Friday, July 9th Rweterra Primary School

We were all off to Rweterra this morning; the teachers to teach, the Krimsky/Kee family to paint blackboards and Alice Bator along with (yankee fan??) Scott to do some work with the P7 girls for the health initiative. Rweterra is the primary school furthest from the Field Station. Located about 8 kilometers south of the FS, it borders a different part of the Kibale Forest.

Rweterra is also the school, which is the most needy in a number of ways. The students are the dirtiest we have seen, and they have obvious signs of ringworm and other health issues. The infrastructure is the worst of any school in the Kasiisi Project. The students are the least well mannered of any school that we see. This is very surprising for Uganda. The headmaster is also very harsh with the children, and that may be part of the reason that the students are aggressive with each other at break.

Despite all this there are still some students that end up doing well and becoming Kasiisi scholars. We saw some of that today, as the students in P4 did some excellent work for our “Quiet Place” lesson. One little girl by the name of Gloria had such good English; she was translating for the students around her. The teacher in the P4 classroom was also very involved in our lesson and when that happens, the students do much better work.

Chris and Christie’s lessons in P1 and P2 showed the difference and problems in the buildings at Rweterra. Recently, the Kasiisi project installed new floors in a portion of the buildings there. In the first P1 class students were being taught in the section with a new floor. The other P1 class was taught in an older building with a broken concrete and dirt floor. These dirt floors have insects in them that infect feet and most students come to school without shoes. Christie also reported that students were sitting or kneeling on the dirt floors in that classroom to do their work. The irony of this is that there is a portion of the new construction that is not being used. We don’t understand why those children are stuck in what is a dungeon-like classroom when they could be moved across the way to a building with a new floor. When we asked, we received explanations that made no sense.

Christie also did a pant hoot in the middle of her lesson today and the children at first were not sure of what to make of that. A pant hoot is basically a structured chimpanzee scream. We learned how to do this at our chimp talk. Apparently one of the unsuspecting children told Christie that they might see a chimpanzee on their walk to school in the morning. Because of that Christie wanted to make the sound that that animal might make. It’s safe to say that the children had never seen a teacher do a pant hoot before, and they are not likely to see it anytime soon again.

As we talked about the problems we saw a Rweterra, Alice Bator mentioned some research she had seen that indicated that schools who were located closer to the forest and in third world countries did significantly less well than those closer to the main road. This is certainly true with at least some of the Kasiisi project schools. It is also true that the headmaster makes a huge difference in each school. When a new program begins at Kasiisi, it is highly likely to succeed, because HM (head mistress) Lydia Kasenene will make sure it is successful. Koojo Mathew explains that when teachers or headmasters are underperforming or do something wrong they are shipped off to places like Rweterra instead of being let go. This is sort of the Ugandan version of the “dance of the lemons.”

Despite all of these disadvantages and difficulties, we found Rweterra students to be the most grateful of any students we taught. The receive so little in terms of resources and they are so thankful for what they receive. As we were leaving at lunch time they showered us with gifts of eggs, avacados, sugar cane and popo (what they call papaya). A visit to Rweterra can be overwhelming in so many ways.

We had a restful afternoon catching up with Pam Bator and Cindy Mahr who have now joined the growing group at the Field Station. We all went to the Kasenene’s for a wonderful dinner and then early to bed for a 5:30 wake up call for chimp tracking in the morning.

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.

Wednesday, July 7 Mugusu Market, Kluge Farm, MOTMU and Chimps

Commerce in Africa is another lesson in cultural differences. If a white person goes to buy something in a shop or market, they are quoted the “Muzungu Price” for the item. That price is significantly higher than the price for a local person. African’s charge that price because they think that you can afford it. It really has nothing to do with race. One of our guests, John Kasenene, is well known as a man of some means. If he goes shopping he gets the Muzungu price also. So John sends others to the market for him.

Going shopping, we were going to need some help. So we brought some; four P7 students, Sawya and Steven from Kasiisi School; Andrew and Jacqueline from Kigarama School. These were to be our “defenders” to use Steven’s word. Each of them paired up with one of us with the task of getting us good prices at the market.

As with any proper shopping experience we first went to the ATM in Fort Portal. Janis and I took Andrew and Steven in with us. Andrew asked me how much I was going to withdraw from the ATM. I said 200,000 shillings (about $100) and the look on his face was incredulous.

The Mugusu market is one of the largest in Uganda and people come from long distances to sell or shop there. You can buy almost everything here from food to radios, to bicycles to clothing and fabric.

Andrew was my “defender.” He took his job seriously and he knew the market well. In fact his mother worked at the market as a seller of smoked fish, and he introduced her to me. The first thing he did was ask me what I was shopping for and I told him I wanted some fabric and some baskets. We went first to the fabric area and I saw some fabric that I liked we talked price, but Andrew said the price was too high so we went elsewhere. We saw some more that we liked, the price was high again and Andrew helped bargain down the price to a more reasonable amount and we made our purchase. We next found some baskets at a fair price and some ground nuts to snack on as we shopped. I then told Andrew that I was done and he could look for what he wanted to buy. The first thing he bought was one pair of gray socks that he could wear to school. Then we walked further and he told me privately that he wanted to buy some underwear. So he bought one pair of underpants, again so he could wear these to school. Then he bought a pair of black shorts, which are part of his school uniform. Next he wanted to buy a Manchester United cap from the cap seller. I left him alone there because I was getting the impression that my presence with him was driving up the prices. He came back to me later and told me that the price of the cap was too high and he didn’t want to pay it.

Later when Christie asked our guide Mathew Koojo about how the students felt about their experience, Mathew said that this day would be one of the most exciting days in the lives of these children. Working here and living here for the short time that we have can be so humbling at times.

After the market we all went to Kluge’s guest farm for lunch. This was a new place that Mathew had read about and suggested we try. It was a huge success. The facility was beautifully appointed and the food was both excellent and plentiful. We, of course, treated our “defenders”, and assisted them through the meal. We were sure that they had ever eaten in such a place before. We arranged for all the leftover food to be divided into four bags and that these would go home with the students after the meal.

Chris took one of the earrings from her ears and gave it to Jacqueline, saying to her “Now I am your grandmother and you are my granddaughter.” That summarizes the kind of experience it was for all of us.

Next we went to Mountains of the Moon University, just north of Fort Portal. MOTMU is a relatively new University with only a few hundred students, and they are trying to grow and looking for funding. They initially received a land grant from the government, and the land they were given is stunningly beautiful. It consists of steep hills (as steep as Ruiga), meadows, forest a crater lake and has the Rwenzori Mountains (The Mountains of the Moon) as a backdrop. The natural beauty of Uganda just keeps on surprising us. Unfortunately, the tour felt a bit like we were being sold a timeshare and we cut it a bit short.

After another great meal at the Field Station (Charles our cook is doing excellent work), we left for the lecture hall here and Zarin gave a slide/video show about Chimpanzees. This was planned as a preview of our chimp trekking experience on Saturday at Kanyanchu. What a fascinating presentation it was. We learned how to do a pant hoot. We saw videos of the very famous chimps at Gombe, which were first studied by Jane Goodall in 1960. Frodo, the alapha male at Gombe is quite an impressive chimp. We saw him leap through the air out of a tree grab a monkey in mid air and then grab a branch of the tree with his other hand. This was quite an impressive display of hunting. Chimps spend most of their day looking for and eating food. Mostly they eat fruit, but a relatively small percentage of their diet is meat. Monkeys and duikers were the two sources of meat that we saw chimps eating.

Here at the Field Station in Kanyawara, we are in the middle of a National Park. It is a dense forested sight that contains the largest concentration of primates in Uganda and one of the largest in the world. We see baboons, and colubus monkeys everyday, but we are not allowed to go into the forest to see these chimps. These are research chimps and cannot be disturbed by visitors. Thus on Saturday we will drive an hour south of here to Kanyanchu to see a group of chimps that are set aside for tourist trekking.

Tomorrow we visit Kigarama Primary School. Chris and I will visit some secondary schools and hope to meet our scholars at Kiabambe and St. Leo’s Secondary Schools.

Tuesday, July 6 Kiko and Tea

Today was our first day teaching and we were starting at Kiko Primary School. The schools in Uganda are based on the British system. Primary schools are universal. That means that each community must provide a school that goes from P1 (our kindergarten) through P7 (our 6th grade). Kiko is a small primary school that is on the far side of tea field. Thus the color of the student uniform is green.

When I say small I mean that there was only one classroom per grade level in this school. Christie and Chris were teaching in P1 and P2 today. The first classroom into which we went was P1. This classroom has 140 students in it, and the room was about the same size as a classroom in Weston, perhaps a bit smaller. The classroom consists of a blackboard, a teachers desk and then a large number of benches. The students sit on the benches 4 and 5 to a bench.

As the headmaster enters the room all of the children stand and greet him in unison and in English. Students in P1 through P3 are learning English. Starting in P4 students’ instruction is mostly in English, but they are still not fluent. The teachers tell us that students in P7 have excellent English, however, in order for us to be understood we must speak very slowly to these students. English may, in fact, be the key to these students’ achievement. The Primary Leaving Exams are given entirely in English and a students familiarity with this language is likely the key to whether or not they receive a Grade 1 pass and are eligible for a scholarship.

Janis and Steve’s lesson in P3 required quite a bit of translation and it was modified quite a bit in the next class (P4). But in each classroom we were able to leave behind a book that the students had created themselves and that would help them practice their English. Chris and Christie’s lesson in P1 and P2 went very well we could hear the students singing the song that they had been taught from outside the classroom.

Sometimes the kind of teaching that you see here is what I call “heroic teaching.” Chris and Christie happened upon that kind of teaching when they visited a P5 class at Kiko. The subject was Science and Christie reports that the teaching was some of the best that she has seen anywhere. The teacher demonstrated with gestures when using an English term with which the students might be unfamiliar. He stuck with every student when he was confronted with an incorrect or incomplete answer. It was a remarkable performance in spite of the tremendous obstacles that are faced here everyday.

We left Kiko after lunchtime and were scheduled to visit the Kiko Tea Factory in the afternoon. Christie, Janis and Steve decided to walk as the factory was only a mile down the road. Students in P1 and P2 leave school at 1:00 and so we had an escort of about 15-20 small children as we walked to the factory with tea fields all around us. Sometimes you just feel like the Pied Piper here.

We were joined at the Tea Factory by the Krimsky/Kee family and four students from Kiko along with their teacher Sam. One student, Gloria, told us that she walks an hour and 20 minutes to school each way. The other students lived more locally, but even they were quite unfamiliar with the growing and processing of tea despite the fact that they literally live in the middle of tea growing country. The factory visit was quite interesting. The most fascinating part of the visit was that we learned that new plants are grown from cuttings from old plants. These old plants can be literally hundreds of years old. The oldest plant from which we saw cuttings was initially grown in 1560. That’s 250 years ago!

Christie decided to buy a Kilo of tea after our tour. So we went to the store but unfortunately there was none to buy (Tea, tea everywhere but not a drop to drink). That didn’t stop our host. Sunday Godfrey said that he would find the manager and have him make some. Christie protested and said no that it was late and we were tired and she could didn’t need the tea that badly. But that would not stop our hosts. Off he was to find the manager. The assistant manager then showed up about 10 minutes later to inform us that this would cost 4,000 shillings ($2), and we said yes that was fine. Another 15 minutes went by and finally the Kilo of tea showed up in an unmarked plastic bag. So now Christie has a Kilo of tea with no receipt and no marking on the bag. How is she going to get that past security??

Going to the bathroom in Uganda can sometimes be a challenge. Thus we restrict our water intake somewhat, because what goes in has to come out at some point. Here at the Field Station we have flush toilets, that flush at least most of the time. But the facilities at the schools are latrines. A latrine is basically a hole in the ground. There is cement around it and in the more sanitary versions there are little cement blocks on which you stand to reduce the amount of splatter. For men this is not so problematic, but for women not used to this kind of facility it can be quite difficult (open toed shoes and sandals are not recommended in these facilities). This let’s you know why Chris announced at dinner tonight that she didn’t have to go the entire time while she was teaching at Kiko, and that for her this was a minor miracle. That comment prompted Christie to wonder why depends were not on the “essential to have” list for visiting Uganda. Such is the level of conversation at dinner at the Field Station.

Tomorrow we go to Mugusu Market. Power shopping in the third world. Don’t worry, Scott, they don’t take VISA.

July 5 – Opening Ceremonies at Kasiisi

The concept of time in Africa is significantly different than that in western cultures. We were told that our van would be here by 9:00 a.m. and that we should be ready to leave by about 9:30 a.m. To be fair we were also told that the time would depend on the arrangements at Kasiisi School. So we were in the dining room ready by 9:30 a.m. Our van arrived a few minutes before 11:00 a.m., but we couldn’t leave because John and Lydia Kasenene hadn’t yet called to give the OK. As they say in Africa, “the event is unfolding.”

An unfortunate and very traumatic event happened on the way to the ceremony. Driving here in Uganda is unbelievably bad. We had felt so safe with our Wild Frontiers guide, Joseph. But now we are using local drivers from a local service in Fort Portal. The usual situation is that cars and bota bota’s (small motorbike taxis) drive way too fast and they drive all over the road to avoid potholes. Pedestrians and bicycles usually go off the road to get out of the way of fast moving vehicles.

Today, however, our driver was driving too fast and quite erratically. He veered to the left. Janis screamed and he hit a pedestrian with a very loud bang. The driver stopped, while Matthew Koojo got out to check the condition of the man that was struck. The driver seemed only concerned with the fact that his mirror was broken. Mathew reported to us later that the man was in some pain and had damage to his arm and shoulder. He also reported also that the owner of our transport service would pay a sum of money to the man to settle the issue, but that the accident would not be reported to the police. There are sometimes when the cultural differences are so great that you feel like you are on another planet. We have been promised that our drivers from this point forward will be more reliable and safety conscious. Those who had considered walking to school with the children have reconsidered that decision and will be riding in a van instead.

While Matthew dealt with the injured pedestrian he sent the rest of us on in the van. We disembarked at Kasiisi Trading Center, where we were met by Kagaba Joshua, a brass band and student representatives from each of the five Kibale area schools, Kasiisi, Kigarama, Kiko, Rweterra and Kanyawara. We marched behind the brass band and the students marched behind us for about a quarter of a mile to the grounds of Kasiisi School.

We started the official ceremonies with the Ugandan National Anthem, the Kingdom of Toro Anthem and the U.S. national anthem. The children watched us during the U.S. anthem, and I noticed later when they sang our anthem again, they put their hands over their hearts as they had seen us do. It’s that kind of touching and polite respect that endears Ugandans to everyone they meet.

We had a quick tour of Kasiisi School before the ceremonies started in earnest. The improvements that have been made there in the last two years have been quite remarkable. We started in the new school library, which is very impressive. It’s full of books and also contains a large number of the small green and white laptop computers from the “One laptop per Child” program. We were told that students use these between 3 and 4 p.m. everyday and sometimes stay late to get additional work done on these machines. We then went to the kitchen where we viewed an operation that feeds lunch to 1300 students every day. The Kasiisi project sponsors this program also called the Porridge Project. Students are given a lunch each day consisting of a fortified maize porridge. Kasiisi School is the only school in this area of the country to feed its students.

We then saw the new dormitories being built for students (some students in the future will board at Kasiisi School). We saw the new teacher housing that has been built on site. However, the most meaningful for us to see was the Preschool Complex. It’s more than just a single building. The Preschool consists of three classrooms, a room for the students to rest at mid-day, a preschool office, a planning area for teachers, and an area built for flush toilets for the children. Once again this level of sanitation and facility planning to meet the needs of young children is unheard of in public schools in Uganda. This entire project has been funded by fundraising by Chris, her preschool colleagues, the preschool parents in Weston and some matching grants. It’s a remarkable testament to the relationship between Weston and Kasiisi.

Then the official ceremonies started. There must have been over a thousand people in attendance; dignitaries, educators, parents and children. There was singing and dancing by groups from each of the five primary schools. There were speeches seemingly with out end from educators, dignitaries, and politicians. We were fed lunch. They even baked a cake for us, which Christie and I were required to cut. This ceremony went on for the better part of six hours. But there were moments of sublime joy and celebration mixed in with the long speeches. Janis dancing across the entire presentation area with some students was one of those moments. She dances very well for a Muzungu. Christie attracting and meeting two preschoolers Tina and Cassie, aged 2 and 3, was another moment. These two danced with her, had their photos taken and didn’t want to leave her side.

We received also a letter of gratitude from the parents of the Kasiisi scholars which read in part, “May be others would now be in the village as thieves, prostitutes, robbers but now we hope to have doctor, Engineers, Accountants, many more important generation thus a bright future.” What a statement of the difference education makes for these children.

There are also times when completely incongruous things happen that are so unexpected. During some of the singing and dancing one little boy in a winter coat and backpack (it’s 80 degrees out) kept walking slowly back and forth in front of the performance, completely oblivious to what was happening. At another time there was a brief interlude in the singing and dancing and so they played country music over the speakers. This was Musak country music, not the more modern things we’re used to hearing in the U.S. these days. One other surprising event was the canned applause track that was played at the end of each speech. I am proud to say that my speech was interrupted by this canned applause much to our amusement.

Unfortunately Greg Kee was not feeling well. Fortunately that meant we all had to leave. I have a feeling that the singing and dancing would still be going for as long as we stayed. Back to the Field Station we went with a new and slower driver and arrived safely in time for supper.

We reviewed our lesson plans tonight, because tomorrow we teach students at Kiko School. More about that in the next installment.

July 4, 2010 Independence Day At the Field Station

Sunday at the Field Station and the Krimsky/Kees along with Janis, Christie and Steve went to church. Chris was unable to go to church because she had an IEP meeting. Well, not exactly, but a man showed up with a young boy and wanted Chris to work with him and explain to him why the young man was 15 and not yet reading. Given the cultural differences, and the language limitations this was a difficult (at best) task. But Chris has her experience to rely on and she did some sample teaching with him and then talked to the father. We will have a chance to see this young man in his school setting and meet his teacher later on this week. This may be the furthest distance anyone has ever gone for an outside evaluation, and it may not be the last one that Chris does on this trip.

Church was a trip in and of itself. The Church of Uganda, is or was, an Anglican Church and so the service was somewhat familiar to many of us. However the service was all in Rutoro with little translation so it was difficult to understand everything that was happening. What we did understand is that we were, once again, honored guests. We were sitting in a place seemingly reserved for such guests and processed into the Church to the sound of the Kasiisi Girl Guides singing and clapping. In fact the entire congregation was singing and clapping as we arrived.

The music in the church service is quite remarkable. It consisted only of a man playing a set of three drums and the choir, dressed in red robes. The voices and hand clapping and drumming define the service in this church. They are its lifeblood and every song and hymn gets it rhythm from the drums and the clapping. It’s quite an experience. We were allowed to take pictures in church (we asked) and so when we get a better Internet connection, we’ll post some of those.

As I said the service was difficult to follow, and it was at least 3 hours long so there were parts that were less than thrilling. But so much of what was happening was compelling to watch. We noted the little children who often sat by themselves, were extremely well behaved, and sometimes young ones would pick up and care for infants themselves. Children in Uganda are used to doing a lot of work and taking care of younger sibs is one of those tasks.

The offerings were also quite different than we were used to and fascinating in the way they unfolded. First there was a regular offering in which people came up to the front and gave money. However, some members of the congregation didn’t bring money but they brought “in kind” goods. They gave pumpkins, avacados, ground nuts, bananas, millet, sugar cane, lettuce, and corn. These items were all placed up front and just to the side of the alter.

Next came another offering, which we didn’t understand at first. People started coming to the front rail and kneeling (but not for communion), then more people came and knelt behind them, and more and more came until there were four rows of kneeling people in the front of the church. Then the basket was passed among these people and they gave additional money. When we asked about this we were told that this second offering was an offering of thanksgiving and if people had a specific thing they were thankful for they went forward and offered additional funds while giving a prayer of thanksgiving.

But the best was yet to come. At the conclusion of the regular service all of those “in kind” items to the side of the alter were brought forward and auctioned off with a great deal of spirit and humor. Each bid was emphasized with a beating of the drums in the best game show tradition, and members of the congregation with money to buy things did so, enabling everyone to contribute no matter whether they had money or not. Christie bought a bunch of bananas and later shared them with the children after the service, and Steve bought a large bag of ground nuts, which was also given back.

The service over we were provided with lunch on the grounds of St. Steven’ s Church which are immediately adjacent to the new Preschool building with its brand new blue roof (more on that tomorrow). Once again speeches were made and a formal welcome was extended.

After lunch we were treated to a demonstration of the boy scouts efficiency in camping and building. However the real treat was the performance of the Girl Guides. Their rhythmic singing, clapping and dancing has to be seen to be fully appreciated. It is just engaging to watch. We do have some video of this and it is certainly worth seeing. Children in Uganda are “loud and proud” when they sing and dance, but when they speak to you they make little eye contact and use very soft voices. It seems to us that children in the United States are much the opposite.

We didn’t get back to the Field Station until 4:30 in the afternoon from a church service that started at 10:00 a.m. By that time we were all tired and canceled the afternoon trip to Ft. Portal so that we could rest. We had planned this to be a rest day from the beginning, so a half a day relaxing, visiting the Oasis and sitting and chatting in the Banda (google that word) was just the thing for us. Christie, the party girl, brought some patriotic head gear with her from the U.S. and we toasted Independence Day here in an African Rainforest, complete with a baboon and colobus monkey audience looking on.

Perhaps you thought the official welcoming to this trip was done. Well think again. Tomorrow we get the double official welcome at Kasiisi Primary School. It’s scheduled for five hours. Did I mention that the Ugandans like ceremony, protocol and ritual. Yeah.

Saturday, July 3, 2010 Mweya

Being from New Jersey Janis thought we were saying Moya (rhymes with Goya), but it’s really pronounced mWAYah. Mweya Safari Lodge is like a 5 star hotel in the middle of the African bush. We just finished lunch at the Lodge overlooking the Kazinga Channel and we’re now on the road to Kibale and the Makarere University Biological Field Station (hereinafter referred to as the Field Station).

We started on the road to Mweya early and saw our first elephant (this trip) at about 200 yards on the right side of the road leaving Ishasha. Before this day was over we were to get much closer to elephants than that. We got to Mweya right on time for our 11:00 boat ride through the Kazinga Channel. In fact we had enough time to order lunch first before we left for our trip so that it would be waiting for us when we returned.

Much to Chris and my surprise we were booked on a small boat (seats about 10) and we were the only 4 guests on the boat. This was to be a custom trip. It seems that Wild Frontiers has moved all of their tours to this smaller boat and the results were significantly better than our last trip. The Kazinga Channel is about 37 kilometers long and connects Lake George and Lake Edward while dividing Queen Elizabeth National Park into two parts. The wildlife and birdlife in this Channel is incredibly abundant and diverse.

Our boat guide Robert was, as usual, extremely knowledgeable and accommodating. We got great pictures of hippos and the many different bird species. The black and white kingfishers were putting on a show for us as they helicoptered above the water before diving into the channel for fish. We saw great white egrets, cattle egrets, sacred ibis, malachite kingfishers, lapwings, hammercocks, grey herons, and a pair of nesting fisher eagles. These were just some of the bird species seen. Our guide explained that the migratory species were not expected back to Kazinga until next week.

We also got close to some Nile crocodiles. The crocs were sunbathing among the birds on the shore with their mouths open and we were close enough to be able to look inside. Our guide explained that these crocs just feed on fish from the river. They are not meat eaters and thus live in harmony with the birds and mammals on the shore. We also saw a small monitor lizard and got close up pictures of that famous hippo yawn. Halfway through our ride we spotted a herd of elephant coming down from the hills above towards the Channel. So we moved a little more and waited for them to come down. We were rewarded by being able to see and hear about 15-20 elephants as they came down to drink or take dust baths by the Channel. Our driver parked our boat into a small set of vegetation just off shore so that we could view them closely and hear the big mama elephant trumpeting. She probably thought we were too close, but later we were to get even closer.

We continued up the Channel towards Lake Edward and saw the fishing village that is allowed to remain inside the park. This village is partially supported through tourist dollars and thus have been able to make improvements to their village school and to their water system. Our guide mentioned that there once was a lion that killed 13 people (over time) in this village. As a man eater that lion had to be hunted down and killed. It is now stuffed and on display in the visitors’ center in Mweya.

It was on the way back that we were to get the double overtime bonus to this ride. We spotted three more male elephants (small medium and large) on the shore. Our boat driver cut the engine and let us drift in towards shore. We got so close to these elephants that we had to take all the zoom off our cameras in order to take pictures. We were all shocked at how close they allowed us to get. We left the elephants and thought that our trip was about over, but then the driver once again pulled in very close to shore. We had gone there to see a hippo, but when we got close in, the guide spotted a very large monitor lizard in a tree. This lizard was at least 4 feet long! All in all it was quite an amazing ride through an ecosystem teeming with wildlife.

During lunch at the Mweya Safari Lodge overlooking the Kazinga Channel we toasted our good fortune and our driver Joseph. We were to be with Joseph for only the next two hours as he drove us to the Field Station and said goodbye. We knew that our experiences were about to change as we began and/or renewed our journey into the Kasiisi Project Schools. As we expressed over lunch those experiences would be different but just as rich or in many ways richer.

At the Field Station

We arrived at about 5:00 p.m. from Mweya and were properly welcomed by the staff. We were shown to our rooms and unpacked and settled in. For the first time we are staying in one place for over a week and will be able to stop living out of suitcases for a while.

Dinner at the Field Station was not surprisingly a ceremonial affair. We were joined for dinner by Kagaba Joshua (Headmaster of Ft. Portal Secondary School), John and Lydia Kasenene, Sunday Godfrey, Matthew Koojo, Claudia Krimsky, Greg Kee, Julia Kee, Laura Kee, and _____________ a chimp researcher from Harvard. After much introducing and sharing we went over in some detail the itinerary for the next 12 days. I’ll post some of that when I get a clean copy. For tomorrow we are going to St. Stephen’s Church (immediately adjacent to Kasiisi School) and then to Ft. Portal to visit King Leo’s, Kiabambe and St. Maria Goretti’s Secondary Schools in order to visit with a number of Kasiisi Project scholars. I’ll try to post the last few days blogs tomorrow as Mathew informs me that there is Internet here in Chimp Building 2.