A Long Time Coming

So, today's the big day.

It's finally time to admit to you all that, in fact, I am back in Wisconsin, and I that yes, I have spent the past two and a half weeks dreaming about my eventual return to Uganda.

Obviously, it's no secret that this post was a long time coming. I could blame the delay on any number of things--jet lag, a busy teaching schedule, maybe even the new dog I came home to; but the reality of it is, writing this last entry and sharing these final experiences with you felt like I was closing the door to something that I just wasn't ready to be finished with yet.

Truth be told, I'm still not really ready; but luckily over the past couple of weeks, I've come to recognize that while I'm no fascinating muzungu novelty here at home, I've certainly retained at least some of my adapted Africanness. I constantly find myself saying, "Well, when I was in Uganda..." or "We did such-and-such in Africa," and honestly, the connections are limitless. Luckily, though, the stories I've brought home and the growth that I've seen in myself and in my teaching are daily reminders that "that one time in Uganda" was the time of my life.

Now, I suppose you'll want to know how all of the goodbyes and welcome home's went, but first let me be clear; all of these heart-wrenching farewells were delivered with an understanding that in four years (maximum), Doreen will be getting married and we will all reunite to celebrate. (After all, we're Ugandan wedding experts now, right?)

Everything got just a little more beautiful in those last few days in Kasese. Everyday sights, suddenly became fascinating photo-ops. It seemed as though everything that we knew to be true was soon going to vanish, never to be seen again. And, in a way, I suppose it was, which is why I did my best to capture my temporary reality through a lens. 

And so, I think I'll let those photos do the talking now and tell the story of that final chapter in an unforgettable journey.

It's human nature to adjust, to transform, to familiarize. Existing here is no different from existing there. We learn. We live. We grow. No matter our surroundings. It's what you make of each day and how you choose to perceive those surroundings, that affects who you are and who you become.

Remembering back to my first moments in that inconceivably alien setting; how incredible it is now to recall such immense uncertainty, almost palpable fear, on that first drive between Entebbe and Kampala. I revel in the memory now with the understanding that with any truly life-changing experience, must first come a little hesitation and a LOT of speed bumps. :)

Until the next adventure...

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

-Winnie the Pooh

I'm a Believer

Welp, as predicted, this week has been an eventful one. It was our last full week at Rwentutu with the kiddos, the Canadians arrived and implemented an incredible community-based football tournament, and we were able to make another couple of home visits.

Let’s begin, though, in the classroom. After finding some serious success in the conclusion of our time telling unit, I was excited to moved into a new topic of study—measuring.

To begin our unit, I decided to utilize one of P2's favorite lesson structures called 'rotation stations'. First, I set up the class to contain eight different stations, each with a task for students to complete. Once groups are situated at their initial location, we begin. Students must be mindful of time and work efficiently because after 6 minutes, I hit play on my preselected song (in this instance, "I'm a Believer") and groups must move on to the next station. 

Measuring the length of the classroom in steps for one station.

Station 4: Measure a teacher's arm using handspan.

The engagement in this lesson was energizing.

In a later lesson, I grouped P2 into teams of three and sent them on a measuring spree. Their job was to brainstorm a list of items shorter than 1 meter and longer than 1 meter and then test their inferences by making the measurements.

Biira Jane shows us how it's done.

After collecting their data, groups congregated back in the classroom to compare notes and make one larger class chart on the board. Their interest was definitely sparked and their success set a confident tone for the lessons to follow.

In English, we finally completed our 2014 calendars! 

They were certainly proud of their hard work.

My aim with this project was to give students a tangible goal—complete all 12 months of a calendar—and to develop a useable finished product. Having work to bring home seemed like an unfamiliar but thrilling event for these kids, making the unit all the more fulfilling in my eyes.

Speaking of home, Angela and I were invited for lunch at the home of two of our students this week—Keneth (a P2 student in my class) and Beneth (a P6 student with Angela). They don't live far from the school, so on Thursday we decided to make the trip.

Their beautiful family (plus Samson) outside their home.

We had no idea that in traveling to their home, we'd also be able to see the place where Samson was raised. It turns out that Keneth and Beneth's father is a good friend of Samson's 'tata,' and that their homes are separated by only a couple of kilometers. 

So, after lunch, and a few more snaps...

Keneth spying from his bedroom window.

we were on our way to Sam Bam's home. Angela and I were both interested to hear how infrequently Samson is able to see his father, even though his work with us brings him so close to home every day.

Their reunion was heartwarming.

To no one's surprise at this point, our visit also yielded us a chicken, who we quickly named Benson (Samson's alias). 

**Compound update: Feathers have been flying as Benson and Frank seem to be mortal enemies, each determined to obtain full rule of the land. Frank seems to have the immediate advantage, but we'll have to wait and see how this all plays out. (In my opinion, they're both just a little cocky...)

Jokes aside, it's moments like these, outside of our everyday routine, that really hit home and deliver a sense of purpose to our trip; it's these personal connections that will no doubt bring each of us back here someday; and, it's these stories of humility and graciousness in the face of poverty that we will use to challenge the complacency of the American ideal in our everyday lives.

To close out the week, Rwentutu held its first annual football tournament, sponsored by the African Canadian Soccer & Cultural Association and organized by freekicks.org. Freekicks is a non-profit organization founded by our Canadian friend, Adam Aziz, aiming to bring the game of soccer to communities all over the world. 

The man. The myth. The legend.

Through independent fundraising and passionate determination, Adam's team was able to donate brand new jerseys, cleats, balls, and cones to Rwentutu Christian School's football team. They have also spent a good amount of time this week coaching each of the participating teams and have been working with a group of welders in Kasese to create brand new goals for the field. To reach out and impact the community on another level, freekicks also organized free HIV screening for anyone in attendance at Friday's tournament. The unabashed participation was remarkable, from both parents and students. 

As their time in Uganda continues, they do plan to excavate the field and renovate the uneven obstacle course that our students have been playing on. Their work is inspiring, not only to me, but to the communities surrounding our school. While I wish that I could stay the duration of their project, I am already looking forward to tracking their progress from back in the states.

As the tournament began, four local teams took the day off from school and traveled to Rwentutu to compete in a five-team tournament for the ACSCA cup.

That's some serious hardware.

The competition was stiff and the crowd enthralled. 

Seriously, look at that turnout!

Rwentutu in red, ready for action.

Justus and Greg coaching from the sidelines.

Balloon celebration after a Rwentutu goal. 

Rwentutu won its first match in dramatic fashion and ended up advancing all the way to the championship game. Unfortunately, their luck ran out in the final game, where they were outscored two nil.

Regardless of the outcome, the day was an undeniable success. 

As our time here comes to an end, events like this bring me hope and encouragement that once we're gone, Rwentutu will continue to grow and our students will continue to be blessed with good fortune. Every day brings new hardships, but the positivity of these kids sure does lighten the load.

Until next time!

Hodge Podge

As anticipated, our school-free Tuesday was mostly spent doing laundry, lesson planning, and scrolling through iPhoto, reliving the memories from the trip thus far. We were, however, also graciously invited to the home of Rwentutu’s Headmaster, Wilson, where we met his beautiful family and enjoyed a lavish meal prepared by his wife.

His family was recently forced to relocate in effect of the Kilembe floods. 

After the holiday, the week continued accordingly.

In math, our focused remained on the passage of time, so to help exemplify the processes that occur over time, I brought in The Very Hungry Caterpillar for a lesson. We first read the book together to find some fluency in the plot. Then, I rewrote the story in hopes that my students would find some relevance in the fact that our caterpillar is more interested in mandazi and chapatti than strawberries and cupcakes.

After the class reorganized the events of the story based on chronologic labels, each student chose a piece of the story to illustrate, until together we had created Rwentutu’s Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

We read our remix aloud and then hung it up in the 

P2 Learner’s Corner that I finally finished this week.

They can’t get enough of that book!

Speaking of very hungry, at long last and no doubt a great deal of audience anticipation, we have finally completed our first and only slaughter. 

We killed our chicken and ate it, too. 

Understandably, the process was gruesome, so I’ll keep it short.

Because we were gifted another, fatter chicken on our scheduled slaughter day, famous Frank has been spared once more. Bwambale, however, did not fare so well. After a lot of screaming, one blunt knife, and a good amount of feather debris, I have a whole new appreciation for the tolerance of a butcher. (An important side note for those who’ve been asking, it would have definitely run around with its head cut off, had Juliet not been standing on top of its feet and wings.)

Anyways, back to school.

The big event of the week was the teachers versus students soccer game.

Wilson stood guard of the net and probably saved about 25 goals throughout the match.

Baby Evans was named mascot of the year, too.

I know you’re not really interested in the logistics of all that “winning” and “losing” stuff, so we’ll just say that everybody had a great time and that there are some sneaking suspicions that those kids might’ve had a few FUFA players on their team.

We rounded out the week with a trip to the rain forest for chimp tracking today.

Ready for the wild.

The foliage was incredible.

Most of the chimps that we saw were hunting, so they were constantly swinging through the trees and roaming the forest floor.

After many failed attempts, we finally got some evidence of our sightings.

The chimp whisperers 10 miles later.

And to top off our already eventful day, we met four more elephants on our way back to Kasese.

These two… 

were definitely… 

the coolest.

With another big week ahead, I’ll sign off now. We have a group of Canadian soccer coaches coming tomorrow, so there will be a lot of excitement at the school this week for sure.