Hi Everyone,
I haven't updated my blog in a month now, it's been hectic here lately. I taught locals from mid-August to 2 September and from 5 September school resumed. Nowadays, I teach French to Senior 1 and 2 students at the local Christian school (Holy Family Secondary School) on Wednesdays and Thursdays, I also teach French to Senior 1 and 2 students at a Muslim school (Naggulu Seed Secondary School) which is 2 miles away on Mondays and Tuesdays. In addition, I work at an international NGO in Kampala on Fridays (Minority Rights Group International, www.minorityrights.org). So my week is well busy and I have the weekend to rest and prepare for classes.
My experience here in Uganda has been great so far, but as any other experience in life there are always ups and downs, good and bad things around. I am reminded of a wise American rapper's line: "seems that life is just a constant war between good and evil". I have seen a lot of injustice, dishonesty, corruption but I have also seen very nice people, people struggling for a better world, people appreciating my presence and work on the ground.
While people are very friendly and very hospitable, which is something I highly appreciate coming myself from a country reputed for its hospitality, poverty is often what makes people trying to get whatever they can get out of you. I have seen a lot of wealth in Kampala, vast quantities of stationery,school material and toys (often second-hand material (donations) from Europe and America) sold in the street or in expensive bookshops around the city. I was told to bring my stationery from London and it was my pleasure to do so while all this stuff is in vast quantities in Kampala only 50km away from my village but most of it does not reach the villages since it is too expensive for locals.
This is but one of the examples of injustice I could mention. My host priests have told me that most foreign NGOs have stopped sending aid to Ugandan NGOs or other organisations because they simply do not trust them anymore. Mismanagement and corruption are the order of the day here, not that it isn't in the West or elsewhere, the same things are happening everywhere of course, but not in the same way. If you can afford to drive around a jeep in Uganda you are definately well off according to my standards, especially considering that the price of petrol has climbed to nearly 4,000 Ugandan shillings per litre, which is the equivalent of 1euro!
My students live in poor conditions, though not too poor either. They have food to eat and clothes to wear, but some who are not boarding students and live up to 5miles away cannot afford 500shillings for the taxi minibus (sole means of transportation if you except the Boda Boda, dangerous and expensive motorcycles) to go back home so they simply have to walk, whether there is sunshine or heavy rain. Some students don't have a schoolbag or enough notebooks. Those who are not boarding students are only given porridge for lunch as they don't have enough to buy proper lunch. A lot of my students fall asleep in class as they are hungry, don't sleep enough and are prone to diseases like flu which are easily transmitted in the congested dormitories of boarding students. In addition, most if not all of the students come from broken families, orphaned by one or two parents and a minority is HIV-positive.
Despite these difficulties, a number of them are well-behaved, respectful and want to learn while another good number is misbehaving and could not care any less about French or education altogether. The job is challenging, especially because of the language barrier, a lot of students do not understand English or do not know it well enough and I only know basic words in Luganda. I maintain a positive attitude and believe that change is possible and there has been some, even if its microscopic on the global scale. I am proud of my two first local students who managed to present themselves and do a small dialogue in French on the 1st of September and I am proud of those students in Senior 2 at my local school who chose to remain in class when I and the headmaster asked those who want to drop the subject to leave the class for good (14 out of 40 students left). So changes are taking place, and as I explained to my students, there are no victims in my class no matter how hard their life is or might have been. I told them that in life we get judged based on our behaviour and conduct, not on our family background. Given that children are starving to death in Somalia and elsewhere everyday, I believe that our students are still lucky to have a chance to go to school and have a chance for a better life, despite the difficulties they face.
I haven't updated my blog in a month now, it's been hectic here lately. I taught locals from mid-August to 2 September and from 5 September school resumed. Nowadays, I teach French to Senior 1 and 2 students at the local Christian school (Holy Family Secondary School) on Wednesdays and Thursdays, I also teach French to Senior 1 and 2 students at a Muslim school (Naggulu Seed Secondary School) which is 2 miles away on Mondays and Tuesdays. In addition, I work at an international NGO in Kampala on Fridays (Minority Rights Group International, www.minorityrights.org). So my week is well busy and I have the weekend to rest and prepare for classes.
My experience here in Uganda has been great so far, but as any other experience in life there are always ups and downs, good and bad things around. I am reminded of a wise American rapper's line: "seems that life is just a constant war between good and evil". I have seen a lot of injustice, dishonesty, corruption but I have also seen very nice people, people struggling for a better world, people appreciating my presence and work on the ground.
While people are very friendly and very hospitable, which is something I highly appreciate coming myself from a country reputed for its hospitality, poverty is often what makes people trying to get whatever they can get out of you. I have seen a lot of wealth in Kampala, vast quantities of stationery,school material and toys (often second-hand material (donations) from Europe and America) sold in the street or in expensive bookshops around the city. I was told to bring my stationery from London and it was my pleasure to do so while all this stuff is in vast quantities in Kampala only 50km away from my village but most of it does not reach the villages since it is too expensive for locals.
This is but one of the examples of injustice I could mention. My host priests have told me that most foreign NGOs have stopped sending aid to Ugandan NGOs or other organisations because they simply do not trust them anymore. Mismanagement and corruption are the order of the day here, not that it isn't in the West or elsewhere, the same things are happening everywhere of course, but not in the same way. If you can afford to drive around a jeep in Uganda you are definately well off according to my standards, especially considering that the price of petrol has climbed to nearly 4,000 Ugandan shillings per litre, which is the equivalent of 1euro!
My students live in poor conditions, though not too poor either. They have food to eat and clothes to wear, but some who are not boarding students and live up to 5miles away cannot afford 500shillings for the taxi minibus (sole means of transportation if you except the Boda Boda, dangerous and expensive motorcycles) to go back home so they simply have to walk, whether there is sunshine or heavy rain. Some students don't have a schoolbag or enough notebooks. Those who are not boarding students are only given porridge for lunch as they don't have enough to buy proper lunch. A lot of my students fall asleep in class as they are hungry, don't sleep enough and are prone to diseases like flu which are easily transmitted in the congested dormitories of boarding students. In addition, most if not all of the students come from broken families, orphaned by one or two parents and a minority is HIV-positive.
Despite these difficulties, a number of them are well-behaved, respectful and want to learn while another good number is misbehaving and could not care any less about French or education altogether. The job is challenging, especially because of the language barrier, a lot of students do not understand English or do not know it well enough and I only know basic words in Luganda. I maintain a positive attitude and believe that change is possible and there has been some, even if its microscopic on the global scale. I am proud of my two first local students who managed to present themselves and do a small dialogue in French on the 1st of September and I am proud of those students in Senior 2 at my local school who chose to remain in class when I and the headmaster asked those who want to drop the subject to leave the class for good (14 out of 40 students left). So changes are taking place, and as I explained to my students, there are no victims in my class no matter how hard their life is or might have been. I told them that in life we get judged based on our behaviour and conduct, not on our family background. Given that children are starving to death in Somalia and elsewhere everyday, I believe that our students are still lucky to have a chance to go to school and have a chance for a better life, despite the difficulties they face.
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