A
new school term began at the start of February. As a result my timetable has
seen a bit of a shakeup. I will now be teaching two mornings a week at Luweero
Vocational School (see photo on right). This is where the computers are to be
housed when they arrive. A room has been set aside and the school is in the
process of putting glass in the windows and getting some tables and
chairs.
I
really enjoy teaching at the school. Although the classes can be on the large
size (57 last Tuesday) the reactions of the children are generally very
encouraging. I was showing them how I had recorded some Luganda language on the
computer so that I could practice repeating the phrases and so learn a bit of
it. They thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread (sliced bread
being a relatively new innovation here). I showed the same thing to the new
diocesan staff class this morning and there was absolutely no reaction. I
suppose that's the difference between adults and children everywhere - adults
have learned to hide wild displays of emotion.
I find the Senior One class (14 & 15 year olds) a bit difficult. They are
not so cooperative - maybe they are a bit scared of me. The other day for
example, I was trying to explain where Ireland is. I asked if anyone had heard
of England. They just looked at me blankly. I asked them to concentrate and
slowly, in my best BBC World Service accent, with many hand movements, I asked -
Has (gap) anyone (gap) here (gap) ever (gap) heard (gap) of (gap)
England? They still looked
at me blankly. They didn't look confused or even like they felt sorry for me -
just blank. They might as well have been watching a very boring TV program. I
know they are young and I have to learn to be more patient.
In the next week or so I will also begin teaching some of the administrative staff at Kiwoko Hospital which is about 16km from Luweero. The hospital also wants me to put together a stock control system, which will allow me to keep my programming skills sharp. The diocese needs a database put together which will help them to manage all the people, schools and health centre details. In the next week we will begin work on a diocesan web-site which will allow us to share information about the work of the diocese. The two diocesan staff classes that I have been teaching will be merged into one large class and I have begun teaching a new class of diocesan staff. I will also be giving one class a week to some secondary school head-teachers.
I got a phone call this morning to say that the container is due to arrive this weekend. If it does arrive I will be heading up to Jinga on Monday morning with a truck. to pick up the computers.
| Morning (8am - 1pm) | Afternoon (2pm - 7pm) | |
| Monday | Programming Kiwoko Stock System and diocesan database and web-site | Kiwoko Hospital - Teaching |
| Tuesday | Luweero Vocational School and Training my replacement | Diocesan Staff Class 1 - Teaching |
| Wednesday | Diocesan Staff Class 2 - Teaching | Miscellaneous |
| Thursday | Luweero Vocational School | Diocesan Staff Class 1 - Teaching |
| Friday | Diocesan Staff Class 2 - Teaching and Head Teachers - Teaching | Preparing lectures/syllabus and correcting homework |