Wednesday



The first school that we visited this morning was a government subsidized Community Polytechnic in Mbale. ‘Government subsidized’ might sound like some kind of weird socialist crazy talk, but what it means is that the government contributes some money for the purpose of lowering tuition for students. It’s actually a sensible and awesome system, and explains how I got through college without being a hundred thousand dollars in debt, vis a vis the North Carolina public university system. Also, ‘polytechnic’ refers to the fact that the curricula taught are technical skills (vocations), rather than liberal arts. Basically, we had a really excellent visit, and in familiar style were greeted warmly by students and instructors. Here are a few details:

-Vocational offerings include bricklaying, welding, automotive repair (somewhat outdated curriculum as described by director), carpentry, sewing/tailoring, etc.

-They have a school kitchen, and for break they serve porridge, sometimes sweetened with sugar, which is about 7000 shillings per kilo, or about one dollar fifty per pound.

-There are students with disabilities at the technical college, and I believe this opportunity is more typical for them than non-technical colleges.

-Uniformly, instructors described that vocational training is societally valued at a lower level than more traditional ‘academic’ college programs, but that graduating with a marketable skill often proves more valuable than graduating with an abundance of theoretical knowledge. Does this sound familiar? Recently, they have not received any students that have scored in the highest ranking on primary or secondary school exit exams, and they feel like it would only strengthen their institution, economy, and nation, if learning a trade was a more strongly encouraged form of education.

-Sometimes there is a situation wherein a student of primary school age, ie adolescence or early teenage years, may be unable to continue primary school for a number of reasons. It seems an attractive option to allow those students to enroll in vocational training programs, and additionally can create revenue potential for students that are from rural communities and/or don’t have other educational options. A problem can persist because training such students, and allowing them to earn money with their skills, can be interpreted as child labor (if under 18), and could attract scorn or lose grants from NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations).

-I made a friend named Paul in the staff room during morning break. He’s 28, and like me is handsome, unmarried, and totally awesome. Paul teaches English, and this is taught as a supplement to the technical skills that students learn, so as to increase their communicative abilities and offer more employment opportunities. Keep in mind that, while English is the national language and all school exams are given in English, there are a variety of languages (like maybe 5 or more) that are also commonly spoken. For kids that don’t grow up in a city, it may be uncommon for English to be the primary language spoken at home, so it is a real benefit to have English instruction as well as technical instruction at this college. Paul is really nice, and he explained a lot about what he does and where he’s from, and asked me questions on the same topics.

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 * [[image:Wednesday1.jpg width="480" height="316" caption="Alive? Yes.  Psyched?  Probably not."]] || [[image:Wednesday2.jpg width="480" height="317" caption="In the supply room at the Technical College."]] ||
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This afternoon we visited the Uganda Christian University, which is a private university in Mbale. Generally speaking, things are good at UCU. Enrollment is high, faculty are for the most part young and enthusiastic, and they are currently expanding into a satellite campus, with plans to built a multi-million dollar facility adjacent to their main campus in years to come.

We visited a lecture in the Department of Social Work and Administration, which is the most popular department in terms of student enrollment. The topic of the lecture basically fell under the umbrella of ‘empathy & understanding’ that is a common theme in the Wooster MS., as it was about being sensitive in actions and words toward people with disabilities. The style of the class was this: the instructor read from a text, and the students wrote everything down longhand. She read pretty fast, and repeated sentences a few times and described punctuation. I tried to keep up, and it was hard and did not bring out the best in my penmanship. I don’t know what other forms, if any, this course takes, but of course this type of class dynamic is very practical when one book has knowledge that many people need.

We also visited the IT department, and saw the fullest computer lab yet and some actual internet content. The course in session was about HTML and PHP stuff, and certainly made me homesick for Mr. Wright. The instructor was young, dynamic, and very energetic, and I really wanted to stay in the class but was forced onward vis a vis the specific and excellent agenda that guided our afternoon.

Here are a few things that I learned today. First, there’s not really such thing a student loan in Uganda. In the states, there are loans given specifically for college tuition that maintain relatively low interest rates so as not to add a great burden to the principal over time. Here, that’s not a thing. A small number of students in need might receive attention from the government, but that’s basically it. Also, small business loans basically don’t exist, because the interest rate on one of those loans can exceed 35%.


 * [[image:Wednesday8.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Wednesday11.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="The President of Uganda Christian University. He lived in Compton, and then Thousand Oaks, CA, for 18 years before returning home to guide this University."]] ||
 * [[image:Wednesday10.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Ugandan Mr. Wright."]] || media type="youtube" key="kZYZ4K303Vg?version=3" height="324" width="576" ||
 * [[image:Wednesday12.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="New campus of UCU."]] || [[image:Wednesday13.jpg width="365" height="562" caption="Look familiar? "]] ||