To remember or forget

Wall it is my final week (but expect more blogs from David) so I thought I would record the highs and the lows!!

It has been a roller coaster in many ways. I shall miss the wonderfully enthusiastic secondary puplils who have been a joy. So too was Coleton who with a little extra tuition improved his maths score from 29% to 60% ( never got more than 40% before). Other special needs highlights were Elijah (who cannot walk unaided) and Earnest who managed to spell 'fish' after some phonic tuition, Grace (from Sudan with no English) and Vicky who asked to join the group. One LSA has taken the teaching of phonics to heart and is teaching other teachers how the wooden phonic blocks (provided with your money) can be used.
So too the ladies of Kito who have persevered with our literacy and English speaking classes despite the church often being under two inches of water and the hand made benches sinking slowly throughout the lesson. We made pom poms one week and one of them brought me 1000 shillings to say thank you ( 1000 shillings would buy 10 tomatoes for a Ugandan). The classes have brought a lot of laughter!
So too the outreach to Tauroro and Kamwenge was unforgettable for lots of reasons but one of the teachers at Kamwenge waited all afternoon to ask for more help teaching phonics and one travel!ed some distance to bring me a fresh egg! Pom POM's were a joy to them too. The fun factory days were amazing too - bringing a party atmosphere to the local children many of whom do not have education. Money is not spent on children generally and extra curricular activities do not exist although wellspring offers traditional dance classes. Churches and church conferences are very common and popular especially for the youth (aged 15 to 39).
However some things will be unforgettable for other reasons. The dust in which everything (including us) is covered by the end of each day except during the prolonged rainstorms which highlight our leaky water tank. That provides an unwanted shower every time we try to leave the house. The lack of running hot water (though saying that is selfish as most people in uganda don't have access to any water unless they are prepared to carry it from a bore hole or spring in jerry cans.. The intermittent electricity though again that is selfish as most homes (even our school cook) do not have electricity at all. Consequently there are phone charging booths everywhere as land lines do not really exist.
Other memorable things include the work's bus (see David's blog) and the occasion when I went to a classroom to speak to a senior teacher who was invigilating an exam only to find him fast asleep at his desk (UK invigilators eat your hearts out). Also traveling by road anywhere. The road surfaces are often very highly rutted and if you imagine driving on a highly wrinkled billiard table where all the balls have exploded in all directions, that sums it up. Remember also that cars's may not  be very roadworthy and, according to the paper many boda Boda ( motorcycle taxis) do not have a driving licence and  the vehicles are unroadworthy, no more need he said.
Time !  Very little (if anything) starts at the appointed time. Things can readily be postponed or canceled and nobody is the least bit phased. Needless to say this can cause us mizungas a degree of concern - for us if something is booked/planned then it will happen unless there is a very plausible reason. Not so here - everyone is flexible.
Funerals are big events attended by all relatives and these are arranged immediately as bodies cannot be stored. Consequently absences due to funerals and family illness are frequent. Many families are extended rather than nuclear and few couples appear to stay together later in life - fathers and mothers of adult live vast distances apart so adult children have to travel long distances to visit each parent.
Health care and education both require payment and have to be prioritised as far as family income is concerned and bureaucracy abounds - paperwork is the order of the day even trying to return empty bottles. Examinations are paramount - top class primary pupils attend extra classes on Saturday mornings and the school holidays and the exams are not until November. The secondary pupils opted to come into school every day of their school holidays to do revision so we made afternoons creative with art, drawing, pompoms and cross stitch as well as cluedo and monopoly as well as hangman and other activities. Hobbies do not seem to feature in the home.
On our final weekend, my birthday, we made the 9 hour drive teach way to queen Elizabeth safari park in the west
Of Uganda. Sam,our driver, was on his first trip as a tour operator (he is also a pastor). Despite the distance it was fabulous. Our hotel overlooked the kizinga channel complete with elephants, hippos and water buffalo. An evening drive with a local guide was a rather too close for comfort, encounter with a hippo and a family of elephants. We did a boat trip among hippo, crocodiles and buffalo. En route home we visited caves and climbed a steep hill to view 3 crater lakes again accompanied by a local guide. When we returned, we gave Sam (our driver/tour operator) a modest tip. Two days later he called by bringing us each a Uganda tee shirt and some beautifully prepared jackfruit and fried grasshoppers ( in which David had expressed an interest).  How very generous. We had  a truly memorable trip.