Monday



This morning the doctors were up early, and were on their bus to the hospital by around 7:30. Mr. Schroeder and I met Jacqueline Nyeko at the hotel, and drove with her husband, Dr. Filbert Nyeko, to meet our van.

The first school we visited this morning was Wambwa Primary School. Primary school refers to pre-kindergarten through about 8th or 9th grade. Wambwa is in Mbale, and maybe a kilometer outside of the city proper. Wambwa is a government school, the equivalent of a public school in the U.S. There are around 700 students that attend, maybe more. I believe that families pay a small school fee, but the details of how that system works have eluded me slightly. The Headmaster, Mr. Nanghendo Moses, greeted us warmly and spent a considerable portion of the day talking with us and showing us around his school.

Here are some of the positives that Mr. Moses described, and that were evident through the course of our visit. The teachers at Wambwa are committed to what they do. They have to be, or they wouldn’t do it. This is because they make a very small salary. Each teacher keeps a classroom that often houses 50 or more students, depending on the day and season. The students sit elbow to elbow facing forward, and they pay attention. A considerable amount of teaching is done ‘call and response’ style, as the limitations in teaching materials and student materials often make this the most efficient and practical way to introduce content to the brain. The students were uniformly polite and respectful to their teachers. A teacher enters the room, the class stands up: “Welcome Teacher.” They wait to sit down. Where does this discipline in action and attention come from? Jacqueline described it as fundamental to the Ugandan culture, though I doubt it will be seen in greater sharpness than at Wambwa. An enormous strength of the school, that I will take the liberty of divulging to all, is the leadership and commitment of Mr. Nanghendo Moses. He remains entirely committed to his teachers and students. Obstacles materialize, and he either overcomes them or changes navigation so as to minimize their impact on his students’ learning.

Here are some of the challenges that exist at Wambwa Primary. They do not have electricity. This is not terrible, because the Sun is out for very consistent duration over the course of a calendar year here. They do not have any water. They have had running water in the past, the came out of a spout in the schoolyard. They have not had any for over a year, and the future is unclear in this regard. Here’s why this is significant: The school day may run from 8 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon. Over this duration, there is no access to water for the students. All of these students walk to school, many over a considerable distance, perhaps 4-5 miles for a few. They have nothing to drink for the course of the day. Wambwa does not have the resources to provide food for its students. This means that, for many students, there is neither food nor water for the duration of the school day. Of course, the afternoon can be very challenging for students and teachers. Remember that we’re less than a degree from the equator, and that a long walk home awaits many of these students. Another challenge is that it’s very common for increasing proportions of girls to stop coming to school toward the later primary years. Another challenge is that there are very close to zero supplies, in the form of books, writing utensils, chalk, maps/visuals, etc. So, there are some positives, there are some significant challenges.

 media type="youtube" key="bdMOqIYwQz8?version=3" height="360" width="640" align="center"

|| ||
 * [[image:Wambwa1.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Wambwa2.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="A reminder that 'grass fed' and 'free range' is actually how cows are suppossed to be, not some western invention."]] ||
 * [[image:Wambwa7.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Wambwa4.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Wambwa3.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Wambwa6.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Wambwa5.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Wambwa8.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Wambwa9.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Wambwa10.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Wambwa11.jpg width="512" height="341"]]

Between school visits, Jacqueline took us to the market in Mbale, which is right across Republic St. from the hospital. This is the main market in the center of the city, and is a center of activity everyday:


 * [[image:IMG_3238.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Market1.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Market2.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="The best tilapia in the world, fresh from Lake Victoria everyday."]] || [[image:Market3.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Market4.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Market5.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Market6.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Market7.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||

Our visit to Grace Primary School was more brief, but equally engaging and interesting. Grace Primary School is a private school, and as with private schools in the States, is entirely tuition driven. This school enrolls around 1200 students, 700 of whom are boarders. As should be evident from the pictures below, the infrastructure at Grace was orders of magnitude more solidly established than that at Wambwa. They have water, they have light fixtures (though not often used because right now it’s really bright outside all day), they have two teachers per classroom and smaller classes, and they feed their students and teachers. We only had brief visits in several classrooms, and it was late in the day so it’s hard to get a really strong sense of what the normal routine is like. Headmaster Patrick was very kind and took time from his day to walk us around. As with Wambwa, when teachers enter the room, students stand and give a formal greeting. They also respond ensemble to questions in a pretty slow cadence. The positives noticeable at Grace Primary are many, and deservedly it is a school of repute in Mbale. Their exam scores were all in the passing range, and weighted heavily toward the highest grades. The challenges that Headmaster Patrick mentioned had much to do with logistics and managing the increasing enrollment. Matters such as expanding dormitory space to appropriately accommodate their many boarding students and trying to offer diverse and nutritious foods to students at meals. At the top of this list of ‘good problems to have’ for an independent school, one might find managing. expansion to meet high demand for services from tuition paying families. It’s a very nice school and we enjoyed our visit greatly.

|| || ||  ||
 * [[image:Grace_Primary8.jpg width="350" height="580"]] || [[image:Grace_Primary4.jpg width="362" height="596"]] ||
 * [[image:Grace_Primary3.jpg width="512" height="341"]]
 * [[image:Grace_Primary5.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Grace_Primary6.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Grace_Primary7.jpg width="512" height="341"]]
 * [[image:Grace_Primary11.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Visiting the dormitories."]] || [[image:Grace_Primary12.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Grace Primary is also a 'self-help' school!"]] ||
 * [[image:Grace_Primary13.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Looking over from the boys' side."]] || [[image:Grace_Primary14.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:Grace_Primary15.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="As far as I could tell, the happiest kid in Uganda."]] || [[image:Grace_Primary16.jpg width="249" height="390"]] ||