My Big Fat Ugandan Wedding

On Thursday we had the opportunity to attend an Introduction and Give Away ceremony. It is a ceremony that happens prior to a wedding. We attended the Give Away ceremony where the bride and her family receive gifts from family members and friends. The matron of the school, Helen, allowed us to come with her. Her friend was getting married on Saturday and she said we could go to the ceremony. The ceremony was out in Bwera close to the Congo border. When we arrived, we were taken to these seats that were basically front and center of where everything was taking place. We were told to go down a food line which consisted of rice, matoke, beef, sweet potatoes, peas, etc. Since there was no silverware at this ceremony, we got to eat with our hands!

We saw many people miming and the wedding party came down and danced. The bride and the party gave presents away to her family and the bride also received many baskets of gifts from friends and family. At the ceremony, rather than receiving a ring, the bride receives a necklace to signify the bride and groom coming together. We were fortunate enough to see the groom put the necklace on his soon-to-be wife. There was also a cake cutting ceremony where the bride cut the cake with her brother. Once the cake was cut, the bride fed her brother some cake and then the brother fed her some cake before the bridal party handed out full cakes to various parties that the bride is affiliated with. But let me tell you, there was a lot of singing and dancing. It was one big fat party.

There was a primary school that came to perform at the wedding. They performed a skit that was in Lukonzo. At the end, they sang and performed the cultural dance of the Bakonzo people. There was this little boy that is in P4 that played the main part in the play and also sang a lot during their performance. People were so inspired and impressed by the artistic ability of the young boy that various people offered to give the boy services and items. People offered to pay for his school fees up to secondary school, take him to school in Kasese, give him a mattress, buy him shoes, etc. It was an amazing sight to see that through this ceremony and the chance to shine, the young boy took a burden off of his parents as well as the opportunity to thrive and better his schooling situation.

The whole ceremony was definitely a great experience. I had always wanted to go to such a ceremony. I have heard people talk about it before when I came and they have wanted to invite me, but the timing was always off. It was great that Helen was able to invite us and it is a cultural experience I won't ever forget.

School is in Session

This past weekend we went swimming at this lodge where we passed Queen Elizabeth Park and saw some animals. The view from the swimming pool was absolutely breathtaking. It was good that we got there when we did because after we got out it started to rain.

Anyway, this week we officially started teaching in our classrooms. My P3 class has 21 students all with a range of different ages and abilities.

In math, the students were to start a unit on measuring length. The first unit of measurement that students learned was meters (yes meters. I get to practice using British English spelling). I wanted students to be able to explore and discover when measuring. I partnered students up to measure items together so they could work collaboratively as a team. Since there weren't enough meter sticks for all partners to have as their own (there were only 3 available meter sticks). I had to get creative so the day before, I bought some thread and cut them into meter lengths so all students could participate.

I had students measure objects such as length/width of the classroom, length of the chalkboard, length of the door, etc. Then they were required to find objects on their own that measured less than 1 meter, more than 1 meter, and more than 2 meters. I let students go outside to look around and find objects. I was impressed with what some students found.

The only think I wish I had done was to not give students the actual meter stick to use because rather than measuring in meter like they were asked to, a couple partnerships measured using centimeters that were marked on the meter stick.

I then moved on to having students measure using centimeters, millimeters, meters and centimeters, and centimeters and millimeters.

I think so far it's going pretty well. I'm really trying to help them understand the conversion/place value between meters, centimeters, and millimeters. But they definitely like the hands on aspect of the learning.

For English, I was handed the Ugandan National Curriculum to teach from. Everyday, they're supposed to learn a set of new vocabulary as well as already provided sentence structures that they use to make new sentences.

For example:

Who (ate/shared) (an/a/the) (mangoes/oranges/cake)?

(Peter/Ali) (shared/ate) (an/a/the) (mangoes/oranges/cake).

Rather having them just learn the words as in being told what they are, I wanted students to get creative. After introducing the vocabulary words to students, I put them into groups of about 4 students each. The students would then have to work together to come up with a sentence as a group. This shows me their ability to work together, construct sentence with correct use of vocabulary, meaning, and grammar, and be creative.

 

Also rather than having students copy down the sentences and replacing one work with another, I chose to create a sentence structure activity. I made cards with various words on them (who, the, she book, shop, etc.). Students were then assembled into groups and had to construct sentences using the cards provided. Students thoroughly enjoyed the activity and I had a great time watching them work and hearing their sentences. Several groups have come up with very creative sentences.

Next, I think I'm going to have them write stories using the words and sentence structures we learned. I'm curious to see how students write independently with only a few guidelines to follow.

Tomorrow is Saturday and we'll be going to Port Fortal (it's actually Fort Portal. Inside joke). Enoch will be coming with us. We hope to look at some caves and eat some pizza!!

Finally in school!

This week we finally got to go to the school and meet the staff and children! Monday was the first day we arrived at Rwentutu Christian School. Since it was the first day there were many children absent. We were informed that some would show up later in the week while the rest would show up next week. We met King James, the deputy headmaster of the school. Shortly after we met Wilson, the head teacher at the school. He chatted to us a bit about the school for a bit before giving us a tour of the grounds. We got to see the classrooms, the kitchen, their garden (where the food the children eat are grown) and the dining hall that is currently under construction. King James chatted to us a bit more about logistics and the schedule of the school. We then gave King James the range of classes that we would like to observe for the week. I chose to observe classes P2-P5.

We got to socialize with the children and play around with them a bit. The kids love to play with frisbees and they are all so good at it! I'm pretty terrible so I defiintely looked like a fool compared to them. Around noon, the school gathered for an assembly where students raised five flags: the flags of Uganda, Canada, USA, Rwenzuru, and Wisconsin. The children sang the national anthem, Ugandan school anthem, and Rwentutu's school song. Once they were finished, the four of us were able to introduce ourselves to the school. We introduced ourselves with our names as well as the Lukonzo names that Enoch had given to us on our first day at Makerere. The students giggled as each of us went down the line and said our names. I think by presenting ourselves with our Lukonzo names, we created a personal connection with the students letting them know that we were accepting their culture. The rest of the day was given to us to play with the children and getting to know them all. Heather and I played volleyball for quite a bit with a group of P5 children. I got to talk to some of them and they promised to teach me some Lukonzo throughout the week.

The other days of the week I spent observing various classrooms. You had your surprises in the classroom such as a goat walking into the classroom or students drawing crosses and Jesus on the board for Religious Education. However, the observations definitely helped us to see the way the Ugandan school system and teaching methods operate. Much of it is teacher directed instruction in that the teachers feed the students knowledge while the students listen and take notes. However, the teachers have implemented other teaching strategies that I have not seen in other Ugandan schools I have been to. For example, a P4 teacher had students work in groups to brainstorm and answer questions that she had provided about water transport. The observations also helped us to get to know a lot of the students that attend the school. Even though I will only be in one classroom, I have learned the names and gotten to know many students in other classes. Throughout the week, the group of P5 kids have come up to me and have given me “Lukonzo Lessons” where they will write words and phrases in my notebook and write the translation in Lukonzo. Today they quizzed me on some of the words and I definitely failed miserably. I enjoy learning their language and I think they're getting a kick out of teaching me and hearing me say the words.

Today was the day we had to choose our class, and I chose to work with P3! I'm really glad I got P3. I'll be teaching both Math and English although I think I will only do Math on Monday, as the English teacher was not present today and I'm not sure where they left off or what they will be starting. I'll be going back to a second grade classroom in Madison and I'm happy I got a class that is similar to the American equivalent of the classroom. It'll definitely be interesting to take the textbooks and content that the children must learn and giving it our own spin.

Oh, and after school today, Samson took us and Doreen to the Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo border. We arrived in Mpondwe near the border. It was really busy with traffic and people passing through like no other. We had to drop our passports off at a police station before the border (I still have no idea why). Then we had to walk the rest of the way to the border. We arrived at a bridge where the river that separates the Congo and Uganda flows. We crossed the bridge and were “officially” in the Congo. Samson told us we couldn't take photos of the Congolese side of the bridge so we took one of us with Uganda in the background. On the walk back, we stopped by a huge market that sold a variety of items including fabric. We looked around and then headed back.

This weekend we plan on going swimming at the hotel and then church on Sunday to check out the local religious community. Then we officially start teaching on Monday! Nervous but excited!!

Also, Hope (Doreen's younger sister) knew that we wanted to slaughter our own chicken and so gave one to us as a gift! It was so sweet and nice. Slaughtering our own chicken will definitely be an experience!!

 

Touchdown in Kasese

Yesterday, Enoch talked to us about Uganda. He covered topics that included history, economics, climate, kingdoms, and much more. We were able to learn much about the Ugandan cultures. Afterward, we went to the Namugongo Martyr Memorial. This is where many Uganda Catholics who worked for the Buganda king (Kabaka) were killed because of their religion. We also went to another Memorial for both Anglican and Catholics. We then went to the National Theater Craft Market where they sell many local crafts. Emily (a girl who is also student teaching here) purchased a bag. She has great bar-gaining skills.

 

A local friend that I have here in Uganda later came by took us around town in his car. I really wanted the other girls to be able to experience other parts of Kampala than from what they have seen so far. We went to the balcony of a building close to the Old Taxi Park. It shows how locals transport themselves and also the congestion of people and vehicles in Kampala. We then moved to a restaurant called High Table where we had local eats.

Today we left Kampala for Kasese. We set off quite early leaving the Makerere Guest House at 8:00 AM. The drive took about 6 hours. The drive was very scenic and beautiful. The vegetation is quite different in that the trees are extremely tall and there were pine trees (what the). We also passed some tea estates where they grow Ugandan tea. On the way, we were fortunate enough to come across some baboons on the road. We pulled over on the side of the road to have a closer look. Fortunately, none of the baboons took our silver shiny things.

We arrived in Fort Portal at about noonish. We stopped at this restaurant where we were able to munch on some delicious pizza. After having lunch, we headed off for Kasese. We finally arrived to our humble abode that we will be residing in for the next two months. It's quite cozy and homey.

Emily and I decided to venture out and walked around the streets of Kasese to gauge what will be our new home for the next two months. Tomorrow Samson will take us to go hiking and pub to take in the local environment and atmosphere.

UGANDA

I am really excited to be able to have the opportunity to do a portion of my student teaching in Uganda! This will be my third time being in Uganda. I first came in 2010 and again in 2012 to volunteer and stay with a non-governmental organization that is based near Kampala. However, this time I will be in Kasese where the language, culture, and lifestyle varies greatly from that near Kampala.

I arrived to Uganda about two weeks ago to meet with local friends and stayed around the Kampala area. Since I arrived early, I met up with Enoch and Samson at the Makerere Guest House and escorted them to pick the others up from the airport. It was interesting to talk to the two of them to be able to discuss the differences between the Baganda and Bakonzo ethnic groups. We made a quick pit stop in Entebbe before picking the others up where I had the opportunity to meet one of Enoch's daughters that lives and works in Entebbe.

Today Enoch met us in the morning to take us around Makerere University. We walked the campus and Enoch described to us the different buildings and the significance that surrounds them. The academic school year should have already started for university students, but the staff and faculty are currently on strike due to low pay. It sounds like strikes like this happen quite often.

The Makerere Guest House

On our walk, we began to discuss vernacular names. Enoch gave all of us Lukonzo names. Apparently, unlike the Baganda culture, Lukonzo names are not given freely. They depend on the order in which you were born. Since I am the second born female, Enoch gave me the name Biira, which means second born female (no way is that a literal translation in anyway). The others were provided with names based on their order of birth.

We finally reached the Makerere's School of Education where we met with Dr. Gillian, a professor in education at Makerere University. She discussed and explained to us the Uganda education system and what we should expect when we enter the school in Kasese. She discussed the Primary and Secondary levels of education as well as briefly mentioning the college and university tracks. She explained how the Ugandan school culture values teachers who can provide students with as much information as possible since Uganda has an exam driven education system. In turn, the students are very used to teacher-centered education and being told information as opposed to allowing for exploration or critical thinking. We were also told about the classroom conditions in regards to resources and materials. We were advised that it will require much planning and creativity on our part to make the learning how we want it to be executed. Enoch mentioned to us that the only difference from what Dr. Gillian described and what is found in Rwentutu are that the class sizes at Rwentutu go against what is found normally in Ugandan classrooms in that they are small class sizes.

Makerere School of Education where we met with Dr. Gillian

The four of us in front of the School of Education

In the afternoon, Enoch took us to the Uganda Museum. He wanted us to be exposed to and understand the history and the cultures that are found in Uganda. It is quite surprising that for as many times as I have been here, I have never visited the Uganda Museum. We had a tour guide take us around the museum. The guide briefly explained to us the history of Uganda from the earliest found artifacts to more recent findings such as photographs and letters from colonialists. We saw artifacts that various ethnic groups in Uganda use for hunting, pottery, dancing, and more. We also got to go around the cultural village, which displayed that traditional shelters that various ethnic groups built in Uganda. It was interesting to get exposure to the history and the different cultural groups found here in Uganda.

The Cultural Village at the Uganda Museum showing the different shelters created and used by the various ethnic groups in Uganda

Later in the evening, Enoch took us to the Ndere Centre where we got to watch cultural dance from various parts of Uganda. We saw dancing from central, west, north, and the north western parts of Uganda. Each dance had its own story and meaning. We were provided with some facts and knowledge about each of the ethnic groups prior to the dance. The dancers were absolutely amazing! They danced for so long and had amazing and impressive dance moves. They were accompanied by local musical instruments like the hand guitar and drums. At the very end, we were all invited to go down to the stage and dance with the dancers and we had a mini dance party! I think it was good that Enoch took us to see the dancing because it provides exposure to viewers of the different ethnic groups and cultures that are found within Uganda.

Cultural dance

Dance party at the end of the performance

Tomorrow Enoch told us he would take us more around Kampala. Then on Friday we will head out for Kasese!