Wilson picked us up and our day started with a trip into Kampala to exchange money. During rush hour it can take hours to get into and out of downtown Kampala. So we parked the car about halfway to the Forex and walked the remaining distance by foot. It was quite the adventure walking in downtown Kampala during rush hour, weaving in and out of traffic and avoiding the boda-bodas as we crossed the streets. All in all, it took us close to an hour-and-a-half to exchange money this morning. Hopefully we will not have to exchange any more during the rest of our trip!

Our goal for the day at the school was to simply to see with our eyes, listen with our ears, and keep our mouths shut:-) We began by observing the "baby class" with three- and four-year-olds. We assured the teacher that we just wanted to see what school was like in a classroom at God is Good Nursery and Primary School. Peninnah's response was, "So, I am free." We watched as the children sang a song, reviewed their colors, spelled words and identified objects. They were very energetic yet well behaved.

Then it was time for break. We joined the teachers for tea where talked with them about the morning and I tried some of their porridge which the school provides to them each day.

After break we joined Stuart in his Primary 2 class. He took the students through a lesson in literacy as the students read what Stuart put on the blackboard and then proceeded to write the sentences in their exercise books.

Next we moved over the Primary 1 class with Jim. They were learning about modes of transportation. We (GAP Team) learned what a lorry and diana were (types of deliver trucks). You learn something new every day! When they began to discuss water transportation, we tried to explain what a kayak was. It was very fun exchanging different modes of transportation with these students:-)

The headmistress, who has been teaching for 17 years, just came to God is Good a couple of months ago. The government-run school that she came from had 420 students in her class alone.  That is right, 420 students in one class! When she came to God is Good, she saw that what the Primary 7 students were learning at the government run school was what the Primary 1 students were learning at God is Good. This is a good school and these are very sharp kids.

It was then time for lunch. Grace (Wilson's wife) set up a table and chairs for us in the church as an "office" for our team this week. It is a nice place for us to meet and talk about what we are experiencing at the school. After lunch, the students treated us to some entertainment which included singing and dancing. Each class prepared several items and they filed into the classroom where we were one at a time. Julene joined one of the classes during their dance. She did really good! The children and teacher cheered very loud when she got up and started dancing. After the show was completed, we just hung out in the yard talking with the teachers and playing with the children.

After seeing the teachers on both Saturday and Sunday, it was as if we were just joining our friends today. There is very much and attitude of cooperation and desire to learn from each other. Everyone is comfortable with each other and we are finding the teachers are asking more questions of us than we are of them at this point. They have been very interested in our American culture, especially that of our schools. Carrie is having a great time talking about school in the U.S. and learning about school here in Uganda. Surprisingly, there are many, many similarities. Carrie, who has a Master of Arts in Teaching degree, has been very impressed with what she has seen from both the students and teachers.

The teachers compiled a list of students who are having difficulty learning in school. They reviewed the list with Trevor and discussed what the issues were with each of 19 students they identified. They appear to range from mild learning issues to perhaps more serious issues of central nervous system dysfunction. Trevor will try to spend more time with each of the students through the week. Wilson has affirmed how important this particular part of the project it. Many of these children are seen as "good for nothing" by their parents. Many parents were ready to pull this children from school because they did not feel they were worth the school fees. Wilson told them that support was coming and that they were going to try to find ways of working with these children so that they would have the opportunity to learn just like the rest of the students. The parents agreed to leave the children in school and we hope to help Wilson find ways to improve the learning environment for these children.

Tomorrow will be another day at the school observing the Top Class (Kindergarten) and P3-6.

Follow this link to read Julene's blog entry for today.