Crazy? All the Best People Are

Crazy, disorganized chaos... and a lot of smiling faces! I started my book box project today! 

When I was in elementary school, my best friend was my librarian (Ms. LuAnne Knobbe). She was instrumental in inspiring and guiding my love of reading, and ever since then, the idea of being a librarian has been at the back of my mind. This may be a slightly unconventional way to go about it, but that doesn't make me any less excited! 

It will get more organized as time goes on, but for today we began with 107 books and ended the hour with the same 107, so I'm going to call that a success! 

At one point we had 63 pupils inside looking at the books and about 20 more watching through the window, interested but not quite brave enough yet to go inside. I asked them "Ikoitos yesi aisiom toma?" (Do you all want to go inside and read?) and they said "Moi!" (Tomorrow!)

The children are all very excited to see books! Many of them were reading out loud to themselves, and some of them were even reading the same book out loud, together in groups. This was wonderful to see, because they'd organized it themselves, and it meant that even if they didn't know all of the words on their own, there was a group there to help them figure it out! As you can imagine, our library is nowhere near quiet, and I've made sure to tell all of the teachers that, personally, I don't want it to be a quiet place. Reading should be fun, it can be loud, pupils can be excited about it! (Hopefully, once we have a lending system, that'll take care of the slight issue of the pupils who might need a quiet environment to read. No one has complained or mentioned it yet, though!)

I outlined our library rules last week at assembly on Friday morning. I made sure to put them in English, Ateso (one of the P2 teachers translated it for me), and as descriptive of pictures as possible. Because, as one of my friends pointed out when I was running my ideas past him... how are they going to know that it says they're welcome even if they can't read, if they can't read...? Which was an extremely good point. 

So, here's my best effort! It's currently taped on the wall outside of P7, which is nowhere near the classroom we use for our library. However, it's right in front of the space where they hold assembly every day, so I figure that it'll be looked at by the pupils whenever their attention wanders from assembly. That should be a great way for all of them to get familiar with it! (I haven't, of course, explained my reasoning in that regard to the administration, since they're the ones speaking at assembly...)

Our Shelves

As my Head Teacher called them today, these are our "shelves," our improvised library.

The government here funded two new classroom blocks at my school, but has locked them until furniture can be brought. After weeks of being told that there will be library space soon, the classrooms will be commissioned soon... I decided to get creative. I may not have library space for quite a while, but with these book boxes I will be making these books available to students for an hour after school every day!

I'm so grateful that our school already had all of these books, but they have—until now—been kept in storage in the office, inaccessible to students. The other teachers want our school to develop a reading culture, but they (understandably) give all of their effort to teaching. I'm so happy to be here and be able to give my time to organizing our school's resources!

Peace Corps gave each of us a nifty little book about building a school library from scratch, and it's been useful! So far I have one fancy registry book, which is called our "accession record," and lists all of the books I've organized in no specific order. The important part of this is that it gives each book a number, which I have also written in sharpie (and circled, to make it easier for little ones to find) on the first page of each book. 

Even though our library doesn't yet have a lending system, I want to get the kids used to "checking-out" a book. So, when they come into the classroom for "book box time," there's a little notebook in which they'll write the book number and their name. This will also make it easier for me to see how many children we have using our library each day!

We have a fair quantity of books (this picture is only the ones I've organized so far) but most are set in the Western world. Of course, we all know how important it is that some books are windows while others are mirrors—meaning the students can see themselves in them.

So, if you happen to see any books set in Africa (East Africa, in particular) they'd be greatly appreciated over here! And if you can't send it along yourself, that's totally fine, just get it to my parents and they'd be happy to stick it in a care package!

Already, the students are incredibly excited to see books, and can't believe they were at our school the whole time. Library time starts on Monday, I'll let you all know how it goes!

My Two Years Have Begun!

On the first day of school, my counterpart took me around to each classroom. She is SUCH a vivacious human! She had the attention of every student as she first quizzed then, to see if they remembered my name from the morning's assembly. Many of them did, surprisingly! At least my first name, Amongin. A few even remembered Ronnie! 

She told them that since they knew my name, she better not hear them describing me as "imusugut." She should hear them saying "Teacher Amongin." She was absolutely hilarious telling them that when I'm teaching, they should be listening to me, not noticing my hair or skin or whatever. She was petting my skin and hair as she said this, it was so funny! So even though I'm sure there will still be a bit of that, at least she's drawn attention to it as a less-than-ideal behavior. I just love that she said to each class "Her name is not 'imusugut.' She has a name. Teacher Amongin." 

This is important because here, I am identified by my skin color. Anytime that I walk through the village or the nearby town, I hear people yelling "imusugut!" or "muzungu!" which are both words that mean white person, or foreigner. This is perfectly understandable, because I stand out in an obvious way. It doesn't make me mad or upset. But it does take a little effort to keep myself from being slightly annoyed by it. It's uncomfortable to have constant attention drawn to myself. I'll be walking down the street trying to find a shop that is selling eggs, and children will yell from a block away "Muzungu-how-are-you? Muzungu-how-are-you?" 

Usually, when I have time to stop and introduce myself in the local language, Ateso, to someone who is yelling to me, they proceed to call me by my name. And it's still my first few weeks at site, I'm sure that eventually I'll be able to introduce myself to most people and seeing me walk down the street will no longer be such a novelty. But after months in this country, being loudly identified by my skin color everywhere I go, it's nice that these teachers and children understand that I have a name. 

The name that I am known by here, Amongin (pronounced Ah-mo-ngeen), was given to me by one of my totos (host mothers) in Kumi. They are sisters, one is a retired teacher and one is a government official. I am named after my mother who is a government official, Honorable Amongin Aporu Christine Hellen. I am very proud of being her namesake, as she is not only a wonderful human but a powerful woman who has done a lot of hard work to improve the lives of citizens, especially prisoners, in Uganda. If you'd like, you can read a bit about her life here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Amongin_Aporu and here http://www.gou.go.ug/government/opm-teso-affairs

My mom and I

So, now I am observing P2, and they at least have more English than I expected them to. (This is good because, while I tested at Intermediate Mid in Ateso a few weeks ago, I still don't have enough language to teach in it.) Funnily enough, what they're learning now is the uniform/badge lesson that Kara and I taught back at Kira! 

The teacher drew pictures on the chalkboard of a uniform, badge, and flag, and labeled them. She discussed them, and then erased the labels. She then had the children draw the pictures and write what the labels were. So far all of the teachers seem very dynamic, and like they care very much about teaching. I'm excited to be a part of this school! I don't know how much of an impact I can have on their reading and writing abilities in two years, but I will do the best that I can. 

The view out a P6 classroom

The classrooms are very bright, with windows all along both walls. These windows are there out of necessity, as there are no lights. I wonder how it will be in the rainy season, which is supposed to arrive toward the end of March? Does it get cloudy during the day? Will it be dark in the classrooms? Will the rain pounding against the tin roof make it almost impossible to hear the teacher? We had one serious rainstorm during training at Muzardi, and even though our teachers were yelling to be heard, our minds were wandering outside with the rain. And we're adults! I can only imagine how hard it is to get a classroom of 60+ children to pay attention during a storm. And there is no glass in the windows here, they are open to the world (as are the windows in my house, come to think of it, but I do have shutters). 

My school is grateful to have two brand new classroom blocks, just built and not even in use yet. President Museveni comes to this school when he campaigns, and during his last tour he noticed that many of the classrooms are dilapidated and so he made a pledge to grant the school money for new classrooms. I am especially excited about this, because it means that I will be able to use one of the old classrooms for the library I hope to organize. 

Our brand new classroom blocks! 

The Head Teacher at this school is a very dynamic human, and she expects a lot from her teachers. She informed them at our staff meeting, which was a few days into the school term but nevertheless is when teachers were assigned the classes they'd be teaching, that they might be given a level or department they're not familiar with. But that happens because she wants them to learn about it. She said that, "If your attitude is 'For me, I can't.' Then when will you?" She emphasized commitment to work, and reinforced that the teachers should not spend time gossiping at the expense of educating a child. She asked the teachers to have a commitment in their hearts, because a head teacher cannot make you committed. Be self-motivated. 

Her attitude and determination are inspiring, to me. I am very grateful to be at this school, learning from her. 

Peace Corps asked us to draw a map of our school

Definitely, Definitely, Always Talk to Strangers

Today my hands are dirty but my heart is full! 

I was wandering past the motorcycle garage here on my way to get a chapati (pancake kind of bread) like I do almost every day, when I heard someone say "Amongin!" (which is my Ateso name) "Come here!" So I went over to this mechanic, and he gestures to the motorcycle he's working on and says "Do you want to learn this?" So I said "Sure!" and proceeded to spend the next two hours learning how to fix a motorcycle. Ben was the best teacher, explaining all of the parts to me and how they work together. 

And at one point, when I couldn't open the oil tank, he said "Yeah, it's difficult" and handed me a pair of pliers. No backing out of the tough things just because I'm a girl! And I made at least five new friends as people came over to see the "muzungu" (foreigner) trying to fix a motorcycle in a skirt. 

Every day is an adventure here, I absolutely love it!

Home is Where My Mosquito Nets Are

January 24th, 2017

     Wow, I live by myself! Successfully spent my first night in my new home alone last night. This is a significant life step, and one that I'd actually never wanted to make—I'd always pictured myself living with roommates until I got married, or living with someone I was in love with, or whatever. I didn't envy my best friend, Brooke, when she decided to  live alone last year. I thought she'd be lonely and I didn't understand the appeal. 

     But now, here I am, living alone... in Africa. When did I make this decision? It feels so random, like something I knew was going to happen but never actually decided. Probably because I didn't get to choose my placement in the country or my house itself, it was all chosen for me and all I had to do was come here. And decorate, of course!

     The closest thing I have to neighbors are the priest and his house-girl (cook? laundress? maid? she seems to do everything!) Florence, who both live at the mission next door to me. They have been very welcoming, and the priest often has friends over and sometimes I join them outside to discuss things like American politics or various aspects of life in Uganda. 

      My house is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Like seriously, I lucked out. I know I'm a little uncomfortable now, because everything is so new and strange and different, but I already feel like I'm going to miss this place someday. The School Management Committee (SMC) asked what color I liked and I said bright blue, like the sky, and then they painted for me while I was gone— so every day I get to be surrounded by beautiful, sky blue walls. They're so cheerful! 

      Five of my family members came from Kumi to help me move in. My Uncle Cuthbert and one of my brothers managed to get the single-sized bed into the living room to use as a couch, no problem. I had managed to buy both of the mattress sizes I needed in Kumi, despite the sizing terms being different here AND the fact that my only measurement of the beds involved me standing at the foot and spreading out my arms so that I'd have some estimation of how wide they were. 

     My American parents had just happened to send me a mosquito net that fit perfectly over the single bed, which I'm using as a couch. This is great because now I can read or hang out on my couch-bed without worrying, even though dusk is when the mosquitos seem to be out in full force. 

     My sister Maggie stayed all day to help me set up, and thank goodness she did, because I would have been lost without her. First, we swept with a local broom, which is basically a bundle of reeds tied together. Then, we mopped—here, that means we filled a basin with soap and water, dropped in a towel, wrung it out, and proceeded to drag the towel back and forth along the floor in a sweeping kind of motion. And African women tend to bend instead of squat when they're working (as American women seem to do, I think), and since Maggie was teaching me all of this, I did it her way! So all of this ended up being quite the stretching exercise! 

     The floors are concrete, which is nice because they stay cool on my feet even on hot days. I also love them because they're old and kind of splotchy, and have quite a few random drips of blue paint—which I think is beautiful. 

     Next, we cleaned off a random cabinet that had been sitting outside my house for at least the past month, because I'd seen it there at my Future Site Visit. I asked the priest and he said it didn't belong to anyone, it was broken, and I was like "....Can I have it?" and he said "....Sure?"

My cabinet!

      Admittedly, it does lean to the side a bit, and it was very dirty. But we cleaned it thoroughly, and brought it inside and put it in a corner so it had some additional support, and it works just fine! It really makes this place feel like a home, I'm very grateful that it just happened to be there.

     So then, Maggie and I had to figure out how to actually put up the mosquito net for my bed (sleeping-bed, not couch-bed).... because the one Peace Corps had given me, we discovered delightfully, had nothing with it to attach it to anything. Thankfully, my parents had sent me that additional mosquito net that did come with some supplies—four hooks, five nails, and four pieces of sturdy string. It was a square mosquito net, which would usually be draped over two T-shaped pieces of wood, one at the head and one at the foot of the bed. However, the double bed that I wanted to use as my sleeping bed did not have those T-shaped pieces of wood. So, Maggie and I look at the hooks, and the nails, and at each other, and at the mosquito net. And we're just kind of like.... hope this works! 

     We also lacked a hammer, so my adorable, genius sister went outside and found a rock. And then she balanced on the bed, stretched to her full height (of 5'0"), and used the rock to put the nails in the wall and then hook the net around them. She's wonderful. 

     With that challenge surmounted, we turned to the single bed and the square, smaller net that my parents had sent me. This bed DID have the T-shaped wood pieces, so it should have been easy, right? Wrong. This American net was meant to be hung on the hooks and nails it had come with, not draped over T-shaped pieces of wood... so it was too small. But my brilliant sister took the sturdy pieces of string and threaded them through the small metal circles that were attached to the net, and then wrapped it around the T-frame so that the net ended up being just the right size. 

Sleeping-bed 

Couch-bed

     After all of that, we celebrated by walking into town to buy jackfruit and Novida (pineapple soda). As we were eating, back at my house, I thanked my sister for all of her hard work today, and told her I didn't know what I would have done without her. She responded by saying, "Spending today with you was one of my best moments." Which almost made me cry, of course.

Jackfruit with my sister :)

       My Aunt came to get Maggie around 6, and we hugged each other SO tightly before she left. I hope to spend this weekend at home in Kumi, because Maggie leaves for school on Monday and boards there and only gets one visiting day per term (which I already have scheduled into my agenda!). I'm going to miss her so much! But I'm also grateful that my two Totos and some of my siblings will still be in Kumi, and so I'll be able to go home and visit them whenever I want. It's only 45 minutes away! 

Trying out my new mattress with my mom! (at my homestay house)

I really really don't know what I'd do without my Ugandan family

Sweeping with a traditional broom!

Still quite a bit to unpack in my bedroom...

The view from my living room window

Look! I have running water!!!

And a western style toilet! 

That's everything! Two rooms and a bathroom. It's the perfect size for me, not too small and not too big to be able to feasibly decorate on a Peace Corps budget. I have a house, hooray! 

The Family We Find

Friday January 13th, 2017

My family had a dress made for me! I feel so special, I never want to take it off! I asked them if I could wear it "ining paraan" (every day) and they said "haha, mam (no). Just for special occasions."

I was standing here, looking in the mirror, feeling special and loved and then there was a knock at the door—it was iMaggie and iFelly, my favorite sisters, and THEY WERE WEARING SKIRTS MADE OUT OF THE SAME MATERIAL AS MY DRESS! SO WE GET TO MATCH TOMORROW (at the homestay farewell ceremony). They looked BEAUTIFUL, and I feel so incredibly grateful to be part of this family. 

I didn't even know I was getting a dress (Toto had mentioned it before, but it always seemed very nonspecific, like a "someday" kind of a thing) until Toto Marion actually showed up today at the school where I go for the Ateso language training with the tailor so he could take my measurements and make the dress before tomorrow. She also brought fabric choices—one that Felly had chosen because she thought I'd like it best... and three more because Maggie thought I should have options to choose from, just in case I didn't like the first one. (I chose the first one, it was absolutely beautiful!)

So when Maggie and Felly came into my room tonight wearing the skirts, I told them that Toto Marion had made sure to tell me that Felly had chosen but Maggie had options, and we all laughed and I thanked them both for loving me. 

I'm going to miss them so much! I know I'll visit often—thank goodness, they only live a half an hour "taxi" (giant van that provides cheap public transport here) ride away from my site—but this has become a home to me and I'm going to miss living here. I'll miss the way Felly says "Wow!" and her eyes get wide and it's so genuine and wonderful. And the way Maggie calls me "dia" (which is "dear," with a Ugandan accent) in her sweet little voice. And every morning—actually, every time Toto Marion walks into a room and sees me, and I say "Totoka!" (my mother) and she says "Kakoku!" (my child) with a warm smile on her face. 

I love this place so much. I honestly can't believe this is my life. 

With Maggie and Felly! 

v

Proud (and a bit nervous) as I gave my family the chicken I bought for them (which will hopefully lay eggs) 

The certificate of gratitude my family received from Peace Corps!

Update: The homestay farewell ceremony went very well! We read the speeches we'd prepared (our language trainer had helped us translate them into Ateso) and sang a song we'd written, and danced together with our families. My sisters wore their matching skirts and I wore my dress, and we were all happy to be celebrating the month we'd spent together in Kumi. 

A member of Peace Corps staff, Lillian, gave a beautiful speech and said that she could see how we'd been accepted by our families and had made an effort to become part of the community here in the Teso Region, and summed it up by remarking that "As we go back we shall not remain the same people." 

I know I still have a lot of time to spend in this country, and I'll be in the East for two years. But I already feel that her words ring true for me—I'm a different person than I was a month ago, before I had the honor of getting to know and live with this incredible Ugandan family. 

Buckets and Basins and Boreholes, Oh My!

Today, after school, I did laundry. 

Back in America, that would have been such a simple statement. But, in my life now, it's a whole event! From what I've seen, laundry here in Uganda is always done by hand, in buckets or basins. It's a bit more complicated where I am in Eastern Uganda, because there's a water shortage. So, water is brought from the borehole in bright yellow jerrycans—20 liters each! (I can barely pick one up, let alone carry a full one!) We pour the water in the first basin, add in our clothes, and scrub with soap—which is bought here in literal bars, they're about two feet long and you cut off a small chunk with a knife whenever you want to use some. After the first scrubbing, the clothes are dumped into another basin for a second scrubbing, and then back into a basin of clean water to be rinsed. 

Luckily, when I got home today I was greeted with my smiling sisters yelling "inacka!" (pronounced ee-nach-ka) which means "my sister!" My two favorite sisters, Maggie and Feli, were already in the courtyard doing laundry. So, I quickly grabbed my laundry and joined in, and we had a great time! As we sat there scrubbing our clothes, they taught me the words for various body parts in Ateso. They laughed along with me as I struggled with some of the pronunciations, and they were proud of me when I remembered the words for "thighs" (amuros) and "fingernails" (abelekeka), which they'd taught me a few days ago. They proceeded to teach me a song in Ateso, one that students apparently sing at the end of the school day to say goodbye to their teacher. We must have been quite the sight: sitting on the ground, scrubbing clothes in basins, and singing children's songs across the courtyard to each other, while surrounded by the plethora of ducks and chickens that wander around freely here. 

And after all of this, my wonderful sisters taught me how to tie my underwear to the clothesline, so that it doesn't fall off into the dirt. 

So.... after school today, I did laundry.

Sitting with my sister, Maggie!