The following is submitted by Summer Intern Chip Rotolo....
Today started off like an ordinary day here. I woke up around 7 to an ensemble of roosters, brushed my teeth, did quiet time, ate a biscuit, took a boda to the Center and began preparing a lesson. Soon after beginning some work, a teacher came in asking me if I could fill in for another teacher who was sick. They had already been sitting there without a teacher, so I was forced to move…I panicked a bit….With no knowledge of any of the people I would be teaching, their level of English, or what they had been covering, I entered the classroom. I had been given only a small children’s book (maybe 10 pages) called “Bathtime for Biscuit.” I quickly found out that the class was supposed to last 2 hours. I also figured out that I had the class with the lowest level of English. 20 faces staring at me as I slowly read “Bathtime for Biscuit,” a book about bathing a dog…..pretty counter-cultural for them……Some showed excitement, most showed confusion. Some shouted random words trying to follow along, not even having certainty if they were supposed to just listen or try to read along. Luckily, I was able to act out most of the verbs for them, and the only difficult noun for them was the word “Bath.” I went on for 2 hours…some of them wrote down things I wrote on the board, but I don’t know if there was much comprehension beyond that. What these people did gain was that a person was standing in front of them. A person giving them full attention…asking them questions…praising them…
Today started off like an ordinary day here. I woke up around 7 to an ensemble of roosters, brushed my teeth, did quiet time, ate a biscuit, took a boda to the Center and began preparing a lesson. Soon after beginning some work, a teacher came in asking me if I could fill in for another teacher who was sick. They had already been sitting there without a teacher, so I was forced to move…I panicked a bit….With no knowledge of any of the people I would be teaching, their level of English, or what they had been covering, I entered the classroom. I had been given only a small children’s book (maybe 10 pages) called “Bathtime for Biscuit.” I quickly found out that the class was supposed to last 2 hours. I also figured out that I had the class with the lowest level of English. 20 faces staring at me as I slowly read “Bathtime for Biscuit,” a book about bathing a dog…..pretty counter-cultural for them……Some showed excitement, most showed confusion. Some shouted random words trying to follow along, not even having certainty if they were supposed to just listen or try to read along. Luckily, I was able to act out most of the verbs for them, and the only difficult noun for them was the word “Bath.” I went on for 2 hours…some of them wrote down things I wrote on the board, but I don’t know if there was much comprehension beyond that. What these people did gain was that a person was standing in front of them. A person giving them full attention…asking them questions…praising them…
I know little about Kampala now. I know how to get up and
down my street, how to get to two food places, and that’s about it. I
can
relate to the people of the Center, as right now it is a place of Refuge
and
Hope for me. It is where I feel safe and comfortable.Things are different here. Not bad, just different.
Every
single day, every single thing is a blessing. Every conversation, every
smile,
every handshake, every meal. I cannot think of any temptations I really
have……the life I lead, the place and people I work with, it is all pure.
This
is a great ministry. I told myself that I really didn't want to teach
people on the lower levels. It was so, so tough to communicate. Lost and trying to figure things out here, I now think we
have more in common than I realized...
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