Tagging Along

            This week, I’ve been tagging along with Nancy, taking photographs of her students, meeting the parents and teachers, and recording student fees. On Saturday, we visited Ntungamo High School. It was visiting day (there is only one visiting day for Ugandans per semester. Parents wanting to see their kids on other days are normally not allowed to do so unless they buy a pass. This doesn’t apply to muzungu, though. They’ve always let us in), so the place was packed with parents and siblings, and boda-bodas littered the ground by the hundreds. Twenty-four of Nancy’s students attend Ntungamo High, so we had a big gathering on the ground. Urban Systems, the engineering company that is sponsoring the children to go to secondary school, asked Nancy to buy little gifts for the students, and so we passes out watches to the kids. They were very excited, and made sure to present them clearly when I took their photographs. After that, Nancy asked some of the older students (who had better English skills) to compose a thank you song for Urban Systems, which I got to film. It was great! They really got into it, dancing and snapping their fingers to the beat. 

            After giving out books to two different schools, Nancy and I visited some of her students who have completed Secondary 4. These three girls applied for Myanja Hospital’s nursing program, and they all passed their interviews. They were very excited about getting into the program (although some were nervous when they got their textbooks and saw all the medical terms that they would have to learn), and I got their reactions on tape. When we visited the last girl to tell her she had been accepted, the Chairman of the area (a man who had been appointed by Museveni when he first came to power twenty-four years ago) kept butting into the picture while I was filming. He kept saying things like “see this road – it is all because of me,” and “this water system – all because of me,” which Nancy found amusing, because it was Bern who really put the water system in several years ago. It took me awhile to realize that the Chairman was completely drunk. 

            Other than that, it’s been a pretty average week at camp. David got back a couple days ago from Tanzania. He said he thought it was a successful trip, but said that the country was much hotter and more humid than Uganda. David also had to lay off the construction workers here at camp because CIDA funding hasn’t come through yet. On a happier note, Matt’s girlfriend Lena was here with us this week. She’s a nice girl, and very good with the kids. Today, the young engineers and David left for The Off, our break. The young engineers, since they’re here for six months, get two weeks off now to break up their stay. Melanie is off to Kenya, Matt and Lena are going to a Safari or something, and Michelle is going to spend time with friends in Kampala. Nancy, Bern and I are leaving tomorrow for Mbarara, where we’ll stay for a couple of nights, and then we’re planning to spend two days at Lake Bunyoni, which is about three hours away at most. Nancy says it’s peaceful and the food is good, which suits me just fine. 

            To celebrate The Off, Enid, our cook, decided to cook a special meal – chicken. I was very pleased about this because, although I don’t eat meat, it meant that those darn roosters got the chop. Melanie was quite good about it, though mostly because her prize egg-laying hen remains safe and sound in the chicken coop. So it was a rather disturbing morning, what with the chicken feathers and blood scattered about camp, but that’s all right. 

            Well, I think that’s about it for this week. I’m excited to have some relaxing time off, and to go swimming in the lake.

            Until next week!