Snakes, Rains, and Pregnancies

Otoke John invited me to his home on Sunday night. “I was wondering if you could come this way today.” He said as he called me that afternoon. I said sure. He then told me that his phone battery was low and hung up swiftly. This left me wondering if there was going to be food involved in this adventure.

Since I wasn’t certain whether food would be served and, like many other PCVs, I’m always hungry in this country, I decided to go ahead and have a first dinner just in case there was no second dinner.

Of course, it turned out there was a second dinner. And it was fantastic. I managed to eat as much as I could before having to tell Otoke that my stomach was fully satisfied. We had some great conversations that evening involving the flaws of communism, the strengths of capitalism, the current Libyan crisis, and Ugandan elections. I love talking about this sort of stuff with Otoke because he offers me a perspective that is so hard to get sometimes.

He is very well educated and can speak intelligently on just about every topic. I feel lucky to have him in my life here in Kamuge.

That night, I returned home around 7pm just before dark. And just in time for a random case of explosive Peace Corps diarrhea to strike. I found myself trying to fight the urge to run to my latrine as I raced to get my home in order before the sun set and light escaped away for the evening.

I eventually gave in to nature’s call and made a beeline for my latrine. Upon opening the door I was greeted by a large black snake slithering out the doorway and directly towards me. This was not what I was expecting to see. I took two steps back and then one step forward and began to stomp on it while wearing my favorite pair of sandals. I stepped on it about 17 times and it was still going strong with the slithering.

Next, while my foot was on top of it, I grabbed a nearby stick and and tried to impale it several times. But that didn’t work either as the sticks were weak and damp from the earlier afternoon rains that day. Finally, I decided to stomp on it with as much weight as possible while rubbing its body into the dirt. That seemed to do the trick as it curled up and stopped moving after I removed my foot. I kicked it aside and proceeded to the next most important order of business.

The rains have come! For the last three days, we have had rain in or around Kamuge. And it feels glorious. I was so effing tired of consecutive 100+ degree heat with no air conditioning. I tell my teachers at the school that us white people aren’t built for this kind of heat and that I was probably going to die soon, they just laugh at me.

It’s great! No longer am I drenched in sweat while lying in my bed at 10pm trying to fall asleep. The teachers and students are in higher spirits because they know the rainy season is imminent. This means more food, more water, more money, more life.

But, with the good comes bad. My roof is leaking in several spots, the most unfortunate of which is right over the pillow of my bed. Sunday night, I came home to a puddle on my mattress and had to change my sheets immediately. Everything is muddy and my road tends to transform magically into a temporary river during the heavy downpours.

I’m still elated to have rain. I love the way it sounds on my tin roof when it is a light, gentle rain. I like collecting the rainwater from my roof in basins. I like the way it turns everything into lush and sprawling abundance. I like using my blanket at 10pm at night, instead of sleeping completely naked until 4am, using my blanket for two hours, and then throwing it aside as the day begins to heat back up again around 6am.

On Tuesday, officials arrived at our school to conduct a medical health inspection on all of our female students (i.e. checking to see if they’re pregnant). If they do turn out to be pregnant, they are expelled from school. The health inspections took a few hours and lessons continued to be given despite the absence of all the female students. This is troubling because girls are already at a disadvantage in this country and this is just one more thing that further adds to that separation.

The girls lining up for their physical examinations

Ok, and women, maybe you can shed some light on this? How do you check for pregnancy without a urine test? These medical officials didn’t have anything. My Deputy Head Teacher said there was a way to tell by looking at and below the belly button? And something they do with their fingers also. Is this true? I’m thinking not, but I’m curious.

Turns out, three of the girls were pregnant! According to their secret, magic pregnancy test method! And three more are being rechecked because of suspicion. These girls will be expelled.

The rains continued throughout the week. Thursday I taught an 8am lesson to my S2 stream. We started promptly at 5 before 8:00 that day. I had told the students the day before that I would begin exactly at 8:00am and they should be at school before then. I told them if they were late they would not be allowed to enter. The students struggled to arrive at school before 8:00, many of them come from very far. But I have a strict “no entering the classroom if you’re late” policy. It is the only way I gain any sort of peace throughout the duration of the lesson.

I teach to those that make the effort to show up on time everyday. Those that want and strive to learn no matter how hard the conditions. Those that don’t come to school to pass time. Those that hand in their workbooks every time I give an assignment. Lately that has been my source of comfort. If I can teach to the students that actually care and want to learn and somehow make a positive difference in their lives, I will be satisfied that I have done my job. The others, I can’t change.

The students that came late on Thursday loiter outside the classroom and make noise. I throw chalk at them through the window (ok, more like a soft toss, chalk doesn’t hurt, these are small pieces, I promise) and tell them to stop loitering and go somewhere else where they won’t disturb the students that actually came on time.

By the end of the lesson (80 minutes), I’m too tired to continue scolding the loiterers. A girl stands in the window with several other students. She is writing the notes I have on the blackboard on her hand with her blue BIC pen. I start to feel a little bad inside, that doesn’t last long and I continue my lesson.

Inside my classroom with a good view of the "loitering window"

The rain continues to pound the metal sheets that compose our roof. We have no ceiling so our ears are massacred by the sound of water colliding with aluminum. I try to yell loudly over the rain so the students can hear my instructions. I trip over an unripe mango. One of the many scattered across the floor of the classroom. I continue to belt out my lesson to the students over the rain. Another mango. More talking. Another rock. I straddle a gaping hole as I walk up and down the aisle trying to keep students engaged and make eye contact. I stand up on top of a table and continue talking louder. Then collapse down and retreat to the front of the room to begin chalking the board once again. I break each piece of chalk two to three times as I write on the board. Why was this substance ever the standard medium of instruction? It’s awful!

Water begins to drip, leaking through the thin cracks between the two metal sheets at the top of the roof. It falls and lands on students already tattered exercise books. The students stand up, literally slide their desks three feet to the left where there is no rain leaking and continue to take notes. I love and admire their perseverance.

Wednesday I had my first meeting with my students for our Business & Life Skills Club. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what this club is going to look like. The meeting was at 4:00pm. I had probably 80 students show up. When I asked how many had submitted the essays that were assigned one week ago and due today, only a few raised their hands. I asked those that did not do the work to leave immediately. I remained with 13 students, a bit disheartening. But we continued and it went well. I’ll leave you with an essay written by one of my S3 students.

Question: Why do you want to join the Business & Life Skills Club?

Answer: I want to join the Business & Life Skills Club because I want to know more and learn how skills and business are done in the country. I also want to discover how to open up a business in an area and how to plan my capital, which I might be having. I also want to join this club because I want to improve on my way of standard so as I can get some good knowledge and advice and I can open up a certain small business while in my leisure time instead of staying freely at home doing nothing all the time seated. I also want it because it teaches some good things which can be examined.

Some people start their businesses by getting loans from the banks and others can start by saving their money in the banks so as not to use it. There they can start making money from their small businesses like opening up a shop on a small scale, selling certain things in the market and some by baking breads and they can come up with a bakery.

Not bad for a teenager growing up in the village receiving a ridiculously poor and inadequate education, right? I was thoroughly impressed.