A GULU CELEBRATION

A GULU CELEBRATION

Friday, August 21, 2009

Six Month's and All's Well...

My favorite character defect, procrastination, has set in. I haven’t updated my Blog in two months. There always seems to be an excellent reason why right now is not a good time to sit and record my thoughts. However, I am sitting here now, so I’ll start. (It was a revelation to me when I discovered that my tendency toward procrastination was really the way I operationalize my perfectionism! It’s always something, isn’t it.)

Meanwhile…
On August 14th I celebrated my six month anniversary in Uganda. The interesting thing is that it doesn’t seem that long ago when I joined the other PCTs (Peace Corps trainees) in my group for a 4-hour orientation in Philadelphia on Friday the 13th. I remember walking down to the registration desk in the hotel and meeting two of the men in the group—one from California and one from Vermont. All three of us had that wide-eyed, glazed over stare that said, “ Holy shxx, what have I gone and done now.” But as the rest of our group began to stream in, I settled in and started to enjoy the process.

In retrospect I can’t say that I had any serious doubts about this decision. Of course, I was so busy backing out of my life in Kansas City, that I didn’t have many unused brain receptors available for that sort of introspection. Also, one of the perks of being old is that I knew I could change my mind if this life altering choice suddenly—or over time—no longer fit for me.
The other night when my brother, sister-in-law, and I were Skyping (is that a verb?), Bill asked me if I was doing what I came to do. Was I helping anyone? The answer to that question is complicated. I can’t point to a project that bears my name, or to a cluster of individuals who are in better straits today because of me. But, I have two boys in my compound whom I love, and they love me back.

Here’s What I Mean…
Victor, the four year old, and I went to the library on Wednesday and checked out four books. When we brought them home, I tried to sit him down to read, but he wasn’t interested. Reading books doesn’t happen in his house where his mother works 12 to 15 hours a day at her restaurant, and the house girl spends her day watching Gift, Victor’s two month old sister. This morning as I sit here writing, Victor is sitting on my mosquito-netted bed “reading” his book. For me that is a success.

An aside…
While I didn’t look at every book in the Tororo library that might be appropriate for a four-year-old, I did look at many. I couldn’t find one that was in Dhopadhola or Kiswahili (Victor speaks both languages as well as more English than I speak Dhopadhola). I couldn’t find one book that had pictures of things Victor knows. He doesn’t know about trains, windmills, suburbia, department stores, raccoons, washing machines, jump ropes, skyscrapers or any of the things that are familiar to children reared in a western culture. Victor knows his compound, bicycles, chickens, cows, goats, his tricycle (his only toy), motorcycles, bicycle tires-as hula-hoops, cardboard boxes, and people. And, he is a very smart, curious, active little boy.

Then There’s Precious…
Full name, Obbo Precious. Precious is a 12-year old boy who is a student in P-6 (Primary 6). Two years ago his father died of cancer. He is one of five children whose names are as creative as his own. They are: Isaac, Flavia, Prayer and Congress. Precious is right in the middle between Flavia and Prayer. His mother continues to stay in the village with his two younger siblings where she is close to her very large extended family. Meanwhile, Precious lives here in Tororo with Kezia, his aunt and my boss. He attends school at Industrial View-- about a 40-minute walk from our place. Kezia stays in the space next door to me during the week, and then leaves for the village on the weekends. I become “Mama Precious” on Saturdays and Sundays. Precious is precious. He is soft spoken, pleasant, hard working (sometimes), smart, funny, active, interested, protective, curious, and so on…But, Precious doesn’t like, and, therefore, doesn’t do well in school. (Isaac and Flavia are both very good students.)

The educational system here is interesting. Only recently was access to primary school deemed a right of the people of Uganda, and the government began paying the “school fees.” The secondary grades—S1 through S5—are being phased in one grade at a time. However, the government schools are not equal in any way to the private schools according to almost everyone who knows about the educational process here. Many of the government school teachers are not paid for several months at a time; there is a shortage of books in the government schools so students have to check out their books for each subject and return them at the end of class; and the parents continue to need to pay for school supplies, school uniforms, school lunches, and special assessments for chalk, paper and miscellaneous supplies needed by the teachers. Classrooms routinely have a census of over 50 students each, in some cases as many as 100 or more. It is not unusual for a child to have only one bona fide class in a whole day because the teachers didn’t show up. The typical school day for Precious is from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

About a month ago I began to pay attention to Precious’s school work. Every night we would sit down and go over his work for that day. After we did his daily review, then he could play computer games. Interestingly, Precious has taught himself ( God knows I couldn’t teach him) to find and play games on my computer. Just so you know, computers and computer games are culturally neutral. Twelve year old boys are as addicted to them in Uganda as they are in the USA. (Is that good or bad?)

A few days ago he brought home his report card for the term. Unfortunately, the marks were not good. BUT, there were signs that over the last month’s time, he was improving. I have convinced Kezia that she and I should go to his school when the new term starts, and talk to his teachers. Hopefully, we can work out a study plan that will help Precious improve scholastically. In the meantime, Precious wanted to learn to type so we found a typing tutorial online. As expected, he is excelling at it. When he is finished with the tutorial and can type, I promised him that I would help him find an American email pen-pal. Anybody interested?

So from my vantage point…
I am not certain that I make a difference in Precious’s life, but I am certain that he makes a difference in mine. And that’s why I came to Uganda…