Met 10 of the 40 students today...... these were some of the best students I have ever spent time with. They are 2nd year BSN students and I got in the habit of quickly asking them to repeat back what I had just said to them as I wasn't quite sure that I was actually getting through. That blank, "Huh?" look is very universal. In all we communicated well and I had two emails from them this afternoon. Nice, quiet, well behaved and very soft spoken. The University is so far out there that I honestly don't know how anyone could have made it without wheels, hats off to those who did it last year. 12 kilometres from home to University and then quite a bit more if you are in the mood for a bottle of water from town.
The students arrived with pen and paper today and were all ready to begin taking notes. Hard to even imagine that all of this information is passed without visual aids, or many visual aids and that they have spent most of their life studying without books. I would not have been able to do it, I'm not altogether certain that I can even teach without books! The library is okay but the students are restricted to when they can use books and that seems to be during the class room hours. They have nursing books that were donated through books to Africa and there are a few copies of many subjects. My super duper projector plays about zero in the class room. I am going to have to get very creative in the days to come, it is a fantastic projector but there is so much light in the class room. From what I hear it is going to get much "lighter" in the days to come. Sunshine in abundance. I came home from the University and began working on a lesson plan that does not involve them having a text book or me having electricity, wi-fi, or power points. Seed came through and I did get the printer to work yesterday but not this evening. Adam fortunately was able to help me get some cords for it for the Mac and I printed out some nonsense yesterday but haven't been successful tonight as I prepare for the next lecture.
Why ten students? That's the way it is here I am given to understand. The students do not all show up to begin classes when the University opens. Of the ten who were here today only a handful are local and the rest have moved up here to attend University from various places. This starts with a trickle of students which could make the first week of classes boring for those who come late. My host family explained that in some cases this is because the family is struggling to get the financial means to pay tuition and boarding for their children. I am going to ask their permission next time to take pictures and will introduce you to these lovely people. Fortunately almost all of them also have a "western" sort of name, which makes things infinitely easier for me. There are some bright, eager faces in the crowd and I look froward to spending time with them. I cannot say that I am terribly eager to go back to the hospital but hopefully we can do some good. My last few visits were very sad and I am never going to become accustom to bigger kids dying, or at least I hope not. It is awful.
My car had a leak of some sort today and that appeared to be water... I need superglue. Went to the post office and nothing there as yet, it has been almost a month since the first box was sent so maybe soon, that one has all of my text books! All is well except the internet has been very sporadic at best. I usually have to walk around the room with the laptop to log on. Actually I was spoiled by the several weeks of near perfect internet I had. I continue to ramble on offline and then post it so sorry for grammar, half completed thoughts, etc. Things are "okay" ...... Janet is still here with me. She has a very sad and amazing story, to think that she has had such a life at about 16 years of age is something to give me pause. Mother is gone and those who have been her caretakers have all died, that being a father, an uncle and her grandparents. She has had a difficult time and one would not know it from the way she glows. Her English is so good and she only attended school up until class 6. I will post pictures of her as soon as possible right now neither of us are at our finest. This girl anticipates everything long before I realise that we might need or want it. We are cooking on a charcoal stove inside the kitchen as they are still waiting for gas to arrive in Lira. It is rare to see Janet without a big smile on her face. Her goal seems to be to make sure that I eat at least two square meals a day ..... That is a challenge my friends. It isn't that I don't like the food here, I just haven't been able to get past all of the potato's, rice, and more white foods, so far. Living on an Ayurvedic diet wouldn't be possible here although we ate smoking of green veggie today. Love this Kid. Adam continues to be very dependable and I hope things will stay just as they are, except I want my internet to come on whenever I need it, spoiled!
This kind of summed up a bit of how I am feeling today...... complaining about not having instant wifi, the printer not doing what I want it to right now, the projector not projecting as well as I wish and others have kids laying in a hospital bed up the road. I am grateful for what I have.
Why ten students? That's the way it is here I am given to understand. The students do not all show up to begin classes when the University opens. Of the ten who were here today only a handful are local and the rest have moved up here to attend University from various places. This starts with a trickle of students which could make the first week of classes boring for those who come late. My host family explained that in some cases this is because the family is struggling to get the financial means to pay tuition and boarding for their children. I am going to ask their permission next time to take pictures and will introduce you to these lovely people. Fortunately almost all of them also have a "western" sort of name, which makes things infinitely easier for me. There are some bright, eager faces in the crowd and I look froward to spending time with them. I cannot say that I am terribly eager to go back to the hospital but hopefully we can do some good. My last few visits were very sad and I am never going to become accustom to bigger kids dying, or at least I hope not. It is awful.
My car had a leak of some sort today and that appeared to be water... I need superglue. Went to the post office and nothing there as yet, it has been almost a month since the first box was sent so maybe soon, that one has all of my text books! All is well except the internet has been very sporadic at best. I usually have to walk around the room with the laptop to log on. Actually I was spoiled by the several weeks of near perfect internet I had. I continue to ramble on offline and then post it so sorry for grammar, half completed thoughts, etc. Things are "okay" ...... Janet is still here with me. She has a very sad and amazing story, to think that she has had such a life at about 16 years of age is something to give me pause. Mother is gone and those who have been her caretakers have all died, that being a father, an uncle and her grandparents. She has had a difficult time and one would not know it from the way she glows. Her English is so good and she only attended school up until class 6. I will post pictures of her as soon as possible right now neither of us are at our finest. This girl anticipates everything long before I realise that we might need or want it. We are cooking on a charcoal stove inside the kitchen as they are still waiting for gas to arrive in Lira. It is rare to see Janet without a big smile on her face. Her goal seems to be to make sure that I eat at least two square meals a day ..... That is a challenge my friends. It isn't that I don't like the food here, I just haven't been able to get past all of the potato's, rice, and more white foods, so far. Living on an Ayurvedic diet wouldn't be possible here although we ate smoking of green veggie today. Love this Kid. Adam continues to be very dependable and I hope things will stay just as they are, except I want my internet to come on whenever I need it, spoiled!
This kind of summed up a bit of how I am feeling today...... complaining about not having instant wifi, the printer not doing what I want it to right now, the projector not projecting as well as I wish and others have kids laying in a hospital bed up the road. I am grateful for what I have.
