I am not sure the best way to add pictures, the only way I could figue out was to place them along the side.
As an added comment John's mother asked him some questions I'm sure all of you are asking too.
John’s mother asked these questions.
Are you eating ok? What are you eating? What do you drink? Can you wash your clothes? Is the weather hot? Is there any rain?
John answered!
we have a great cook at the house, where I get breakfast and dinner. we have had chili, spaghetti, egg rolls, and noodles, kind of western food with an african flair.for african food I have had dodo and eggs (spinach and eggs), mugasi (deep fried dough), corn, mangos, bananas, pineapples, rice, potio, beans, and I will have to think tilapia, beef, I drink mostly water I have fallen in love with getting to the CalTex station for 1.5 Liter of water (it costs 1000 shs< 1 dollar)....I have also had their sweet tea at school, i have had several cokes 300 ml old style glass bottle....There is a women named Agnes at the house who does all the wash by hand and hangs them on a line.....all rooms have one day to put out their wash, so mine was yesterday...it is sometimes hot, but not really...it is amazing how much of a breeze you get in some of these buildings, including the mud brick hut with the thatch roof I was in.....it rained once, so the roads are very dusty, I have red dirt on everything......but if it rains again, we will be inundated by the white ants.....this is the end of their second rainy season it is hottest in december
Walk to Atanga SS
Friday, June 29, 2007
Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri
THERE ARE 3 NEW POSTS TODAY. I would suggest to you that when you read this blog. You page down to where you left off, and then start reading. I think some of the stories will be much better in chronological order.
So this morning, I woke up again and jumped into a nice cold shower. It really is a delight to wake up and take a cold shower. I am thinking of this tonight because we currently do not have water, and I have played basketball and volleyball today. I am really hoping some time in the next 10 hours we get water. If not it will be shower by baby wipes tomorrow morning. So what did I do today. Good things, so keep reading. Started this morning again, with assembly at Awere. Nyeko Alfred and I started working on some problems students have brought us. So we did not make anymore progress on grading their midterms. Grades are different here because they get progress reports, but the entire year is based on the end of year exams. So it was just kind of a regular morning. I was about to leave but then I showed Alfred my Sudoku in an old USA Today, and we worked together to solve it. The afternoon was to be spent shadowing one of the mentors that work with the Gulu students who are on scholarship with IC funds. Being a mentor is a highly competitive, and it is a job where Ugandans want the position. So the quality of mentors is quite strong. I had some extra time, so I walked to the IC office which is about a 22 minute walk. Along the way, the Crested Crane school was letting out for lunch, and so was another school with thousands of young kids. It was amazing, there were so many kids walking and laughing. I had a crew of about 20 kids following me. They were laughing and talking in Lwo the entire time. We all had a blast just walking down the street. Then I met up with Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri (Geoffrey), we hopped on his motorbike, and traveled for a while on the major streets out of town, until we started riding down paths that I thought were too small for a motorbike. This was a village of traditional huts, just like Awere, circular walls made out of mud bricks, and a thatched roof. We found the one where Denis, his student was staying. Denis has been suspended for two weeks for several offenses the most serious one having a small amount of alcohol with him. Denis invited us into his house. I had to duck quite severely to get inside. Once inside, there were handmade chairs he invited us to sit on. They were low to the ground, and I was thinking they might break, considering I was a “man of large mass”. I not only fit, but it was surprised about how solid the chair was. It was made out of what looked like twigs and several small branches, but it looked nice and it was solid. Geoffrey allowed me to listen to him mentor Denis, and I told him about kids that I knew in St. Louis, and East St. Louis who had also overcome obstacles to achieve. As the conversation, progressed it was obvious that Denis was embarrassed about his behavior and was slightly embarrassed that I was there, but I had the feeling that he was a pretty good kid. They both laughed when I told him that because although they use the word kid, it usually refers to the small ones. Btw, while we were inside there were 5 or 6 kids giggling outside of the door. This family had done a pretty good job of making the small circular space home. It looks like they had divided the circular floor plan into three rooms. There is a space underneath the thatch roof and it actually had pretty good air flow. I was able to tell Denis that we both believed in him, and that I would check back with Geoffrey about his progress. He will have to study for his mid-terms(not quite the same) over the next week or so at home. I believe in him and hope he will succeed. It has been a bad week for Denis as his brother went to the hospital and died. I do not think he has other siblings. He has an aged mom and an even more aged grandmother. Geoffrey described Denis as a very bright student when he first went to school, he was a clever learner. He was abducted and spent time as a child soldier, until he was able to find his way back. Then he did not go to school for two years. So this is the struggle for Denis, does he have enough strength and personal resolve to overcome the enormity of these obstacles. You all know that I believe he can do this, but maybe tonight you can include him in your prayers, and also a man named Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri, he is certainly fighting the good fight, and the other 21 students he is mentoring. I know that is what I will be doing, seems like a more worthwhile prayer than praying for the water to come back so I can take a cold shower.
john
ps and today I remember that after the enormity of suffering I saw in the Awer camp, that the world will be saved by thousands of little tasks and great people helping one person one at a time. Thanks Geoffrey
So this morning, I woke up again and jumped into a nice cold shower. It really is a delight to wake up and take a cold shower. I am thinking of this tonight because we currently do not have water, and I have played basketball and volleyball today. I am really hoping some time in the next 10 hours we get water. If not it will be shower by baby wipes tomorrow morning. So what did I do today. Good things, so keep reading. Started this morning again, with assembly at Awere. Nyeko Alfred and I started working on some problems students have brought us. So we did not make anymore progress on grading their midterms. Grades are different here because they get progress reports, but the entire year is based on the end of year exams. So it was just kind of a regular morning. I was about to leave but then I showed Alfred my Sudoku in an old USA Today, and we worked together to solve it. The afternoon was to be spent shadowing one of the mentors that work with the Gulu students who are on scholarship with IC funds. Being a mentor is a highly competitive, and it is a job where Ugandans want the position. So the quality of mentors is quite strong. I had some extra time, so I walked to the IC office which is about a 22 minute walk. Along the way, the Crested Crane school was letting out for lunch, and so was another school with thousands of young kids. It was amazing, there were so many kids walking and laughing. I had a crew of about 20 kids following me. They were laughing and talking in Lwo the entire time. We all had a blast just walking down the street. Then I met up with Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri (Geoffrey), we hopped on his motorbike, and traveled for a while on the major streets out of town, until we started riding down paths that I thought were too small for a motorbike. This was a village of traditional huts, just like Awere, circular walls made out of mud bricks, and a thatched roof. We found the one where Denis, his student was staying. Denis has been suspended for two weeks for several offenses the most serious one having a small amount of alcohol with him. Denis invited us into his house. I had to duck quite severely to get inside. Once inside, there were handmade chairs he invited us to sit on. They were low to the ground, and I was thinking they might break, considering I was a “man of large mass”. I not only fit, but it was surprised about how solid the chair was. It was made out of what looked like twigs and several small branches, but it looked nice and it was solid. Geoffrey allowed me to listen to him mentor Denis, and I told him about kids that I knew in St. Louis, and East St. Louis who had also overcome obstacles to achieve. As the conversation, progressed it was obvious that Denis was embarrassed about his behavior and was slightly embarrassed that I was there, but I had the feeling that he was a pretty good kid. They both laughed when I told him that because although they use the word kid, it usually refers to the small ones. Btw, while we were inside there were 5 or 6 kids giggling outside of the door. This family had done a pretty good job of making the small circular space home. It looks like they had divided the circular floor plan into three rooms. There is a space underneath the thatch roof and it actually had pretty good air flow. I was able to tell Denis that we both believed in him, and that I would check back with Geoffrey about his progress. He will have to study for his mid-terms(not quite the same) over the next week or so at home. I believe in him and hope he will succeed. It has been a bad week for Denis as his brother went to the hospital and died. I do not think he has other siblings. He has an aged mom and an even more aged grandmother. Geoffrey described Denis as a very bright student when he first went to school, he was a clever learner. He was abducted and spent time as a child soldier, until he was able to find his way back. Then he did not go to school for two years. So this is the struggle for Denis, does he have enough strength and personal resolve to overcome the enormity of these obstacles. You all know that I believe he can do this, but maybe tonight you can include him in your prayers, and also a man named Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri, he is certainly fighting the good fight, and the other 21 students he is mentoring. I know that is what I will be doing, seems like a more worthwhile prayer than praying for the water to come back so I can take a cold shower.
john
ps and today I remember that after the enormity of suffering I saw in the Awer camp, that the world will be saved by thousands of little tasks and great people helping one person one at a time. Thanks Geoffrey
Awer Camp
I took a boda to the IC office, it is on the other side of town and thus costs 1000 shillings for the boda ride compared to the usual 500 we pay. Valerie who is the house mother of the IC office and also took us to St. Jude’s orphanage was there to lead us. It really helps to have an experienced person go with you, they know the nuances and the language and your experience is so much better this way. Hopefully, I talked about Katie who led us to Awere the first time. Katie speaks better Lwo than anyone I have heard in the IC house, and it is fun to watch and hear her joke with the Acholis. The other groups have had a kind of mixed experience with the Awer camp. Sometimes the people have been less than excited they were there. Today, we had none of that. We drove about a half hour away from Gulu to the camp. This is a camp where 50,000 people are still living in horrible and diseased conditions due to displacement from the war. We are within two hours of the Sudan at this camp. Another place of trouble and desparate conditions. Awer was what you expect when you think of the poor in Africa. Children everywhere some missing tops, the little ones often missing bottoms. As we walked through Awer, I was soon followed by about fifteen little children. It is a very bad place, and I wonder why these places exist. A small fraction of what we are spending on our war, could seriously make a difference here. I think I am very close to being able to send a picture home. If so, it is me with the children of Awer. IC is on the ground here and helping men and women make an income by the bracelet program. They are teaching saving and investing, and even in this place of desolation. There is a small loan program funded by the savings of the people making the bracelets. That is actual funding small businesses in this camp. We then went to a school that has been constructed in the camp by Save the Children. We met several of the teachers, there are 11 teachers for 1400 children in the primary grades. On the board, they were deciding how to allocated their funding of 16,394,000 /=. I was not sure but they may be only getting 35% of that money. If you turned away from the schools and away from the camps, you could see beautiful, rolling hills that stretched for ever. The green was green, green, green. On the way back, Valerie borrowed my camera to take a picture of a man wearing an apron saying, “since I’ve been microwaving, I have more time for misbehaving.” Kind of a surreal moment in a depressing day. This is usually where I try to end the message with a quote or a neat moment. I have neither today.
God Bless
God Bless
It's the little things
I do not know how this message will go. We are without electricity currently and different IC people are out back between the two buildings and discussing different things. Some God, some what happened today, Trisha is talking about her experience at Awer camp (similar spelling to my school, but two different entities). I guess I will also soon on this missive be talking about the same experience. But right now, I am marveling how many different things we have, small little, inconsequential things. Next week I will be demonstrating a math problem with post-it notes. Not available here. For our classrooms we were given large clumsy 2 hole binders with a very complicated system to reclose the binder. I went into town and bought a plastic folder clipboard folder for 8,000 /= (/= is the symbol for money, the dollar just fell here, but still buys close to 1600 shillings, so this purchase cost me a little more than $5). I then asked for a ream of paper, the shopkeeper asked, “One?” and I said yes and he said 100 shilling which seemed cheap until he handed me one piece of paper out of the pack. It is amazing that people will regularly buy individual sheets of paper. My friend Esau was hanging around waiting for me again today. I found out I could give him a pen, so tomorrow I will do that, but I really want him to walk to the courts tomorrow and play basketball. The assortment of kids I had last time were great, and I hope Amos (prounounced A-mos) shows he is an amazing kid. And I really look to reconnect with Kennedy and Geoffrey tomorrow. I am going to end this post here, because I think I want to separate this ordinary play from what I saw today. Read further for the Awer (away) camp story.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
no clever title
I forgot where we last were. But here are a couple of update items. I appreciate comments to my blog, and I really want to read them, so keep sending them, but I probably won’t be able to reply to your comments. The internet café is slow and I always feel guilty because people are waiting. I did read Caitlin’s and Laura Gallo’s comments so thanks.
My blog title was “Mia apa ario Acholi” I was wrong and have since learned better. 1200 is Apil acel ki mia ario” which translates to thousand one and hundred two. Okay so where am I, I will have nothing but cold showers for the rest of my time here (okay I just realized that is wrong, I might have a hot shower in Kampala), but anyway it is a big disappointment, when I wake up and there is no water. That means no shower whatsoever. I shaved with hand sanitizer the other day. It kind of worked. But in all the primitive conditions, it is amazing how used to this life style you get. The people are very friendly, all of the kids want to talk to you, and every one exchanges pleasantries. So far, I have done better with my English greetings because my Acholi is so bad, they usually can’t understand you. They also get a real big kick out of how much Americans talk with their nose. My new buddy Amos told me I am actually not quite as nasally as other Americans, he seemed to have a real adult perspective for a Primary 7 student.
Today I again planned next weeks lessons with Nyeko Alfred, who I almost always call Alfred. Nyeko is a name given to him when he was born, and describes the time he was born into. I am pretty sure Nyeko means Innocent. We had a good time planning our lessons for next week and also asking questions about Uganda and answering questions about America. In the afternoon, I went to Gulu High School and watched Danielle teach a Senior 1 class about linear equations and y-intercept. She did a great job with her partner Patrick. It was amazing to see this 5’3” woman command this class room of 120 girls. Oh by the way, it is considered dress code in all schools that I have visited that the girls and boys both have hair that is almost shaved. Often with the little kids the only way you can tell the differences is through their skirts.
Not sure if I mentioned an amazing job that a woman named Filda is doing at a place called St. Jude’s Orphanage. They have about 83 kids and they have them all smiling and interested in all kinds of activities. The older kids help raise the youngsters, just like they were in a real family. Each group of 7 or 8 kids has a “mom” that lives and works at the orphanage.
We also had a great roundtable meeting at Awere. All 5 of our teachers are ready to go. I am working there with Adam, Wendy, Trisha, and Terry (I share a phone with Terry and she has more than a first name in common with Terri Gaffney). They are both very down to earth and always willing to help. The Awere teachers are Solena, Alfred, Nancy, Beatrice, and --------. When I cam home Kennedy was waiting for me again. He really is looking for something to do. I met Esau again, and a new friend Amos. I am planning on playing basketball with that gang plus more on Thursday afternoon. Until then, it looks like I will be pretty busy. This message might not get to you for another 4 days. Oh, keep your fingers crossed a couple of the women have had to use a dewormer and are still a little under the weather. Amy, kind of my boss, just like my boss Winnie (ha ha), spent most of the time walking back and forth to Gulu high puking. Although it was not much, it was constant. Luckily I had one of the Thiemann gifts of Charmin to go, so she was grateful. Later, she ran our roundtable meeting at Awere without missing a beat. See you soon, by the way I expect to be able to guide the Cardinals to the Series again with my sheer force of will, please do not let my job get too tough, make sure they are within shouting distance.
My blog title was “Mia apa ario Acholi” I was wrong and have since learned better. 1200 is Apil acel ki mia ario” which translates to thousand one and hundred two. Okay so where am I, I will have nothing but cold showers for the rest of my time here (okay I just realized that is wrong, I might have a hot shower in Kampala), but anyway it is a big disappointment, when I wake up and there is no water. That means no shower whatsoever. I shaved with hand sanitizer the other day. It kind of worked. But in all the primitive conditions, it is amazing how used to this life style you get. The people are very friendly, all of the kids want to talk to you, and every one exchanges pleasantries. So far, I have done better with my English greetings because my Acholi is so bad, they usually can’t understand you. They also get a real big kick out of how much Americans talk with their nose. My new buddy Amos told me I am actually not quite as nasally as other Americans, he seemed to have a real adult perspective for a Primary 7 student.
Today I again planned next weeks lessons with Nyeko Alfred, who I almost always call Alfred. Nyeko is a name given to him when he was born, and describes the time he was born into. I am pretty sure Nyeko means Innocent. We had a good time planning our lessons for next week and also asking questions about Uganda and answering questions about America. In the afternoon, I went to Gulu High School and watched Danielle teach a Senior 1 class about linear equations and y-intercept. She did a great job with her partner Patrick. It was amazing to see this 5’3” woman command this class room of 120 girls. Oh by the way, it is considered dress code in all schools that I have visited that the girls and boys both have hair that is almost shaved. Often with the little kids the only way you can tell the differences is through their skirts.
Not sure if I mentioned an amazing job that a woman named Filda is doing at a place called St. Jude’s Orphanage. They have about 83 kids and they have them all smiling and interested in all kinds of activities. The older kids help raise the youngsters, just like they were in a real family. Each group of 7 or 8 kids has a “mom” that lives and works at the orphanage.
We also had a great roundtable meeting at Awere. All 5 of our teachers are ready to go. I am working there with Adam, Wendy, Trisha, and Terry (I share a phone with Terry and she has more than a first name in common with Terri Gaffney). They are both very down to earth and always willing to help. The Awere teachers are Solena, Alfred, Nancy, Beatrice, and --------. When I cam home Kennedy was waiting for me again. He really is looking for something to do. I met Esau again, and a new friend Amos. I am planning on playing basketball with that gang plus more on Thursday afternoon. Until then, it looks like I will be pretty busy. This message might not get to you for another 4 days. Oh, keep your fingers crossed a couple of the women have had to use a dewormer and are still a little under the weather. Amy, kind of my boss, just like my boss Winnie (ha ha), spent most of the time walking back and forth to Gulu high puking. Although it was not much, it was constant. Luckily I had one of the Thiemann gifts of Charmin to go, so she was grateful. Later, she ran our roundtable meeting at Awere without missing a beat. See you soon, by the way I expect to be able to guide the Cardinals to the Series again with my sheer force of will, please do not let my job get too tough, make sure they are within shouting distance.
Monday, June 25, 2007
No Water, and a malfunctioning iPod
I felt really dirty that we had no water again, as I would have to go into my first day of school without a shower. Things got worse, when my roommate Hadley woke me at 7 am, I rolled over slept for five minutes, and then woke up I checked my iPod and it said 9:55 am Kampala time. WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT how could I oversleep on my first day of school, I did my best to get ready quickly, what that entails is a little different when you cannot shower or shave. I was not happy as I thought at least one of my colleagues should have work me up. It was a matter of minutes until I saw Scott, I asked him what time it was, and he said 7:06 crisis averted. I was introduced to the student population at 8:00 am, all 851 students both boys and girls. Good first day, I have to cut this short so I can go look for school supplies. See you soon.
Mia apa ario Acholi, One Moo Nu*
Mia apa ario Acholi Acel Moo Nu
1200 Acholi, 1 White Guy is what the title says. This morning I have a meeting at
10 a.m., so I had to get up early if I wanted to go to Mass. I was not sure if the Mass was at 7, 7:15, or 7:30. As I was getting dressed, I could hear the organ, so I quickly put on a shirt and tie, and hustle across the street at 6:45 am. It turns out the only two people in the church were me and the organist. It appeared for awhile that this Mass was probably going to be for fifteen to twenty people. Sometime around twenty minutes later, a deacon? knelt behind the first row of pews, and start leading a small congregation in the rosary. I had wanted to go to a Mass in Lwo, and did not think this was it, but it turns out that there was not one English word spoke through the rosary service, then the priest listened to confessions at the front of the church, as the congregation chanted prayers together. The Mass eventually started. They had straw mats up front for the children to sit on. Soon every pew started to fill up, except for the one with the Moo nu. I could not tell if there were being shy or respectful, but once Mass began, I noticed there were people outside and I quickly glanced around and saw that there were probably more than 1200 people at this Mass. Coming near the end to go sit on the straw mat was a little boy of about 4, who was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt number 30. I am outside looking down at the ground and there are white ant wings all over the ground, they are the size of maple leaf helicopters, and look just as plentiful. Well hopefully my prayers this morning, will allow me to do my best tomorrow on the first day of school at Awere.
*Actually there were 3 moo nus, but more on that later
1200 Acholi, 1 White Guy is what the title says. This morning I have a meeting at
10 a.m., so I had to get up early if I wanted to go to Mass. I was not sure if the Mass was at 7, 7:15, or 7:30. As I was getting dressed, I could hear the organ, so I quickly put on a shirt and tie, and hustle across the street at 6:45 am. It turns out the only two people in the church were me and the organist. It appeared for awhile that this Mass was probably going to be for fifteen to twenty people. Sometime around twenty minutes later, a deacon? knelt behind the first row of pews, and start leading a small congregation in the rosary. I had wanted to go to a Mass in Lwo, and did not think this was it, but it turns out that there was not one English word spoke through the rosary service, then the priest listened to confessions at the front of the church, as the congregation chanted prayers together. The Mass eventually started. They had straw mats up front for the children to sit on. Soon every pew started to fill up, except for the one with the Moo nu. I could not tell if there were being shy or respectful, but once Mass began, I noticed there were people outside and I quickly glanced around and saw that there were probably more than 1200 people at this Mass. Coming near the end to go sit on the straw mat was a little boy of about 4, who was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt number 30. I am outside looking down at the ground and there are white ant wings all over the ground, they are the size of maple leaf helicopters, and look just as plentiful. Well hopefully my prayers this morning, will allow me to do my best tomorrow on the first day of school at Awere.
*Actually there were 3 moo nus, but more on that later
Kennedy, Geoffrey, and Junie
After leaving Awere, I went into Longtic to post the last four posts. That is where you left me. I also had a great afternoon. First, I went through the market to look for batteries. I found amidst small soccer balls, shoe brushes, and assorted sundries I found
4 AAA batteries, labeled Tusker and written instructions in either Japanese or Chinese writing. I felt real good about finding my batteries, and they did work in my TI-83 so I am a full fledged math geek again. I decided to walk home, the boda drivers who usually hang out in groups of three or four at a corner would encourage me to ride with them. My response is “Amito wot a wot a” which means I want to walk. They just look at me and laugh. As I walk down the street I try to greet everyone. With either Hello, Apwoyo (which is kind of like aloha it means many things including thank you), Kopa Ngo (what’s up), or Kopa Di (what’s going on, I may have that one wrong.) If you ask any little kid, “How are you?”, the respond, “I am fine”. Some of the little ones like this so much, they then respond, “how are you?” and that cycle often repeats itself several times.
I ran into two 12 year olds on the last block before the IC house. After the normal greeting, these two approached me and asked me what my name was. We then talked for about five minutes. For you Chicago people, Kennedy was wearing a Naperville, Lisle Park District soccer jersey. I then asked them if they wanted to play basketball, so I went into the IC house and got my cheap rubber basketball, and in pumping it up. The needle poked through to the other side of the ball. I could see the disappointment on both boys faces as they thought the game might be over. Luckily I had brought two basketballs. The three of us, walked up to a big field where they had four hoops and two rims. We shot and I helped them with their shooting technique, more kids came over but there were very reticent to join our game. Eventually, Junie joined our game, he was a friend of Courtney and Kennedy. Then Tony joined who compared to the rest of the kids can play, he has a correct form jumper, and can drive the hoop. I had to work to block his shot. Including after he faked me once I spun as he went by me and blocked it with the back of my right hand (this last sentence is for Ed and Mike Barry). Tony is in Senior 4 at Awere, so I expect to see him again tomorrow. Eventually we played a game of 4 on 5. Not all of the kids understood how to play defense. My team won and the best part was the worst kid, who really did not understand the game made 2 of the 6 baskets. Oh, I almost forgot. If you don’t know when you are shooting in America and make a shot there is an expression “gimme my change” and the others have to give you the ball again. I taught these eight kids this expression, and would not give them the ball again until they said it. It was hilarious, especially since in Uganda ---change means changing money exactly, where balance is the amount back from a payment. Luckily I had to get back at 5 pm for dinner, because this out of shape old man was starting to get tired. Kennedy, Geoffrey, and Junie walked me back to IC and they were teach me Lwo on the way home. They pointed to a chicken and said “gweno” when they pointed out two goats, I told them their names were “Geoffrey” and “Kennedy”, they laughed Junie the most, but luckily a chicken wandered out from the high grass, and I got to say “There’s Junie” G and K then got to laugh the loudest. Geoffrey then asked if I would come back next year. We are cautioned not to make any commitments to the Acholi that we may not be able to keep. So I said, it is too soon to tell, and I don’t know, it may be difficult. Then Geoffrey looked at me and said, “Tonight I will pray that you come back again next year.”
4 AAA batteries, labeled Tusker and written instructions in either Japanese or Chinese writing. I felt real good about finding my batteries, and they did work in my TI-83 so I am a full fledged math geek again. I decided to walk home, the boda drivers who usually hang out in groups of three or four at a corner would encourage me to ride with them. My response is “Amito wot a wot a” which means I want to walk. They just look at me and laugh. As I walk down the street I try to greet everyone. With either Hello, Apwoyo (which is kind of like aloha it means many things including thank you), Kopa Ngo (what’s up), or Kopa Di (what’s going on, I may have that one wrong.) If you ask any little kid, “How are you?”, the respond, “I am fine”. Some of the little ones like this so much, they then respond, “how are you?” and that cycle often repeats itself several times.
I ran into two 12 year olds on the last block before the IC house. After the normal greeting, these two approached me and asked me what my name was. We then talked for about five minutes. For you Chicago people, Kennedy was wearing a Naperville, Lisle Park District soccer jersey. I then asked them if they wanted to play basketball, so I went into the IC house and got my cheap rubber basketball, and in pumping it up. The needle poked through to the other side of the ball. I could see the disappointment on both boys faces as they thought the game might be over. Luckily I had brought two basketballs. The three of us, walked up to a big field where they had four hoops and two rims. We shot and I helped them with their shooting technique, more kids came over but there were very reticent to join our game. Eventually, Junie joined our game, he was a friend of Courtney and Kennedy. Then Tony joined who compared to the rest of the kids can play, he has a correct form jumper, and can drive the hoop. I had to work to block his shot. Including after he faked me once I spun as he went by me and blocked it with the back of my right hand (this last sentence is for Ed and Mike Barry). Tony is in Senior 4 at Awere, so I expect to see him again tomorrow. Eventually we played a game of 4 on 5. Not all of the kids understood how to play defense. My team won and the best part was the worst kid, who really did not understand the game made 2 of the 6 baskets. Oh, I almost forgot. If you don’t know when you are shooting in America and make a shot there is an expression “gimme my change” and the others have to give you the ball again. I taught these eight kids this expression, and would not give them the ball again until they said it. It was hilarious, especially since in Uganda ---change means changing money exactly, where balance is the amount back from a payment. Luckily I had to get back at 5 pm for dinner, because this out of shape old man was starting to get tired. Kennedy, Geoffrey, and Junie walked me back to IC and they were teach me Lwo on the way home. They pointed to a chicken and said “gweno” when they pointed out two goats, I told them their names were “Geoffrey” and “Kennedy”, they laughed Junie the most, but luckily a chicken wandered out from the high grass, and I got to say “There’s Junie” G and K then got to laugh the loudest. Geoffrey then asked if I would come back next year. We are cautioned not to make any commitments to the Acholi that we may not be able to keep. So I said, it is too soon to tell, and I don’t know, it may be difficult. Then Geoffrey looked at me and said, “Tonight I will pray that you come back again next year.”
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Nyeko Alfred
A lot of new posts today. I am sitting in an internet cafe for the first time in Gulu. Last night we had our dinner and today. I went to the Awere school and spent the morning there. It was an awesome experience, I wish you could all see the greeting we received from a class of Senior 4 students who were working on Saturday to prepare for their placement tests into either Advanced Senior 5 (the one path to University) or O Level Senior 5( kind of the equivlant of community college). We were led there by Katie who probably speaks Acholi better than any moo nu I know. She was caring on long caring conversations with the children. We saw them hand print cloth that they would be making into dresses for a special occasion. And then Alfred and I sat down and planned how we would team teach, we added 3 points to the contract: (1) that we would be available for our students, inside and outside of the classroom (2) we would do something, (ha ha sorry my mind is so full of so many thoughts and experiences) that I forgot something that I knew when I started to type this paragraph , and (3) Alfred and I agreed to stay in contact over the next year and beyond to help Ugandan and American students do better. YOU should see some of the math that they are doing, in split log make shift classrooms. with no resources. It is inspiring. Remember Awere is a displaced school so they can only build temporary classrooms the land belongs to the Ugandan railway, and through complicated land laws they cannot build more permanent structures.
This is unbelievably amazing and my eyes are filled with tears as I write this on how special this place can be. Don't worry mom I walked over to Holy Cross church and I plan on going to 7 am mass tomorrown.
Wenen
This is unbelievably amazing and my eyes are filled with tears as I write this on how special this place can be. Don't worry mom I walked over to Holy Cross church and I plan on going to 7 am mass tomorrown.
Wenen
World Citizen
Friday in Gulu
DISCLAIMER: I AM SORRY THAT THE BLOG HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED. I AM WRITING EVERYDAY AND WHEN I FIND THE INTERNET AGAIN. THEY WILL BE POSTED. AMAZING THINGS ARE HAPPENING. AND I AM VERY BUSY.
We work up this morning and had another talk from my new friend, Alike David. David talked this morning about the effect of war on children. It was another amazing talk and I learned a lot, I am taking copious notes so hopefully I can share them with you my students and my friends. David talked about being a world citizen and giving back to the world. As we walked and talked about David’s desire to study in either Britain or America we held hands. It is natural act for Ugandan men, and seemed natural.
After our talk, the group teachers had lunch in town, we were joined by Dani Bananas, Brian the soccer player from Starkville, and Catherine who are Group 1 teachers and have been here two weeks longer. I had dodo and eggs, which is kind of a spinach and egg dish. They are already comfortable here and showed us around some. We went into the market, which looks like a third world market, but they had little stands that sell everything. I bought a tin snips for 5,000 ugandan shillings and a blue plastic chair for 15,000 shillings. I got 161,000 shillings from my new $100 bills and 150,000 shillings for my old $100 bills.
I had to duck several times in the marketplace, and the people often laughed at my troubles. The Acholi are a good and friendly people. I then came home to start creating Hadley’s invention. I cut a hole out of the plastic chair, so some of the people who are uncomfortable here, would have a better experience in the pit latrine. The tin snips did not work that well, so I had to hop on a boda to go back to the market for a hack saw blade. My roommate Josh helped hold the chair as I hacksawed the middle out. I don’t think anyone has tried the L.C.I.C.W.C 2.1 (lazy chair invisible children water closet) yet, but maybe tonight.
Tonight, we had dinner with our teaching partners at the Roma Inn, my teaching partner is Nyeka Alfred who is teach Senior 3 math at Awere school. We had a great dinner that included chicken, beef, and fish. The waiters were trying very hard to make this a first class dinner, and in almost every way accomplished that. The toilet at the Roma Inn was the best I have seen in any place in Uganda. Both Head Teachers, my Head Teacher at Awere and the Head Teacher at Sam Baker school gave excellent talks about how Welcome and grateful they are for us being here. I looked at Amy and she started to tear up, and I had to look away. Hearing the pride and once again hearing a Ugandan talk about being a world citizen and making a difference was inspirational.
Oh I forgot to tell you when we got back the house was unerd attack by winged white ants, they are harmless and the acholi even cook them, but it is a little freaky and I am typing this in my dark room and they are dive bombing the light from the screen
So here is my final thought, if God brought Jesus into the world in a manger in Uganda. Maybe the next great Gandhi, Lincoln, or Mother Teresa might be in a classroom today somewhere in Uganda. It seems we should do our best to make sure that bright mind is not hid under a bushel.
DISCLAIMER: I AM SORRY THAT THE BLOG HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED. I AM WRITING EVERYDAY AND WHEN I FIND THE INTERNET AGAIN. THEY WILL BE POSTED. AMAZING THINGS ARE HAPPENING. AND I AM VERY BUSY.
We work up this morning and had another talk from my new friend, Alike David. David talked this morning about the effect of war on children. It was another amazing talk and I learned a lot, I am taking copious notes so hopefully I can share them with you my students and my friends. David talked about being a world citizen and giving back to the world. As we walked and talked about David’s desire to study in either Britain or America we held hands. It is natural act for Ugandan men, and seemed natural.
After our talk, the group teachers had lunch in town, we were joined by Dani Bananas, Brian the soccer player from Starkville, and Catherine who are Group 1 teachers and have been here two weeks longer. I had dodo and eggs, which is kind of a spinach and egg dish. They are already comfortable here and showed us around some. We went into the market, which looks like a third world market, but they had little stands that sell everything. I bought a tin snips for 5,000 ugandan shillings and a blue plastic chair for 15,000 shillings. I got 161,000 shillings from my new $100 bills and 150,000 shillings for my old $100 bills.
I had to duck several times in the marketplace, and the people often laughed at my troubles. The Acholi are a good and friendly people. I then came home to start creating Hadley’s invention. I cut a hole out of the plastic chair, so some of the people who are uncomfortable here, would have a better experience in the pit latrine. The tin snips did not work that well, so I had to hop on a boda to go back to the market for a hack saw blade. My roommate Josh helped hold the chair as I hacksawed the middle out. I don’t think anyone has tried the L.C.I.C.W.C 2.1 (lazy chair invisible children water closet) yet, but maybe tonight.
Tonight, we had dinner with our teaching partners at the Roma Inn, my teaching partner is Nyeka Alfred who is teach Senior 3 math at Awere school. We had a great dinner that included chicken, beef, and fish. The waiters were trying very hard to make this a first class dinner, and in almost every way accomplished that. The toilet at the Roma Inn was the best I have seen in any place in Uganda. Both Head Teachers, my Head Teacher at Awere and the Head Teacher at Sam Baker school gave excellent talks about how Welcome and grateful they are for us being here. I looked at Amy and she started to tear up, and I had to look away. Hearing the pride and once again hearing a Ugandan talk about being a world citizen and making a difference was inspirational.
Oh I forgot to tell you when we got back the house was unerd attack by winged white ants, they are harmless and the acholi even cook them, but it is a little freaky and I am typing this in my dark room and they are dive bombing the light from the screen
So here is my final thought, if God brought Jesus into the world in a manger in Uganda. Maybe the next great Gandhi, Lincoln, or Mother Teresa might be in a classroom today somewhere in Uganda. It seems we should do our best to make sure that bright mind is not hid under a bushel.
Late at Night
Late at Night 6/21/07
The power went out after dinner, so I am glad I plugged this in or I would not be able to write this missive from the top bunk. I tried to get to the internet café today to post these ,but it was crowded. If I don’t figure this out, you may get 3 oe 4 posts at a time. I have to e-mail them to my dad who will be physically posting them. There is an amazing amount of activity in this house. It seems like new people are arriving all the time. I think the count is 16 teachers in our program, 3 teachers in an NYU program, 4 interns, 5 program people, Amy who runs our program, Valerie who runs the house, a couple of videotape people, a couple of photo people, and 3 people from a program called Heals. We talked to Jolie, Brenda, and David today all Ugandan nationals who are working hard to make their country better. Did a lot of walking today, all of the kids in the town are amazed by the “giant American”. Most of the Ugandans are Acholi, and they almost always respond to a smile with an even warmer smile. Sometimes I just say hello, sometimes I ask “How are you, they respond always with “I am fine”, but they really seem to love that question. I will soon be working at Awere school . Awere is 1.5 hours north of here and all of the students in this school have been displaced by the war. So they are down here living close to this displaced school, mostly in IDC (Internal Displacement Camps). I meet my teaching partner tomorrow at dinner. As we visited the IC offices on the other side of town, what some thought was initially ran was bat poop being rained on us by thousand of bats. After taking the boda on my longest trip yet we walked through town. I saw the little beer stand where earlier today, I saw two 11 year old boys load up two cases of beer. They are not really drinking it, but it is there job to go to the store and bicycle back some beer. I am still a litlle amazed at all that I have seen. Hopefully I find a way around my internet problem and you can start reading these
Closer to the time I write them.
The power went out after dinner, so I am glad I plugged this in or I would not be able to write this missive from the top bunk. I tried to get to the internet café today to post these ,but it was crowded. If I don’t figure this out, you may get 3 oe 4 posts at a time. I have to e-mail them to my dad who will be physically posting them. There is an amazing amount of activity in this house. It seems like new people are arriving all the time. I think the count is 16 teachers in our program, 3 teachers in an NYU program, 4 interns, 5 program people, Amy who runs our program, Valerie who runs the house, a couple of videotape people, a couple of photo people, and 3 people from a program called Heals. We talked to Jolie, Brenda, and David today all Ugandan nationals who are working hard to make their country better. Did a lot of walking today, all of the kids in the town are amazed by the “giant American”. Most of the Ugandans are Acholi, and they almost always respond to a smile with an even warmer smile. Sometimes I just say hello, sometimes I ask “How are you, they respond always with “I am fine”, but they really seem to love that question. I will soon be working at Awere school . Awere is 1.5 hours north of here and all of the students in this school have been displaced by the war. So they are down here living close to this displaced school, mostly in IDC (Internal Displacement Camps). I meet my teaching partner tomorrow at dinner. As we visited the IC offices on the other side of town, what some thought was initially ran was bat poop being rained on us by thousand of bats. After taking the boda on my longest trip yet we walked through town. I saw the little beer stand where earlier today, I saw two 11 year old boys load up two cases of beer. They are not really drinking it, but it is there job to go to the store and bicycle back some beer. I am still a litlle amazed at all that I have seen. Hopefully I find a way around my internet problem and you can start reading these
Closer to the time I write them.
Acholi Ma Riek
Acholi Ma Riek 6/21/07
When we got here they told us water was limited. And I guess last night, the water was cut off again. As they all say here TIA(This is Africa). There was water at 4 am when I crawled out of my top bunk. I have to do it carefully as this “man of large mass” makes the hole frame shake, and if I do it wrong, I may pull the whole bed over. Last night, was the best night of sleep I have gotten in Africa, I slept from 11:30 pm until sometime after 4 am, I seemed wide awake after visiting the pit latrine. I am going to learn how to use the pit latrine, because the toilet does not work that well, and water seems to be at a premium. A pit latrine for those of you who don’t know is just a hole in a concrete floor. It smells and there are a lot of flies around, but it is what my students will use all day each and every day. So I am trying to share their experience (????). I am teaching Math at Awere High, the high schools have levels from Senior 1 through Senior 6 similar to the English system of forms. Today I learned how to take “a shower” with baby wipes, as we sat around the table and “showered together” at breakfast. Some of our group is meeting with some of their students with U.S. Ambassador today, the ideas as David said today in his talk is to get knowledge and information to the U.S. David said, “ The U.S. has a large presence in the world, and when the U.S. takes an action it greatly affects the world. So he was happy to see us that we could bring the story of Northern Uganda back to the world. David’s talk about colonialism was amazing. Including the African idea of “mato oput” where the Ugandans harmed by Joseph Konen and the LRA would find a way to forgive them. I came here with the U.S. cultural idea that the World Court bringing Konen to justice was the way for justice to be served. It is amazing how the idea of “mato oput” would work. Just forgiveness and then the country moves on in a productive manner. Amazing isn’t it! David quotes an old man of Uganda who has lost his entire family, saw his descendants sliced up in front of him, and the women of his klan brutally raped. The man’s quote was, “If the pain, I am feeling right now, can end with me, then I say we should forgive Joseph Konen.”
In Acholi, the words for a wise Acholi are “Acholi Ma Riek”
When we got here they told us water was limited. And I guess last night, the water was cut off again. As they all say here TIA(This is Africa). There was water at 4 am when I crawled out of my top bunk. I have to do it carefully as this “man of large mass” makes the hole frame shake, and if I do it wrong, I may pull the whole bed over. Last night, was the best night of sleep I have gotten in Africa, I slept from 11:30 pm until sometime after 4 am, I seemed wide awake after visiting the pit latrine. I am going to learn how to use the pit latrine, because the toilet does not work that well, and water seems to be at a premium. A pit latrine for those of you who don’t know is just a hole in a concrete floor. It smells and there are a lot of flies around, but it is what my students will use all day each and every day. So I am trying to share their experience (????). I am teaching Math at Awere High, the high schools have levels from Senior 1 through Senior 6 similar to the English system of forms. Today I learned how to take “a shower” with baby wipes, as we sat around the table and “showered together” at breakfast. Some of our group is meeting with some of their students with U.S. Ambassador today, the ideas as David said today in his talk is to get knowledge and information to the U.S. David said, “ The U.S. has a large presence in the world, and when the U.S. takes an action it greatly affects the world. So he was happy to see us that we could bring the story of Northern Uganda back to the world. David’s talk about colonialism was amazing. Including the African idea of “mato oput” where the Ugandans harmed by Joseph Konen and the LRA would find a way to forgive them. I came here with the U.S. cultural idea that the World Court bringing Konen to justice was the way for justice to be served. It is amazing how the idea of “mato oput” would work. Just forgiveness and then the country moves on in a productive manner. Amazing isn’t it! David quotes an old man of Uganda who has lost his entire family, saw his descendants sliced up in front of him, and the women of his klan brutally raped. The man’s quote was, “If the pain, I am feeling right now, can end with me, then I say we should forgive Joseph Konen.”
In Acholi, the words for a wise Acholi are “Acholi Ma Riek”
The Road to Gulu
The Road to Gulu 6/20/07
We got up ane jumped into the Mutatus for our 6 hour ride to Gulu. After breakfast my lunch was a can of Pringles and a box of Ginger Snaps. I was in the luggage Mutatu with Hadley and Lindsay our married couple. If you want to read their
Blog you can do that at www.henschels.blogspot.com. Again an interesting drive as we left Kampala on a semi-paved road, all along the way there were shops and people conducting their daily business, hauling everything away from the shops from 16 ft. pieces of steel to pineapples and everything else imagineable. The pedestrians do not have the right of way, and it is amazing there are not more collisions, but the cars and mutates come within inches of the motorbikes and bicycles. The other amazing thing is that no one seems to get upset over near misses. They just move along without anger or frustration. On the first part of the trip, we saw a few goats and cows with giant horns. On the last part of the trip, we saw the roaring Nile and just past there some baboons
sat by the side of the road to say hi. Along the way vehicles were broken down, and there was a truck with a massively blown tire in the middle of the road, and the ten men who were part of that truck were sleeping under the shade of the truck in the middle of the road. I do not think there is AAA or any assistance here, although I did see two tow trucks on the way out of Kampala. Amazingly the trip went pretty fast, although we traveled not only on the left side of the street, but also a lot of time on the right. And when potholes were a problem, James, our driver, spent a lot of time, driving on the hard red clay shoulders, as there were often the smoothest part of the road. Gulu is a thriving little city with a lot going on. We got directed to the IC house, by Phil who is a Science teacher in the first group, and Adam and Scott who experienced their first boda ride. I was then allowed to go to a faculty roundtable at Gulu high. Along the way, we smiled and said hi to children and adults along the way. I don’t know the language yet, so I said hi, how are you or Apwoyo (pronounced afoyo). I also met David, a Ugandan hired by IC who kept laughing with me, because I was a “man of large mass.” I was real impressed by the dedication and the thought that were given to their students by the Ugandan teachers.
After meeting a lot of new people, Danielle, Josh, Margot, Kevin, Scott (who just got back from a trip to the Congo) we settled into just talking. It was time to go get some beer, so Amy and I went up to the Corner to buy some Nile Specials. It was to be my first boda ride. There are many bodas in Gulu, and for 500 shillings, they give you a ride on the back of their motorbike. Somehow they were all taken, so we walked the entire way there, which was really only a fifteen minute walk. We hired bodas on the way back, and my first boda ride lasted fifteen feet as we kind of wobbled and almost crashed into a tree. Then all of the boda drivers came over fighting for a chance to take the “Giant American”. Cisto was my new driver and we got back to the IC house with no problem. But an interesting start. By the way, it looks like I will not have the bandwidth to upload my pictures, so you may have to wait. I have set my iPod World Clock to St. Louis, Kampala, and of course Buenos Aires. So I am thinking good thoughts about all of you. I also met Jamie last night who is here at the IC house until September and has managed to join the choir of the Catholic Church. I don’t think my schedule will allow me to go to Church with him this Sunday, I will be going across the street to Holy Cross.
We got up ane jumped into the Mutatus for our 6 hour ride to Gulu. After breakfast my lunch was a can of Pringles and a box of Ginger Snaps. I was in the luggage Mutatu with Hadley and Lindsay our married couple. If you want to read their
Blog you can do that at www.henschels.blogspot.com. Again an interesting drive as we left Kampala on a semi-paved road, all along the way there were shops and people conducting their daily business, hauling everything away from the shops from 16 ft. pieces of steel to pineapples and everything else imagineable. The pedestrians do not have the right of way, and it is amazing there are not more collisions, but the cars and mutates come within inches of the motorbikes and bicycles. The other amazing thing is that no one seems to get upset over near misses. They just move along without anger or frustration. On the first part of the trip, we saw a few goats and cows with giant horns. On the last part of the trip, we saw the roaring Nile and just past there some baboons
sat by the side of the road to say hi. Along the way vehicles were broken down, and there was a truck with a massively blown tire in the middle of the road, and the ten men who were part of that truck were sleeping under the shade of the truck in the middle of the road. I do not think there is AAA or any assistance here, although I did see two tow trucks on the way out of Kampala. Amazingly the trip went pretty fast, although we traveled not only on the left side of the street, but also a lot of time on the right. And when potholes were a problem, James, our driver, spent a lot of time, driving on the hard red clay shoulders, as there were often the smoothest part of the road. Gulu is a thriving little city with a lot going on. We got directed to the IC house, by Phil who is a Science teacher in the first group, and Adam and Scott who experienced their first boda ride. I was then allowed to go to a faculty roundtable at Gulu high. Along the way, we smiled and said hi to children and adults along the way. I don’t know the language yet, so I said hi, how are you or Apwoyo (pronounced afoyo). I also met David, a Ugandan hired by IC who kept laughing with me, because I was a “man of large mass.” I was real impressed by the dedication and the thought that were given to their students by the Ugandan teachers.
After meeting a lot of new people, Danielle, Josh, Margot, Kevin, Scott (who just got back from a trip to the Congo) we settled into just talking. It was time to go get some beer, so Amy and I went up to the Corner to buy some Nile Specials. It was to be my first boda ride. There are many bodas in Gulu, and for 500 shillings, they give you a ride on the back of their motorbike. Somehow they were all taken, so we walked the entire way there, which was really only a fifteen minute walk. We hired bodas on the way back, and my first boda ride lasted fifteen feet as we kind of wobbled and almost crashed into a tree. Then all of the boda drivers came over fighting for a chance to take the “Giant American”. Cisto was my new driver and we got back to the IC house with no problem. But an interesting start. By the way, it looks like I will not have the bandwidth to upload my pictures, so you may have to wait. I have set my iPod World Clock to St. Louis, Kampala, and of course Buenos Aires. So I am thinking good thoughts about all of you. I also met Jamie last night who is here at the IC house until September and has managed to join the choir of the Catholic Church. I don’t think my schedule will allow me to go to Church with him this Sunday, I will be going across the street to Holy Cross.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Lubiri School in Kampala
today I saw an amazing place, I sat in the classroom of a Senior 3 math class at the Lubiri school in Kampala. Lubiri is one of the best schools in Kampala and they teach 3000 students there. We met a very dedicated faculty and the class that I watched was a math class of about 80 students sitting 3 on a bench behind a table. They were involved and actually were doing algebra like my phone number for those of you who hate that (for instance if a*b=a^2-b^2 what is 5*3 or more important what is (6*-2)*5)) good, good stuff we then had a very real conversation with a great faculty who were very dedicated to their students......driving through Kampala was nuts, I have never driven so cloooooose to so many motor bikes, pedestrians, and other vehicles. i am sending my phone number to my parents, so if someone wants to call me quickly at 2 pm or so in the afternoon someday, you may try
hopefully the next place I will get to upload some pictures, so far this part is not working..
btw, for those of you who know he is ----Jacob is a student at Lubiri and I met him today
hopefully the next place I will get to upload some pictures, so far this part is not working..
btw, for those of you who know he is ----Jacob is a student at Lubiri and I met him today
Monday, June 18, 2007
First Night in Kampala
A very interesting country, we took a mutato (large cab) there is a picture to the right on the main road from Entebbe to Kampala. It was pretty beat up, but our driver and everyone on the road seemed to understand the local nuances and we got there with no problem. We will have 2 days in Kampala, tomorrow we are visiting a school in Kampala and will spend the afternoon changing money. We are in a youth hostel for the night and I had the African plate special.
You will also see my girlfriend from the flight pictured here also. We decided that since she is a flight attendant from Argentina living in Dubai with a Lebanese boyfriend, and since I was an American teaching in Uganda the logistics of a relationship would be too much. Oh well we will always have Addis Abbabe.
For those of you older folk, it was surreal walking across the tarmac of Entebbe with it looking much the same as it probably looked years ago. Let's see what else, our leader Amy seems to be a little bit of a smart aleck, and she definitely has a sense of humor. I am planning on using the pillow joke tomorrow morning. Anyone guess how many times I will use that this trip. I may or may not get a phone, but feel free to comment on this blog. I am going to try to immerse myself in the people of Gulu so individual replies might not happen.
spend 20 minutes trying to load pictures (did not work) will try later
You will also see my girlfriend from the flight pictured here also. We decided that since she is a flight attendant from Argentina living in Dubai with a Lebanese boyfriend, and since I was an American teaching in Uganda the logistics of a relationship would be too much. Oh well we will always have Addis Abbabe.
For those of you older folk, it was surreal walking across the tarmac of Entebbe with it looking much the same as it probably looked years ago. Let's see what else, our leader Amy seems to be a little bit of a smart aleck, and she definitely has a sense of humor. I am planning on using the pillow joke tomorrow morning. Anyone guess how many times I will use that this trip. I may or may not get a phone, but feel free to comment on this blog. I am going to try to immerse myself in the people of Gulu so individual replies might not happen.
spend 20 minutes trying to load pictures (did not work) will try later
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Hanging with Scott and Angie
I am sitting on the floor on top of an air conditioning vent with my new friends Scott and Angie, they are 2 of our group of 10. I met Scott earlier and I have just met Angie. Angie is teaching humanities "not english" she will be working at high tech high in San Diego. Scott is a math teacher like myself we don't know yet if he is as funny as I am. Scott is teacher from Los Angeles who will be teaching next year in San Francisco, so far he is our leader.
Angie already misses her nieces and nephew and her dog, Sierra Nevada. So I think I have extra leg room on the way to Dubai which is nice. I will try to write from Dubai.
Peace out from JFK.
Angie already misses her nieces and nephew and her dog, Sierra Nevada. So I think I have extra leg room on the way to Dubai which is nice. I will try to write from Dubai.
Peace out from JFK.
The Night Before
It is now 12:41 am the night before I am leaving. I am continually amazed at all of the people who will be following me on this trip via this blog. I hope that I will do my best to uphold the standards that you all expect of me. I actually thought I was going to be creative, but I think I am now out of steam. For those of you wondering who made the cut at the end.....the Pujols t-shirt, Dancin' Moose burgundy shirt made it.....the gatorade towel and the green Nerinx polo will have to wait until next year....There was not much room left, since I am taking 2 basketballs (that is not a joke)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Thank You, Lesley.
Thank you, Lesley the way you always appreciated my jokes in Algebra II/Trig. Thank You for the kind smile you gave me when the joke was a particularly awful pun. In your smile, I always got from you a kind of "that was awful Mr. Magee, but keep trying one day you will be funny" look. Thank you, Lesley for always doing your best in everything you did in my class. (and you never complained about your obstacles or took any excuse for any assignment or any test). Thank you for being patient when your classmates sometimes were not. Thank you for each day smiling at me from your desk in the third row of E14, second chair to begin class. Thank you for bringing your smile and energy to that class on days that you felt great, and also for bringing your smile on the days that you did not. Thank you for helping me, stay on track, and be a better teacher for the students in our class.
Thank you, for sharing your friendship, and example of courage to the Class of '07. You and I both know they are pretty great kids, but you showed them something special and they are all a little bit better people today because of you. Thank you for making me a better teacher and a better person. You have taught me so much in just two years.
Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
Lesley, like all men of my generation we all watched and remembered a movie called Brian's Song. Here are the words of Gale Sayers from that movie, stolen and changed by me. I do not think he would mind.
"I'd like to say a few words about a student I know, a friend of mine, her name is Lesley, and she has the heart of a giant, and that rare form of courage, that allows her to kid herself, and her opponent, cancer. She has the mental attitude which makes me proud to have a friend who spells out courage 24 hours a day, every day of her life..... I love Lesley and I'd like all of you to love her too. And tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love her."
On Saturday, I will begin my journey to the Acholi children of Uganda. A lot of good people are concerned about me, now I will tell them not to worry so much. Because I will be watched by you my Angel. Help me, and guide me to help these children, Lesley, just like you always did in E14.
Humbly and Honorly Submitted on the night of June 12,2007.
John Magee
Thank you, for sharing your friendship, and example of courage to the Class of '07. You and I both know they are pretty great kids, but you showed them something special and they are all a little bit better people today because of you. Thank you for making me a better teacher and a better person. You have taught me so much in just two years.
Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
Lesley, like all men of my generation we all watched and remembered a movie called Brian's Song. Here are the words of Gale Sayers from that movie, stolen and changed by me. I do not think he would mind.
"I'd like to say a few words about a student I know, a friend of mine, her name is Lesley, and she has the heart of a giant, and that rare form of courage, that allows her to kid herself, and her opponent, cancer. She has the mental attitude which makes me proud to have a friend who spells out courage 24 hours a day, every day of her life..... I love Lesley and I'd like all of you to love her too. And tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love her."
On Saturday, I will begin my journey to the Acholi children of Uganda. A lot of good people are concerned about me, now I will tell them not to worry so much. Because I will be watched by you my Angel. Help me, and guide me to help these children, Lesley, just like you always did in E14.
Humbly and Honorly Submitted on the night of June 12,2007.
John Magee
Sunday, June 10, 2007
People are Good, All Things will work out.
Terri Gaffney is one of the most positive people I know in my life. She spends very little time listening to the doubters or the pessimists. She has the perfect complement in her life in her rock steady husband, Tim. They were the hosts today of a second Uganda Bon Voyage Party. Their backyard is a shrine to optimism, and life, and everything you would ever want to see as a kid. Today was a wonderful time with some of my oldest friends and my family. And again I will remember to take the optimism and the belief of my hostess, that all people are good people. I was amazed at the generosity of the kindness of the people of the Back Bay in Biloxi, and it continues to carry on each and every day, as I see the generosity and caring of old friends.
I also got a card with the Uganda flag and crest on it. Don't think for a moment that John Magee does not appreciate that extra hooplah!
Last week, I say in a room of Dads, Moms, and 43 of the best students in the whole country. As I listened to their wonderful thoughts, tears, and song of this group. I thought---there is no place else in the world I should be right now. I was born and raised to be in that room with these people at this time. I do not know if you have ever had the thought where you knew about being in the exact right place, but I hope you all find that place soon.
And so I am poised to begin the journey of my lifetime in Africa, but you see I have already begun this journey long ago with you my good friends. And in the last week, I have had phenomenal experiences in Biloxi, on Plant, on Forsyth, and on Bradford. And this journey to Africa is not a culmination, but a start to even bigger and better things and new friends, and new stories, and........................NEW JOKES!!!!
Thank You
p.s. Terri the dates for the Biloxi trip are June 1-7, 2008. Mark your calendar now.
I also got a card with the Uganda flag and crest on it. Don't think for a moment that John Magee does not appreciate that extra hooplah!
Last week, I say in a room of Dads, Moms, and 43 of the best students in the whole country. As I listened to their wonderful thoughts, tears, and song of this group. I thought---there is no place else in the world I should be right now. I was born and raised to be in that room with these people at this time. I do not know if you have ever had the thought where you knew about being in the exact right place, but I hope you all find that place soon.
And so I am poised to begin the journey of my lifetime in Africa, but you see I have already begun this journey long ago with you my good friends. And in the last week, I have had phenomenal experiences in Biloxi, on Plant, on Forsyth, and on Bradford. And this journey to Africa is not a culmination, but a start to even bigger and better things and new friends, and new stories, and........................NEW JOKES!!!!
Thank You
p.s. Terri the dates for the Biloxi trip are June 1-7, 2008. Mark your calendar now.
Mass
It is amazing how many things are so perfect and so coincidental today.
The recessional song started with an African language and rhythm.
It was a wonderful harbinger for this trip. The homily was given by the
86 year old painter of the mural that has hung in front of my eyes for the last five years. It was astounding how much this man was able to teach me about art in just the space of a few minutes, and that art, music, poetry, and knowledge should always be trumpeted.
Two of my wonderful students from this year, were at the mass and shared their smiles and best wishes one more time before I left. And in the back of church, I was smiled on by one of my very first students. A student who taught me a lot in 1992, when I first came to Nerinx. She may have no idea how she made me a better teacher.
I learned from her, a vivid example of how much all parents love their kids, and ride along on the roller coaster of their trials and tribulations. Even when they are loving enough to give high school kids the freedom to venture out on their own.
This student also taught me that if I was going to teach kids Algebra and Geometry, I also had to get them to believe in themselves and to recognize the talents that they already possessed. Encouragement and knowing that people believed in you was just as important as the law of sines.
The recessional song started with an African language and rhythm.
It was a wonderful harbinger for this trip. The homily was given by the
86 year old painter of the mural that has hung in front of my eyes for the last five years. It was astounding how much this man was able to teach me about art in just the space of a few minutes, and that art, music, poetry, and knowledge should always be trumpeted.
Two of my wonderful students from this year, were at the mass and shared their smiles and best wishes one more time before I left. And in the back of church, I was smiled on by one of my very first students. A student who taught me a lot in 1992, when I first came to Nerinx. She may have no idea how she made me a better teacher.
I learned from her, a vivid example of how much all parents love their kids, and ride along on the roller coaster of their trials and tribulations. Even when they are loving enough to give high school kids the freedom to venture out on their own.
This student also taught me that if I was going to teach kids Algebra and Geometry, I also had to get them to believe in themselves and to recognize the talents that they already possessed. Encouragement and knowing that people believed in you was just as important as the law of sines.
Back Yard Ball Game
I walked into the Barry house a little early for dinner, and out back the ball game was in full swing. It was the kind of game that I can watch for ever, because it reminds me of the games of my youth with my brother Tommy, Steve Gianino, the Youngs, John Allen, Alex Failoni (before he was a famous singer) and so many others. We would play for ever, every day. The Barry game was much the same with the two brothers best friends and arch rivals. Was it a forceout? Arguing over rules, and tempting that throw, sliding into home, and just laughing.
I walked into the kitchen and saw Mary Grace preparing dinner (Cathy was there also). She told me proudly that she made the dip. Soon many friends were there and the burgers were grilled.
Watching Mike grill, we now had a front row seat for the ball game. We had moved to field boxes from our earlier bleacher seats. We saw each new kid instantly join a team and bat, some neighbor kids left, some came. The game continued with each kid getting a chance to shine, the littler ones somehow never made an out. And came giggling home on each "home run".
The night was a wonderful time with old friends, and I am astounded by your generosity. I hope you know that. You will all get wonderful thank-you cards, but I am waiting to give them an Ugandan touch.
But here is my final thought, imagine if you will. That the Barry's back yard stretches a long, long way. It stretches long enough that every child gets a chance to play in a game, where the other players "allow" them the dream of a home run, and kids just enjoy being kids and playing forever. It stretches to the streets of Biloxi, and across oceans to the village of Gulu. So that is the gift you gave me on Friday. That ideal about stretching that yard. I will do my best to share your yard, your generosity, and the wonderful example of your children with the Acholi kids and their friends.
I walked into the kitchen and saw Mary Grace preparing dinner (Cathy was there also). She told me proudly that she made the dip. Soon many friends were there and the burgers were grilled.
Watching Mike grill, we now had a front row seat for the ball game. We had moved to field boxes from our earlier bleacher seats. We saw each new kid instantly join a team and bat, some neighbor kids left, some came. The game continued with each kid getting a chance to shine, the littler ones somehow never made an out. And came giggling home on each "home run".
The night was a wonderful time with old friends, and I am astounded by your generosity. I hope you know that. You will all get wonderful thank-you cards, but I am waiting to give them an Ugandan touch.
But here is my final thought, imagine if you will. That the Barry's back yard stretches a long, long way. It stretches long enough that every child gets a chance to play in a game, where the other players "allow" them the dream of a home run, and kids just enjoy being kids and playing forever. It stretches to the streets of Biloxi, and across oceans to the village of Gulu. So that is the gift you gave me on Friday. That ideal about stretching that yard. I will do my best to share your yard, your generosity, and the wonderful example of your children with the Acholi kids and their friends.
Thanks for Carrying Me
The words at the the top of this blog, are from the U2 Song, "One". This is a blog designed to keep all of my friends, families, students, and the curious, up to date about my journey into Africa.
In less than a week, I will be doing more than wearing a white bracelet. I will try my best to share my strengths and weaknesses with the Acholi people of Uganda.
This is my first step in doing something real to end hunger and extreme poverty by the year 2025. This is my way of sharing my thoughts and experiences with you. And then together we will accomplish this incredible goal.
As U2's words ring in my head, you should all know that I could not accomplish anything in life without you carrying me, and hopefully when you need me I will carry you also. But right now it is time to let the Acholi children carry me and then maybe I can carry them.
Somewhere on this blog will be a counter, if you read this occasionally, check the counter. In a very real way, it is counting you my friends who care about me. I am humbled by the interest and your best wishes about this trip. And remember good people, kindness, knowledge, and laughter will win the day. If you have any doubt read the counter. It says in my e-mail that I am travelling to Uganda on Air Emirates, but I know that I am really travelling on the prayers and kindness of you, my friends.
John Magee
In less than a week, I will be doing more than wearing a white bracelet. I will try my best to share my strengths and weaknesses with the Acholi people of Uganda.
This is my first step in doing something real to end hunger and extreme poverty by the year 2025. This is my way of sharing my thoughts and experiences with you. And then together we will accomplish this incredible goal.
As U2's words ring in my head, you should all know that I could not accomplish anything in life without you carrying me, and hopefully when you need me I will carry you also. But right now it is time to let the Acholi children carry me and then maybe I can carry them.
Somewhere on this blog will be a counter, if you read this occasionally, check the counter. In a very real way, it is counting you my friends who care about me. I am humbled by the interest and your best wishes about this trip. And remember good people, kindness, knowledge, and laughter will win the day. If you have any doubt read the counter. It says in my e-mail that I am travelling to Uganda on Air Emirates, but I know that I am really travelling on the prayers and kindness of you, my friends.
John Magee
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