Namasumbi!!!

It has been already week at the Primary School in Namasumbi village… Time here is just flying! Namasumbi is about a 20-minute ride on the botas (motorcycles). In the Namasumbi Primary School I am again teaching math full time in P5, P6 and P7 classrooms. It is such an incredible difference between the two schools! This school has even less financial resources and this can be seen in the lack of teachers and exams. 1 teacher teaches 2 classes during the same time period. So for example the math teacher I work with was teaching P6 and P7 math during the same time period and he would do this all day! So the school is extremely understaffed and they do not have the paper to give exams… I thought that Sittyanka was poor and I am so amazed to see than Namasumbi is even poorer…

I have never been so tested with teaching! My P5 class has 65-70 students! I have never known that so many students could fit into such a small classroom. Kids were cramming onto the benches and some students even have to sit on the floor. I find it so difficult to work with these students. It is hard to get the attention of 65 kids and when there are 10 who are distracted it is extremely hard to yell over them. Many of them have to skip breakfast and sometime lunch so they are hungry. And then to top it off they are in a hot classroom so they are sleepy… Getting these students to really focus is so incredibly hard…

The kids here are much better though with asking questions and telling me when they do not understand my English. I have a few students who are very outspoken and I have found this so helpful. Cheating is still an issue in the classroom and I cannot get it through that cheating is wrong.  I try to sit down with them and explain that I want more than anything for ALL of them to go to University…  I seriously love these students so much and I want more than anything for them to leave the poverty they are living in but cheating is going to get them no where.

Like Sittyanka everyday is exhausting and yet, I find it so rewarding to work with these students. I love hearing their laughter and seeing they’re beautiful smiles each day!

This morning we went to a Secondary school in Nymbombia. The school was filled with a majority of students who were Muslim. It was actually really nice to work with older students. The ages ranged from 15-19 and I really liked being able to talk with them. I found this as such a beautiful opportunity to share the word of God with them and to lead by example. I talked a lot about Sean also. They thought that it was very interesting that I would have a boyfriend who was so far away and yet, I have only one boyfriend. Cheating on spouses here is not unusual…I tried explaining to them that God calls us to be with one man/woman and that I am trying to follow his will.  I tried to talk to them about morals in general and we talked about how waiting for sex was the only way to prevent AIDS (which is a HUGE problem) and that they need to give education importance over relationships. It was overall so amazing to talk to them and share my faith and beliefs with them. It was just so awesome to work with kids who were older and to have an actual conversation. Before leaving I talked to one girl for a bit… Out of all the girls she was the bravest and was willing to speak out. We talked about how she needs to go to University and that she must not have sex until marriage. Of course she blushed at the mention of sex (which is not openly discussed…but not talking about sex doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen and the consequences are taking thousands of lives) and she said she would be smart and wait and go also to University. I have such a passion for these kids and I want more than anything for them to leave their poverty and to find God. I then left the school. The chances of me ever seeing these students again are unlikely but I know that they will always be in my heart. I love them so much and want more than anything to have them go far in life.

After lunch I went to the primary school and taught information centered on graphs. After class we moved bricks (for building homes). First of all they were incredibly heavy! Little children were carrying 2, 3, and even 4 on top of their heads! I have never had so much fun doing hard labor in my life! One of the boys asked me to sing so we carried bricks and sang songs. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever done. It was so amazing working with them and singing songs to God. They have such amazing voices and such beautiful hearts. I know that moving bricks with them while singing is a memory that will never leave.

Saying goodbye is always so hard and tomorrow will be no exception… Saying goodbye to these students is going to be rough and I pray with all my heart that I leaving them with knowledge, hope or inspiration that will impact their lives. Monday will be my first day in Kyoga!