Posted on November 3, 2012 by Lorna
This week we have again been teaching at Chosen school. As
much as we’ve had our challenges, its so rewarding when the children understand
something by the end of a lesson that they couldn’t grasp at the beginning.
I’ve been teaching P3 with Esther which has been great because we compliment
each other really well in that she’s good at the subjects I’m not (like math!)
and I’m stronger ‘up-front’ in the subjects that she’s more comfortable as a
TA. I really enjoyed teaching the children about maps on Thursday – at the
beginning of the lesson they didn’t know what a map was, but by the end they
were able to draw a map of the school on the board, to understand what
compasses were used for, and to relate all of that to a game in which I drew a
map of the classroom on the board and they had to go to the place in the room
that I pointed to on the map on the board.
We’re all really enjoying the food at school too. We’re fed Ugandan food every lunch time at school. This week we tried Matoke (a bit like banana but eaten hot as the main component of a meal) this week, and we often have things like posho and beans or rice, and we even got to have some beef this week which was a real treat as we have to ration meat a bit because of our food budget. They’ve been giving us porridge at break time too, although it’s very different from English porridge. I must admit that I really struggled with it to begin with, but now that we’ve started to mix sugar into it it’s really starting to grow on me!
The weather this week has been very wet. We’ve had a few storms, especially towards the end of the week, and this means that everywhere is really really muddy. I always manage to get filthy even when it’s dry – I think something about the way that I walk means that my feet and the back of my legs always get covered in dust, but when it’s wet this is made even worse. Let’s just say that I’ve gotten through a lot of baby wipes!
We’re all really enjoying the food at school too. We’re fed Ugandan food every lunch time at school. This week we tried Matoke (a bit like banana but eaten hot as the main component of a meal) this week, and we often have things like posho and beans or rice, and we even got to have some beef this week which was a real treat as we have to ration meat a bit because of our food budget. They’ve been giving us porridge at break time too, although it’s very different from English porridge. I must admit that I really struggled with it to begin with, but now that we’ve started to mix sugar into it it’s really starting to grow on me!
The weather this week has been very wet. We’ve had a few storms, especially towards the end of the week, and this means that everywhere is really really muddy. I always manage to get filthy even when it’s dry – I think something about the way that I walk means that my feet and the back of my legs always get covered in dust, but when it’s wet this is made even worse. Let’s just say that I’ve gotten through a lot of baby wipes!
Thursday was such a crazy, amazing and fun day, so I’ve
written the next part of my blog about it – I’m sorry that it makes this blog
so long! So if you’re pushed for time, this is the bit to skip and come back to
later!
Thursday
Thursday this week was a day that I will never forget! We only teach in the mornings on Thursdays and in the afternoon I had gone somewhere on the other side of Kampala with Clare whilst everyone else was involved in the slum ministry. Whilst we were there the heavens opened and we had to wait for about half an hour for the rain to die down enough for us to go outside in it. When we finally left, the traffic was so bad that our only option to get back was to use Boda Bodas (motorbike taxis). Although we have ridden Boda Bodas before they have been on back roads and we have shared them with two of us on each, but because of the rain it was safer for us to use one each, so Clare and Alex and I all caught Boda Bodas through the middle of Kampala in the rain. Anyone who has ever been here will know how cray the traffic is, and I was praying for the whole of the journey, but I was loving it at the same time. As much as I felt the need to pray, Bodas feel a lot safer than they look! And they are so much fun! Clare and I were absolutely buzzing by the end of the journey which lasted for about 15 minutes. By this time the storm had all but ended and we walked up the hill to catch a taxi home, however it was rush hour and after half an hour we still hadn’t managed to catch one and we bumped into Joe and Brian who were just coming back from the slum. They were also on their way home but they told us that no one was home and none of us had a key, so we all walked back down the hill to KBC (church) to get the key from Alex. While we were there we bumped into Olivia – one of the volunteers that until last week lived with us and I’m really close with her so it was lovely to see her. She’s taking some time off at the moment just to have a rest. Well anyway we eventually made our way back to the taxi stage to catch a taxi home. Whilst we were on the taxi another storm started. Now the definition of a storm in Africa is a little different from a storm in England… Lightening is pretty much constant – it will flash again before you hear the thunder from the last one! The rain is so heavy that within a matter of seconds there will be muddy rivers running down the road and the wind is enough to make the road signs sway. So when we got close to our stop we were in a bit of a predicament because we would have to exit the shelter of the taxi!
Thursday this week was a day that I will never forget! We only teach in the mornings on Thursdays and in the afternoon I had gone somewhere on the other side of Kampala with Clare whilst everyone else was involved in the slum ministry. Whilst we were there the heavens opened and we had to wait for about half an hour for the rain to die down enough for us to go outside in it. When we finally left, the traffic was so bad that our only option to get back was to use Boda Bodas (motorbike taxis). Although we have ridden Boda Bodas before they have been on back roads and we have shared them with two of us on each, but because of the rain it was safer for us to use one each, so Clare and Alex and I all caught Boda Bodas through the middle of Kampala in the rain. Anyone who has ever been here will know how cray the traffic is, and I was praying for the whole of the journey, but I was loving it at the same time. As much as I felt the need to pray, Bodas feel a lot safer than they look! And they are so much fun! Clare and I were absolutely buzzing by the end of the journey which lasted for about 15 minutes. By this time the storm had all but ended and we walked up the hill to catch a taxi home, however it was rush hour and after half an hour we still hadn’t managed to catch one and we bumped into Joe and Brian who were just coming back from the slum. They were also on their way home but they told us that no one was home and none of us had a key, so we all walked back down the hill to KBC (church) to get the key from Alex. While we were there we bumped into Olivia – one of the volunteers that until last week lived with us and I’m really close with her so it was lovely to see her. She’s taking some time off at the moment just to have a rest. Well anyway we eventually made our way back to the taxi stage to catch a taxi home. Whilst we were on the taxi another storm started. Now the definition of a storm in Africa is a little different from a storm in England… Lightening is pretty much constant – it will flash again before you hear the thunder from the last one! The rain is so heavy that within a matter of seconds there will be muddy rivers running down the road and the wind is enough to make the road signs sway. So when we got close to our stop we were in a bit of a predicament because we would have to exit the shelter of the taxi!
We ran from the taxi to the sheltered part in front of a
shop next to the road (about five meters away) and even in that distance we
were dripping wet. We made it to the shelter just in time as it soon got even
worse with huge hail stones starting to fall. Joe is quite an independent
person, but Clare and I were so glad to have Brian with us (He’s one of Smile’s
volunteers that we’ve all grown really close to, he’s 22, very funny and very
protective) so I was very thankful to have him with us to take care of us and
keep Clare and I warm whilst we waited for the storm to die down a bit… but
after about an hour, although the hail had stopped there wasn’t much sign of
the storm ending and it was starting to get late, so we decided to brave the
mile walk home in the storm. It was one of the craziest things that I’ve ever
done, but I’m so glad that I did! Within about three seconds of leaving the
shelter of we couldn’t get any wetter so we just kept walking until we got
back. Walking in the dark here is hard enough with such uneven roads, but when
they’re this wet too it’s even more difficult so Brian was definitely a
blessing as he made sure that Clare and I stayed upright the whole way home!
Towards the middle of the journey we cross a valley where the path goes over
the top of a steam, but in all the rain the stream had flooded and it was too dark
to see, so we waited for the lightening to flash so that we could see the best
place to cross. We finally got home to a power cut, so we had to shower, cook
and eat by candle light / torch light.
The whole day was just so much fun. It was also a really good illustration of how God works everything out for the best because if Clare and I had been able to catch a taxi we would have gotten home but not been able to get in as we didn’t have a key and then we would have been stuck in the storm on our own. Also, Brian and Joe were held up in the slum, so if they had left earlier we wouldn’t have seen them and again would have gone home to a locked door.
A bit later on the rest of the team got home, but they had been with someone who had a car so they had a bit of a less eventful journey home! So Thursday was definitely a new experience! I loved it and I don’t think that I will ever forget my first time being caught out in an African storm!
The whole day was just so much fun. It was also a really good illustration of how God works everything out for the best because if Clare and I had been able to catch a taxi we would have gotten home but not been able to get in as we didn’t have a key and then we would have been stuck in the storm on our own. Also, Brian and Joe were held up in the slum, so if they had left earlier we wouldn’t have seen them and again would have gone home to a locked door.
A bit later on the rest of the team got home, but they had been with someone who had a car so they had a bit of a less eventful journey home! So Thursday was definitely a new experience! I loved it and I don’t think that I will ever forget my first time being caught out in an African storm!
There are so many things that I’d love to tell everyone
about, but at this rate my blog would end up being so long that it would take
about an hour to read it! So when I have a less eventful week I’ll tell you all
about the landscape and the culture and they people that I meet. I’d love to
know what kind of things you’re interested in?
As always, thank you so much for your support. I received
mail for the first time today and it was so special to get some letters. Of
course it was lovely to have a letter from my parents and my grandparents, but
it really touched me to receive a letter from a family at Christ Church. It
does take a while for mail to make its way through, but it means so much to me
to hear from you! Even if its a comment on my blog or an email, it always means
a lot and I’m so glad to hear from everyone, so thank you!
Prayer requests for this week…
- Thanksgiving that we’re getting on so well as a team and
with the people that we’re meeting and prayer that that would continue.
- Please could you pray that I would be able to get closer
to God. Its so easy to forget to have a personal quiet time with so many people
around to talk to and so much to do!
- Please pray that we will continue to get better at
teaching and that we would continue to enjoy it and to make a difference at
school. Please pray for the children – some of them can’t afford to have lunch
and many of them need one on one support that just isn’t available.
- Please pray that we would make a difference in all of the
work that we do and that more people would be more aware of God’s love.
Love and God bless,
Lorna (Ssuubi) xx
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