I hadn’t been to school in quite a while, so I figured that it was about time to head back for a little bit. 😉 And the past two weeks have certainly been one of the best “back to school” intros!
The two schools at which I am both teaching and learning is found amongst the lusciously green, rolling hills of south western Uganda, in the small village of Kitanga. It is the most peaceful hidden gem I have yet to come across in my life. You can actually hear nothing but nature majority of the time… That is surely a rarity between the planes, trains, cars, and other roaring technologies within the United States nowadays! Never have I slept so deeply in all my life too (except for waking up every other morning to the beating of drums and chanting of voices from the nearby church at 5 and 6 a.m. … that’s how ya know it’s Lent season!). Oh, and I cannot believe that I have not raved about the PERFECT (no exaggeration whatsoever) weather that seems to radiate from the heavens above. Many tend to assume that Africa is a sweltering hot Sahara. Nah-uh. Nope. Not here. You open the front door to a gentle, serene breeze, the sun’s undying love, and a temperature in the 70s that lasts the 12 hours that the sun’s rays come pouring down for the day. In all my 19 years, I can honestly say that no other place can beat the beauty of Uganda.
WELLS, back to school like I started out… the energetic primary school and special needs students are majority of the reason why Kitanga is such an extraordinary, hidden gem. Although I am beginning to teach the primary school kiddos more often, I still spend the bulk of my time here with my extremely bright special needs youngsters. Fortunately, it is a miracle that these “special” kids are here with the optimism of SNEC. Hope, one of the head-coordinators of the program, has told me that almost all of the children boarding here have had shocking pasts of neglect. The heartbreaking stories go on and on, but just one example is of the mentally impaired and physically disabled young man that has been here for about four years now. On day one of coming out to Kitanga, George had told me that we had to pick up one of the students on the way since he lived fairly close to Kabale Town. George had also mentioned that we would be picking him up from the bottom of a hill alongside the road as it is difficult for him to walk. So, you know, I imagined the boy waiting under a tree, in the shade, and sitting in a wheelchair, or at least a chair. But, nope. We pulled up next to a crippled figure coated in sweat and curled up in a ball upon a mound of dirt alongside the main road, which was much like a freeway. His upper body is built of pure strength and vitality as that is his way of getting around. Meanwhile, his lower-half is mis-proportioned, fragile, and simply drags behind. Just the sight of him crawling upon the ground would upset you, but even worse, George explained to me that he was discovered and brought to SNEC by a British couple who learned that others would just leave him in the dust and tie him to a street post “like some God.” And all this time, from meeting him outside of the car two weeks ago to teaching him about different shapes a couple days back, he somehow constantly has a beaming smile stretched across his face. That radiance not only shines from this young fella, but also from the rest of the unbelievably lively special needs crew. I start dancing and clapping; they start gleefully dancing, clapping, and smiling. I pull out my camera on one of their breaks; they start posing for any possible photo op they can get. I draw or write a lesson upon the chalkboard; they grow anxious and super curious to absorb the new knowledge. All of the above may take a great deal of patience and understanding at times, but never has so much positivity surrounded me at once.
To attempt to squeeze in the rest of the busy details of the last 14 days, I will keep the following short and sweet…
I already learned a decent amount of sign language from a group of the deaf girls!
Was called over by THE cutest nursery school kids that were by the church with a “Muzungu” (white person) song so I could take a bajillion fun pictures of them.
Ran around with, rolled down the short hill with, and introduced the classic “Macarena” to the primary school students one day.
TOOK MY FIRST BUCKET SHOWER. Despite the fact that it might take me ages to get done with only a mug and my jerry can water, I surprisingly LOVE IT with the sun’s warmth streaming down on me.
I had a team of the most adorable nursery school munchkins begin running alongside me on one of my morning runs as they were on their way to school.
Taught a few of the teachers here how to make friendship bracelets so they can then go on to teach their own students.
Got to try the hot, local sorghum porridge called ”Enbuka,” freshly brewed up by Hope!
Managed to cook my own din din with just my headlamp on one night. 😉 (The electricity flickers on and off around here… A LOT.)
Survived a 45 minute-long shared car ride with 28 other peeps stuffed in the van! I could literally feel the hip bones of the man sitting to my left rubbing against mine… now that’s just not right. BUT I BROKE THE RECORD OF HOW MANY PEEPS COULD FIT!
Taught a 2-hour long math class on my own out of nowhere! I really thought that I was just going to be helping out the primary school math teacher until she just walked right out of the classroom… Thus, I whipped out some good old arithmetic of positive and negative integers for the kids to brush up on. Oh, and apparently they spell my name as “Teacher Reacher” though… that’s a new one.
Of course, took EVEN MORE pictures of the SNEC and primary school nuggets on their breaks, and boy, do they go GUNGHO over the camera.
Got to try the popular “matooke,” FINALLY. They claim it is a green-colored species of banana, but I believe it is a less sweet, unripened banana that they enjoy boiling up and eating.
Lastly, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, I met THE most heart-warming and welcoming old man while simply out on an evening walk through the village. Never have I been greeted and spoken out of randomness with great kindness. Between his unbelievably kind offerings of SO MUCH FOOD, genuine words, and the mere fact that he welcomed a completely random stranger into his home, my eyes began to well up with an unimaginable amount of appreciation.
Peace, Love, Smiles,
“Teacher Reacher”
QUOTE/LESSON OF THE DAY:
“Yebare Everyday” 😉 (‘Way-ba-lay ev-err-ree-dai’) (a.k.a Be thankful every day.)