Brigitte, Alvin, & Maureen

Brigitte.  Alvin.  Maureen.  

Yesterday, we arrived at Lutengo School and walking into the Literacy Center, a beautiful child named Brigitte came to me and held my hand as we walked.  I said “Hi!” and she just squeezed my hand.  I wanted to see the books — so many books!  Brigitte and I read a book about farm animals together, before I even set my backpack down.  I was trying to read to her but she was turning page after page.  In younger grades, kids learn in their native language.  In Class P2 or P3 (depending on the school, and the government has recently made a change, so it’s not uniform across our Sister Schools) the children begin learning content in English.  Brigitte and I, then, don’t really speak the same language, but somehow we did!  Her teacher shooed her away (I was crushed) and she somehow flew under the radar and we sat down to read the C volume of the Encyclopedia.  I looked at each picture with her and spoke the word in English.  Pictures she knew, she named to me in Lugandan.  She started saying the words with me in English.  Her teacher came back and shooed her again, which meant I had to get back to work figuring out how we could best organize the books for sustained organization, easy teacher access, and frequent use.  

Today I sat in a class of 12 kids at Mother Care School.  Their teacher, Don, a 3rd year teacher was asking kids to read silently after they finished copying the rest of the notes from the board.  Kids were reading The Bernstein Bears, a Susan B. Anthony biography, and everything in between.  Alvin stood up to read aloud for me.  The address to a visiting adult in the room is warm and welcoming.  You are welcome here.  Alvin said, “My name is Alvin.  Today I will read to you.”  Peace, calm, and focus flooded the classroom as students listened to Alvin read.  The book Alvin read came from a student in Seattle.  Mr. Don needs more pens, especially the type like a Uniball - not a ball point, but that runny ink kind.  He needs binders, erasers, sharpeners, puzzles, and science materials.  At a shop near his school, I found erasers, and don’t you know it, the Green Lake families sent me here with hundreds of sharpeners!  

Maureen is a student at Ntawo.  Her teacher held her darling baby the whole lesson, and she even took a little nap.  She was teaching about skin problems and the role of skin.  Part of the Ugandan National Curriculum is to teach a ton of health standards, and many revolve around personal safety and health, as well as what seems to be a very robust program for STD and HIV prevention.  This class was P7, which is the year kids take a Primary Leaving Exam that determines their future.  Pass scores move on to Secondary School, and kids who do not pass must stop school.  This is approximately age 11-14.  Maureen kept turning around to check me out, and eventually she smiled back to me.  Like in the states, this P7 class was a bit too cool to be friendly with me.  It’s ok - I wore them down with smiles and chatter.  Maureen’s notebooks (she shared 3 of her subject notebooks with me) were impeccable.  Her handwriting was lovely, her organization was phenomenal.  She uses pen because after around P2 or P3, kids stop writing in pencil, favoring pens instead.  In Maureen’s math notebook, I could see that they were studying place value and I happened to have the book “How Much is a Million” with me.  Their teacher, Ruth, allowed me to read to the kids and they absolutely adored the book.  They have a very scripted curriculum, but through careful investigation and a meeting over Ugandan bananas and donuts, we learned many of the subjects taught at some of the grade levels (it isn’t complete by any means, but we will possibly continue this work with Ruth and her colleagues as soon as possible) so that we can help future Sister Schools in Seattle give books to supplement the curriculum taught at Ntawo.  

Just 3 of the beautiful, smart, curious kids I met in the last few days, Brigitte, Alvin and Maureen stole my hearts.  The pictures can’t do justice to the life-changing experience I’m having. 

Maureen's Gorgeous Work!

My Friend Brigitte

Alvin's Read Aloud