Visiting the Scholars and Community Service

This morning, we went to three different secondary schools in the Fort Portal area. The first school we went to was St. Leo’s Secondary School for boys. It was cold when we got there, even by our New England standards. We meet with the scholars who had been sponsored by AFROKAPS/The Kasiisi Project. The boys were pretty quiet and reserved, and had very few questions for us. One boy, 12 year old Moses, was pretty vocal when it came to answering questions. Most of the questions that were asked, both by us and of us, were pretty simple; What classes do you take, what clubs are there at your school, when does your holiday start, etc… after we met with the boys, we headed out. Our next stop was at Nyakasura Secondary School. The ratio of boys to girls was 3:1. Nyakasura was my favorite secondary school. All the students, yes even the boys, wear kilts. At first I thought it was strange, but as I got used to it, I liked it more and more. They weren’t plaid kilts; they were khaki, so it’s not as weird as it sounds. We met with the scholars there as well, but they asked some much tougher questions. They asked about the university system in the United States, and about how they could apply or get financial help. We had some time for “interaction”, so I talked to some of the boys. They all laughed when I told them that I played football (soccer). I don’t know why, but it was a good conversation starter. All the kids there were super nice though, and they were all really happy to see us. After we interacted with the students there, we left and made our way to St. Maria Goretti, an all girls school near fort portal. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, because the girls were all in exams. We just took pictures with the scholars, and then talked briefly, but they had to get back to class. Right from there, we headed out of Fort Portal to Kasiisi to paint the blackboards. The smell was really strong. I’m not sure about the number, I think we painted 14 rooms, but we painted all the boards in the school. That night we went to the Kasenenea’s house for dinner. There were a lot of people there, including the Wrangham’s, and teachers from various schools associated with the Kasiisi Project. We went inside with Helena to watch some Ugandan music videos. My new favorite is bread and butter by Radio Weasel. It’s really catchy. The Ugandan hip-hop music is very similar to our hip-hop. Dinner was delicious, and I talked with some Ugandan teachers and we had a very interesting conversation with them about various cultural differences including relationships, and how people act in public. They even asked us to be on the radio to discuss our culture for the public to hear. It was a really good, but long day.

Conservation Day

The morning began with the kids from the five schools arriving at MUBFS. Then Helena, from a wildlife organization, came. We first learned about Chimpanzees and other great apes. We played games and built puzzles to compare the sizes of all the great apes with the Ugandan students. Then came the main event, a walk in the Kibale forest. We saw monkeys and spiders and learned about the different types of trees. While we had forest guides, we found that the Ugandan students were the best teachers about the animals and plants in the forest. When we got back we tested our new knowledge with more games. We played a game about chimps and resources and I added a part involving humans. When then had lunch and dropped the kids at school. Next went to Knaywara
The school known as Knaywara is near a dusty dirt road not far from the field station. It is a school built on a ridge overlooking a forest. That forest is Kibale National Park. The school itself is perhaps three or four small brick buildings, each itself built neatly, somewhat a strange reinterpretation of the American dream school, the redbrick schoolhouse. As the afternoon had grown late; we were preparing to begin after school activities. We first made a clay model for chimp masks. It was amazing to see the detail and time the kids put into each mask. They were very realistic and I was almost scared to help the kids they were so good. After that I caught sight of a scene of a simplistically wonderful feeling. There was the superintendent and my Principal teaching baseball. It was not baseball in the traditional sense; it was more like batting with base running, no teams, and no score’s, just fun. The kids caught on pretty fast. One kid, Bashir, even pitched. I also pitched. I am a good pitcher, but not amazing or even great. I played little league when I was six, but besides that, I am only a fan of the game. It amazing though how much fun we were having. The kids basically were pushing to get a turn at bat when we left.

Welcome Celebration

Today was the welcoming ceremony that the AFROKAPS organization had for the Weston visitors and the One Laptop program. I have to admit I had pretty high expectations for this ceremony. And they were passed by A LOT. When we arrived, there were more people than I think there are in our entire town. All of the schoolchildren, from the different AFROKAPS schools, in their different uniforms, were marching down the street singing, playing music, and greeting us. They all waved and said ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’. I said hello to a couple girls and started to march like them. They laughed a little bit. Another girl said “Hello friends!” which I loved. When we got to the school grounds there were even more people then I saw before. All the teachers welcomed us. I love that they welcome you not by shaking your hand but by hugging you. We went around to look at all the parts of the Kasiisi primary school and the different projects the Kasiisi Project had done. One of the Ugandan administrators named Joseph held my hand and welcomed me to Uganda. That’s another thing I love, that people hold hands and put their arms around each other a lot in Uganda and its not weird or awkward its just friendly. We got to see the work that had been done with the porridge project, in the library and much more. After we had seen most of the campus we went down to sit. There was a ton of singing and dancing and most of the schools made up new songs just for the occasion. At one point they started to pull us up one by one to go dance. We decided just to go and we danced with the kids. Dancing with them is more fun than I can possibly explain. They were all so excited when you went to dance with them and they all smiled so much. I was honestly smiling so much that my face hurt. We were also all individually presented with amazing gifts. They gave us each a beautiful bag and shawl, a cool bracelet that spelled Uganda in beads and a beaded key chain. I could not believe they were giving us all these amazing things. It was so nice of them and I couldn’t believe all they thought they put into everything. After lunch we met Happy, a girl who had written to our friend Julia. She was so nice and she was very good at English. She loved taking pictures and took quite a few of Mr. Parker and whatever else was around. She later showed me her classroom with a girl named Mary and introduced me to her mother. She was just as nice and happy and she told me to write to them. I can’t wait to write her and send her some of the pictures. It was over all one of the most amazing memorable days of my entire life. I can’t wait to go back to the schools and meet more of the students!

Arrival at MUBFS

When we were talking last night, we thought that we would basically just drive to the field station and spend the rest of the day getting settled in. We woke up really early and had some fruit and banana muffins for breakfast, and Kayla and I packed some banana muffins for later because we’re obsessed. When we got in the car we listened to music and slept and were pretty anti-social for a while because it was so early, but I spent most of the time looking out the window. We passed through some towns and villages, and some smaller clusters of houses. Everyone was really friendly and waved at us and the country is really beautiful. When we got to the field station we were greeted by some of the teachers who are all really nice and were very welcoming. We had lunch and then we walked to Knyawara Primary school, which is down the road from where we’re staying. We met some of the kids, and saw the chimpanzee masks they were making, which are really, really impressive. We played volleyball, and the kids from the school were really good. I wasn’t. On the way back, we walked with a few students from the school who were on their way home. They sang the alphabet and we all played catch. Back at the field station we rested for a while, then had dinner and sorted colored pencils into bags with one light and two dark colored pencils, so we can bring them to the schools. Now we’re all getting ready for bed, because tomorrow we have the big welcome ceremony at Kasiisi.
When we were talking last night, we thought that we would basically just drive to the field station and spend the rest of the day getting settled in. We woke up really early and had some fruit and banana muffins for breakfast, and Kayla and I packed some banana muffins for later because we’re obsessed. When we got in the car we listened to music and slept and were pretty anti-social for a while because it was so early, but I spent most of the time looking out the window. We passed through some towns and villages, and some smaller clusters of houses. Everyone was really friendly and waved at us and the country is really beautiful. When we got to the field station we were greeted by some of the teachers who are all really nice and were very welcoming. We had lunch and then we walked to Knyawara Primary school, which is down the road from where we’re staying. We met some of the kids, and saw the chimpanzee masks they were making, which are really, really impressive. We played volleyball, and the kids from the school were really good. I wasn’t. On the way back, we walked with a few students from the school who were on their way home. They sang the alphabet and we all played catch. Back at the field station we rested for a while, then had dinner and sorted colored pencils into bags with one light and two dark colored pencils, so we can bring them to the schools. Now we’re all getting ready for bed, because tomorrow we have the big welcome ceremony at Kasiisi.