TGIF!

The Chora, a West-African instrument Taibah Mission Statement, sorry it's sideways

Qwela Band: They are GREAT! A familiar scene, and, yep, Nick found his beloved Tobasco!

After a busy week of interviewing different people and touring various institutions, Michael and I were glad to finish up our first exciting week of work. On Friday, we were slated to visit Taibah Schools and St. Janan Secondary School. Taibah, the school where all the EAC students attend, is a private college prep school with high school fees. On the other hand, St. Janan Secondary School was established by an NGO, PEAS out of Britain. In fact, PEAS is the sponsor of the volunteer house that we live at. St. Janan has low school fees and is located nearby the slums.

It was very interesting to see the difference between the two schools. Taibah had an emphasis on student needs and making sure that they succeeded. When we spoke with administrators, they discussed how the students felt. At St. Janan, there was more talk about how much help they needed. We met the principal, who was an interesting character. He discussed his involvement with the school from the onset and talked about its development. He talked about the importance of quality in education. In order to improve the quality of education, school fees must go up. But, because of the area that his school serves, any rate changes could cause a child to not be able to attend school. You may be wondering, "Why don't they just have free public schools?" The issue is taxes. Right now, much o the business that takes place is independent and street vending, which is difficult to tax. Thus, there is a lack of government funds to provide free public education for all communities. So, the only way to get supplies, pay salaries, and maintain schools is through individual fees. Never in my life have I appreciated the American tax system! Because of lack of resources, much of the education in Uganda is based on memorization and discipline. There is a lack of critical thinking. Children simply regurgitate what they are taught in classrooms of 40-65.

So, EAC chose Taibah, which is an amazing school located outside the city of Kampala, to send all their children to school. It's a weekday residential boarding school that involves one-on-one education styles. The school setting is beautiful. Students are assessed before coming in, and placed on academic tracks for instruction: A, B, C. Depending on one's learning levels, you can move in and out of categories. It's a cool approach. Another cool idea is separation of principal and headteacher. The principal deals with all business sides of the school (hiring, allocating funds, grants, etc), and the head teacher works to develop the academics and curriculum of the school. The division of power seemed to really work well.

I had an embarassing moment at Taibah. We were told that they" would try to connect us with an EAC student to talk to. Moments later, they told us that some random students were having a break outside and that they would be willing to talk to us. So, we all gathered around and began introducing ourselves. I go, "My name is Nick, and I'm working with an organization, Empower African Children, that works with orphans and vulnerable children to provide them quality education...blah, blah, blah" I go through this whole explanation of EAC. We start asking questions about the school, and I ended by asking, "How many of you are in EAC?" ALL of them raised their hands. My cheeks grew red. They laughed and laughed. It was a funny moment for all of us.

During the weekend, we went to an art show and concert. It was cool to see some of the local art here in town. Beautiful city scenes, decorated pottery, and colorful weavings filled the streets. I grabbed a few fun gifts and got a chance to practice my negotiation skills. Dad would be proud!

Night came quickly and we headed to the concert. We saw a great performer, Richie, who serenaded the audience. We laughed at one groupie, who danced alone in front of the stage the entire night. The funniest part was that her pants had split in half because of her intense dancing. We laughed so hard, it was HILARIOUS. Oh man...

We also rode bodas for the first time. After lots of urging, I finally convinced Michael to ride. It wasn't bad at all. We told them, go VERY slowly and carefully. They listened, and we had a pleasant ride and got to see the city streets up close and personal.

So, this week we are back to work. We'll mostly be in the office looking over our field work and putting it into logic model form. We only have a few interviews planned, so it should be a quiet week of office work.

-Nick