A sanctuary not just for Rhinos

With the first week behind us, the group 3 North American teachers went to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for the night. (http://www.rhinofund.org/). We left on Saturday morning after our book club. The 15 of us with our driver travelled three hours toward Kampala in a van designed to carry 14 passengers.

After lunch (served much later in Uganda than in Canada) we headed out to meet the rhinos. We drove into the sanctuary and then got off the truck to look for the rhinos on foot. We found three of them: two pregnant females and one male. At one point one of the females was within 10 m of us. The owner of the guesthouse suggested we back up slowly while the ranger said “Bela, go back. Go back Bela.” Surprisingly Bela the Rhino listened to the ranger.

The sanctuary has 7 of the 9 rhinos in Uganda. On the 24^th of June, one of the rhinos had a baby, which they named Obama. We didn’t get to go see the baby because his mother is very protective and thus aggressive. In 1986, there were no rhinos remaining in Uganda due to poaching. Two of the rhinos at Ziwa were donated by Disney and flown over from Florida and four others came from Kenya.

When we got back to the guest house, we grabbed water bottles and went for a short walk before sunset. The whole thing was so relaxing. We had dinner and people played guitar and sang around a bonfire. Before breakfast we walked out to a swamp but did not see the hippos or crocodiles that lived there. We were accompanied by Jesse, the sweetest dog ever.

On the way back to Gulu, the van stopped at the side of the road and our driver said that we had to pick up the conductor. Now we had 17 adults in a van with 15 seats. Needless to say we were very happy to get out of the van when we reached the IC house. Some people headed into town, others went to the pool at Acoli Inn, but I decided to stay in the quiet house and finish my novel, the first I’ve read since arriving.

In the evening I went to a cafe in town for dinner with one of the other teachers. While we were sitting there Jolly Okot, the Ugandan director of Invisible Children came in and talked to us for over an hour. She talked a little bit about how the war affected her family and her thoughts for the future. Blake and I left the cafe a little star-struck. Jolly is an IC celebrity.

A note to all my generous donors, you did not donate money to send me to a rhino sanctuary and on safari, those trips are optional and at additional cost.

Saint Joseph's College Layibi

St. Joseph’s College Layibi (SJCL) is an all boys secondary school. In Uganda, secondary school consists of 4 years of ordinary levels (S.1 through S.4) and 2 years of advanced levels (S.5 and S.6). Students receive a national ‘O’ Level diploma at the end of senior 4. This diploma allows them to go on to vocational school and teachers’ college to become a primary teacher. If a student goes on to complete ‘A’ levels, they will be eligible for university. Their scores determine which programme they will follow. Students who receive above a certain threshold are given a government scholarship covering their university tuition at a public (vs. private) university. SJCL had seven S.6 students earn government sponsorship last year. The school is held in very high regard in the district.

There are 1200 boys at the school ranging in age from 12 to 25 years old. The reason for the presence of older students is that some students missed years of school due to the conflict or family obligations. SJCL is a boarding school, in fact all students are boarding. There are ‘O’ level and ‘A’ level dormitories. The campus is huge with blocks of classrooms, dormitories, an assembly hall, church, dining halls, and lots of green spaces. Students and teachers are often dragging chairs and desks out under the trees to study, plan, or mark in the shade.

In the ‘O’ levels, the class sizes are approximately 80 students. In ‘A’ levels, students have more choice in the courses. For example in S.5 there are 131 students who’ve chosen a Science programme and 38 who’ve chosen Arts. There are 108 students in the S.5 Physics class I teach with Robert.

The students are remarkably quiet in class. I guess they have to be. For S.5 the students line up at the door, some carrying chairs, and race in to sit as close to the front as possible. Generally the lesson involves a description of the concepts followed by dictation of notes and then some worked problems solved on the board. Students do not have text books so the dictation provides them with notes from which to study for their exams at the end of S.6.

The staff is primarily male. There are only 4 female teachers and 60 male teachers. Many of the teachers live in staff quarters. The quarters include a small plot of land where most grown corn to be dried and ground into flour. Classes run from 8 am until 4:30 pm but a full-time teaching load is 24 forty minute periods per week. At 10:40 am there is tea and corn or chipati for staff and porridge for students. Lunch is served at 1:50 pm (officially, although sometimes it is not actually served until 2:20 pm – 10 minutes before the end of the lunch period).

We are spoiled at SJLC. Most schools serve beans and posho (called Ugali in Kenya, a mixture of corn flour water – Blake says it could be describes as homemade playdough, but I think it is a little more granular than playdough). We have posho almost every day, but there is also rice or potatoes. When we are served beans they are mixed with cabbage. We are also sometimes served a ground nut stew (ground nut is similar to peanut), a spinach-like mixture with eggs, eggplant deliciousness, and once a week we are served meat (beef or goat). We are also given banana or pineapple for desert.

Overall, our school and teachers seem really excited to have us here and are very keen to work with us. The students are also remarkably hard-working. Even though the school is technically a public school, schools fees are quite high especially since boarding costs are not covered. The PTA raises funds to hire more teachers and supplement government teacher salaries, pay for maintenance and more. Families sacrifice a lot to educate their children and the students know it.

Just a side note, SJCL is one of few all boys schools, there is a sister all girls school called Sacred Heart. Most schools are co-ed.

“This ain’t no Elephant Graceland”

On Sunday morning we packed up all our things in preparation for moving from Elephant Graceland to the Invisible Children volunteer house. I then headed downstairs for some cramming before our bookclub discussion about “Song of Lawino” by an Acoli writer Okot p’Bitek. I am happy to have read and discussed the book as it is very important to the people of this region. At the conference we were discussing Chinua Achebe as one of the classes is currently reading “Anthills of the Savanah.” The teachers at the table asked if we had read “Song of Lawino” and it was so nice to be able to say yes! They were very pleased. I am hoping to pick up a copy of the pair of books “Song of Lawino” and “Song of Ocel” at a bookstore here before I leave.

After the bookclub, a woman named Molly came from the Awer camp with paper bead necklaces to sell. There is a group of approximately 30 women in the camp who make the necklaces. It was a very successful visit for their cooperative.

From there we moved into a discussion about the research we will be conducting with our partner teachers. At Layibi we are examining student life. We discussed research methods, data collection, and analysis. It was all very interesting for me because I have never done research. I am looking forward to all I will learn.

Finally we talked about what it meant to live in the house. This is when Amy, the teacher exchange coordinator made the statement above. Instead of single or double rooms including shower and toilet in each room, we would be living in a much more communal way. I am in a room with twelve beds – bunk beds, three levels high. There are three other multi bed rooms in the house. At the moment there are approximately 30 people staying there. There is one shower, although it does have hot water, which I have yet to enjoy. There is one toilet inside the house which is for pee only. There is an out door toilet for “not-pee” as well as two latrines which I have been advised against using unless there is no water.

We unpacked as quickly as possible before heading out for dinner at Boma restaurant. It was lovely. Five people from our group will be at an IDP camp during the week. The camps are actually being dismantled although some are choosing to stay as over the years, the camp has become home, and will remain as a town. We enjoyed our last night together but did not stay up late as the Layibi crowd had to get to school for 7:15 am. eeeek!

As for sleeping in a room with 11 other people, and next to a kitchen. . . I love ear plugs and eye blinders!

It has been almost a week in the house now, and I can say that it is a lot of fun. Not to mention the delicious food prepared by Doreen!

July 4th in Gulu

The second day of the conference was July 4^th. Therefore our final dinner / party was also a July 4^th celebration. It was held at the Acholi Inn in the yard. There was a great feast and a dance party. There was line-dancing (see photo), a Michael Jackson montage, popular music from the area and lots more. When the Acoli music game over the speakers, many of our partner teachers tried to teach us Acoli dance moves. I don’t think we were completely hopeless.

One of the teachers from Layibi was SO moved by the whole event. He said that he just couldn’t believe the integration of ideas at the conference and the genuine way we were all integrating socially. After one of the Acoli songs, I thought he was going to tear up. He said he was so excited about the transformative experience ahead. I reminded him that it would be transformative for all of us. My partner teacher Odong Robert and his pal, another teacher John Christopher, had a rocking good time (photo at left). They were dancing and laughing so much.

At one point, the sparklers came out to great celebration. John Christopher kept saying “take my picture” with the sparkler, with the very tall teacher, with the cookie, with the brownie, dancing etc. At one point a man addressed the grouped. John Christopher and Odong Robert were so excited. He is the “president’s representative in Gulu district.” John Christopher of course instructed me to take his picture. Odong Robert said “If he is here, the security is good.” The politician chided us for not inviting him to the dance. Then he led a big congo line. I thought Odong Robert was going to lose his mind. Instead, he took a video of the dance with his telephone.

Some people paid the 7000 UGX (approximately $3.50) to go in the pool. All in all it was an amazing night filled with optimism and friendship.