Tuesday



Today we travelled to visit the Bubulo Secondary School. The mode of travel was van, again with Fred, the greatest driver in Uganda, behind the wheel. Other drivers just want to get you there, Fred wants to get you there without catastrophic injury or vehicular failure. It’s an important distinction, and it made for a slower but more enjoyable ride as we progressed about 20 kilometers southeast of the city to the district of Manafwa. Road quality deteriorates quickly out of town, and during this dry season the dust in considerable. I learned some things during the drive, here they are: we finally saw some of the rice paddies where the local rice comes from, more like swamps that the terraced paddies you might be visualizing; also cotton is grown locally, also we saw some of the brick ovens where new bricks are fired. I also learned that coffee beans grow in the shade, and the matooke (thick green, starchy bananas for cooking) are cut out there and then couriered into Mbale on bicycles that guys push. It’s really far, really dusty and hot, and I didn’t see any of them carrying water. I guess they get there and then at least can ride the empty bike back. Also I learned the largest trees were planted by a wandering colonialist, that they take 100 years to mature, and that people like the so much that the resist cutting them down and making them into djembe. Ultimately, we arrived.

Bubulo is a government school, and it is where Mrs. Jacqueline Nyeko, our host and guide this week, teaches. One thing that is relevant to note is that this was the second day of the new term, so some students are brand new high-schoolers (and expectedly a little shell-shocked), while others were trying to wrap their minds around being back in session, as we all do at the end of our summer break. A few noteworthy observations: On Tuesday they have a community assembly in a yard behind the administrative building. Today was effectively the ‘welcome to school’ assembly, and was led primarily by the S4 (Senior) Prefects and elected class level Counselors. The Head Prefect was a young man, and he was extremely well spoken and positive. Do you want to know what the two primary themes of his address were….? Okay, I’ll tell you. First, he described emphatically that any S1 (Freshman) that experiences teasing or bullying should tell a Prefect or teacher immediately. He made clear that bullying is not acceptable behavior at Bubulo Secondary, and the discipline awaits anyone that carries on such behavior. A local turn of phrase that is often heard is “You are welcome,” and it is spoken as a genuine welcome. The Prefect kept saying “S1 you are most welcome here at Bubulo Secondary School”. The Headmaster later clarified that students who bully or cruelly tease will be expelled. The second major theme of the address was the importance of adherence to the dress code: shirts tucked in, skirts passed knee length, socks, shoes. Remember that this is a fairly rural community, and that cloth and tailoring costs money. School uniform is a real investment.

While these older students were a little more reticent than their younger counterparts that we met yesterday, they were equally gracious and hospitable hosts. The teachers that we met continued to solidify my firm perception that the commonalities that unite us are far more abundant than the differences that may exist. Infrastructure is a real challenge to the daily mechanisms of the school and to variety in instructional methods. What this looks like is very large classes and a significant lack of teaching resources and student supplies. However, a counterbalance is evident with internet access possibly within a year’s reach, and power already flowing to eleven PCs from roof-mounted solar panels.


 * [[image:Tuesday4.jpg width="640" height="426" align="center" caption="Rice paddies outside of Mbale."]] ||
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 * [[image:Tuesday5.jpg width="481" height="386"]] || [[image:Tuesday6.jpg width="468" height="383" caption="Power stored in batteries, that comes from...."]] ||
 * [[image:Tuesday7.jpg width="512" height="341" caption=".... these roof-mounted solar panels!"]] || [[image:Tuesday8.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||


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 * [[image:Tuesday13.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:Tuesday15.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Head Prefect addresses the student body during opening assembly."]] ||
 * [[image:Tuesday16.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Mrs. Jacqueline Nyeko, teacher at Bubulo Secondary and Bob and my host/guide for the week."]][[image:Tuesday19.jpg width="448" height="298" align="left" caption="Walking to class."]] || [[image:Tuesday17.jpg caption="Teacher addressing students."]] ||
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