Time Flies...

Last Wednesday, we finished the unit on Malaria. We briefly reviewed the life cycle from Monday and then talked about symptoms, when to see a health worker, and prevention (the big one). I taught P2, P4, P6, and P7. P6 and P7 both did the pre and post assessment for the lesson. For P2 and P4, we took a short field trip to the surrounding areas to look for places that mosquitoes could potentially breed, such as in maize and in stagnant water. The field trip helped to reinforce the concepts that the kids learned in class, and they all had a great time and enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, P6 and P7 couldn't have the field trip also due to limited time.

I've been transcribing the lesson-specific pre and post assessment questions, and from the responses, the kids seem to already know a lot about Malaria. It seems the next step would be to put this knowledge into practice. I'm not quite sure what is the barrier behind putting knowledge into practice is right now. My guess is probably access since many of the kids responded that they are "extremely worried" about malaria and many definitely believe it to be
widespread.

On Thursday, we had a staff meeting at the school with the headmistress and teachers. During the meeting, we talked about possibly getting cement floors for the classroom if our budget allows since the many kids run barefoot on the dirt floor and Jigers. It's also really dusty in the classroom when the wind blows. We are also planning a school-wide sports/field day where the kids are divided into colors. Sadly, the day of the tournament is set on the Saturday after I leave as that is the only day we could get the field. I'm really sad to be missing the tournament since it sounded so fun and a great way to end the projects and the kids are all so excited about being in their color teams (each of us have been assigned to a color too), but I guess I'll just have to be
filled in afterwards.

On Friday, we played soccer and netball with P5-P7. We had a little pre-tournament match-up where we had different color teams play each other. On Saturday, we had vocational training again with the basketweaver and carpenter. The kids are really good. One girl finished a big basket with pretty designs, and the boys made stools and molds for making bricks in carpentry.
On Monday (yesterday), I started the unit on hygiene/parasite. We got back late from Kampala since the taxi was late, so I was only able to teach P6 and P7. I introduced what parasites are to the kids (which many knew already), the symptoms when we get infected by parasites, why parasites are bad, and how we get infected by parasites. The kids really liked the pictures of parasites and you can hear eeewwws throughout the classroom as the pictures get passed around. I had two picture of people doing different things at a lake (ex. getting water, fishing, swimming, peeing) and we discussed what is happening in the pictures and how parasites could be transmitted because of the actions. They responded well to the visuals. We'll be covering prevention on Wednesday. Today, we played games, such as duck duck goose, with the nursury kids and they really enjoyed it. I can't believe that time is passing so quickly and that I'll already be leaving Uganda next week. The weeks really flew by.

Success & Suggestions

(from Dillon)

Everything is going amazing here. The work at school is coming along slowly but surely, and we're even thinking about taking on some new building projects before the summer is done. I'm working with Alaana alot on the health and nutrition classes, which I think has been a great arrangment. They can be a little stressful even for two people, so I can't imagine how stressed Alaana would be handling them alone :) They are coming along nicely though. Right now, we're talking with the students about Malaria. With the older kids, some of it is review and with the younger kids, some of it a little tough, but overall I think the students are learning alot. Vocational training has also been a huge success; the parents have been really eager to come to school and teach their trade, and the students are equally eager to learn. We're thinking about leaving a pretty big chunk of money behind to continue the classes after we're leave. We're having trouble deciding how and with who we should leave the money though.

The best part so far has been interactingwith the kids and seeing all of Uganda. The kids at school literally fight to hold our hands, which is cute and makes us feel like we're doing something right :) The people in Uganda have really embraced us as well. We've made a huge number of friends and contacts, which has been an enormous help. They let us stay with them whenever we are out of town, and help us get in contact with the right people etc. We're even thinking about having one of our contacts back to Duke in the spring through the Duke Conversations program, maybe to help educate the next group a little bit? Just a thought.

The toughest part has been being away from all the ammenities of the States. Warm showers, clean clothes, etc. But I enjoy roughing it, so no major worries there.

In the upcoming weeks we'll just be working on our projects and maybe starting a few new ones. We're also thinking about doing a fun excursion or two before we leave -- maybe a rafting trip or safari? We just feel like we can't leave Africa without doing something like that!

Project Progression

Everything is going amazing here in Uganda. The first couple of days were pretty stressful -- getting adjusted to a new culture and all that jazz, but now I feel pretty much at home. It definitley is a different world though.

As far as work updates go, there have been some pretty big changes in all that we have been doing. We have found ourselves a little swamped with all the different projects going on, so as predicted the corn cobb briquette program has been temporarily been put on the back burner. For now I have been helping everyone else with their projects, especially with Alaana and Shaunte who have been working together doing nutrition/health. With the language barrier and the big number of kids we have, classes haven't been progressing quite as fast as expected. So we've been focusing on that alot. Overall though, the projects have been a big success so far. The town seems to like us alot and support all that we are doing, and the kids have really taken to us. People are starting to get a little fatigued/sick with all that has been going on. Right now, there are three of us that are temporarily bed-ridden with some stomache problems. I've been healthy so far though, and hopefully things will stay that way :)

Update

The secondary school was really great. Very large campus with lots of subject-specific buildings. They also had a vast garden and had a good system in place of 4 kids to a row, each responsible for their own little plot. I think Ryan and Roey's visit is going well so far, they met with entrepenuer students at the school and talked with them about starting their own businesses. Today they were supposed to go to Tororo but their ride didn't work out so they're coming to the vocational training school with us to watch their brass band. We went to the site earlier and got a tour of the facilities which were pretty great. There were a lot of international volunteers helping as well. The team meeting was basically to make sure we are on time to school and prepared. Things are going well in Mbale, tomorrow we'll hike and then back to Kampala for a day, then dinner at Kaliika's again.

Sporting Events & Voiced Concerns

This has also been an eventful week, and the project has been moving right along. On Monday, we had a soccer tournament with other primary schools in the area.

On Tuesday, Margret (the headmistress) introduced me to Dr. Mawaje, a private practitioner in Mityana. The interview with him was very helpful and insightful. We also made an appointment with a local pharmacist in the area to interview this coming Sunday morning.

We had classes again on Wednesday, and we taught P5, P6, and P7 students about puberty. (We also briefly talked about sex since some of the students' questions touched on them.) The lesson was helpful as some students voiced important questions and concerns that were addressed during the lesson.

Yesterday, on Thursday, I met with Dr. Kadowa, the medical superintendent at the local hospital in Mityana. The interview with him was also very insightful. An interesting pattern with these interviews are that many health workers seem to cite similar concerns and identified the same problems as the most pressing concerns (ex. malaria, intestinal worms, and respiratory infections). We had to wait to interview the medical superintendent, so we also had a chance to talk informally with other health workers, such as the x-ray technician and dentist. The conversation with them was also interesting, and they provided insights on other health concerns, such as lots of TB chest x-ray scans (many of which are related to AIDS) and oral health.

Today, Friday, we were able to attend a Mityana district track meet. It was like a carnival and was interesting. Tomorrow, on Saturday, we are going to have vocational training with a carpenter at the school. Also, next Monday, Margret is going to introduce me to Naama health workers, which should be very helpful.

June 21 Update

(from Hillary Lenz)

We are all healthy right now which is great, just a few stomach problems in the group here and there. We completed teacher and student surveys on Friday and many parent surveys. Vocational training started today and the kids got to learn and practice tailoring. Bicycling has been fine, some tweaking was needed for the bikes, but they're working now. We aren't using helmets but the road we take has hardly any traffic (maybe one car each way) and isn't a highway so it's a safe route that has been working out great. Rainwater harvest is continuing on Monday. I don't think EWB is planning to visit but we would welcome them if so. We've been taking pictures of our progress with the garden/rainwater, as well as of the students and classes but it is hard to post them here, it takes like a whole session but we'll do what we can. I'll email you again when I can with updates- hopefully the power won't keep going out like it has this week. Tomorrow we might go to Kampala to look at games for the kids- jump rope, volleyball- and to show Dillon around. And Mingyi's bag is here so we can finally get that, yay!

Surveys, Surveys, Surveys

I've been getting to know more of Mityana and is finding my way around town. I've also been getting to know the other team members better. Teaching has been a lot of fun. The students are very enthusiatic and responsive during the lessons though the lessons would have been even better without the language barrier, especially for the younger kids. I'm definitely still doing malaria and hygiene since those are problems that would be helpful to address. The alcohol effects was a topic that Shaunte would like to cover in her nutrition lessons. I was talking to Becky, and we thought that having similar lessons for parents would be helpful. If that were to happen, we would need to think of a time to schedule these lessons in.

As for the surveys, Margret introduced me to the DMO of Mityana, and the interview with him was helpful. He has also been able to write a introductory letter for me to visit other health workers. Yesterday, I was able to meet with Dr. Mugambe, a private practitioner, and the interview with him had also been helpful. The school nurse, Veronica Walumbe, is also setting up a time for us to meet health workers at the Mityana hospital, possibly next Tuesday morning.

On Friday, we gave out surveys to about 16 parents and around 15 students each from P5, P6, and P7. I've went ahead and given the pre-assessment that was IRB approved to the students and parents. The surveys had taken a much longer time to give than originally thought.

As for the pre-post Qs, I would probably need approval by the week of July 6th as that was the week that I am planning to start the malaria and hygiene lessons. I think the P6 and P7 kids wouldn't have too much trouble with the English since many of them replied in English on the surveys given on Friday. Also, judging from the progess on Friday, I'm not sure if giving the pre-assessment at the begining of class (and the post-assessment at the end of class) would eat up too much class time. Also, from the number of surveys that we were actually able to give on Friday, I'm considering just taking a sample of the class, maybe the same students who took the pre-assessment on Friday, to take the additional surveys, but setting up another time for these kids to take another survey seems to be logistically more complicated than just have the whole class take the surveys at the beginning (and end) of class.

Fitting In, Making Progress, and Soccer

(from Hillary Lenz)

I love working at the school, the kids have been so great. They are adorable and always thrilled to see us. It looks like we are making real progress which helps keep the ball rolling. We have just moved into better rooms at Kolping House, so that has lifted morale as well. We've found our favorite spots around the hotel- best dinner food, cheapest supermarket, etc so we're getting comfortable in our community and daily routine.

We moved to Mityana on the 9th and were received by community and school leaders. We started settling in and fixing little problems that arose (no hot water, street loudness). On the 10th we went to school and had a very warm welcome from the kids- they sang and danced for us and the school and community welcomed us. On the 11th we had meetings with Margaret and the rainwater harvest man to set that project up, which went great. On the 12th we went around with Mr. Kwadwa and were introduced to the community leaders including the head of the police and our equivalent to the governor. On the 13th we went to the school to bring the gardening tools and play around with the kids- all of our interactions with them have been great. On Saturday the 14th, we started clearing the garden- a big task but we made palpable progress. I then went on an excursion to buy sugar cane for the kids who didnt want to leave so they could be with us. Later we had soccer triouts for P5-P7 boys which went great- their skill level is already really good and they have a coach at the school who is an internationally certified referee so he's a help and resource. Sunday we went to the local soccer match and saw most of the teachers and even the headmistress, it was a big event and one of my favorite things so far. Monday we had nutrition, music classes, and games/sports. I assisted Alanna with P5 nutrition, they were quick learners and filled in a blank food pyramid by the end of the class. I also helped Mingyi and Haru with Nursery and P1 music, teaching songs, clapping, making up dances, and playing song games. Very fun. I started girls soccer, which has never been introduced at the school, so they're pretty excited. The boys played kickball which turned into dodgeball essentially so we changed it back to soccer. Today we gardened and had games/sports and the rainwater harvest system is starting to be built-exciting! Becky also made more concrete plans for vocational training which is shaping up well. We moved rooms two days ago to quieter rooms without roaches, but also without any water from the shower. We eat at "Winner's" after trial and error elsewhere. Winner's is pretty delicious.

Rooms have been our biggest problem. We got them to give us basins of hot water now, so that's good but now our new rooms have no water coming from the shower which we'll have to deal with. Also, one of Mingyi's bags is still not here which is ridiculous, so hopefully he'll get that soon.

This week we will be teaching our classes-music, nutrition, gardening, games/sports. We have a set schedule that's been working well. Sometimes we're late because of bike trouble, but mostly they've been working and we're getting to school quickly, cheaply, and with a good work out. We will follow the schedule this week and amend it if necessary.