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!