Hair-do's

Two staff members from our Kibaale project got married on Saturday, and I went along to participate in the festivities. Ugandan weddings can be very confusing for Westerners, because the invitation indicates what time the ceremony will start, but if you actually arrive at that time, it is very likely you'll be waiting in a relatively empty sanctuary...for hours, possibly. We arrived at what we considered to be fashionably late enough, but we were greeted with the news that the ceremony wouldn't start for at least another hour.

When we returned to the church after killing time at Kibaale Community Centre, the groomsmen were all in position to enter the church, so we were hopeful that things were starting. About 45 minutes later, (the groomsmen had entered and were seated in the church for that time) the bridal party arrived and things finally got underway. The crowd was enthusiastic, there was singing and dancing and it was great fun to be a part of it all.

I have wondered why wedding delays are so common here and I think I have come up with a workable theory to explain it: It's all about the hair-do's.

The flower girl, bridesmaids and bride all get their hair done in elaborate styles for the event and it must take ages to complete these works of art. I was lucky enough to be seated directly behind the bridesmaids, so I had the opportunity to examine the intricacies of their hairstyles; it is truly astounding how much work it must be to achieve "the look." Taking that into consideration, that the bridal party arrives at all is a tribute to the women who work tirelessly to ensure that each strand of hair is perfectly in place!

So, to the hair dressers of Uganda: Well done! We wedding guests will continue to wait, eagerly anticipating the arrival of your masterpieces.

the flower girl (she was SUPER cute!)

close-up of the bridesmaids' hairstyle

the bridal party

the final effect

Nature

Yesterday morning, as we were preparing to leave for church, we heard the dogs barking quite persistently outside. When we went to check it out, we saw that the dogs had cornered a mongoose inside our compound and were engaged in a bit of a grudge match with the feisty little thing. After a short time the outcome was decided. I'm sure people might be wondering: Who'd win in a fight...2 dogs vs. a mongoose?

The answer is the dogs. That's all I really need to say about that.

Today Nature continued to cause some excitement for us. Again this afternoon, I heard one of the dogs barking persistently and went to check it out. As I approached, I noticed that he was barking at a small snake that was near our front gate. The snake was trying to strike, so I called the dog to get away, hoping that he hadn't already been bitten. Even small snakes here can be very dangerous.

Once I got the dogs safely away, I went back to try to deal with the dangerous critter, but I wasn't really sure what I was going to do. Armed with only my camera (you can't let a moment like this go unrecorded!) I tried to figure out a plan, but wasn't really willing to get too close to the problem. Fortunately, I didn't have to come up with anything on my own, as Paul just happened to be driving by at that moment. I flagged him down, and he picked up a nearby construction pole that had a large nail sticking out of the end. With only 2 hits he managed to hit the snake with the nail--crisis averted!

We think it was a black mamba, which could have been quite dangerous. However, the dog appears to be fine; the snake is gone, and we have one more great story to tell. I wonder what tomorrow will hold?

the snake lying near the gate post

Paul has successfully eliminated the problem

images of Moses in the wilderness...a snake on a pole

it's good to have neighbours who are willing to take care of unpleasant tasks!

Campfire

We have been living on the Timothy Centre site for nearly a year now, and last night we finally got around to constructing a fire pit so that we can sit around a campfire from time to time in the evenings. We had high hopes, but alas, it was not to be. It had rained quite hard during the day, so the wood we tried to use was too wet to burn and it ended up being too smoky to be fun. So, we packed up the marshmallows and hot dogs, headed back inside and cooked them using the broiler in the oven. We ended up spending the evening in the living room, which is pretty much the normal routine, but still enjoyable. All things considered, it was a fun experiment and we look forward to other attempts in the future.

it's so embarrassing when you show up to a campfire wearing the same outfit as your neighbour!

the reason we were driven inside

Wings

I guess it's an example of cause and effect. Cause: rain during the rainy season....Effect? "White ants" (I'm not really sure what kind of insect they are) fly out of the ground in massive quantities, drop their wings and crawl away.

These ants are a bit of a delicacy for the local people and the workers were very excited when this phenomenon had occurred overnight. The ants are attracted to light, and as we have security lights on all the buildings and gates on our compound that are on all night, there were piles of wings everywhere! The workers collected the ants and enjoyed them as a seasonal snack.

For me, these ants are less of a delicacy and more of an irritant; the wings are scattered all over my verandah in the morning and it requires a fair bit of sweeping to try to get rid of them. Not to mention that the ants themselves somehow manage to crawl through the crack under the door and come into my house. They aren't harmful or anything; they are just difficult to get rid of. Just when you think you've gotten them all, another one appears from somewhere and out comes the broom again!

Here is what my porch looked like this morning before I swept it:

Activities

Here are some things I've been doing that have prevented me from updating my blog lately:

-entertaining my parents while they visited for about a month

-learning to use my new Mac computer 

-interviewing more prospective teachers and staff members for the school

-helping to plan a youth camp for our church

-teaching Sunday School 

-writing school policy

-designing marketing material 

-creating budgets 

-deciding on furniture, supplies and resources for the school

-meeting with Evacy, the Head Teacher, regularly to discuss plans

-preparing to move into my office in the (mostly) completed administration building

-developing a Leadership course for the school

I enjoy all of these tasks and there is still much to do before our intended opening date in February, but I will do my best to write updates more frequently.  No promises though!

Workers

As the anticipated opening day (Feb. 2011) of Timothy Girls College approaches there is all kinds of work happening on the site. We have over 100 men employed to do the building, landscaping, wiring and plumbing of the school buildings, so from Monday to Saturday the site is a very busy place. The local community is very appreciative of the work we are providing for these men, and we appreciate all their hard work on our behalf.

All the buildings are constructed with locally produced bricks, covered in plaster with wooden roof trusses and iron sheet roofing. They are fairly basic structures, but there is a great deal of man power that goes into each stage of the construction. Landscapers have levelled huge piles of dirt with only hoes and pick axes; porters mix cement by the wheelbarrow full, men carry jerrycans of water by hand from the pump to be used in cement mixing; bow saws are used to cut the roof trusses and hammers pound the nails into them (the wood used is tropical hardwood that is very difficult to cut by the way.) Each brick has been laid with a hand trowel and the septic tanks, trenches for foundations and retaining walls have all been dug by hand. The only real machinery that has been used is a small bulldozer that was used to grade the sloped land. An electric skill saw has also been used to speed up the roof truss production process, but there is only one.

So, as a tribute to all the hard work that goes on each day, here are some photos of the workers doing what they do best. Thank you, guys!

making sidewalks behind my house

loading extra slate into the "tipper"

raking gravel

preparing for the installation of the roof trusses for the dining hall

shovelling gravel

digging a trench for a retaining wall

binding the joints of the dining hall roof trusses with metal bands

nailing the beams together for the roof trusses

all the workers change their clothes in the morning when they arrive and hang them outside the big storage building, then change back at the end of the work day

Interviews

We have started interviewing potential teachers and staff for the school and I have learned quite a bit about some of the more subtle aspects of the culture here through this process. The Ugandan head teacher takes the lead in asking questions of the candidates, as she has a better idea of what is important to learn from these individuals in this context. Here are some things I've learned from the questions she's asked:

1. The language, Kiswahili, (spoken widely in Kenya and Tanzania) is viewed by some Ugandans as the "language of thieves" and they resist learning it. This attitude hinders the development of a common East African language--something the government in this country would like to see.

2. Some families would be willing to pay high school fees to educate their sons, but would not be willing to pay the same amount to educate their daughters.

3. Chemistry and Biology are prerequisites for taking Advanced Level Foods and Nutrition, but a student doesn't need lower level Home Management (Home Ec) in order to take it. Foods and Nutrition is considered a Science course.

4. There have been cases of Art teachers completing their students' assignments for them in order to improve the grades on the national exams.

5. Despite the many challenges facing teachers in this country, it is easy to find many dedicated individuals who stand against corruption, care for their students, are committed to seeing more girls achieve higher education and work hard to achieve these goals.

It is encouraging to meet people who recognize the importance of education to development and want to make a difference in their country. I look forward to speaking to more interesting people over the next few weeks as we finalize our decisions.