New shopping experiences and Camels

Apologies for the long wait for an update to the blog; since the last time I wrote so much has happened. Where to begin school life is going on well, we have just returned fresh after a nice half term holiday.

The girls and their uniforms

Last term we were excited to see the arrival of the school uniforms for the new students that have joined us. Here in Uganda everything is made from scratch and so each student has to be measured and the material is then sent to the tailors to create the uniforms. This takes a little longer than just buying from the shops but it does mean the uniforms are tailored made for each student. 

It is funny actually, anything you want to buy is tailored made to your specific needs and so I have been challenged to think about and design the kind of bookshelves we would like to create for the library of books that are on the way. Of course being English I am not used to thinking about the design and dimensions of what we would like, we just happen to walk into the shop if it looks right, will fit in the space and is the right price we buy it, this new Ugandan way of designing and buying is a whole new world!

The books are on the way, there was a delay in the shipment but are now travelling to us. We have been told they should be with us by the beginning of April, so we are all eagerly waiting for them to arrive!

Students enjoying the new science equipment

Thanks to Neighbours and Nations in Coventry we have been able to buy some new science equipment for the school, this will enable the students to actually conduct their own experiments, something they have not been able to properly do until now. The students are so grateful and are excited to be able to use the Bunsen burner!

Teacher Training 

At the end of last term I was asked to do some teacher training with the primary school. This training was focussed on developing questioning techniques to encourage students’ deeper thinking. It has been really good to work alongside the primary school and proved a really beneficial time for the teachers. All of the staff were set ‘homework’ to try out some of the questioning techniques in their classroom at the beginning of the term, looking forward to the feedback on this.

Fort Portal

Over the last couple of weeks I have also enjoyed being able to see a little more of the country. Uganda is such a big country and so it is nice to be able to see more! I had the privilege of going to Eve Wanjala’s (director of Wellspring) home in Fort Portal, Western Uganda. Fort Portal is about a 6/7 hours drive west of Bweyogerere.  Surrounded by the Rwenzori Mountains and tea plantations all around, as you can imagine it is a very beautiful town. Because it is mainly in the countryside many people here are self sufficient in growing their own crops on their family’s land. It was amazing to have dinner with Eve’s family; the family grew everything we were eating! Funny as we were leaving the town we bought live chickens on the side of the road ready to be eaten when we returned to Kampala.  It really does bring a new meaning to shopping and eating fresh!

 Shopping for chicken ...

Eve & Pam in Fort Portal

Dancing on the beach

Some of the ladies and I had a lovely day out at the Beach in Entebbe. Entebbe is the town before you get to Kampala, around an hours drive away. It is the town you fly into when entering Uganda. The beach was lovely, it was a surprise to swim in Lake Victoria and it was not salty like the sea. I had stupidly forgotten that it was a fresh water Lake! At the beach there were Camels, this was only the second time I’d seen a camel in Uganda and so it was a surprise to us all! The Beach started off quiet but by the evening it filled up with people ready to dance, so off course we danced the night away with the beautiful scenery all around us…Uganda really is a beautiful country!

Riding a camel!