25/02/11 Weeks 3&4: Personal and Cultural perspectives.

If I was on Facebook right now, my status would most definitely read, “Suzi Finlay is currently on the worst journey of her life”. As if it wasn’t bad enough getting up at 4:30am to start an 11 hour bus ride from Kigali, Rwanda back to Kampala, our bus driver must be looking forward to a hearty lunch waiting for him, as he is flying along these mountain roads at speeds  a Formula 1 driver would be proud of. I’m just thankful I didn’t have breakfast this morning, or I may be having a true student traveller experience and be “chundering everywhere.” (Mum and Dad, you probably won’t get that. Ask Claire to explain.) I’m pretty sure this is not the sort of thing I’m supposed to be writing about in my Stranmillis blog, but unfortunately, this is my life in Africa right now. If I was at home I could not express how I’m feeling any more eloquently than our well-known Stran phrase “I’m having a mare.”

Rollercoaster aside, Africa is fantastic. I’ve been away almost a month now, and I feel like I’ve adapted to most aspects of African life fairly well. Despite living in a busy city, daily life is surprisingly laid-back. People here don’t seem to worry when things don’t go to plan; when I compare this to Northern Ireland it’s clear to me how quick we are to get frustrated and stressed when plans don’t fall into place exactly as we want them. For example, Africans have a totally different system of time-keeping to us, whereby they don’t seem to keep time at all. At home I would probably be at least a little annoyed if I had arrived at an 8am lecture only for the lecturer to arrive shortly before 10am, but here you just shrug, laugh, and put it down to ‘This is Africa.’ In our first lecture at Makerere, Mark (the lecturer) introduced us to the class and welcomed us with “We don’t always keep time here, but somehow we manage to survive.” I’m adapting to the concept of being late all the time quite well, though I can’t imagine my friends and family loving this attitude when I get home!

There’s a Jim Carrey film called ‘Yes Man’ in which the lead character has to agree to any invitations he receives, no matter how crazy they are. I want this to be my attitude while I’m here in Africa, so I make the most of the opportunities I receive here and don’t go home regretting not having tried something. So far this has led to some really fantastic occasions, and meeting some wonderful people. Equally, we’ve had some awful experiences (but at least they make funny stories when we get home!).

Every week so many crazy and brilliant things happen, but the past week spent in Rwanda has been absolutely incredible. We arrived on Thursday night, and as we stepped off the bus we were literally swarmed with eager taxi drivers all trying to wrestle our suitcases towards their cars. We eventually found a driver who insisted he knew where our guesthouse was; two hours later as we drove around dark backstreets, Rachel and I weren’t so confident in his abilities. To make matters worse, he didn’t speak English or French and didn’t seem able to read. Eventually an American walking by stopped to help and took us to her house, phoning her friends to find out where Solace Ministries guesthouse was. Taxis and taxi-motos (motorbikes) getting lost in Kigali soon proved to be a common occurrence, happening at least once a day. Trying to direct someone in French to a place you’ve never been before in a brand-new city can be pretty hard!

My favourite part of Kigali was visiting the Genocide Memorial Centre. Although it can’t really be described as pleasant, it was really interesting to learn about the Rwandan genocide; to be honest all I knew beforehand was what I had read in Lonely Planet on the bus from Kampala. To see and hear about the horror this country went through so recently is really humbling, and made me so grateful for the peaceful upbringing I’ve had. The bit which struck me most about the centre was watching videos of survivors talking about their experience in the genocide and losing family, and realising that many of those talking were a similar age to me. Back in the guesthouse I was chatting to a Rwandan girl called Sylvia, and soon found out that her father had founded Solace Ministries in 1995. The guesthouse is one of the ways in which they raise money to support orphans and widows who contracted HIV during the genocide. Hearing a little of Sylvia’s experience during the genocide left me speechless; her family had to go into hiding for three months and depended on friends to provide for them. When these friends returned to their home in Germany, Sylvia and her family had to survive by sneaking out to pick mushrooms before dawn, and raiding houses for food. The Interahamwe came to attack and search the house several times, but didn’t ever find the family hiding in a wardrobe.

At the Genocide Memorial Centre in Kigali

As well as visiting Kigali, Rachel and I spent three days in the village of Gisenyi by the shores of Lake Kivu. As well as being a chance to relax after several weeks of teaching practice, I really enjoyed visiting a more rural part of Africa. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, though there was no swimming in Lake Kivu for us as there are volcanic gases on the surface of the water which can asphyxiate swimmers! Instead we headed to a nearby hotel to use their swimming pool and (as is becoming typical for us) the moment we lay down on our sunloungers the clouds gathered overhead. Despite the overcast sky and copious amounts of suncream, Rachel and I still managed to get burnt, and had to endure the awful ‘Brit abroad’ look of strapmarks and bright red skin for a couple of days. Gisenyi is also very near the Virunga mountain range where gorilla trekking takes place, but the $500 price tag led Rachel and I to conclude that the gorillas probably weren’t that different to those we’ve seen in zoos, and our day would be better spent on the beach!  





Lake Kivu




















After speaking to some Year 2 students at Stranmillis who are applying to go on International and Erasmus I looked again at my application form from last year. One of the key reasons I had applied to come to Africa was to experience a culture very different from my own, and I’m so pleased that in my short time here I have had many opportunities to explore African culture. Camille Paglia writes that, “All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”, and this quote is so applicable to the African culture here in Uganda. Although there is a considerable Western influence, walking down a street in Kampala introduces you to a smorgasbord of music, food, languages, dress and artwork which are unique to this part of the world.

Music

Last weekend, one of the members of staff at Nana’s took me and Rachel to see the Ngere Troupe, a company of singers and dancers who tour the country performing traditional pieces of music. I had never experienced anything like this before, and while the style of music isn’t one which I would normally enjoy, I really appreciated the insight into traditional songs and dances of Uganda. (Rachel and I also got really excited when we recognised one of the teachers from City Parents’ in the troupe!)

Food

Food has probably been one of the harder aspects of culture here to get used to; at home I’m notoriously picky about my food, but my time here is teaching me to be more adventurous! So far I’ve tried posho, matooke, goat, g-nut, papaya, cassava, chilli biscuits, African Chai Tea and some other unidentifiable substances. Our lunch is provided by the school each day, which is a great way for Rachel and I to sample common Ugandan meals. To be honest the food in Rwanda was much nicer than most of the food we've had in Uganda, but our confusion over the exhange rate meant on several occasions we ended up paying almost £40 for dinner instead of the £15 we had intended to spend!

Languages

When I arrived in Uganda I quickly realised that the fact that many people here speak English does not prevent there being a huge language barrier! Our Northern Irish accents can be quite difficult for Africans to understand, and I often have to ask people here to repeat themselves so I can try to decipher their accent. This has strong implications for when I am teaching, as it is necessary for me to slow my speech considerably and pronounce all of my words carefully so the pupils can understand. Rachel and I often catch ourselves copying the Ugandan accent without realising, particularly in school, which cracks us up – hopefully we don’t start doing it once we get home in May! There was even more of a language barrier once we got to Rwanda, as the primary language there is French and few people spoke English. This caused several hilarous conversations as Rachel and I tried to dredge up long-buried memories of GCSE French, occasionally throwing in a little Spanish by accident. However, we managed to survive and genuinely improved a lot over the week; "Ou est le bar? Pour....emmm.... des cocktails?"

Dress

I think the Western influence on Africa is most notable in how people here dress, particularly in the capital. The majority of people wear Western style of clothing, and put a considerable effort into their appearance; several members of our class turn up to lectures in business attire, while Rachel and I roll out of bed and throw on a t-shirt and shorts! However, I really enjoy seeing people in traditional African dress, as the colours and patterns are so vivid and bright.  I noticed that wearing traditional dress seemed to be much more common in Rwanda than Kampala. Unfortunately Rwandans are known to be very sensitive to having their photographs taken, so I have only a handful of photographs of a group of women we met at Lake Nyarutarama.

One of the things which really stands out to me is the pride African people have in their culture; Marcus Garvey writes that, "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots", so it is lovely to see how aware many Africans are of their heritage and culture. According to the Ugandan constitution there are 52 different tribes living in Uganda, and many of these tribes have unique languages, songs and dances. This has made me realise that often our  Western culture can seem quite generic; apart from some different traditions and celebrations, our culture in Northern Ireland is remarkably similar to that of England, Scotland, Wales and even fairly similar to the culture of North America. When there is such a range of cultures and heritage in only one small country in Africa, it seems a pity that we at home have lost some of that pride and knowledge of our individual roots.

Just before I finish, I just want to share some more of my 'cultural' observations over the past couple of weeks:

My favourite things I have seen on a bodaboda:

~ A pane of glass

~ The biggest bag of stuffed toys I have ever seen

~ An overhead projector screen

My favourite things I have seen being carried on a person's head:

~ A six-foot long plant

~ Three armchairs (on one head!)

~ A double bed

~ A 500ml bottle of Cocacola (both hands were free!)

According to Jawaharlal Nehru, culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit. Although I think it can be difficult to sense growth or change in oneself, I hope that my experiences in East Africa are having this impact on me.

13/02/11 Week Two: Professional - first impressions of a Ugandan school

So my first official week of teaching at City Parents’ School has ended! This week has gone by in a whirlwind, and I am completely and utterly exhausted. To be honest I hadn’t really formed any expectations about teaching here; the original plan was that Rachel and I would attend lectures at Makerere University School of Education for six weeks before teaching in a local school for six weeks. From talking to peers and friends who have visited Africa, I was aware that I should expect large classes and few resources, but I assumed that this initial period of study at Makerere would help prepare me for teaching in such a different environment. However, due to outside factors such as the forthcoming elections (and possibly in part due to African bureaucracy?!), every time we went to the university we were told that the beginning of the semester was being delayed further. Eventually, one lecturer decided that we should put our time here to good use rather than waiting for lectures to begin, and arranged for us to be placed in City Parents’. We first visited the school last Wednesday (2^nd February), where we were given a tour and met some of the staff we would be working with. We spent Thursday and Friday observing lessons, and began teaching on Monday.

City Parents’ School is private primary school, and is one of the most highly rated schools in Kampala. It has over 3800 pupils, and six or seven classes for each year group. There are also two teachers per class, which means there are an awful lot of names to try and learn to survive in the staff room! Pupils begin arriving at the school at 6am, and lessons start at 8:30am. They continue until around 5pm and children leave at 6pm. (Believe me, there are few things more depressing than getting out of bed before even the resident rooster at Nana’s has woken, and coming home when it’s already starting to get dark. Rachel and I were gobsmacked when we heard how long the school day is; how are a blonde and a ginger ever going to get a tan if we’re inside all day?!)

Spot the odd ones out at City Parents!

As parents pay expensive fees each term to send their child to City Parents’, the children here receive a much better education than those children who attend a government funded UPE school. In UPE schools, the government allocates 4000 Ugandan shillings per child (roughly equivalent to £1.20) with which to provide resources for the entire year. In comparison, parents pay around 150,000 shillings per term for a private school, allowing the schools to provide exercise books, pencils and a daily meal for each pupil. Classes in UPE schools are also much bigger; the teacher I am currently studying under was telling me that his first job was in a UPE school where he had around 130 pupils and no resources at all.

Speaking of the teacher I am working with, on my second day at City Parents’ he shared his life story with me. David’s father divorced his mother when David was very young, and so he was brought up by a step-mother. His step-mother kicked him out of the house when he was seven, and he began funding his own education, attending school during the day then working all night on the streets to earn money. When he was 14, he met his mother for the first time and discovered that he has six younger brothers and sisters. He continued to fund his own education through high school and university, and also paid for his siblings’ schooling. His next oldest sibling will soon graduate from university and will be able to help fund the other children’s education; David then hopes to be able to open his own primary school on land which he has been saving for years. I was amazed when he shared this story with me, and it has made me consider how much I have always taken an education for granted. Although some children in the school are relatively wealthy compared to other homes and families in Kampala, other pupils are from much poorer backgrounds but their parents scrimp and save to be able to send them to City Parents’. The teachers are consciously aware that an education is a key opportunity for children in Uganda to create a positive future, and regularly impress this belief upon their pupils. The school motto for City Parents’ is “Education is Light”, and pupils in my class write this under the date in every lesson and exercise.

 I am with a Primary Three class until lunchtime each day, and am primarily teaching mathematics and literacy (which here refers to Science, History, and Geography, not reading and writing).  In the afternoons, Rachel and I visit different Primary Two and Primary Three classes each day to teach music. At home, music is not one of the subjects I am most confident in teaching, but both pupils and teachers here are so excited for us to visit their class each week and introduce some songs, dances and games from Ireland. It is also my first experience of shared teaching, which I am really enjoying. Planning together allows me and Rachel to share creativity and ideas, while having two teachers in one lesson allows for much easier classroom management of 60+ pupils.

Teaching music outdoors to a P3 class

My class is P3Y, which has 58 pupils (36 boys!) aged 7-9 and sometimes manages to convince me that they are actually a bunch of wild animals in disguise. They are squeezed into a relatively small classroom, and my teaching resources consist of a blackboard, chalk and exercise books. This is definitely one of the biggest differences to teaching in Northern Ireland, where we have practical materials in abundance. Due to this, planning lessons has been challenging at times; I am striving to create practical activities which the children will enjoy, but with no resources or space to move around in this can be difficult. I think that this is really beneficial in developing my skills as a teacher,  as it is encouraging me to become more creative in my lesson ideas and using common objects as resources, rather than relying on commercial resources and technology. For example, the school does not have access to musical instruments, so Rachel and I have been collecting bottles, boxes and pots which we can combine with water, beans and elastic bands to make a collection of different instruments. My P3 teacher also collects bottle tops, which he uses to demonstrate concepts such as sorting in mathematics.

Me with some of P3Y

Observing lessons by the class teachers, it is evident that the teaching methods used here are very different to those I am used to. Most learning takes place through rote memorization, reciting definitions and facts, and any written work is very much of the ‘copy and complete’ form, with most of the emphasis on handwriting and spelling rather than the content of pupil responses. This is such a huge contrast to the Northern Ireland Curriculum, where teachers are encouraged to focus on the process of learning, rather than the product.

“Children learn best when learning is interactive, practical and enjoyable.”¹; this is a quote which I’ve used in virtually every essay I have written at Stranmillis, and a principle which I have tried to follow in my Year One and Year Two teaching placements. Yet being in Uganda and seeing an education system with virtually no active learning makes it so much clearer to me how important this principle actually is in helping children to learn. Although the pupils can repeat a statement over and over again, or copy a question and answer from the board, if they are questioned the next day it is clear that little or no knowledge has been retained. Indeed, constructivist learning theory suggest that as little as 5% of information is retained through a lecture style of teaching, compared to a much higher percentage when pupils are actively involved in constructing their own meaning.² The education system here seems to be largely based on behaviourist learning theory, where the children are viewed as passive learners who teachers need to ‘fill’ with knowledge.

At first I was concerned that I would only be allowed to use such a didactic form of teaching, essentially a case of “My job is to talk to you. Your job is to listen.”³ However, I have been relieved to find that my teachers are very open-minded and are interested in learning about some of the teaching methods and techniques used in Northern Ireland. In the past week I have tried to introduce some class discussion and paired work, use more open-ended questions and use creative activities such as having pupils create maps of an imaginary kingdom, in which they had to include the key elements of a good map, rather than answering a list of questions about these elements. The pupils really seemed to enjoy this activity, although they were not familiar with discussion or paired work and so were very hesitant to talk (normally talking in class would result in corporal punishment). I hope that over the next several weeks in school I can introduce more practical lessons and activities, and develop pupil confidence, autonomy and communication.

Some of the other key differences I have noticed here are the discipline methods used, the lack of differentiation strategies, attitude towards gender stereotypes and provision for SEN. I look forward to finding out more these issues over the next few weeks in City Parents’, and as Rachel and I attend lectures at Makerere University.

References

1 – CCEA, 2007:9

2 - Brooks, J. and Brooks, M. (1993). In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms, ASCD

3 - http://www.public.asu.edu

Although I was so excited to begin teaching at City Parents’, I definitely had some nerves over whether I would be capable of teaching and managing the children here. However, when I met my class I remembered that children are essentially the same the world over. Although my class here is much bigger than I am used too, and come from vastly different cultural and social backgrounds than I have taught before, I am still meeting the same characters that you meet in classrooms in Northern Ireland. There are the girls who are so eager to please, telling you your dress is pretty and bringing you presents they have made or found; then there are the boys who are far too cool to have a conversation with you, and talk about Man U incessantly. There are the children who fire their hand up for every question and get cross at others for talking; equally, there are those pupils who will cheerfully stab their partner in the head with a pencil, then gaze at you wide-eyed as if they have no idea what you’re telling them off for. As mischievous and and difficult as the children can be sometimes, I am really enjoying teaching here; I love that they call me Teacher Suzi instead of Miss Finlay, and give me little gentle high-fives and hugs every morning and afternoon. I love that one of them wrote a news report about her new Teacher Suzi from China. Most of all, I love how they spontaneously start to sing at various points of the school day, and a dozen stand up and begin to dance!

One of my highlights for this week was definitely the school assembly held on Friday. On Thursday afternoon one of the teachers approached Rachel and I and explained that the first assembly of each school term is performed by teachers, and could we think of a song or game to introduce. So, after school, Rachel and I gathered the unlucky staff in the staffroom and proceeded to teach them ‘Waves of Troy’. I have literally not laughed so hard in months, I was bent double at the sight of teachers charging up and down the corridor, bulldozing into each other and ending up in a tangle of arms. The teachers also tried to teach us an African dance, (something about a digger-boy being in love?!) but fell about laughing at the sight of us trying to jiggle our hips like them! Fortunately the Waves of Troy (plus a little Cotton Eye Joe!) went much better on Friday morning, and the children found it hilarious. Each teacher then had to introduce themself to all the pupils by dancing into the middle of the stage; I definitely could not not imagine teachers in Northern Ireland being up for that, but all the teachers here got fully into it and were all trying to outdo each other!

Waves of Troy in infant assembly

Some other highlights of this week have been attending Watoto Church on Sunday morning – this felt like an African mega-church, and I loved it; I definitely want to go back at some point. Rachel and I also found a craft market, where we got to work on our bartering skills, and found a cafe that does toasties, and a coffee shop pretty near the university which does waffles and pancakes. As much as eating Ugandan food is part of the experience, it’s amazing to get some home food every so often =] These places could well become a Sunday regular! We also had some hilarious encounters with locals this week; one of the stall owners at the market left his stall and literally followed us out of the market and 100 yards up the road, where he stopped us to enquire what he had to do to be our friend (in case you’re wondering, we left him with a vague promise to visit his stall again sometime over the next three months). We also spent a very awkward half hour after choir on Tuesday trying to kindly explain to a fellow singer that no, we wouldn’t give him our phone numbers because we don’t actually know him, and no, just saying hello does not make us his good friends. This appeared to hurt his feelings greatly, and he has informed us that he doesn’t know if he will return to choir at all because “This is very hard for me.” However, the funniest incident by far was with a teacher in school (who shall remain nameless), who introduced himself to us, told us how much he LOVES white people and admitted that he really wants a white wife. He then proceeded to look at us with his eyebrows raised and a “well, how about it?” expression on his face. Luckily Rachel’s quick initiative led her to explain that in Northern Ireland it is illegal to marry before the age of 24. The teacher had several arguments and suggestions of ways to get around this (“But you are in Uganda. If you marry here you only have to be 18!”) and now seems to consider us his BFFs, interrupting our conversations whenever he sees us talking to another male teacher.

This week ahead looks to be an exciting one, with Rachie and I heading off to Rwanda!! The upcoming elections mean that it is safer for us to be out of Kampala incase there are any riots or uprisings, so we plan to spend a couple of days in Kigali being tourists and learning more about the Rwandan Genocide, then heading to Gisenyi for a couple of days chilling out at a lake resort.

I know this blog has been soooo long – sorry to be so boring but there’s just so much I want to fill everybody in on! Don’t worry, I’m sure that as I get used to living in Africa I won’t feel the need to tell you every single detail each week J Thanks so much to all of you who have been in touch – I love chatting to you all and hearing how life at home or on Erasmus/International is, so keep it up!

Lots of love,

Suzi  xo



01/02/2011 Week One: Cultural perspectives

I can’t believe that it is only my fifth day here – home seems like a lifetime ago. It’s amazing how quickly I have felt settled here, especially considering how apprehensive I felt when I arrived on Thursday night. We landed in Entebbe at 8:30pm after about 16 hours of travel, and stepping off the plane the heat just hit us, even at night. Standing in line waiting for the immigration officers I felt overwhelmed at the different smell, the heat, the bugs flying around and the different languages going on around us; although English is one of the primary languages of Uganda few Ugandans seem to speak it to each other, instead using languages of different tribes and regions. We were met at the airport by Fred from Makerere University, who drove us to our accommodation in Kampala. The whole drive my head was swivelling from side to side staring at everything outside;  along the roadside there were dozens of wooden and tin shacks, operating as restaurants, shops, bars and even beauty salons. Outside these shops there were large groups of Ugandans socialising together, blasting music and cooking food. As we neared the city we had our first realisation of how busy Kampala is; it could rival cities like New York and London in the volume of traffic and people, but is infinitely more chaotic and frenzied.

We arrived at Nana’s Hostel in Wandegeya, an area of Kampala very near the university, which will be our home for the next three months. We were greeted by our custodian Roscoe, who was a good friend of Natalie and Rachel’s last year. How can I describe Roscoe? He is tall and extremely skinny, and always seems to be wearing a jumper or sheepskin coat, even in thirty degree heat! He has a funny high-pitched voice, a huge grin, a tendency to suddenly leap into deep philosophical discussions, and instantly made Rachel and I feel at ease. One of the first things we realised about Uganda is that false advertising does not bother them at all; on booking Nana’s we had been told that we would receive a furnished bedroom with hot water, a digital satellite television and a fridge, and the hostel leaflets advertise a swimming pool, a health club, a pharmacy and a reading room. A few days into our stay we asked Roscoe where we could find these; his reply? “Oh we don’t have them yet, but we would like to.” Despite our empty bedrooms with no bedding, fridge, television and freeeeeezing water, we are really loving staying here and have made our bedroom as homely as possible (complete with clothes, straightners and makeup littered over the floor – well, they did send McNair and I away together!).

                My new bedroom :)

On Friday we visited Makerere University campus for the first time and were shown to the School of Education where we met one of our lecturers, Michael. In the evening, Roscoe gave us a tour of Wandegeya; we were a little wary of walking around at night alone since we are two white girls and (contrary to popular belief) Rachel and I aren’t actually that strong or intimidating, so we were very thankful when Roscoe offered to show us around. Wandegeya is extremely busy during the day but at night it is absolutely hectic – bodaboda (motorcycle taxis) zooming everywhere in and out of cars and swerving round pedestrians, and hundreds of people selling food and fruit along the street. As we walked along nearly every person said hello or called out ‘mzungo!’ (white person) or ‘mangzera!’ (English). In a capital city where there are a considerable number of ‘mzungos’ living, I was surprised that we still drew so much attention; one man even reached out and poked my arm as we walked past, then grinned and shouted hello! On our way back to the hostel Roscoe made us get a bodaboda home; we insisted on travelling on the same motorbike and so both squeezed on behind the driver and clung on for dear life as we sped home.

On Saturday we met a friend from home, Alison, who has been volunteering at Wakisa Baby Centre for the past five weeks. We were joined by her friend Kezia and their driver Christopher, and went to Garden City Mall to buy some items for our room. Both Rachel and I were struck by how kind and willing to help the Ugandan people are; both Roscoe giving up his time to show us around on Friday night and Kezia, Christopher and Alison (though she’s not strictly a Ugandan) giving up their weekend off to help us out and drive us all over Kampala finding the things we needed; I mean, the people we’ve met are almost all strangers yet they are so willing to help us. Both Rachel and I commented how much God has provided for us as we find our feet here; everything from smooth travelling and being met at the airport to the people he has placed in our lives the first few days to provide invaluable help.

On Saturday night we went out for dinner with Kate, who is from Northern Ireland, and her American friend Brandi. Both are primary teachers at international schools in Kampala and are very passionate about working with street kids. They have invited us to help with a project Kate has recently set up, and we hope to visit it sometime soon. They also invited us to their church on Sunday morning, Calvary Chapel. It was really comforting to go along and know that even when we are thousands of miles away from our homes, families and churches, there is familiarity and a sense of reassurance and peace when visiting a church. The service was really enjoyable, and the singers were incredible - if any of them lived in the UK they’d be winning Xfactor hands-down! There are a couple of other churches in Kampala that we want to visit, but I think we will return to Calvary Chapel at some point.   

On Sunday night we were introduced to another aspect of African life; the wildlife. And by that I don’t mean lions or elephants or any NICE forms of wildlife. Nope, we were sitting calmly in our room when Rachel discovered a cockroach in her pants. Fortunately they were not the pants she was wearing, but the incident involved her launching her backpack across the room and both of us standing on our beds shrieking for a good forty minutes. We took our eyes off it for ONE second to discuss how to get rid of it, and the little beast disappeared!! It hasn’t appeared back yet, and we’ve invested in a large can of DOOM! so hopefully we’ll be a little better prepared next time we encounter one. Around ten minutes after our horrific ordeal Rachel was in the bathroom taping paper over the window (as our shower is so conveniently placed beside the window looking out into the central square of the hostel) when she accidently plonked her hand right on a gecko. Cue lots more screaming and running around... we’ve come the conclusion that we NEED to find a male friend who can take care of these problems, or it’ll be a long four months here in Africa!

                     Our extra roomate

On Monday morning we ventured back to Makerere where we met Christopher Mugimu, the head of the education department. We found out a little more about our course (we will be studying with the PGDE students, and teaching in local schools and attending lectures at the same time) and the university itself – there are more than 35000 undergraduates, and while there are thousands of international students they are mostly from Kenya, the Congo, the Sudan and other African countries. We are the only two ‘mzungos’ in the school of education, and we have not yet met any other international students except for an English student Lewis we met on the plane who is completing his Masters at Makerere. The semester officially started yesterday but classes do not begin until next week, so more students should be arriving at Nana’s over the coming days.

One of the things that has struck me over the past few days is that racism is very much evident in Uganda; at home racism is such a sensitive issue to talk about, but the term is defined as ‘having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another’ and there is no denying that Rachel and I are treated very differently here for being ‘mzungos’. It ranges to two extremes; when we walk down the street so many people want to say hello and talk to us, and sometimes when they shake our hand they clasp their right wrist with their left hand, a sign of great respect. Roscoe explained to us that as well as assuming us to be rich, many Ugandans have the perception that we are more holy than them, and this is why we are given such respect without having to earn it. This idea made me so uncomfortable; as a Christian I believe that I am in no way more holy than other believers around me, and our culture at home suggests that you earn respect from others based on your character and behaviour, not by your race. While you could describe this as positive racism, in that people are trying to treat us better because of our race, there are elements of negative racism here as well. This ranges from petty incidents, like the bodaboda drivers continually trying to charge us double fares because we are mzungos, to more serious experiences like a drunken man shouting and swearing at me for being respected just because I am white.

 I really want to stress that this doesn’t reflect the majority of the Ugandan people; nearly everyone we have met has been so welcoming and friendly, and this warmth has been one of the aspects which has made it so easy for me to settle here. Last night Rachel and I went to the Kampala Singers, a choir we saw advertised in a local newsletter. We walked into the room and it was one of those scenes you would see in a film where everyone literally fell silent and stared at us. When we explained that we had just arrived in Uganda on Thursday night and we love to sing, all of the members went out of their way to make us feel at home. The choir has been running since the 1950s, and has around sixty members ranging from students to accountants to professors. My favourite person that I met there was Magdanita, a sixty year old lady who has been singing in the choir since the 1980s and insists that we call her Mama while we are here in Uganda.

As much as I am enjoying exploring the city, I am excited to start classes next week and get to know my classmates. We are also hoping to have our placement schools arranged soon, so we can get into the classroom and meet the children who we will be teaching. In some ways I feel very much like a tourist right now, so I think that once we have established a routine I will start to feel more like an ordinary student. Like I said at the start, home just feels like a lifetime ago, and I am so excited to be spending the next few months studying and living here.

Talk again soon J

love Suzi xo

Kampala City Centre