Week 11

I’m grinning from ear to ear as I write this, having just returned from a safari in Murchison Falls!! Now I have notoriously bad luck with spotting animals; I’ve been on a three hour whale watching tour where I saw only seagulls, drove from Vancouver to Northern British Columbia and didn’t see a single animal, spent three days in the Rockies and saw exactly one elk (and nothing else) and spent two days in Yosemite National Park without seeing anything more than deer! Needless to say I was a little worried that my bad luck would rear its head again, and my safari would consist of birds and little else. THANKFULLY that was not the case!

We drove up to Murchison Falls on Sunday with five other travellers and were up early at 6am on Monday to head out on a game drive (sunrise in Africa is beautiful, but I wish you didn’t have to get up so early to see it!). We’d been driving for only ten minutes when we came across a family of elephants right at the side of the road – I couldn’t believe how close we were to them, it was incredible. Soon after we came across a big herd of giraffe, as well as hundreds of baboons, oribu, kobs, bushbuck, waterbuck, Jackson’s Hartebeests, buffalo and warthogs (which point their tails straight up in the air as they run – hilarious!). I’ve probably left out tons more animals (especially all the different types of monkeys and birds), but these were some of the main ones that we encountered. We stopped by a lake halfway through to stretch our legs and watch the hundreds of hippos basking in the shallow water. There were also two men out fishing in a very rickety-looking canoe; hippos are well-known to be very dangerous and kill more humans each year than any other mammal, but fishermen here still risk their lives every day as lots of fish are found around the hippopotami. Our driver was nearly having an apoplectic fit as he watched them, waving his arms and screaming warnings (which were duly ignored) and telling us how foolish they were.

 

Seeing such a variety of animals in such a small area was amazing, but one of the highlights for me was seeing the lions. We had been warned that it was quite unlikely to see them, but we would spend a little time at the end of the drive searching. However, less than halfway through the game drive our ranger got a phonecall telling him lions had been spotted and after about a 12-point turn our bus hurtled down the road to find them. We were lucky enough to find two lions, a mother and son, who had just caught a kob and were devouring it in a ditch at the side of the road – literally about 8 feet from our bus!  I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty disgusting - a lot messier than I had ever imagined :S. Still, it was an incredible sight to watch, especially since the lions were not at all fazed by our arrival and continued to sit and eat for a further ten minutes.

In the afternoon we went on a 2 hour boat safari, seeing hundreds more hippos, elephants and even a few Nile Crocodiles. When the cruise  reached Murchison Falls we jumped off and hiked up to see the falls from above (my hiking boots that I bought solely because they had some pink in them were finally put to use!). The hike normally takes around an hour, but our group had a few keen-bean walkers (clearly not either me or Rachel) and we made it up in less than 40 minutes – phew! Our driver met us at the top of the falls and we drove back to our camp, sitting on the roof of the bus and plucking fruit off the trees to sample J

Today on the way back to Kampala we stopped at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary - rhinos have been extinct in the wild in Uganda since the Idi Amin years, but Ziwa currently has nine rhinoceros in their 60-acre sanctuary and hope to eventually re-introduce them to national parks. As we left our bus and started to track the rhinos on foot, it didn’t occur to me how potentially dangerous these creatures could be. It was only when our guide Raymond told us to be ready to climb a tree (with my bandaged hand this might have proved difficult!) and a male rhino stood up and looked straight at us that I realised how vulnerable we were. Weighing about 3000kg and reaching speeds of 40km/h, (that’s the rhino, not me), I wouldn’t have fancied my chances against it! Luckily he didn’t feel threatened, and we were able to get within about 15m of this male rhino, a mother and her one-year old baby.

I haven’t really got much other craic to tell you about, except our very dramatic bodaboda crash on Thursday night. Now Rachel and I find the rules of the road in Uganda hilarious. They seem to go something like this:

1)      You ALWAYS have right of way. Do not give way to anyone else.

2)      Rule Number 1 applies to every vehicle.

3)      Rule Number 1 never applies to pedestrians – don’t be ridiculous.

4)      Roundabouts are a type of game – can you get on without being hit by someone already on the roundabout? Extra ten points if you make them do an emergency stop.

5)      Zebra crossings are just to decorate the road. Nothing else.

6)      Red lights are optional – if you don’t wish to stop, by all means drive on.

Naturally these rules mean that bumps and collisions happen hundreds of times a day; we’ve had a few minor crashes before, including us driving into a car on a roundabout and another boda driving into my leg and foot. On Thursday evening we were invited to go Scottish dancing and jumped on a boda outside our hostel. Chatting away to the driver in the few Luganda phrases we have learnt, we approached a busy intersection – one of the biggest and busiest in Kampala, especially at rush hour. Since our light was red and there was traffic crossing the junction, we assumed our driver would stop like any sane human being. Instead he hit the accelerator and zoomed out into the intersection straight into oncoming traffic. Before Rachel or I could even scream we hit another boda, our bike fell and we were dragged along the ground under it. Incredibly neither of us hit our heads, despite not having helmets, and all of the other bodas and cars managed to avoid us as we lay in the middle of this huge junction. We got up as quickly as we could and ran to the side of the road, where about thirty people crowded round us shouting “mzungu mzungu!” and “Sorry sorry sorry!”. They very nicely tried to take us to hospital, but we declined and hobbled slowly home where the hostel nurse patched us up. Rachel had a few cuts on one arm where she hit the ground and I have cuts down my arm, leg and back where the boda dragged me along the ground. With unsightly and painful bruises, cuts, plasters and a swollen bandaged hand/claw, I was feeling a little sorry for myself until my boda driver the next day casually remarked “Hmm, you were lucky. Most people who crash at that crossroad die straight away.” This brought back to me how miraculous it was that we escaped so lightly, and managed to avoid hitting our heads and the other vehicles. Getting back on a bodaboda was a little scary, but with no other real alternative means of transport we just have to get used to them again.

Naturally Rachel and I like any excuse for a restful day, and so spent much of the following morning in bed before going to Bubbles to work on our coursework (everyone needs fuel to keep them going!). Then Saturday was spent at two rugby matches before heading out for dinner with some friends and some very last-minute packing for safari! And that about sums up my week! Hope that you all have a lovely Holy Week at home and enjoy your Easter weekend J

Love Suzi

Professional Development

As I draw near the end of my time studying at Makerere University, I have been considering how different my experience here has been to a semester in Stranmillis. In an average week I have around two to three hours of lectures; technically class is from 8am-10am on a Monday and Thursday, but the relaxed African attitude to time and attendance means we rarely fulfil this schedule. When I compare this to the busy timetable encountered at Stranmillis, I have to wonder how the students here can cover the necessary material with so little time. The undergraduate course in the School of Education is three years, although we were placed in the post-graduate class as the head of department was concerned that the undergraduate course would be too simplistic. Our small PGDE class has been so welcoming and helpful, ensuring we know our way around the School of Education and inviting us to some of their other classes so they can hear more about the Northern Irish education system. I have appreciated this, as there is no programme for international students to help us integrate into university life. This has made me consider how much of an effort I make with international students at home, and how I should do much more than just smile and say hello in the corridors.

The PGDE class has fourteen members, with a range of ages and former professions. Having chosen to pursue a career in teaching, most of these students are committed, attentive and focused during class. In comparison, the large undergraduate courses are full of students who wish to be elsewhere. Teaching is not a particularly respected job in Uganda, with a large workload, long hours and very low wages. The majority of students in the School of Education do not have an ambition to be a teacher and are there because they have been forced by their parents, or did not achieve the grades to get into a better course. The lecturers admit that these classes are very difficult to teach as students are so unmotivated and inattentive. I find this situation so surprising when I compare it to Stranmillis, where the undergraduate courses are hugely over-subscribed and such a negative attitude to teaching is rarely encountered.

Like Stranmillis, students at Makerere study aspects of child development and education studies, and also select a specialist subject. One of the main differences is that students here are always taught through lectures, and do not split into smaller seminar groups for more in depth study and discussion. I think that smaller classes with discussion and activity are very beneficial, as it is easy to become distracted during a two-hour lecture and not retain the information. Lecturers here do not have a powerpoint or overhead projector, and so notes are dictated orally as the lecturer paces up and down the room to ensure he can be heard.

I found it quite amusing to hear the Ugandan idea of university in Northern Ireland. Both staff and students admitted that they had imagined that each student would receive laptops to use for lectures and would be given an abundance of textbooks and resources. They were very surprised to learn that students in Stranmillis are expected to provide their own resources and we also use the library to access textbooks, just like in Uganda.

Despite some large differences between Stranmillis and Makerere, the training at Makerere is of a much higher standard than that found in more rural colleges in Uganda. Last week, Rachel and I were invited by a friend to visit the teacher training college where he volunteers. This college is in the tiny village of Kabulasoke, approximately two hours from Kampala. Despite its relatively close proximity to Kampala, most students have never visited the capital and have rarely seen white people. While teenagers who achieve good grades in high school will attend Makerere University, students who do not achieve such qualifications will often study for two years in a college such as Kabulasoke to gain a teaching certificate. Some of these students will have left high school as early as Senior Four (approximately equivalent to G.C.S.Es), while others will have completed high school but failed to get into university. At these colleges students do not learn about teaching methods, child development, the curriculum or theories of learning; instead they attend mathematics, English, science and social studies lessons. This is because their own ability in these subjects is not high enough to be teachers - in a recent mathematics exam the pass mark had to be lowered to 20% or the majority of the year would have failed. As with the undergraduate course in Makerere, the vast majority of attendees do not want to be teachers. They have either been sent to the college by their parents, or are attracted by how short the course is before they can get a job. Considering this attitude, and the ability level of the teachers produced, it is little wonder that many schools in Uganda are not very efficient or effective in educating their pupils.

Kabulasoke Teacher Training College

Most of the students in Kabulsoke are aged 18-25, just like Stranmillis. However, the similarity ends there; students are required to wear a uniform, and have to surrender their mobile telephones when they begin college. All students must live on campus, and have laborious outdoor tasks to complete each day, even when it is raining. Mealtimes are dictated by bells, and students receive beans and posho (a white maize and water mixture) everyday .Staff have very little respect for the students, rarely know their names and treat them as children. Walking around the campus and visiting classrooms, I could not believe that many of these students were the same age as me but had so little independence. My experience of teacher training here is making me appreciate Stranmillis more and more!



A Year One mathematics lesson