Tonight was Incredible! One of the best nights of my life for sure! I have just gotten back from an Acholi (the Gulu tribe in Gulu) party where 2,000 people were there at noon and when we showed up at 6 there was still close to a 1,000 people! When we walked in we were a ‘parade of Muzungus’, which means a parade of white people. I was a little hesitant because we are usually told to travel in small groups so we do not attract a lot of attention to ourselves, but as soon as we walked up to the party we were instantly welcomed! The party was outside surrounded by huts and tents. We danced with everyone from the children to the elders! We danced for hours, by the time we were done we were covered in sweat and red dirt from head to toe! It was a surreal experience that I never thought I would have in my life time. When we thought it was over, we were invited into one of the huts for dinner. There were 11 of us and that is a lot to fit in a hut but we did, and we shared in a rice and beans dinner eaten with our fingers! With all of us sitting on the floor in a big circle, Indian style, I was humbled. I had never been so happy to eat rice and beans!
Earlier today I went to St. Marys Lacor (the school I will be teaching at) with the other 2 teachers who will also be teaching there, Allison from New Jersey and Matt from Fresno. It was a 15 minute boda ride from where we are staying which is kind of far. The rode we travel on to get there is the rode that goes into Sudan. We are only 40 miles from Sudan. We met with our partner teachers at the school. My partner teacher’s name is Munu Denis. The people here have an Acholi name and then a Christian name. He wants me to call him Denis. He is 26 and he is a proud husband and father of 2 little girls. He is eager to learn and passionate about teaching and becoming a better teacher.
Let me give you a little insight on exactly why I am here because now I know. I am here in Gulu to help build a relationship with Denis and share with him different and new methods of teaching that will help him to become a more effective math teacher. I am going to be honest with you, sometimes I do not feel adequate to be teaching another teacher new techniques being that I am so young, but I feel like I have had amazing professors and have been surrounded by wonderful mentor teachers at Cactus that have prepared me for doing this very thing. I hope that I will be able to partner with Denis and share ideas with him so that he can have an effect on his Ugandan students for many years to come, when I am long gone from Gulu. The Invisible Children organization has decided to focus on Secondary Education (High School) in Gulu because primary (elementary) school is funded by the Ugandan Government but Secondary is not so students have to PAY if they want to continue on to Secondary School! Could you imagine if students had to pay to go to high school in the U.S.?! Considering that 85% of the population in Gulu is fed from the World Food Program because they cannot afford to buy their own food, many families do not have enough money to send their children to secondary school. Many families choose one child to put their hope in and raise money to go to school and become successful. IC believes that through higher education, these students will be able to go to college, start small businesses, and create change through building the economy, and acquiring knowledge to think for themselves. I feel like I have learned so much already even though I have not even been in a classroom yet, I will be on Monday!
