No two days are the same but typically…..
A gong is sounded outside at 6a.m. to wake the students. We pull back the mozzie net and tumble out of bed generally between 6.45 and 7. Breakfast might consist of fresh pineapple, tea, toast made in a frying pan (I guess we’ll buy one of the crappy toasters and hope it actually works!), and sometimes I have Temmy’s Corn Flakes (made in Egypt) –a crunchier version than Kellogg’s. Another option is Quaker Oats porridge. Mmmmmm…
In order to keep the laundry from becoming a massive job, I do the washing at least 4 days a week and I start this job first thing after breakfast. When I’m done with the laundry, sweeping, and other cleaning I take a (cold!) shower and change into appropriate clothing (not shorts). Sometimes I join Danny for the 11a.m. tea and banana break in the staff room. At this time of the day the tea is made up in big kettles with full fat unpasteurized boiled milk and a small amount of tea. We do eat lots of the small, sweet bananas, but neither of us drinks the milky tea – it makes Danny ill, and I don’t like the taste.
We sit outside at the nurse’s house/sick bay and have Runyankole language lessons for about an hour either just after the 11a.m. tea or after lunch.
Danny has been working tirelessly in the computer room attempting to make the antiquated computers function reasonably well. He wasn’t going to let anyone know about his computer expertise, but being a nerd at heart he couldn’t tolerate seeing a computer lab in such a mess. He’s been roped into teaching basic computer skills classes and I’ve been assisting. Four or five students at each computer! It’s simply amazing to both of us how well they cooperate and never argue or get annoyed because someone else is hogging the keyboard. The cooperation displayed leaves us in awe. Most of the students have never used a computer before, so when Danny used the term ‘left click’ they were baffled.
A gong is sounded outside at 6a.m. to wake the students. We pull back the mozzie net and tumble out of bed generally between 6.45 and 7. Breakfast might consist of fresh pineapple, tea, toast made in a frying pan (I guess we’ll buy one of the crappy toasters and hope it actually works!), and sometimes I have Temmy’s Corn Flakes (made in Egypt) –a crunchier version than Kellogg’s. Another option is Quaker Oats porridge. Mmmmmm…
In order to keep the laundry from becoming a massive job, I do the washing at least 4 days a week and I start this job first thing after breakfast. When I’m done with the laundry, sweeping, and other cleaning I take a (cold!) shower and change into appropriate clothing (not shorts). Sometimes I join Danny for the 11a.m. tea and banana break in the staff room. At this time of the day the tea is made up in big kettles with full fat unpasteurized boiled milk and a small amount of tea. We do eat lots of the small, sweet bananas, but neither of us drinks the milky tea – it makes Danny ill, and I don’t like the taste.
We sit outside at the nurse’s house/sick bay and have Runyankole language lessons for about an hour either just after the 11a.m. tea or after lunch.
Danny has been working tirelessly in the computer room attempting to make the antiquated computers function reasonably well. He wasn’t going to let anyone know about his computer expertise, but being a nerd at heart he couldn’t tolerate seeing a computer lab in such a mess. He’s been roped into teaching basic computer skills classes and I’ve been assisting. Four or five students at each computer! It’s simply amazing to both of us how well they cooperate and never argue or get annoyed because someone else is hogging the keyboard. The cooperation displayed leaves us in awe. Most of the students have never used a computer before, so when Danny used the term ‘left click’ they were baffled.
The education department is encouraging colleges to buy better computers as well as connecting the internet. Too bad they don’t want to give the money to the colleges to accomplish this! They generally cut budgets instead of increasing them. Anyway, Danny is helping to get bids and trying to look for funding for this.
Danny has also been teaching two physics classes one day per week. His job doing outreach in the primary schools has yet to take place, but will likely happen after the Christmas holidays and school begins again in February.
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| Danny's computer class |
Lunch is served in the staff room – and to the students – at 1.30p.m. It doesn’t vary – rice, matoke, beans, and boiled cabbage. If the price of matoke has risen they serve porsho (maize) instead. Danny eats this every day but I just can’t! So I will eat lunch with the staff 2 or 3 times a week.
I have been teaching basic computer skills to the wife of one of the teachers. We spend about an hour every evening beginning at 7p.m. while Danny works on the computers. Interest in my computer tutoring has been expressed by the wife of another teacher and by one of the Deputy Principals.
Evenings – we watch a bit of the news, Danny partakes of Ugandan beer and I sip on South African wine. We have been re-watching 5 seasons of Still Game but will soon – thanks to an angel—have DVD’s to watch. Unless we have DSTV the programming is severely limited – unless one is fluent in the language or is a fan of a Spanish soap opera badly-dubbed with American accents.
Water from the tap is not potable, so we boil then filter it. We keep bottles of this ‘cleaned’ water, one of which is with our toiletries. We use this to wet and rinse our toothbrushes. It doesn’t seem an inconvenience anymore, we’ve become used to it. Making sure the mozzie net is tucked in all the way around the mattress is still a bit of a pain in the butt though.
It’s incredible to both of us how the concept of schedules/timetables/punctuality seems to be foreign here. Often the computer classes have 5 or 6 more students than are supposed to be there. Danny isn’t given a class list—they don’t like to use a lot of paper here. Students don’t have books—they learn by taking notes. They can use the books in the library – most of which are quite old and all are donated.
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