New Experiences

There are so many events and thoughts that I want to share, but I fear that it is impossible to fully convey them in a way that embodies the full experience. I feel that words will limit the power of the moment, but I will try my best.
Last night (Friday, June 19), we met our teachers at the Churchill Inn, a wonderful restaurant and hotel on the outskirts of Gulu. We walked there, and it was interesting to watch the reaction of the townspeople as 20 munos (white people) walked along the streets. Hopefully we will never stick out like that again. The tables were set out in the courtyard; once the sun went down, the stars came out, and the sky here is so beautiful since there are no lights to dim their brightness.
I am partnered with two teachers. Ilama Grace, who has been teaching for 14 years. She is not married but has two children, Bruno and Jacob. Bruno lives with her sister in Kampala so he can attend school there, and Jacob lives with her mother and her father near Gulu. The other teacher is Okello Palango, who has been teaching for 20 years. He has taught at the primary school, both levels of secondary, university and the teacher’s college. He is a character! He has 4 wives and 12 children; his father was an only child and told him to go and spread his clan. He believes that Lwo was the original language and that every language since is derived from Lwo. He actually sounds like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, stating that every word comes from a Lwo word. For example, he said that “Aramaic” comes from the Lwo word “aram”, which means “corruption.” I could go on and on about this guy. I think that they are two different people, so the teaching experience will be very interesting. Ilama Grace teaches S1 (roughly 7th grade) and S4 (roughly 10th grade), and Okello Palango teaches S3 (roughly 9th grade).
Today (Saturday, June 20) we headed out to Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School where we will be for the next 5 weeks. We were to meet our teachers at 9:30 am, but none of them were even close to being on time. There is American time, and there is African time. At the school, they were holding the Handover Ceremony where the old prefects turn over the power to the new prefects. This was really cool! It was to start at 8:00 am, but when we talked in at 10:30, they still had not begun. We sat at the head table and were introduced and welcomed many times. For the entertainment portion, one or two students would get up with the microphone and lip sync to an American song. Rap was the most popular music to lip sync, but several students also chose some songs from the Latin invasion in the 1990’s. It was hysterical. The ceremony started around 11:00, and there were several speeches from the outgoing head UNSA (Ugandan National Students’ Association) and the outgoing head prefect. These two students were so well spoken, and their speeches were mostly about the success throughout the year, some of the failures, and the expectations of the next year’s prefects. The UNSA prefect began his speech by stating, “Do what you can to avoid what you cannot.” I love that!!! After these speeches, it was time for the “changing of the guard.” The outgoing prefect, the incoming prefect, and the guest of the incoming prefect came to the front of the hall. Holding the Holy Bible above his head, he recited the pledge to uphold the standards of the prefect system. Then the two prefects walked to opposite sides of the hall; they then walked to each other in the middle, and the outgoing prefect handed over his notebook to the incoming prefect. They either shook hands or hugged. It was really neat to watch and to be invited to attend. Next we heard speeches from the headmaster and the Chief Guest, who was the head of the PTA. One statement by the Headmaster that stood out to me was “hunger in dignity is better than bread eaten in slavery.” I think this sums up the attitude of the Acoli; they are very proud of who they are but not at all in an arrogant way. They simply want to live their lives and know peace. After each speech, the crowd applauded by tapping their foot on the ground. At one point, the emcee asked for “an enormous hand clap.” This enormous hand clap could only be described as a polite applause in America.
The ceremony ended at 1:15 pm, and then lunch was served. Because it was a big event, there was a buffet, which included white rice, millet (which is the consistency of brown silly puddy), goat stew (which had every single piece of the goat inside it), chicken stew (again, every single piece of chicken) and hot cabbage slaw (absolutely delicious). Close to the food serving table, two students held a pitcher of water and a basin for me to wash my hands. I wondered besides the obvious why this was so important. I quickly found out when I sat back down and realized that there was no silverware to use. In most places, they eat with their hands. So at least for lunch, I will be eating beans and posho with my hands every day. Good times…
After lunch, Sharon, Kate and I had to use the restroom, so we were guided to the pit latrine by one of the teachers. He walked us most of the way and then said, “it is just there behind that building.” Behind the building were 4 doors: 2 that led into showers and 2 that led into pit latrines. This trip to the pit latrines was the worst experience yet!!! There was one working pit latrine; the other had a lock on it (I guess it just got too disgusting to use). The pit latrine was full of flies and other bugs (could have been maggots?) because there were two pieces of poop laying on the back of the hole. And the smell… words cannot describe how horrendous it was. I tried to go in, but immediately began gagging. Sharon finally gave up and went to the shower to pee. Kate grabbed a long branch and pushed the two pieces of poop into the latrine. Once she did that, a lot of the mosquitoes lost interest. I took 3 deep breaths and went in although I did leave the door cracked and made Kate stand it front of it. It was a rough experience, but I got the job done. As we left the area, we realized that the teachers who had shown us the way were watching us the while time. They said, “We think you have fear.” We replied that we needed to just get used to it, which I think we will. Needless to say, I will live to be 110 and never forget that experience.
After lunch, we met the headmaster, named Norbert Oola, and he took us to his office. He spoke to us about the history of Sir Samuel Baker and how the war had affected it. Sir Samuel Baker opened in 1952 and has been a boarding school for boys. The school closed from 1988 to 1990 because the fighting was all around the school and not safe for the school. In 1995, 25 boys were abducted by the LRA in the middle of the night from one wing of the dormitory. 6 boys have still not returned. After the abduction, the boys would take turns sleeping in order to protect each other. Today during the ceremony, the dormitory prefects were thanked by saying, “You brought us to the light of the day.” After the abductions, the military stayed at the school until 2007 when the soldiers were removed. At that time, the school reverted to a boarding school. I would really love to spend some more time with him as I imagine his life has been remarkable.
I met with Grace for about 10 minutes as we were leaving, and she shared her school schedule with me. I am becoming more comfortable with her, so I think it will be a great experience. We begin Monday…