What A Week!

Friday the 13^th

It’s a good thing I am in Gulu on Friday the 13^th b/c they do not believe the 13^th to be an unlucky number. And anyway this week has been the best week in Gulu so far! Awere SS is becoming my home away from home. I have spent a lot of time at school this week helping different students to get ready for the science fair we had today. It was actually so much fun, and I feel soooo privileged to have been apart of Awere’s FIRST EVER Science Fair.

Ok, so to be honest it’s nothing like a science fair in the states. Komakech Sheargold, Soyonjor Robert (the student teacher), and I all put together the ideas for the four different experiments. Then we called the Head Boy (basically the Head Prefect for the school) and he chose which students would participate. I thought it was much more teacher centered than if the same thing had occurred in the states, but still, it was really cool to see the students involved. They each made their own poster to go along with the experiments. So without further ado, here are the experiments (since I know it’s killing you)

1. Periscope- Students actually made this all themselves. They just used colored poster board and found various ways to fix the mirrors into the poster board square tube. This was done by Moses and Rophine. The best was that they then covered it with this wrapping paper which was shiny and bright magenta. In the states we would think it was soooo tacky, but apparently it looks so nice to them.
   
2. Materials which affect a Magnetic Field (from the TOPS books – :o) thanks Scott)- We put magnets at the top of a graduated cylinder and then had a safety pin stuck to the magnet. Attached to the pin is a string. The student then pulled the string so that the pin was basically hanging in midair, being attracted by the magnetic field, but not attached to the magnet. Then Betty (the student) placed five different objects in between the pin and the magnet; paper, a rubber band, something else which I can't remember, aluminum foil, and lastly a piece of stainless steel. I know you all are smart people and that you realize that only the steel interfered with the magnetic field.
3. Solar Cooker- We bought a round clay pot in town and covered the inside with aluminum foil. Now their idea of a clay pot is much more like a huge bowl to us. Just think about the largest salad bowl you’ve ever seen. Thus the pot acted as a concave mirror, and focused the light to one point. At that point we hung a soda can, which we had cut in half and just used the bottom part. We filled it with water, and tested the temperature of the water with a thermometer. Now it never reached 100*C, but it still got pretty hot. Ojok Innocent and Ajok Jennifer did this experiment.
4. Alka-Rockets- This demonstration was done by Monica. She used some of my old film canisters which I brought with me to Gulu, but I had no idea they would come in so handy. They don’t have alka-seltzer tablets here, rather they have Andrews powder antacid. So, after experimenting on the 4^th of July, we found that if we pour some powder into one square of toilet paper, we can then wrap the toilet paper into a small ball, and put it into the film canister. So you just plop, top, and turn it over really fast. Monica was so great because in her explanation she kept stressing that it was the first rocket in Gulu! It was so so great! (that’s Ugandan English)
5. Floatation- Lastly we had an experiment which Moses had come up with all on his own. I guess it wasn’t an experiment as much as a science trick question. He placed a pen into a graduated cylinder and then asked for someone to come up and take the pen out without touching or moving the graduated cylinder. It was so great because the man who came up ended up thinking up the answer, which is to pour water into the cylinder, making the pen float to the top. Everyone loved it!

It has just been so great to help teach science out here. Already I feel like I have learned a lot, and I have been given so many experiences, but I know that some of the lessons I will glean from this trip will not come to me until later next school year, or even years down the road.

So maybe I did not explain it well enough, but we had a Science Fair at Awere because they had a huge day of ceremony and celebration- they called it Thanksgiving Day. They had invited the Anglican Bishop of the Ugandan church to come and confirm some of the students. So we had mass together as a school (which was weird in itself), then it was followed by a whole day of presentations, speeches, and dancing & drama by the students. Our Science Fair was just after the mass, around noon, which helped to make the solar cooker work best. Then students performed many tribal dances, along with other speeches. Lunch was finally at 4pm, and we all ate using what Komakech likes to call “your tribal fork” a.k.a. your fingers. After lunch it kinda turned into a school talent show. Some students were doing skits, which were pretty hilarious. In one skit there was one boy who was acting as the medicine man, and it was so funny. Actually, there have been so many moments that have made me laugh sooo hard, I just wish I could remember all of them.

One of the best moments of the past week was the Students vs. Teachers Futbol game. On Wednesday after school we played a real African game of futbol, and let me tell you, it is way different from American soccer. Ok, so it’s not drastically different except that they don’t really pass as much. Rather they just kick it farther, and they can actually run and catch up to it. It’s amazing. They made me look like an even slower runner.

Well, the Ugandan teachers thought it would be a good idea to put John in as goalie, only because he is so big. It seemed good at first, but maybe they had forgotten about inertia. When one of the Acholi IC staff members first met John he said, “You are a man of such mass,” and that is the total truth. Thus, trying to quickly move that much mass (6”11’ and 300 lbs) just doesn’t happen – inertia is more important than you may think. So the students scored a goal on us within the first few minutes- quite pathetic. A few minutes later, I went after the ball b/c some of the teachers were yelling for me to get it. So, being the excellent futbol player that I am, I ran up to it, in order to clear it out, and send it back upfield. Only somehow, Adam (another American teacher) thought that he should get it. We ended up colliding, and I basically bounced off of him, but I did not bounce off the ground. As I was lying on the ground, and getting back up (it really didn’t hurt) all of the students were roaring with laughter. So classic!

If you can imagine, the game got even better. After about 20-30 minutes of playing, it started to rain. It felt really good. Then it rained harder…and harder…and harder. As it was pouring down, I left the field for a second because all of the students were running back to the school, and I wanted to help Terry (another American Teacher) because she had all of our cameras. I just assumed that we would stop playing. I was totally mistaken. In Africa, futbol never stops, never! (they don’t have snow). So we just kept playing in the pouring, heavy pouring rain. Puddles formed, dirt turned to mud, and shoes turned into personal lakes for your feet . It was so much fun! Probably the most fun I’ve had so far. It was great when the ball would roll through a puddle, and basically stop in the middle of the puddle, or when a person would slide through a puddle in an effort to stop. It was great!

Well, now that you know a little more about Awere SS, I will leave you with another short story.

My daily travels to school- To get to school everyday, I just have to walk about a mile. I walk out of the house, and through the gate. As soon as I leave the gate, it is like I’ve left America and instantly enter into Gulu. “Apwoyo, Apwoyo, Apwoyo” I say to some students, women walking, and even some men who are riding their bikes as I pass them all. I cross Lacor Rd. and then I walk towards Prison Primary School. So, in America we would never name a school Prison, but the school is really close to the actual Prison in Gulu…and the Acholi have no problem with naming things by what they are close to. (like Police Primary School b/c it is close to the Police Station). As I pass through Prison Primary School yard, the children outside call out “Munu” and “Hello. How are you?” (It’s some of the only English they know). I wave, and sometimes call back, “Apwoyo.” I then hold by breath as I pass by the many latrines which the primary students use. Just after the latrines is the bore hole, which has people at it pumping water no matter what time of day. Just past the bore hole, is a small village, with a little market. I didn’t really think it was a village until of the teachers at Awere mentioned it one day. The village’s name is Olanya ilory, which means “man who wets his trousers”. I’m not even joking. Apparently years ago, there was a man who got drunk and couldn’t wait to relieve himself, so he just peed his pants right there in the middle of the street, in the middle of the village. Thus, it is known as Olanya ilory. Again, naming things in Northern Uganda is quite different than in America. So I pass through Olanya ilory, and walk up a little hill, and through the open field. I can see Awere SS from the other side of the field (futbol field…aka- dirt and grass patches). The school is made up of a series of small buildings, only a few which are perminately erected, and all the others are made of slabs of trees, chicken wire for windows and tin roofs. Not like American schools.

Well, that’s my walk to school everyday. I thought you might enjoy hearing about Olanya ilory village :o). Tomorrow we are going out to the original site of Awere SS, which is where IC will begin to rebuild the school just next week. The original site is about 1.5hrs by car...so quite far from Gulu. The school has been displaced in Gulu town for 20 or so years because of the war. Apparently there is a mountain called Mt. Sinai, which is really close to the original school site. It is called Mt. Sinai because Joseph Kony would go to the top of the mountain to hear from God, just as Moses went to the top of the mountain to speak to God. It will be really interesting to see.

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about my great week! Can’t wait to share more news again soon!