Culture Shock

Well my friends its real and has hit hard. Sparing you some of the more grimy details, there are just certain differences that really come out when you are living so far away from home and missing things. Combining new new new with missing loved one and your old life leads quite a combination I have noticed and I now understand why Peace Corps is so hard and competitive.

So some specific things that I have noticed to be markedly different than what I am used to, though I am still not judging and don’t label these things wrong or bad, just different:

Zero privacy. When all you want to do is go hide in your room and be alone, there are people everywhere…I mean everywhere. And those people do not hesitate to converse loudly and play music near you, listen to your conversations, or peep into your house to see what you are doing. I have learned to be careful where I talk when I call home and to watch where I journal because I have had people looming over my shoulder to read it. There just isn’t a sense of personal or individual here, everything is shared within family or small community units. This can be great when you are celebrating something, but its very hard when you need a moment to be by yourself (that also doesn’t exist here and people will ask if you are sick if you spend time alone.)

Incessant greetings. You must must must greet. No matter what you are doing or where you are going you must greet everyone you see. If you walk away without at least waving to someone, though you usually are called over to ask how you and your home are doing, then you are again thought to be sick. I once travelled with a man who teaches at the college that I have come to really love spending time with (he is hysterical, belongs on TV), we went to get a haircut—this was another story and quite an experience. On the way, which was a 10 minute walk, we stopped so many times to greet and talk with people that it took 40 minutes. Maybe this is why all my teachers come to school late!?

Religion. Oh my goodness it is everywhere. At night when all the college kids are hanging out after class and I am getting ready for bed, I notice them all in circles. I figure they are kids and they are just hanging out or talking. Then they break out in kumbaya for 10 minutes, not kidding. When people are done talking many of them bless each other before leaving. Any time something good happens, it is necessary to say thank god for blessing us. I also witnessed a very interesting event at school. A girl began flailing around in class, knocking desks over, hitting herself, and screaming. At first I wondered if it was epilepsy, but it wasn’t. I asked what was going on and all the teachers (who were standing around watching) said she was “possessed by demons.” Now I knew she wasn’t and I knew there had to be a real cause; at first I thought it was attention or psychological trauma, but later overheard there is a land dispute going on in her family that is probably involved. Anyway, what really shocked me was how normal it seemed to all the teachers and students and the unanimous decision that it was demons and no other options were available. I tried to talk to the students who witnessed it, to see if they were ok, but they began laughing at me because it is so common and not an issue.

Fishbowl. Yes I am in a fishbowl. Everywhere I walk, STARES. It is not considered the slightest bit rude to stare for minutes at me. I get it, I am white and weird and they don’t see too many. But really, I don’t think I am that impressive.

Cleanliness. Where does the trash go? Anywhere. When people eat they just drop scraps and trash wherever they are sitting because the kids will pick it up later. And it eventually makes it's way into a large pit that gets burned and smells. Furthermore, though Ugandans are very tidy and go through much effort to sweep up dust and dirt, the notion of cleaning walls and furniture or getting rid of cobwebs/repairing things that are broken doesn't come in.

Time and work ethic. I think the biggest thing I am struggling with right now is that work moves so slowly. Since no one is in a rush and things will get done when they get done, it is a month into school starting and some teachers still have not lesson planned. Now as I mentioned in a previous post, there are certain things out of their control that inhibits this. But on the other hand, I see so many teachers just sitting around in class and staring into space, many don’t even come to school. I just wish there was some personal initiative, but going back to the culture of collectivism, why would one person carry such a burden when no one else is? Additionally, the way school is done and taught further inhibits individualism. Students are rarely asked questions at a higher level than what/who is… and I have not yet heard any teacher ask a student what he/she thinks or feels about something or what they would do or how they would solve a problem. There isn’t even a culture that fosters the students asking their own questions. It is mostly just repetition and memorization; here in lies my purpose for being here. Tell me if this was way too bitchy of a post!

So yea, things are different here…to be expected. I am in what PC calls stage 3 of culture shock where I start to see the negative before taking the real plunge of integrating. And what a ride it is. . Thankfully, I have limitless love and support from all my family and friends back home =) I miss you daily

An agrarian dream come true

I am going to briefly describe the Ugandan food system, something many of you know I am quite annoying about in the states. First let me begin by saying, you get what you wish for and sometimes you don’t expect what you find. So in Uganda, everyone farms. I mean everyone. It is very hard to find a family or even an organization that does not have a personal garden that is used to provide the main sustenance for the family and maybe some income. There are trees and grass, fruits and vegetables everywhere. The cows, chickens, turkeys, and goats roam totally free and graze on the grass. Since land is not as personal as in America, they can really travel around, usually with a small boy watching over them with a stick. Because most of them are unaffordable, most people do not use pesticides or fertilizer. Although compost is not widely used, it is pretty common and the people in the agriculture business are heavily promoting it. Therefore, all the food I eat is totally natural, organic, and local. I am in heaven! The main crops are maize, cassava, millet, wheat, beans, g-nuts (peanuts), bananas, and matoke (sort of a bland plantain.) Despite the prevalence of animals, meat is still expensive and not a part of everyday meals. You can also find fresh water fish and a mix of green vegetables (tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes, eggplant, garlic, and greens.) Biggest letdown—no broccoli.

The downsides of all this lie in the unfortunate lack of trash/waste management and lack of knowledge on preparing balanced meals. So trash here is just piled high up and then burned. Not going into how harmful burning paper and plastic is for humans, the trash often leaves the pits and finds its way onto the grass where the animals graze. I am sure it is not appetizing for them, but the occasional bits probably enter their stomachs. Also, pit latrines are rarely covered so disease and germs amongst animals and vegetables is pretty common. Also, trying to find a way to grow during the dry seasons is hard and many people lose a lot of money for those parts of the year. Also, climate change is seriously affecting life here. They used to have very regular seasons and knew exactly what week to plant and when to harvest. Now, each year is different and the rains come sporadically, making it hard to know when to do what. Back to the meals, most here consist of 80% starch in the form of rice or posho (mix of flour from maize and cassava that is pounded to this moist and hot bread-like food) and some beans or greens. It is not rare for there to be no greens and apart from the beans, no protein. Therefore, despite having an amazing agriculture nutrition and health is fairly poor. Not as poor as some of the drier African countries, but not where is should be. Many have also said (by many I mean Ugandans) that because growing food is so easy here due to extremely fertile soil, that is why people are lazy and expect everything to come so easy. Now I personally have met some very lazy Ugandans, but I also know a great deal more hard working ones. Time just moves at a different pace here and it is up to the citizens to decide if they want that to change.

So for now I am staying a vegetarian because I can get my protein (I eat a lot of peanut butter), but I will eat the occasional fish and chicken because they are treated so humanely and naturally. Needless to say, this is one part of Uganda that I definitely love and will miss when I am home.

Introduction to the Education system

After going to a curriculum workshop, which reviewed the new curriculum that was just created for teachers’ colleges, and spending the first few weeks in my primary school, I want to highlight some key observations I have made. First the basics. Schooling starts at nursery or kindergarten, but those are usually private so only available to families that can pay. Next is 7 years of primary school, at the end of which students (called pupils) take a leaving exam to go to secondary school. Secondary is divided into 4 years of Ordinary Level (mandatory) and two years of Advanced Level/ a college like the PTC I work with. If you wish to do a trade, you don’t need to go to A level, but if you want to go to university you must complete A level and do well. At the end of O and A there are leaving examinations as well. These are equivalent to the U.S high-stakes tests, like the MCAST. A few years back, the government issued a law that states that primary education must be attended by all children and will be universally provided by the government. Later, a similar law was passed to make O level the same, but there is some controversy over it and it is not clear if it is holding. Despite that, there are small school fees attached to school (much higher at secondary) on top of buying books and uniforms. For families making a couple dollars a day, this is hard. Not to mention that although school is free, lunch is not, so only about 200 of my 1300 students eat lunch every day. Ergh!

Ok so the new curriculum was put in place to increase literacy in school and highlight “peace education,” as well as insist that Swahili be taught in primary. So here is what I observed. The new things being introduced, like student-centered learning and continuous assessment, are not new by any means but just arriving in Uganda. However, the curriculum was and is written with a ton of things like, “suggested skills taught—critical thinking.” Unfortunately, there is no mention of how exactly to do that and the teachers in the field simply write it into their lesson plans without actually doing it. In sum, there are many good things being “done” in Uganda, but due to lack of teacher support it is not actually happening. Further, I saw firsthand how hard it is for things to get done here because meetings consist of hours of hearing everyone’s point and not actually deciding on anything. Despite this, the teachers I met are thoroughly dedicated to their jobs and do want to make a difference in their students (these are still the Tutors that teach new teachers at the colleges). So in sum, the education system is behind, but is on the verge of becoming current, if only the ministry would support the teachers in the fields and give practical ways of teaching.

At the Primary school things are different. Because of corruption and bureaucracy, teachers are only paid about 80 dollars a month, sometimes not getting their pay for months at a time, and are transferred to new schools on a regular basis. In the first few weeks of term, many teachers do not coming in or show up late and most students don’t come till week 2 or 3. Because of the lack of support I mentioned, most teachers are teaching in very traditional ways and physical punishment often occurs because managing a class of 150 students is extremely difficult. Combined with sickness, taking care of children, and little pay, it is hard to believe teachers come in to teach at all. However, there is Uganda for you. Although at first I was hard pressed to not call some lazy, the teachers are still teaching and do care about the students. I am trying to figure out the best place for me in all this and I think it is in providing the support and updated methods/strategies that the government is failing to give. Although I am frustrated that 3 weeks into term classes have not begun, I am learning to be patient and humble, acknowledging that these are the struggles teachers go through all the time. I cannot change everything, but hopefully I can find a way to empower teachers to use some new methods, introduce positive ways of disciplining, and getting the students to actually learn skills like critical thinking and problem solving-skills that would really help Uganda in the future if the general population had them. I am thinking about what it takes a nation to be successful and to develop and those are the things I hope to experiment with in the classroom. Ugandans may take FOREVER to do things, but they always bring their whole heart into it!