Life in Butaleja Summarized

Currently, I am working on my "Phase II" report, which is a report required by Peace Corps to monitor our progress during these first few months at site. I don't want to fool you, this has been a beast of a report. The workbook has loads of questions with the intention of encouraging us to venture out into our community and discover what's out there. It may sound silly- wouldn't we hang out with people and ask questions anyway? You'd think, but Peace Corps wants to be sure that we really know our community and have made the best effort to create relationships with everyone. Congratulations to me- I have officially just finished Phase II! No big deal, it's only 16 pages, single spaced. Yikes!

The final task of Phase II is to write a summary of your work and life so far at site. I actually enjoyed this part of Phase II, so I thought I would share it with all of you. The specific prompt was as follows: : This should be at least two pages, but can be as long as you want. Use this exercise to explore your experience so far and to explore the important things you’ve learned so far, questions you have, accomplishments, things you’re excited about, etc. What challenges do you anticipate and how do you plan to address them?

Despite being at site for the last three months, it still feels like I have just arrived; however, upon reflection, I can acknowledge that I have come a long way since my first lonely night here in Butaleja. There is no way that I can detail and account for everything I have learned because everyday there is something new. While my experience so far has been a lot of ups and downs, I know that I have numerous accomplishments, plans for the coming terms and challenges ahead.

In the beginning, I struggled not only to become integrated into the community and settled in, but also to discover my place in the Coordinating Center. Within the last three months, I have finally settled into my house, and it is beginning to feel like home. With the help of a local carpenter, I have organized everything, from a wardrobe for my clothes to a high table for cooking. My wonderful landlady has lent me a sofa set, which makes me feel comfortable when I come home at night. Thankfully, my landlord allowed me to put in a window for my front room that lets in light and air, and he has built a bathing area for me. I bought a pressure cooker so I can quickly prepare beans and chickpeas without wasting too much gas. I have learned that when it rains, I should put out as many basins and buckets as possible in order to use the rainwater for washing and bathing. Although I have learned the protocol at the borehole, I have also learned that it does not necessarily apply to me, not yet anyway. Whenever I fetch water, usually someone allows me to cut the line a little bit because they are so shocked that I fetch it myself. I am proud to say that I can carry a 20 Liter and a 10 Liter jerry can at the same time the total distance to my house without setting them down. Unfortunately, due to the swamp and wetlands, Butaleja is blessed with hoards of mosquitoes! During the first few weeks, I was suffering from at least three or four bites a night. Now, I always wear trousers by 7 pm with wear long sleeves as well, put repellent on my feet and ankles and burn mosquito coils at night. Luckily, my new tactics have worked very well: I rarely get bites. The only thing that I can still considering doing to improve my house is painting, although I am still not sure if it is worth the trouble. Otherwise, I am very comfortable in my house.

Apart from physically getting settled into my house, I have settled into the household that I am now a part of. I have been adopted by my neighbor’s family, and my landlady considers me her oldest daughter now. It is comforting to know that this family cares very much about me and my well-being. They are very open with me and understand very well that as an American, I may do things differently or still not know some cultural norms; therefore, the family acts as a safe place to ask questions and tells me when I am doing something inappropriate. Several evenings a week, we take tea together. Often, I bring fruit home from Mbale to share with them, while they share their harvests with me, whether that is groundnuts or roasted maize. I spend many evenings helping their mother to peel groundnuts, so we can roast them. I am very grateful that this family has taken such great care to welcome me into their home.

As for my place in the community, I am happy to say that within the last three months, most people know at least my Kinyole name, Negesa, and what I am doing here. Although it was difficult and intimidating at first, I made a huge effort to be sure and greet everyone in my village, even on my runs in the morning. Through these conversations, I know my language has improved some, and everyone definitely appreciates my efforts. I cannot count how many times people have thanked me for learning the language. I have learned what all of my town’s shops have to offer, and one of the shopkeepers has even promised to stock yogurt for me, although he has yet to do it. All of the women at the market know me, and I know I get good prices. While I may live in a bigger town center, and my landlady continues to encourage me to wear trousers, I have decided that I will only wear trousers when running and if I am leaving on a taxi. Although I am not sure what the community’s reaction would be, I know that I will get more respect if I continue to dress appropriately. One of the most challenging aspects of integrating myself into the community was trying to convince them that I am not a tourist, I am staying for two years, I am not looking for a husband and I do not have money to give out. Now, I am sure the community believes that I am staying among them for two years and has offered their gratitude for helping their children. For the most part, word has gotten around that Negesa is not looking for another man because she already has one in America, although I still get the occasional marriage proposal. Fortunately, most people do not ask me for money anymore. Not only have I attended both the sports and music competitions, but also the girls at my school have taught me how to play netball, which they have enjoyed very much. For the most part, I am proud of my standing in the community because I feel as though people no longer see me as an alien or outsider, but rather as a friend and fellow Munyole trying to improve our children’s education.

During training, the position of a CCT was explained relatively well; however, the role that a Peace Corps Volunteer should play as a CCT was rather vague. I must admit: I spent my first six weeks trying to determine exactly where I fit in. Although I am still shaping my position, I am finally feeling productive and can envision future plans. For this term, I have spent most of my time becoming familiar with our center and its schools. I have observed many classes, therefore I have been able to determine certain areas that I want to work on over the next two years: literacy, assessment, instructional materials, PIASCY, child friendly schools, life skills and girl child education. At my center school, Butaleja Integrated, I have begun teaching library hour for P4-P7, which has been extremely rewarding. In P4-P5, we have been reading together “Gulu Gulu Goes to School.” Often, some of the teachers sit in on my lessons, and I have been trying to demonstrate teaching methods that keep the children engaged and allow them to actually understand the words they are reading. In P6-P7, we have been reading stories and answering questions in preparation for the PLE. From these exercises, I know that our pupils have poor reading comprehension and are not used to answering critical thinking questions. In addition, thanks to my open ended questions, such as “If you were Abdul, what would you do with the money?”, I have discovered a serious problem with copying. Therefore, I want to work with our teachers to improve their assessment questions, including their daily exercises. While visiting schools, I have supervised many classes. At first, it was very difficult for me to give feedback to the teachers, and it still can be at times; however, I know it is important for these teachers to hear both their strengths and weaknesses. Last week, we held a literacy workshop for P1-P3 teachers, which I think was very successful, although we probably needed at least another day. I wanted to encourage these teachers to move away from rote memorization, in which they ask children to repeat words over and over again. I came up with what I thought was a brilliant exercise, during which I taught them six French words. I introduced three of those words using rote memorization, and I taught the other three words using pictures, making sentences and having them do a motion related to the word. Unfortunately, when tested an hour later, they remembered all six words. While it was a good idea, I had forgotten that they were taught by rote memorization, so they are probably pretty good at it. Regardless, I am happy that I experimented with something new. In the coming terms, I hope to choose four schools to see on a regular basis, which will most likely be: Butaleja Integrated, Namulemo P/S, Butaleja P/S and Leresi P/S. These schools are all easily accessible and have shown dedication to making a positive change in their schools. I hope to do school based workshops on instructional materials and assessment techniques. Next year, I hope to work with the Senior Women Teachers in order to facilitate the introduction of Reusable Menstrual Pads Program. I am looking forward to my work in the following terms.

As of now, there are few challenges I foresee facing. One challenge that I am facing is how exactly to deal with the problem of corporal punishment. Basically, it is practiced at every school, either out rightly so by the teachers or through the class monitors. I was shocked to see P1 pupils hitting their peers with sticks larger than themselves. I have had 12-year-old girls sobbing in my P5 class after being beat for their tardiness, while none of the teachers were in the classes yet. I would like to do a workshop about positive discipline, but I am not sure yet how to approach that or if it would be welcomed. Although I am very happy with the house provided to me by the CC, I am also concerned that all of the Head Teachers have to contribute to my rent. This puts immense pressure on me to be involved with every school, which just is not possible. I encourage them to send their teachers when we have workshops, and I interact with the Head Teachers at their monthly PGMs, but I sometimes wonder if they think it is enough. I think the other Head Teachers are often jealous of how much time I spent at my center school. One has even asked me if I “only love Butaleja Integrated,” and why I hate him. Although I am sure it was somehow in jest, I am worried about the Head Teachers’ expectations of my service. I have tried to explain my limitations regarding to movement and spreading myself too thin, but I am not sure if they accepted my justifications and explanations. Recently, a number of people have become very concerned about my lack of church attendance. It has been difficult to explain my beliefs because although I tell them I am Christian and prefer to worship in my own house on Sundays, the truth is I have not been to church in years, and would prefer to keep it that way. At site, Sundays have become a day of recuperation, during which I enjoy sleeping in, reading and doing some house chores; however, I am running out of ways to avoid going to church while others are worried about the health of my soul. Otherwise, the only other challenge I foresee is my inability to run in the Kampala Marathon because I have had so much difficulty of waking at dawn to jog! I can only hope my sleeping patterns improve next term in time for the race.

Overall, I am happy with my progress over the last few months, and I am looking forward to the rest of my service.