Safari and Teaching update

Safari and Vomit…

This weekend the IC teaching volunteers had the opportunity to travel to Murchison Falls for a two-day weekend safari. Murchison falls is approximately three hours from Gulu on a nauseating matatu (van) ride. We went to bed on Friday night eager for a weekend getaway.

When we left Saturday morning a few of the teachers became ill with stomach flu like symptoms. Even though they were ill they decided to still go on safari since it was a once in a lifetime experience.

We first traveled to Anaka, an IDP camp located about 1.5 hours from Gulu where five of the teachers work. It was interesting to witness the stark contrast between St. Joseph’s (where I am placed) and a camp school.

After a quick tour we were back on the road. The road is brutal! I will forever value to greatness of paved roads. As we drove across the bumpy unpaved roads my stomach started to turn but I chalked it up to carsickness.

Our safari was two parts, a boat cruise down the Nile to Murchison Falls and a big game land tour. Upon arrival we immediately boarded the boat cruise. My teaching friends from Anaka created Safari Bingo so as we road down the river we searched for creatures to mark off on our sheets. On the boat we saw crocodiles and hippos. It was awesome.

After the boat tour we headed to Red Chili camp for the evening. At Red Chili I started to feel ill and after eating only a few bites of dinner I decided it was best if I avoided food. It was a wise decision because the water that I took at dinner decided to violently project from my body. I tried to make it to the restroom but I was short by a few feet, sorry Red Chili. I figured the water had upset my stomach and that would be it for the puking, I was wrong. As I walked to my tent I was lost it. It was awful. I haven’t been that ill in years. As tears streamed down my face and my friend Melody patted my back I cursed Africa for making me so constantly sick. I was covered in puke and dirt; I hated Africa at that moment. As I gathered myself together and headed to the tent I was also faced with the stark realization that during the night large, scary, aggressive animals would be lurking around my tent and there was a huge possibility that I would need to get up in the middle of the night, leave my tent, and throw up. This scenario was not settling well with me. I resolved that I simply would will my body not to get sick during the night. I woke up approximately every thirty minutes with water mouth and the overwhelming urge to puke but I would have a talk with my body that went something like, “listen body, there are Hippos, Wart Hogs, and god knows what else outside that tent flap… get yourself together, if you go outside there is a strong possibility that you will get eaten, as in dead, so suck that puke back up, are you listening to me?” Somehow it worked and I was able to make it through the night without leaving the safety of my tent.

The next day we work at 5:30 am for our big game drive. It was amazing, Elephants, Giraffes, and even a few lions. I wasn’t feeling my best but it was still nothing less than incredible. I never really understood the concept of going on safari, looking at animals never appealed to me but after going on safari I highly recommend it to all.





Teaching

Teaching in Uganda is…interesting…It can be gathered from previous blogs that teachers often miss class, lack professionalism, and generally frustrate the crap out of their American teaching partners. The goal of the Teacher Exchange program is modest. T/E knows that we will not reshape education and hopes to simply show alternative teaching methods and practices. T/E wants to slowly facilitate change. I am okay with modest, I am okay with slow but slow and modest are impossible if your teacher NEVER comes to class!!!

My teacher hasn’t been to school in a week. Her daughter is ill, I am not a monster, I understand that a child’s health is more important than work but I am also here to do a job. I can continue to teach her classes alone but it defeats the purpose of the exchange- to share ideas with Ugandan educators.

With less than two weeks left in Uganda it would be useless to try to find another teacher to work with. I fear that I would go insane with boredom if I have nothing to occupy my time (I have mentioned before that once you have seen the four streets in Gulu there really isn’t much to do).

I have decided to plan and offer a school wide professional development (PD) on content area vocabulary development and critical questioning for higher-level thinking. I figure the planning and development will occupy my time this week and I can hold the PD next week. This will also allow me to interact with the whole teaching staff rather than just a single teacher. I have no idea how it will go but I am doing it anyway. Wish me luck.


P.S. I am on the down hill slop. I will be home in 13 days. I am not excited to leave but I am excited to get home.