We’re almost ¾ through the long school break. The students are slated to come back to school on January 31st. There seems to a be quite a bit of varying speculation as to whether that will exactly happen due to the upcoming elections.
The Presidential Elections are scheduled here in Uganda for February 18th, 2011. For most voters, this means returning to their home villages where they are registered in order to cast their ballots. And thus reveals the most apparent conflict with the students at secondary boarding schools who are age 18 and over.
It is thought that many students will remain in their home villages until the conclusion of the elections and delay their arrival at school by 3 or 4 weeks. This would be unfortunate. Because it diminishes an already short school year filled with constant absenteeism on both the teachers part and the students.
Luckily, I happen to be working at a school that is composed of 90% day scholars. We refer to a day scholar as a student who is basically not a boarding student. These students walk to and from school each day. Sometimes from 5 or 10 kilometers away. I’m one of the few PCVs who works at a school like this. Most are boarding schools.
This means that these students, my students, will already be in their home villages and my first term of the new year will be unlikely to be majorly disrupted due to the upcoming exercise in African democracy. Knock on wood.
However, since being in Peace Corps, I find that it is always best to hope for the best but expect (and plan) for the worst, which is a common occurrence. I fully expect less than five students to be in each of my classrooms on January 31st. And I fully expect not to hit 90% attendance until the third or fourth week. I also fully expect never to hit 100% attendance on any given day.
But… I am preparing to begin teaching new material on day one. That is all I can really do as a volunteer in this position. I’m hoping that as the students see that they have at least one teacher making and effort and showing up to teach, world will spread and more students will show up.
Coming back from the states, I felt reenergized, full of motivation and ideas to impact real change in my community. I do have a “to do” list going full of some pretty robust projects. Although I recently read that “to do” lists are just another form of procrastination and should avoid being used. Whatever… I love lists.
A day or two after I arrived back in my community, I decided to take a day trip to Pallisa, my closest decent sized town. I spent a lot of time there that day. I began walking around and throughout the day was greeted by many random Ugandans, some of which I remembered, others I had no idea of.
But it was great! It was a really special experience for me. I was already feeling reenergized and happy after a relaxing vacation in America. And now it was great to see all these welcoming, smiling faces of some of the nicest and friendliest human beings I have ever met. And just to see the joy on their faces merely from crossing paths with their “mzungu”.
I was recently reflecting on this experience with a friend and fellow PCV. She brought up the fact about how lucky we truly are to be placed in a Peace Corps country that truly loves white people. And it is so true. For all the harassment and overcharging and the like that we put up with, the people of Uganda truly love us as human beings. And it is obvious whenever you have a sustained interaction with one of them.
To add to the list of examples, I recently had a great dinner with a close PCV friend of mine and his barber, a Ugandan. The barber had been inviting him over for weeks and so we took up his offer. Eating at another Ugandan’s home is by far one of my favorite experiences in the country. You do get a sense of who they are and where they come from. And you get to experience a little bit of their personal life in their own home for a few hours. Everything was prepared for us and we were catered to for the entire evening, without interruption. It makes you feel really special and loved.
As I was coming home from Pallisa that day, the sun was setting. Many Ugandans were out in the fields digging or on the road walking somewhere. I was riding home with the wind blowing through my hair and just waving to all of them as we drove by. The sky was a collage of burnt and bright oranges and yellows. I felt really happy to be here and at peace. It was a great feeling. Those are the moments that I love and cherish about being in Peace Corps. They come at random times and in completely unexpected forms. But they make the difficult days worth the struggle.
My Christmas was great. I spent it in Uganda with a good friend. We had a relaxing Ugandan style Christmas meal, relaxed, had good conversation, listened to music, and even made a little.
New Year’s was also a great evening. I will admit though that it didn’t quite feel like a legit NYE celebration to me. I guess I’m so used to watching the ball drop and drinking champagne. It was still a very memorable year for sure.
So now here we are, mid-January. A little over two weeks until school starts. I’m looking forward to getting the rest of my house and office in clean and working order before I begin the next term of what I’m here to do.
I have taken comfort in the simple pleasure of reading, listening to music, attempting to play the guitar, working out… A LOT, going for long walks in the village, calling Ugandan friends that are around and visiting with them, and maintaining the homestead.
I really do enjoy being in my own house though. It’s relaxing and familiar. Familiar in that it is characterized by all the idiosyncrasies of my personality. I take comfort in this personal setting in a country that sometimes still feels like another world.
Even as I gain a deeper understanding of and become more integrated in my community. Uganda still has a certain mystique about it. I often wander the public areas of the community and wonder how exactly it would be to live in the life of a Ugandan, deep in the village.
Even though I live deep in the village, amongst the people. I’m not living exactly like a Ugandan in rural Pallisa District does. And I wonder what type of life it would be. What my outlook on life would be. What my views and perspectives on the world would be. It is mysterious to me. And it is also a barrier, at least right now. Maybe after more time I will gain a better understanding.
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