Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

So my life this past month is pretty much consumed by the 900 girls at the school.  And I love them!  I think they like me too because whenever I walk by they scream NIKKI MINAJ!!!! and when I wave back they all scream.  Yes I have a Lango name but they would rather refer to me as minaj... which is fine by me!  They even write it on their exercise books for my classes.

Aside from teaching them, I frequently go after classes to play sports with the girls.  Me and the gym teacher have struck up a friendship so I go and help him and pretend to still have some athletic ability left in me.  I play soccer, volleyball and they are trying to teach me how to play netball which I still don't understand.  I refuse to join in on rugby haha.  I'm more of a distraction to them than I help sometimes but it's fun.  The girls have their district tournament for soccer this weekend so I'm excited to see how they do!

I held my reproductive health session a few weeks back and it went really well!  Thankyou Stacey ;)  The ridiculous part was I was suppossed to be the adult and even I couldn't help giggling when the girls kept repeating the word vagina... I blame it on the lack of sleep.  So in the future when I hold these myself I will need to gain some maturity.  So the most interesting part was at the end of the session when we had the question and answer part.  We passed around a bag so that they could submit questions anonymously.  Most I expected, a lot about candida, virginity, safe sex, etc. but just as it did when we did the "best response" game awhile back some of the questions were really disheartening.  Mostly because its a shock that they would have such extreme misconceptions.  These girls don't know who to turn to sometimes and  In light of this I have decided that I am doing counseling at the school, hopefully starting next term.  The staff has asked me multiple times and I have put it off because I am so busy, but I can't in good conscience do it anymore.  So I guess I'll be putting that psyc degree to some use as well!   Although I don't know how much help I can be when it comes to anything outside female issues and minor dilemmas.  Some of the girls have approached me with some extremely disturbing information and most of the time all I can do is listen and offer my support.

Moving on to less depressing things, the school recently just held their student elections which were really interesting to see.  Each candidate gave a 2 minute speech and then there was 1 minute for someone in the audience to ask a question.  WELL... if you couldn't get your question or comment in these girls said all they needed to with their signs!  Some of them were kind of mean, for example, "Your Not Fit, Try Fishing or Marriage" and some were funny "You wan't another rap? yes NYABO!" (that one is from museveni's latest presidential campaign.)  If it were me there is  no way I would run for an office unless I was sure I was loved, but in general they had fun and it was good to see the girls involved.  Then I went to help pass out ballots in one of my S2 classes... they were obviously stoked when they found out it was me and so I stuck around and talked with them about the elections for awhile after they were over.

I gave a test this past week to my math classes, and since there was only 10 minutes left in class by the time they completed, I opted for the previously popular game of "ASK ME ANYTHING" that I did back at Kajjansi.  The questions were mostly the same... what's your family like? where in america do you come from? How does school work there?  It made me appreciate being with all ladies because they were WAY MORE appropriate then they were back at my school based training where the school was mixed.  But the most popular question..... "Are you married?"  Everytime I answer NO they are really surprised.  Than I say single and in unison they all correct me "SEARCHING!"  They really don't understand how a woman could just be happily alone... your body will expire though yes madame? Then they follow it up with you marry a ugandan! Lastly when I tell them okay one more question... I hear someone say "madame you sample for us a song" and then the shouting begins again.  I have not submitted to the request although I am asked constantly.  I'm running out of excuses but it will be a miracle if I leave this school after two years without belting out a few notes no matter how horrible.  Hell I already gave into the dancing why do I have to sing!

The last thing on my agenda is to get something done about the caning at my school.  I finally witnessed it... I guess they had been doing it at night, but the other day I guess some girls were forging permission slips so they had a public beating at assembly...  I had to run home I thought I was going to lose it because I knew I couldn't of said anything, it wouldn't have helped.  So now I'm working on setting up a workshop on positive discipline for the faculty.  I pray that it works.

In conclusion, these girls are the reason I'm here... to be their teacher and their friend.  I couldn't of asked for better I learn more from them than I could ever teach.

Two of the senior girls trying to show me how to do this dance.... which I epically failed at

The girls all circled around talking Stacey and I into dancing

Girls making re-usable menstrual pads

Girls holding up signs of support or disapproval during their student elections

 

All Work and No Play

So the last time I wrote anything I was getting bored of having the same routine everyday.... WELL I WANT THAT ROUTINE BACK! Okay not really... I'm happy to finally be working but where before I was trying to find interesting tasks to fill my day with, I now am trying to find time to just sit down!

So I am sharing four streams of S2 Math with another teacher and the S5 Chemistry with a different teacher.  We each teach different topics, which honestly doesn't make much sense to me, but hey one ground breaking idea at a time! My first amazing idea was to train the faculty at the school to actually use the 60 computers they have at their disposal.  This task was ill planned at first because now I am being commandeered to teach individual lessons, and this is not helping in finding a little me time.  So instead of being pulled into the lab every time I try to leave school I  have been slaving away making training manuals that involve teaching typing, word, excel and powerpoint, for the teachers to work on in their own time.  I am going to be setting up two sessions a week after school to have instructed teaching with the faculty that are interested.  I am then going to have these worksheets available in hard copies and on the hard drive for them to use in their free time.  My next problem is finding a way to teach all the girls.  The thing with them is.... some are interested and some could care less.  Right now they are all timetabled to come in as classes but it is kind of a waste to just lecture to them (and I had to say NO for the first time this year when the head of the department asked me to teach all 900 girls!) So I am thinking of actually starting a computer club instead (wow I never thought I would say that in my life!)  My idea for garnering interest in this is to include a typing competition where I will provide a prize at the end of the year (I'm thinking a chicken??? I don't know but I'll think of something awesome!)  The issue with all this computer nonsense is most of the people here have never even used a computer.  So when you think about it, if you had never seen a computer would you know how to turn it on?? Would you know how to use a mouse?? Would you even know what the desktop was??  These are my challenges but I have already decided that I'm only going to put in as much effort as they do.  I have quickly learned I can't take on too much and finding a balance is going to be the most difficult thing.

Classes are going well so far, this is the first week I have been teaching.  My S2 girls are fun. They make fun of my accent sometimes though answering back in an equally high pitched voice "yesss madame".  I just shoot them a look and ask them if they want more dorm work so they giggle, say no and quit it until the next class haha.

Funny story (well to me at least) I was doing a little math competition at the end of class today in teams. I'm watching the girls at the board seeing how they are doing when I feel like something is pulling on my hair.... I turn around and two girls run away laughing.  Yes they were feeling up my precious locks! The girls are just fascinated by my hair (how is it so long? you get it wet! you wash it everyday?)

The S5 class is my favorite... I know it's not nice to say that... but hey there are FIVE of them!  That is much better then a class of 50-60 girls like my others.  The reason I like it better is because I can make photo copies of the notes before class and hand them out for them to read over. (They do not always have books for certain subjects so students here really rely on EXACTLY what you tell them).  This way they are somewhat familiar with the material and we can spend our 80 minutes a week actually going through problems and trying to understand the concepts as opposed to memorizing information.  And its OCHEM! Yeah okay I give in I'm a nerd at heart....

Lastly on my plate is I am doing a Re-Useable Menstrual Pads Session with about 100-150 girls next weekend S1-S2.  This program was started by a volunteer that just closed her service and I think it is one of the most useful and sustainable programs I have heard of.  Sanitary pads are expensive here and not always available out in the village.  Girls miss classes when they have their periods because of this.  In addition there are a lot of misconceptions about reproductive health and safety, and in the class we talk about all of this too.  In all, it involves a talk about reproductive health, a question and answer session, the making of the re-useable pads (made from school uniform material, cotton towel inserts, needle, thread and a button!) and directions on sanitation and cleaning.  Another volunteer who has taken the lead here in country is coming to perform this first session with me and my counterpart.  After that I am hoping to write a small grant so that I can hold sessions for the rest of the school and the community next term.

So that is what I have been up to... work work work.  Thankfully I am getting to see some friends this weekend... I am a bit overdo for some crazy company with my favs who I miss so much!

That's all from The Bush this week!

Nik

New Address and Wish List!!!

So I finally stopped forgetting to ask my head teacher if I could use the P.O. Box for the school so now I can get mail in LIRA! So please please send me stuff.  I know it seems crazy but i love getting mail whether its a package with goodies or a letter letting me know how people are doing! Seriously it brightens our day more then you can imagine.

My new address:
St. Katherine's Secondary School
Nicole Dunn
P.O. Box 255
Lira, Uganda

My Wish list:


Practical Things I Need that I can't find in Uganda
- duct tape (seriously the possibilities are endless)
- push pins
- Deoderant (i have been using old spice bc it is all i can find haha, i like dove!)
- razors (i haven't given up on shaving yet and I won't quit if I can get more!)
- a pack of toothbrushes...i only brought 2 I don't know what I was thinking.
- detangler... my hair is getting longer and conditioner, if i can even find it here, sucks!
- PICTURES!!! (this applies a lot to my family becuase I know they have most, but I forgot ALL my pictures at home and it makes me sad I can't see everyone's beautiful faces in my house so please make copies and send me pictures of yourselves! This is def my number one request!)
- a pair of hair cutting scissors (MOM....)

Things I want because they are either fun or yummy!
- anything that has cheese that can be sent in the mail (when you do find it here it is usually disgusting)
- seeds (particularly cilantro, basil, oregano.... things like that.... things grow like crazy on the equator)
- colorful pens! (we do everything by hand so don't underestimate my new found love for writing utensils)
- granola bars (I hate having to actually cook breakfast every morning)
- FLASH DRIVES (with music, movies etc.) I steal a lot from other volunteers but it keeps me sane to have new things to watch and listen to
- posters
- books (I have a kindle and we circulate books here but you go through them fast)
- JEANS! (if someone could send me a new pair of jeans I would love them... I have lost a considerable amount of weight and my jeans are falling off me and I wear them in all my spare time)
- pajama pants... I can't believe I didn't bring any to lounge around in... thin ones cuz yes it is hot here
- VISITORS! ( I realize this is a large request... a trip to africa is neither cheap nor fun but once you get here I promise to show you the best time this continent can offer I swear!)
- habenero hot sauce! I don't know how practical this is but I put hot sauce on everything now and I can't seem to find anything spicy enough!

I know there are a 100 more things I am forgetting so I will add more to this list when I think of them but to get anything at all would be great... feel free to stray from the list since I'm not known for being the most practical person.

Things are still great here... my mind is not up to writing a long post just now about work since I just spent the past four houses doing laundry and cleaning my house...

Until next time

Nik

The Monotony of Everyday Life

So I know it has been awhile since I posted anything but to be honest I have just gotten into so much of a routine I haven't felt like I had much to say.  Last I wrote anything  I was staying in a hotel in Lira Town.  Now I am in my house and I must say I am quite set up.  Electricity has been working quite consistently and it's becoming cozy as I add more furniture and furnishings to the place.  I have been playing hostess quite a bit and I don't mind at all, I actually quite enjoy it.  The volunteers in the area came to stay with me and there were 8 of us crammed in my home.  I bought a 5x6 bed that 4 of us crammed in it and I have another bed in the sitting room with 2 extra mattresses and a couch so it wasn't too bad.  I have a pretty large kitchen as well which we utilized to make some of the best meals I have had in Uganda thus far including beef stir fry and tacos with homemade seasoning!  The water isn't working in my house yet but there is a tap right in my yard so at least I don't have to hike to a borehole to collect water which is convenient.

So I am going to start teaching next week.  S2 math and S5 organic chemistry.  I will also be helping out with computer training since my school has acquired 10 new systems this year and they want to learn how to use email and microsoft programs.  I am going to be officially "teaching" 12 hours a week which isn't so bad and I have thursdays and fridays off which is nice for traveling.

I had my first staff meeting which was.... exactly what I expected.  Full of protocol and overall filled with unnecessary conversation.  For example... "Councilman I believe we should change the word in the notes to "led" and not "said"..." yeah they love to debate miniscule issues like this for hours.  But we only started 2 hours late and met for 4 hours which is more successful then some meetings I have heard about from fellow volunteers thus far.  They did serve some amazing pork, rice and cabbage after so it wasn't so bad.  Then I caught a ride into town to meet up with rachel so I could stay with her for the night.  There was a ridiculous storm that day and when we got back the house was FLOODED!  I haven't seen that much rain since I've been here but thankfully nothing was ruined and she was able to sweep most of the water out.  I proceeded to make completely over salted refried beans for us with guacamole... SORRY RACH! but at least now we know to take it easy with the salt :)

I wish I had more exciting tales of life in africa but honestly I get up each day.... clean my house (because there is a ridiculous amount of dust here) clean my clothes, cook food for myself, walk around my village greeting people and pick up eggs and tomatoes and such at the dukas and small market.  By the time you are done doing what you need to accomplish just to get by everyday it takes up a lot of time.  I am excited to start teaching and soon I plan on traveling to see other volunteers sites and more of the country.

Overall I have gotten used to life here for the most part.  Bugs are ridic, so therefore I don't mind the lizards in my house that eat those little bastards because hey they don't bite me... it's quite hot in the north and I am adjusting to that slowly. I lock my doors by 7-8pm which means I start cooking early since my kitchen is detached from my house (I'm thinking of asking them to cut a door jam from my bedroom to my kitchen to avoid this annoyance) The roosters wake me up by 7am everyday.  I bought a huge bed so I sleep pretty comfortably through the night aside from the bats that are in my roof ... which reminds me I also need to make them board up the 3 holes in my ceiling left open for possible electrical wiring needed in the future...

In the end, living in Uganda is becoming less of a novelty and more of a normality but I still love it here. Sometimes I wish for a laundry mat so I don't have to spend 2 hours cleaning clothes and sheets by hand but it's becoming something you plan for.  It's less exciting but becoming more comfortable.

Until the next boring updates of my life here in the bush!

Nikki

making a hotel a home

So after swearing in on April 21st... which I am proud to say all 44 of us made it to... we all left the comfort of what felt like summer camp and moved to site.  I was one of the lucky ones that got to take public transit! horray for me though all my shit made it to the north!  There was a nasty flood though that held us up getting out of Kampala and the trip took about 6 hours.  So the fun part was realizing my house is not ready!  I'm not the only one though.  My friend Rachel has to squat at a volunteers house for a few weeks and there are others in my group hanging in limbo like us as well.  

So I have been up in Lira for a few days now, but since mi casa is not yet ready, I have been staying at a guest house in town.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I got to hang out with two of the nicest ladies in the north, Christine and Barbara.  They run the guest house and have been saving me from starving, overpaying in the market, culturally embarrassing myself and the general boredom that comes from living alone in a room.  They bring my sim sim in the morning, and make me fish for lunch!  I take tea with them and we watch ridiculous ugandan music videos.  Today I met Barbara's family and they found me a puppy!  It is a german shepard mix and I am so excited to take it with me to my house in a few weeks!  Right now it is about a month old... and get this the dad's name is Obama! Their house was HUGE about 18 people which include extended family stay there.  With what the north has been through I sometimes wonder when siblings are staying with aunts and uncles but I don't ask although sometimes the effects of the war are brought up in conversation.  For example Christine told me the night commuters were sleeping on the veranda of the hotel near the end of the war when Lira was really getting hit hard.  But the people here are resilient and you wouldn't know what they have been through when talking to them unless they bring it up.  So all in all I got to learn a lot about the culture here from two pretty understanding ladies.  Some things I learned are I should stop smiling so much because it will be misinterpreted for flirting/ prostitution, blowing on hot food or tea is seen as committing some voodoo act upon it, and people here like to poison dogs so make sure the people who can access your dog like you.  

On Easter Sunday I went to visit Rachel's squatting grounds, aka Burnadette's house!  Another volunteer Heather who stays in Kitgum was also down and she made a pretty awesome dinner.  Burnadette's house is super cute and is only a 30 minute drive away from town, and I met her counterpart who has the coolest name ever.... FRESHER! She is as sweet as her name is.  For payment in staying the night we went to collect water for her at the borehole.  That was an EPIC FAIL! I don't know how she does that on her own... balancing those 2 huge jerrycans on her bike alone... rachel and I could barely get them back without the bike toppling on one of us and we were a fun spectacle for the village to have a good laugh at!  But I digress.... we are laughed at all the time but at least we weren't alone!  So I tried to upload a total of 6 photos but it is taking tooooo damn long so only these 2 finished.  If you want to see photos, again refer to facebook they upload 1000X faster!  Should be putting more up this week from swearing in week and my new house!

 The house where we had our swearing in ceremony, seriously nice digs... I am now considering a career in Foreign Service

Just a silly picture of some Lango girls pretending to be models, which to us I guess means eating our fingers or looking spaced out... I love us!

It's Official... I'm a volunteer!

Well tomorrow I will be anyway!  So right now I am a little outside Kampala at a 5 star hotel complete with pool and HOT showers!!!! We are being seriously spoiled.... and I kind of want to move in just so they can feed me, the food here is awesome!

So what the hell am I going to be doing for the next two years now that I am a real life volunteer?  2 weeks ago after holding onto where we were going for 2 months.... they finally told us....  St. Katherine's Girls Secondary School in Lira District!  I am really stoked to be at an all girls school and my counterpart is a "Super Teacher".  Super Teacher Wendy Grace can't fly or read people's minds, but she is quite the progressive woman especially for ugandan standards and that is just as special!  So myself and my fellow lango lovers braved the trip back up to the north to visit our sites the next day and this ride went much smoother!  Stella, Liz and I took a more reputable bus company who's wheels were safely secured... and we made it there in under 5 hours.  I stayed at Mango Tree Guest House again because my house wasn't ready and the next morning I got picked up in the school's vehicle for a visit.  Enwat the driver is my new best friend because shit... how else am I going to get to town when you can't ride a boda!

Where I Am:  So I am only 7km outside Lira town which is pretty convenient and I am only 2km away from a fellow volunteer.  That is pretty damn lucky, some volunteers have to travel 2 hours to get to a PCV and I can walk to her site in 10 minutes!  My house is on the school's compound which is completely gated in, in a town called Boro Boro!

My House:  I have electricity and running water!!! wasn't expecting that at all so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it.  The house is really simple, the first door enters into 2 rooms, a living room and a bedroom, and a bathroom that is right off the bedroom, complete with toilet and shower!  That doesn't mean I have hot water but in Africa you can deal with that... The second door opens into the kitchen which has a counter and a sink! I know these things sound ridiculous to get excited about but seriously I'm pretty set up compared to a lot of volunteers here with my ammenitites and accessibility to town.

Who I Work With:  So the school is really nice and the they are well staffed.  They have about 40 teachers or so, maybe more.  The school is made up of 900 girls (pretty big) from S1-S6.  My first reaction was "What the hell am I doing here?"  I mean they had the ability to print out tests, they had a library, they had enough room for students to sit, they had a whole building dedicated to lab and it was pretty well stocked and organized.  This may sound like a given but it is a REALLY nice school in Uganda and Super Teacher Wendy is one of the best teachers in the country (as decided by the ministry of education).  I was only there for a day so though I'm not going to make any conclusions until I spend time there, and I know I can do some good, it's just not what I was expecting.  The staff is really nice thought especially my counterpart, supervisor and head teacher.  They were a little standoffish with me at first, I'm not sure if it is because I am replacing a volunteer, but they warmed up to me once I started speaking the language.  I am going to be teaching S5 organic chemistry and calculus, and 4 classes of S2 math!

I will write much more about site in the future but for now I am exhausted and am feeling the daunting weight of having to re pack all my shit again before moving to site on friday!  Tomorrow is our last night together and we are really happy all of us made it through... so naturally it should be a shit show!  But aber!

50th anniversary and other silliness!

Okay so these are a few things that happened between language immersion and future site visit.  Not much happened in between out of the ordinary.  Our group is ridiculous in general and I would have to write a novel about all the little crazy things we say and do. We had a mock LPI (language proficiency interview) which I bombed due to me being so nervous.  Judith my language trainer stopped the tape after and just looked at me with these eyes that said "WHAT HAPPENED YOU KNOW THIS!"  Honestly I always get text anxiety when it comes to oral exams and I could have used a shot or two to calm my nerves in which case I probably would have done better.  We also had the 50th anniversary which I have pictures posted of on facebook.  We went to a Juvira Primary School and did activities with the kids from painting murals and building rocket stoves to reading books to the younger kids and doing life skills activities.  I was involved in doing life skills, which included one game called the "best response" activity.  We would outline scenarios that involved peer pressuring youth into having sex.  They split into groups and would have to come up with the "best response" to the line.  For example, "If you don't have sex you will get a rash"  Things like this were actually believed to be true.  It is amazing and somewhat disheartening, the misconceptions young people have here about sex and HIV, which is probably why we are required to do HIV awareness and life skills work in addition to our teaching schedules.  I didn't bring a camera to the event after, a dinner and cocktail party with a lot of volunteers already in country and the peace corps staff.  Dinner was good and the night consisted of a lot of dancing and drinking.  PC people are crazy in their own right so it was good to let loose and some got a little sillier then others.  One of the crazies, who is of course my friend, fell asleep on the grass outside the hotel under some trees and was thankfully brought back by a guard to us sitting outside before the guard dogs got to him haha.  Thankfully one of us was learning luganda and could understand him saying "your friend, your friend" and he promptly put him in a bed.
      The next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed hungover to go cook lunch with our language groups.  We went to Jacque's family house who were really sweet and whether they liked the lunch or not they seemed pleased and were very helpful.  We walked from the hotel to meet Judith and Lanyero (the secondary tech trainer who is acholi and is always involved in helping our group because our languages are SO similar) at the market.  We bought supplies including a live chicken which rachel cradled like a child the rest of the trip to make its last moments on earth comfortable before we slaughtered it for lunch (side note... blood goes everywhere, the knives in this country are not sharp and cleaning a chicken and separating all it's insides is grose!  I will not be eating much chicken once I live on my own haha)  Rachel named it adit gweno (which means mister chicken in our language haha).  We made spaghetti with meat sauce and marinated beef kabobs as our "american dishes" and we made chicken stew, rice and greens as the "african dishes"  Everything turned out good accept that the kabobs were so tough we couldn't really eat them haha whoops!  After doing this on only 2 hours of sleep the previous night I was thoroughly exhausted and promptly walked home in the blazing mid afternoon heat to rest for the remainder of the day...  I needed the next 2 days to prepare for site visit!!!!!!!!