Pray and toil

This is the motto of St Barnabas School and is written across the back of their school T-shirts. Under this is one of four different animals; yellow shirts have a zebra; red ones a rhino; green ones a lion and blue ones an elephant. The children also wear blue shorts with piping down the side and across the pockets to match the T-shirt – very smart.

When I got to St Barnabas last Friday I expected a day very similar to the previous week – but that’s the beauty of life in Uganda – it’s never what you expect! The school was nearing the end of the mid-term tests. Imagine the situation: banana class has 52 children, the majority boys. I mention this because most of you will realise that boys have an innate talent for mischief and being boisterous that girls don’t have! Girls tend to hop and skip out of the classroom to go for ‘soo soo’ (a pee); boys go like a bullet from a gun and return in a tumble with their friends.

The 52 children are in three groups, ‘baby’, ‘middle’ and ‘top’. Each child needs to do four tests: writing, drawing, maths and an oral to check their understanding of simple instruction, such as ‘Touch your nose’, ‘Jump five times’ and of simple questions, such as, ‘How many toes do you have?’, ‘Do you like posho and beans?’ (Oh Yes!!!) So that’s over 200 pieces of paper in three different ability levels. Tr Doreen had done most of them already, but I helped the baby group with their drawing. Three children at a time came and stood at the desk and copied a simple object and then coloured in another one. The middle group had to do their writing test and one boy had to do his maths test. Eventually they had finished, but just to be sure, Tr Doreen called out names of the children who had completed a particular test and they went outside and then she called the names for a different test and they came back in. This was done twice! Refer above to how they move in and out and you will appreciate why we both had headaches by 1.00pm!

After lunch I went to the slum school for reading. Generally Fridays are quiet as only P3 return for afternoon school – but today a medical team were there checking the children’s health, so the place was crowded! Not only the children from the school but their siblings which they had brought along with them. It is a brilliant idea, as children often have worms or sores or are malnourished and need vitamins etc and parents don’t have the money to pay. On Saturday the team were returning to hold a clinic for the community generally.

But for me Saturday meant reading club! Again it went well and was more structured as the cook came to do the porridge and consequently the children had it earlier and we were able to do more reading with them.

Afterwards I went to town intending to go to the theatre, but altho’ it was advertised as ‘The Heart Trick’ it was in Luganda! So I spent time and money in the bookshop and then went for a late lunch of chicken and cashew nuts with rice to the Great Wall and sat overlooking the dual carriageway on Kampala Road.

Public transport in Uganda is amazing. Only a very few people have cars and these tend to be 4WDs which do even more damage to the already pot-holed roads. The majority travel on matatus (minibus taxis), which are designed for fourteen passengers; two in front with the driver and twelve in the bus itself, in three rows of four. The thing is the end seats of each row are fold down ones so that people at the back can get off. Often up to four people have to systematically get off the matatu before a backseat passenger can alight and then they have to get on again! The bus boy sits on the fold up seat nearest the door and ideally he should be the only person on that seat, but for maximum income and minimum safety he often virtually sits on a passenger’s lap! This is of course illegal, so he needs to keep a look out for the traffic police! Not only does the bus boy take the fares, he also spots prospective customers, by the way they are walking along the road or approaching down a lane from a nearby settlement. This is accompanied by constant peeping of the horn as the driver is also keeping a look out on the other side of the road while driving along and attracting the attention of any likely passengers. But the most important role of the bus boy is ensuring a quick exit from the taxi park often by blocking the way of another matatu and directing traffic at the exit when necessary. All this coupled with a chaotic road system makes for an exciting journey!

Boda-bodas (unlicensed motor bikes) are a cheaper and quicker way to get around. They weave in and out of the traffic but the vast majority of A & E victims are boda-boda riders or passengers. Not wanting to add to the casualty list I have no qualms about resisting ‘Mazungu, we go?’ You have to admire the nerve of some people tho’ who balance on the back of a boda-boda with a TV under their arm or their two children in front of them and the baby on their lap!

It’s your worst nightmare – a mossie inside the net with you, unwilling to get out. I saw one before I went to bed last night and thought I’d got it out, but the devious little bugger lay in wait! It whined past my head at 2.30am. Out of bed! Light on! Eventually I flattened it between my hand and mobile phone and was relieved to see that the splat wasn’t red! It obviously hadn’t had a midnight feast at my expense! This was the first, and hopefully the last, time this has happened.

I’m away for the weekend- more about where I’m going in the next posting. Suffice to say – remember to pray and toil!