#25 July 3rd- Friday

-Conference
-Dinner at IC
Today was the start of the 3rd annual teaching conference. David was sick and could not attend. The conference was centered on the topics of teacher empowerment and student empowerment. We registered at around 9 am and waiting for our teaching partners to arrive. Each set of international teachers sat with their Ugandan counterparts. We did a few fun mixers. One of them was a name game. In Uganda the meaning of names is so important. Names tell the history of what events were taking place when the child was born. There a section of town that has a name which literally means, “the place where the man wet his pants.” I met a woman who had the Christian name of Grace. She shared that her mother chose that name because it was the English name that her grandmother had the easiest time pronouncing.
Each teaching team (Ugandan school) made a short presentation about a challenge facing Ugandan teacher along with 2 short term and 2 long term solutions. I was impressed by the wisdom and practical knowledge of the teachers in the room. One of the biggest issues that teachers face is the lack of compensation. The often work multiple jobs just to survive. They are often bound to the school campus for long blocks of time in which there is little to do. One teacher noted that the students pay and outside individual 500 US to cut their hair once every 2 weeks. This could be a way to generate some income. IC is working on a community based savings and loans plan that may be helpful here as well.
The conference was held in a place called the Gusco. It is sort of like a teaching and rehabilitation compound for kids. After the conference I met up with Bryn and Elena. We walked over to Café Larem for chocolate ice cream. They loved it. In some ways, I’m envious of their experience. The have taken on the role of learners so well. They are going to have so much to share about the various IC initiatives in Gulu. We walked over to the Hotel Elephant Graceland to meet up with the Bavu Buka boys (and girls). I had a great talk with Bryan the leader of the group and Bryn and Elena had some great conversation with the kids. When we got to the IC house, we played volleyball with some of the students that were there. After a while I came home to eat. I’m having a hard time keeping a good attitude about the lack of food here (for myself). I realize that is really lame and I’m going to get over it. I’m just telling the truth about it.