Day 3: St. Thomas More Senior Secondary School
Today I visited the St. Thomas More School. It was a little dicey because yesterday the government declared today a national holiday in honor of a former president who died (he predated Idi Amin) and who had apparently died a week ago. My driver arrived at the guest house with that news.
So it was a skeleton crew that showed up at WV offices this morning, but fortunately since we had the plans we did go. Unfortunately there were only about 20 students who showed up for the time I was there. Even though it was a holiday, the headmaster had asked students to come for the program but most live a long distance away and many needed to be working in gardens. In any case, there were some parents and a group of mothers, some quite old who are taking classes in reading and basic arithmetic taught by the school. They did some singing and dancing, and we had the usual speeches. I toured the girls dorm which now has some of the bunkbeds from the Children of War Center. I met the dorm mother whose name is "Pastor Michelle." She is involved in Baptist missions in Gulu. They also have built new latrines for the girls that are just behind the dorm. The two energy efficient stoves didn't look like anything that I had imagined, but they were in and have reduced the amount of time to prepare for the students lunch from five yours to two hours. The cooks were very happy and I took their picture next to the ovens. Lastly they took me over to the examination building that they are in the process of constructing. Alex told me they are supposed to be completed by 9/1 but I can't see anyway that can happen. The next round of examinations occurs mid-October and he assured me that they would be taking their exams there. I also learned that the examination room will be multipurpose: it has a little stage where the examiners watch the students taking the examination but can be used for plays and drama. The building will also serve as an assembly hall for inclement weather. I asked Alex what he thought was the highest priority for the next project and without pausing said that they needed teacher housing. It is common for schools to provide housing for teachers (who get paid about $200 a year). Most of the teachers travel long distances to get to school, and not nearly enough are around to watch over the students. So perhaps that will be our next project here...It was a great visit and I was able to spend about three hours. Since it is the rainy season, as you might expect, there is a lot of mud. Most of the roads aren't paved, most of them are dirt with large pot holes which fill with water. Fortunately it was raining all around us while I was at the school, but it didn't rain while I was there. Tomorrow I switch to the Children of War Center and will be involved in some meetings in the morning and then going to the field in the afternoon to do some counseling with parents, I think--no doubt another adventure. Thanks for your prayers and please keep praying.