I have a home!

So, it’s been a long time. I’m finally at site, and loving it! I’m at a large secondary school of over 1,000 students in S.1 through S.6. It’s near the main road and a town, so it’s not far from transport, or food. I have a mango tree in my front yard, a view of the soccer pitch, wonderful neighbors, electricity, a flush toilet, and ‘running’ water. The tank that supplies my water is refilled everyday by three men who bicycle 15+ 20L jerry cans from the bore hole, and then pull them up about 4m using a rope and dump them into the tank. So, I’m trying to avoid using the tap for anything but flushing the toilet and bathing. Though, I’m going to get another jerry can and try to just use the water for the toilet. As I don’t want to do them out of a job, I may just ask them to fill a jerry can a day. Then at least they don’t have to lift it all the way up there.

I love my house and my neighbors. I’m living in the guest house, which has been built through additions over the years. There are two other teachers living in the main section of the house (my section was a later addition, I think). One, Christine, teaches Christian religious education (CRE) and history, and has become my morning running buddy. She is from Teso (Soroti and Kumi area) and speaks 5 languages! The other teacher, Rita, has 3? children at home at the moment, two young boys (Fred and Jerry) and a girl in S.5?, Gladys (sp?). Just across the way is Mr. Okot who lives with his two daughters, Jennifer (S.5?) and Barbara (S.3?), twin sons Michael and Dickens (Dick) and a nephew (who’s name I feel horrible for not remembering, but I think he’s in S.5 or S.6). Oh, and Derek, a boy who’s family lives in town and who goes to school in Jinja, but he’s home for the holiday. He loves books, doesn’t matter what they’re about – history, health, biology, Lusoga - he just sits and reads and asks questions. And he speaks very good English (he said his father got him a dictionary when he was younger and he’s been doing ten words a day since, which made me feel bad about my 5 Lusoga words a day). The catch with there being about 40+ languages/dialects within Uganda and teachers going where they’re put by the government is that most teachers don’t speak Lusoga (Lawrence speaks Luwo, and Christine Ateso). So, Derek has been very helpful in teaching me some Lusoga. As have Rita and Christine, who do speak Lusoga, though not fluently.

The school is on holiday at the moment, though some of the teams – netball, soccer (both girls teams!!!!) and chorus are around practicing. The soccer team left early this morning for a tournament, and the netball girls go sometime in June. Also, the S.4, S.5, and S.6 classes (who are rapidly approaching the national exams given in November of S.4 and S.6) are around for optional study session. At least, some of the students are. So, the school isn’t too quiet, and I’m getting a relaxed introduction to teachers, students, staff, and the town.

The town is relatively decent-sized. There are some gas stations, a small food market,and a large market (think flea-market, with food, clothes, household items, etc.) on Tuesdays. Everyone has been so nice, though I’m much more comfortable talking to the women. The conversations rarely last long (my Lusoga needs a lot more work before I can hold an intelligent conversation), but I’m slowly getting better. The children help a lot – I have a following of 5-25 every time I walk through town, and one of the shop keepers sits me down when I visit and teaches me a few new words. Friday she gave me an avocado. That’s something I’ve noticed here. Even people who don’t have much will give so much. My first night at site I was served a delicious meal, and given tea, coffee, bread and butter – just to start me off. The other night Fred came over with some greens Rita had made. Gladys brought me a chapatti she made one night, and another night Fred brought me mushroom soup he’d made from a mushroom he found (he knows what he’s doing – it was delicious!). Elizabeth, the office assistant, sent me a bag of avocados from her tree and Evely (sp?), the school accountant, is providing me with milk from her cow. Which, after much protestation, I’ve been assured I will not be paying for (it should be about 20 cents/day for the 500mL).

Speaking of which, I made cheese! Okay, so it was completely by accident, but it tasted almost like ricotta and was delicious. The milk come fresh every evening, and I usually boil it, have a cup with some spices (pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, basically Chai, yummy!) and then make oatmeal with the rest the next morning. Well, I wasn’t in the mood for tea, so I left the milk during the day, and then without thinking about it, poured in the new milk and put it on the stove to boil. Not long after starting to cook it had completely separated. I tasted it, and it didn’t taste sour, so I pulled out the PC/U cookbook and looked up how to make cheese – first steps accomplished! I just let it cook a little longer, drained it through cheese cloth (luckily such strainers are common for making passion fruit juice), squished it a bit, and ate it with greens and avocado. Delicious!

That’s about it for now – more later. There’s a SESEMAT training in Iganga in May, so I’ll have a more reliable internet connection, at least for a little bit. I hope everyone is well, and many apologies for not writing more. Oh, and many, many apologies for my horrible grammar...

I have an address!

Rebecca Poore
P.O. Box 136
Busembatia, Uganda