On Wednesday, April 9, at 6 a.m. Moses, Peter, Richard, Bernard, and I embarked on a journey to Arua to conduct a workshop. Arua is only about 502 KM (311 miles), but the journey took us nearly 12 hours.
The workshop was designed for lecturers and secondary teachers of English language. I wrote a grant to the U.S. Mission - Uganda with the help of our Head of Department in conjunction with UCU to conduct two workshops and a conference. UCU pays for our accommodations and provides a vehicle while the U.S. Mission pays for our materials and fuel. It is a win-win situation.
On the way to the workshop, we passed through Murchison Falls National Park, home to many animals and the Nile River. It cost $40 for me to get in, but everyone else was much cheaper. We saw lots of interesting animals including antelopes, waterbaks, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, etc. We had to wait a few hours to catch the ferry, so we found a nice resting place to read and relax while waiting to continue our journey. The place even had wifi!
These elephants were literally charging towards our car...scary! I cant' get over how big there are in real life. Once you see them in real life, you will never want to see them in a zoo.
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| hippos |
Because the Arua campus is so far out of town, we decided to hold the workshop at Slumberland Hotel. Slumberland is a nice hotel with affordable rooms (Shs55,000 or $22). There is hot water and consistent electricity. The have beautiful, lush gardens for relaxing during your down time. Unfortunately, there wasn't much down time!
The workshop hall was nice and well equipped. The staff did a good job of keeping it clean and providing for our needs.
My absolute favorite thing about these workshops is the amazing teachers I meet. They are truly, truly amazing. Let me tell you some reasons why they are truly amazing.
1. They are paid Shs 180,000 ($74) a month.
2. They teach very, very large classes - sometimes over 100.
3. They work in hot, humid conditions.
4. They rarely have access to electricity, let alone internet.
5. Their only visual aide is a chalkboard.
6. Students often have to share a book among three students.
7. They work long hours, often unappreciated by demanding administration.
8. Teacher's performance is graded on ONE test.
It truly is remarkable. I have heard many stories here about becoming a teacher. Many parents don't want their children to become teachers because they know it is a life of poverty. It is hard, hard work. I have never seen such a harder working group of people. Before leaving for the workshop, I went to the embassy to pick up many materials for them. I tried to get as much as I could because they need everything. I tried to make it fun with games and such so that they could "earn" prizes, but I would have given them the resources anyway. How amazing!
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| Richard and Peter |
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| This teacher was a Scouts leader! |
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| Peter teaching |
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| Peter teaching again |
We had two days of sessions where teachers were able to collaborate together and learn about the latest curriculum reforms. The head of education and the director of the Arua campus also came out to assist us. It was truly a joint effort. At the close of the workshop, we gave a certificate of attendance to the participants for their hard work. Everyone loves a certificate!
It truly was inspiring to be with so many amazing educators, although the long journey was very tiresome. We left on Saturday and arrived back in Mukono in the afternoon. It only took us 9 hours on the way back because we took a more direct route. We will be repeating this workshop in Kabale in May and hosting a national conference in June.
