Thursday, July 8 Kigarama, Good Sheppard, and Secondary Schools

Janis and Christie are off to Kigarama to teach this morning. Chris and I will be visiting Good Sheppard Secondary School for a consult on that young man that she saw earlier in the week. Then we hope to visit with our scholars and some other Kasiisi Project Scholars at Kiabambe Secondary School for girls and St. Leo’s Secondary School for boys.

This afternoon we have been challenged to a football match between the Kigarama students and the visitors. We’re pretty sure we are going to be in trouble because the Kigarama team made the quarterfinals of the local primary school tournament recently. The whole country of Uganda is football mad here with the World Cup going on. They have a Satellite dish at the Field Station and the employees gather on game nights at 9:30 to watch in the game in the lecture hall. I asked Innocent Cato who he was rooting for. He answered that he was rooting for Netherlands, but he thought Spain was stronger. We travel back through Amsterdam airport on the way back to the U.S. on July 14th just a day and a half after the World Cup final. We are anticipating an airport full of orange clad football lunatics. We hope they will be happy lunatics.

Chris and I went to Good Sheppard and sat in on the class in which the young man she saw on Sunday is enrolled. Good Sheppard has only been in existence for two years and it is the only school in the area that services students with learning disabilities. We observed the young man and he is making some progress, but he is in a very difficult situation. We made some suggestions to the teacher about how to handle this student and others like him. However, as we explained to the Sister in charge afterwards this student really needs one on one instruction in order to make good progress. That, of course, is unheard of in Uganda. But the school is beginning a vocational program for students like this child and we think he would benefit from that kind of education.

Next we were off to St. Leo’s College, which is actually a secondary school in Fort Portal. There we met with a group of about 20 scholars from the Kasiisi project. Earlier I had talked to Mathew about the importance of the Kasiisi scholars creating and organizing a study group for all of them at secondary school. So as Chris and I spoke to them we talked about the importance of supporting each other in their studies through the structure of a study group. Mathew spoke to the group after we did and arranged for leaders to begin this type of work at each of the levels at St. Leo’s. Hopefully, Matthew will be able to follow up with our scholars to see if they are taking our advice.

Then we were off to Kyabambe Girls Secondary School for a similar meeting with the scholars there. It is interesting to note that there are fewer girl scholars than boys from the Kasiisi project by a large margin. That is something that we are working to change. Alice Bator, who arrived yesterday at the field station, is working on the Girls Health Initiative with the creation of affordable locally made sanitary products and through the funding of a nurse/educator for the girls in the primary schools. You can learn more about this effort at the Kasiisi web site. (kasiisiproject.org). We talked with the girls and I got a chance to meet the scholar that I sponsor Tuhaise Consolata. She is a terrific young woman and a very good student.

Back in the van I asked Koojo Mathew about his own personal story. Mathew never knew his mother and his father died of aids in 1998. Raised by other relatives Mathew was an excellent student at Kasiisi school (he claims that he got into a bit of mischief) but he scored a 7 on the primary leaving exams. Lower scores are better on he PLE’s and the lowest possible score is a 4. For a long time Matthew held the distinction of having had the lowest PLE score of any Kasiisi scholar. However, he says now the students are doing even better and there are some who have equaled or bettered his score. But Mathew went on to do well in secondary school and will finish his BS degree in marketing from Kampala International University this fall. In asking this of Mathew, I explained to him that his personal story was an important one. When he stands in front of these secondary students they see him as the success story they want to be. He personifies their dreams.

We were back at Kigarama for lunch with Janis and Christie. They reported that their lessons went well in the classrooms although the classes here are extremely large. Christie reports that they put the two P1 classes together so that all the students could benefit from her teaching. She probably had 150 students in that group. Janis also was teaching with groups of 120 students in her classes.

The big news from Kigarama was that we had been challenged to a football game. We didn’t know how it would be arranged, but when we asked we were told it would be teachers against the P7 students. We saw these students practicing as we arrived and they handled the football very well. Real footballs here are scarce and so it is not unusual to see children using rolled up and tied plastic bags or banana leaf balls for footballs. We warmed up with such a ball and it was interesting to note that the students were very used to this kind of ball. Of course, they all play in bare feet.

An actual football was provided for the match and Kee family (who are very fine football players) joined us. Also playing for our side was Koojo Mathew, Alice Bator and her friend Scott (our ringer from Vanderbilt), and some of the teachers from Kigarama school. Even with this help, we knew we were in for a tough match with the Kigarama Buffalos.

I played goal and I made two really bad mistakes in the match. One was on the first goal of the match when I came out too soon on a lone striker and he easily dribbled around me and scored, 1-0 Kigarama. However, I got better from that point forward and was able to keep our team in the match as our team led by Scott, Janis and Mathew got into the action. The game was 3-1 Kigarama at the half (yes, we played a full 90 minutes) when we switched ends. We got right back in the match with a quick goal by Scott and then tied it with another goal 3-3. I turned to the students behind me and said, “Kigarama 3, Muzungus 3!!!” But they were to have the last word as I got beat on a long goal that I actually had both of my hands on. Kigarama won the match 4-3.

It was great fun for us and we know it was for the students also. For most of us this was probably the largest crowd for whom we had played, nearly 1000 students and adults. The students were very loud and vocal, cheering and laughing at our play. We congratulated the winners, took pictures and spoke to the students to thank them for their hospitality and good sportsmanship. Kigarama is certainly a school with a great deal of spirit and good will.

Back at the Field Station we had time for a beer (or two) at the Banda and a shower before we were off to Ft. Portal. While we were at the Banda, our favorite chimp researchers, Zarin and Jenny, stopped by after spending all day in the forest. Zarin explained that they had had a very good day. The chimps were located only 2 hours south of the Field Station. Furthermore they had seen copulation, collected some urine samples and got a good picture of a semen plug. Yes, that is what it sounds like. Apparently, Zarin holds the world’s record for being hit in the head by a semen plug (4 times). So that’s what a good day looks like if you are a chimp researcher. Hmm.

Pam Bator and Cindy Mahr invited us to dinner at the Rwenzori View Hotel, where they are staying for a few days. Cindy and Pam have been networking, to use their word, all around Uganda ever since they arrived (shortly after we did). Their purpose is to search out funding opportunities for the project.

The ride into Fort Portal was long and bumpy and a long day on these roads can wear you out. But the dinner was wonderful and the company was even more so. While at the Rwenzori View Christie and Janis filled their quota of beads, baskets and other small gift items. I’ve a feeling that with the beads and fabric, Riola won’t be the only one dressing in an exotic manner at Country School in the fall.

Tomorrow we are off the Rwetera Primary School. We are also scheduled to go to dinner at the Kasenene’s house tomorrow evening and Pam and Cindy are joining us at the Field Station tomorrow as well.