically by age and there appears to be no stigma attached to this lack of promotion. Next, I did a demonstration of hemispheres with a borrowed soccer ball, signs I made and children holding the signs. After the meaning of "hemisphere" was established, we talked about the sun being static and the earth moving. I had a boy be the sun and 2 girls back-to-back being the eastern and eastern hemispheres of earth traveling around the sun, so they could visualize that when Uganda (EH) has daylight, the USA (WH) has darkness. Anyway, it was a short demo that seemed to aid some understanding. I tried very hard not to step on the teacher's toes and to constantly refer to what he had taught them during the demo. What I hope is, teaching using methods other than writing on the board, will ignite the imaginations of the teachers to try some new methods themselves. Then I taught 3 adult classes. We used part of the time in each class to make Valentines. It was a nice break and gave the students an opportunity to to make a small token of love to give to someone they care about.

More next week. God bless you all and HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY.

Field Notes, Received 2/4/10

NOTES FROM UGANDA -
Week 4 Friday - January 29: Classes went well - came home, cooked and prepared for tomorrow. Kathy had an exceptional day helping to prepare for the Introduction. She and Leah will both have lovely stories to tell.

Sat - Jan. 30: Kathy and Leah left this morning for True Vine to receive help in getting dressed in the gomases they had borrowed. They got home from the affair at 8:00 p.m. having had a lovely time. I cooked beans this morning while waiting for Peter. He arrived an hour late with yet another story of car woes. I met my Busowa classes today for the first lessons. It was a bit of a challenge because we were in their wall-less church so we constantly had a large audience. I managed to get the uninvolved adults to stay away but the children were something else. These ladies who are struggling to learn new words and phrases, stumbling in pronunciation, become very shy under the scrutiny of an audience. It is definitely a hindrance to learning. The best part of the day was rocking a baby to sleep while the child's mother wrote her personal story essay. The next best part was the beautiful full moon tonight.

Sun - Jan. 31: Last night I forgot to mention when I left Busowa yesterday, one of my students gave me 2 eggs as a thank you. I know it is important to allow people to show their appreciation by gifting me but it is so hard to accept when they have so little. Kathy and I went to Tororo Pentacostal Church this morning. This is Pastor Ruth's church. The whole atmosphere was a bit more sedte than True Vine. The preacher was very good - he spoke about "what God each of us worships." Kathy and Leah went out to the bush to Janet and Aquari's compound. Pastor Peter picked me up for Juba. I am seeing one woman alone. I have great hopes for her. I think she is very bright and she seems motivated. She speaks English very well which she learned working as a house girl. She has never been to school and does not know how to read and write. However, she was able to say/read the ABC's. I asked her how she learned them and she said she listened to the children. The english (ESL) class again was fun. There is so much laughing and clapping. I have determined that my LS class is not able to be an LS class after reading their essays. Some students' spoken English is really very good, but their writing is very poor and their reading skills so-so. So my plan is to start with phonics. We will work on the sounds of the letters, make words by adding letters at the beginning or ending of letter combinations, such as __at, __in, __up, etc. If they can learn to sound out the words they should be able to improve their reading and basic writing. Of course, there is at least one student who comes to me after each class and says, "I want to learn to read and write" and I explain again that this is where we start, that this will put them on the right path. I think THEY think I can wave a magic wand and make it all happen right away. I wish it were so simple. One last tidbit - I was ready to return home when Peter said he had a flat - the never-ending car problem saga. All one can do is shake one's head and laugh!

Mon - Feb 1: We had a long, hot, dusty ride to Wikus. We had first lessons today in all classes. My son, Kent, has offered to make Certificates of Completion for each of my students. He will ring them when the H4K team comes in April. I will leave a list of students with each leader. The last week of classes I will have class photos taken and then when I get home I will have copies made for all those who lasted until the end. So other than whatever knowledge and skills the students have gained, they will also have a photo and "diploma'. We have been having regular power outages. The rains have not yet begun so the Nile is low. All the power for the whole country comes from a hydro-electric plant on the Nile in Jinja. When the water gets too low, they start rationing the power. I don't know if that is what is happening now, but the power went off again first thing this morning which means no fan.

Tues. - Feb. 2: Oh, the day was hot - even the Ugandans are complaining. Everything is so dry and dusty. If there is a bit of a breeze, it blows the red dust around to cover everything and makes the air thick. Yesterday, after our long drive, Pastor Peter told me, my hair looked pink - the red dust. I was at Smile Africa today. My English class ladies are so much fun. We laugh with each other and at ourselves and at each other. They seem to be retaining (some vocabulary/phrases) and we add something new each class. Today we tried a "you are welcome" response to follow a "thank you". It took a while for the concept to sink in. By the time they left, I think about 1/2 of them understood, but we will keep working at it.

Wed. Feb3: Leah and I went to True Vine. I bought 3 pair of reading glasses for my students who need them. Leah and I have been talking about her coming to my classes as a guest lecturer on health issues. I will speak to Peter and get his reaction. A new thing happened today. On the way home from True Vine, we ran out of gas so I had to shell out money for gas and a "piki-piki" (motorcycle) ride. The driver came back with one large (1.5 liter) plastic water bottle and 2 smaller ones filled with gasoline which he set on the seat while he opened the gas cap. After emptying the bottles he took me home. This was a typical Ugandan solution to the problem. My True Vine LS class is speeding along. I didn't have enough prepared today so I had to "wing it" a bit. Hopefully, I have prepared enough for tomorrow. We will study punctuation. I don't want to bore my classes by repeating the same material. On the other hand, I don't want to move on to new material until I am sure they understand what has already been presented. I wonder just how much our (theirs and mine) accents are getting in the way of understanding.

Thurs. Feb. 4: Some good news to start the day - Kathy has given the money for the surgery for the little boy with the protruding lower intestine. The date has not yet been set for the surgery but it might happen before she leaves the end of February. Sylvester from True Vine, picked me up this morning. He initiated a discussion about Muslims, asking if we had any in the US. I said we did and their numbers appeared to be growing. He expressed his sadness that, at least here in Uganda, the Muslims are antagonistic to the Christians. However, he said that he believed God would change their hearts and he has seen many conversions. In fact, his neighbor, a local leader of the Muslims, who expressed very strong views has become a Christian. Sylvester said when he learned this he was shocked and could hardly believe it, but he gave the Holy Spirit praise and thanks. After my first class, Reading, one of my students returned to tell me she could no longer come. As she told me why, it became a familiar story. Her husband, who is an unbeliever, kicked her out. He doesn't have a job and becomes abusive when he drinks. She has 4 boys, the oldest is 12 and the youngest, 5. She had been living in a rental but can no longer afford it. She can't pay school fees and has no money coming in. She needs to take her children to her mother in the village and then look for work. She is a soft spoken, lovely, young woman who was really trying hard in my class. I was pleased with her progress so I am very sorry to see her leave. I told her I would pray for her and she was welcome back anytime. During my English class we had a huge thunderstorm. This got scary because the roof leaks and big puddles formed on the floor around the electrical equipment for the computers. If you will recall, I teach in the building that is the computer lab. What a mess! The rain sounded so loud on the tin-sheeted roof we could hardly hear each other even though we were sitting right next to each other, but the ladies struggled valiantly on, not wanting to waste the time in which they had come to learn. One of the ladies does not have much use of her legs - she crawls into class wearing her flip-flops on her hands. She has a tricycle she pedals with her hands to move herself about outside. it was heart-warming to see her classmates carry her outside to her trike so that she didn't have to crawls through a puddle on the floor from the leak in the roof. Then my last class of today - it has dwindled in size but what a joy the remaining students are. We get along quite well with our accents. They are very attentive and interested and ask questions. It is fund working with them! We are working mostly with grammar which can be pretty dry stuff, but I enjoy it and they are doing well. Again, it is such fun! The rain was very welcomed even though we had laundry on the line. It settled the dust down and cooled the air. It will be comfortable sleeping tonight. I am sending this before I lose it again!! Bye til next week.