After the tough day at Gosham the day before, we were all
a little apprehensive of going again. Despite this, and another early start, we
were in reasonably high spirits as we made our way down the extremely bumpy
roads leading to the school. It was strange, that day, for in some ways what
made it hard was the opposite of what made Monday the same. We were given the
task of observing, which we now know, depending on the circumstance of cores,
is tedious and boring. After the early start all we seemed to do was wait
around and watch teachers read from books and students copy from the board. In
fact the main highlight was when the teacher left, Sarah and I took the reins.
Unfortunately the problem with that was the language barrier, but there was one
moment where I was getting rather frustrated and to make a point just laid down
on the dusty ground. All the kids laughed and I think it got the message
through so I guess it was a good decision, my skirt may not have agreed.
Wednesday was Independence Day (from us I may add) which
meant we had a day just to relax. Unfortunately my body didn’t agree, waking me
up at 7:30. Angela and Jon made their way off to the Farm whilst we were still
doddering around, but we eventually got ourselves together and did some washing,
made some sandwiches and headed up the hill. Last year’s Gappers told us of an
abandoned building halfway up the hill. Contradictory to their term of ‘the
wreck’ I have dubbed it ‘the Palace.’ According to local legend witches from
the top of the hill came down to the house and told the owner of the grand
estate that is was cursed and haunted. So the owner ran away, never to be heard
of again leaving the house desolate and feared. Anyway we were in it for a good
hour and it was good fun, imagining doing up the place and returning it to its
former glory. After we got back we watched 13 going on 30 (much to Johns
disgust) and started to get worried when we realised the others still hadn’t
returned. Luckily they turned up a few hours later, we tales of broken down
vehicles, Jack fruit and a place in the middle of nowhere. We all settled down
for a while until suddenly from the kitchen there was shouts of “Snake! Snake!
Snake!” We all ran out with our torches and was met with Jacob (Our Security
Guard) wielding a spear before he lifted it above his head and smashed it into
the ground. After only one miss he hit the target (I seemed to be the only one
who was upset about that fact.)
Thursday presented us with the first opportunity to see
Chosen school. Unfortunately this meant another early start. We where
optimistic as we went through the painted school gates only a tad late, we knew
what we were doing there and how the day was going to plan out. I sat and
observed the teacher of P4 for the first two lessons and apart from getting
pretty bored and very hungry it went well. The kid where very attentive, if a
bit cheeky, but after marking the books I could tell that there was a large
difference in ability. In the afternoon we had to try and draw blood from a
stone, i.e. get the teachers to think up and interactive lesson (and plan it)
for the following day. So the next day we followed the lesson plan (well...
some did) and, apart from some scary displays of discipline, it didn’t go
terribly. The highlight was running around with the children and teaching them
clapping games.
So now we are here on Saturday. We have been in the
country for eleven days. That’s weird. Anyway, today we had Another early start
(we can’t get a brake) so we could arrive at the farm on time. The farm is a 4
acre patch of land that was given to Smile Uganda as a gift. We spent the next
six or so hours digging, sowing, hoeing and getting covered in red dust and
mud. Personally I really enjoyed it. It gave a sense of achievement and all those
who didn’t get sunburned should sleep well tonight.
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