Day 7: A Skeleton and Storytelling

Another full day at the primary school today! The Sims Family purchased a life-sized Halloween skeleton made of plastic and brought it over from the US to Uganda in a duffel bag. Today, I volunteered to carry the skeleton up as we walked from the Guesthouse through the small trading centre and up the fifteen minute path to AAH. The locals were mystified, amused, and terrified by the sight of a group of Americans walking around holding a skeleton by its spine! It was hysterical. Some schoolchildren squealed, some farmers wanted a close look to count the ribs and inspect the shoulder joint, some teenagers wanted to shove their hand through its jaw. We took Mr. Gregory Bones around to each classroom so the kids could inspect it up close. A fun start to the day. You'll love the pictures of the kids climbing over one another to touch the spooky guy. I spent the next two and a half hours with a red pen, editing letters that the fourth graders (P-4) wrote to their sponsors and pen pals in the States. Lots of spelling and grammar corrections, but also very enlightening for me! I learned a lot about local culture while I made a list of consistent mistakes the students made so that the teachers could address common problems. Then I worked on adapting The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears for this afternoon's Drama Session with Teacha Jah-sten (DAS ME!). I rewrote the stories for the purpose of presenting each one within the P-4 students, one group of 25 and one group of 30. No props or costumes - and better yet, no lines! I told the story while they acted it out. They said "Once upon a time!" with me and a few other key phrases in unison and then "The End!" together before bowing. Each story was simple: there were three boys that were the bowls of porridge (although we changed it to matooke, ma-toe-kay, a traditional Ugandan plantain dish), three chairs made out of girls, three beds made out of four students each, and of course, three bears and a goldilocks. We rehearsed and then switched. The other half of the class were the three pigs, a wolf, and three groups of materials: straw, sticks, and bricks, which the pigs built their homes out of. It was so cute to see the kids cooperating and becoming sticks and bricks and chimneys and doors. Even though the plan was to perform them tomorrow, we took so little time rehearsing, I decided we should just perform then right then! We presented each of the plays for the other half of the class, a few special guests, and the P-6 students. It was a major success and the Head Teacher (principal) Sarah used the performances as a teaching tool. She asked the students afterwards what the morals of each story were and how we could learn from them. Then they talked about how important creativity and cooperation are in all areas of life, not just putting on plays for each other. I was so proud. Head Teacher Sarah told us that she would like the children to perform the stories at the assembly on Friday. (I hear the African Guffman might be there!) Afterwards she pulled me aside to ask if I could do it with the rest of the students. Sarah noticed that some of the more active and creative students were some of the those that had been doing poorly academically and it made her emotional to see them succeeding at something. We had a great conversation about the value of exposing the students to theatre and storytelling - that the teachers are trained very mechanically and it is difficult to infuse the curriculum with this much fun and play. She thinks that these kids will remember today's lessons far more than their other more bland, rote assignments. After the performance, I went back to the fourth grade class and read them two books: Princess Sophia's Grand Tea Party about fairies and golden plates and ice sculptures and floating chairs and a swan-themed birthday party (WTF?!?) and a shortened version of Frozen. I hadn't seen Frozen the movie, so I really enjoyed reading them that little book. Totally cool story - Girl Power! After school I went to the library and got a few other storybooks to adapt more plays for tomorrow and Thursday. Who knows what other stories are headed these kids' way? I'll let you know. Josh Sims, the other volunteer my age from Boston with some rad tattoos, took me aside while we waited for Marissa, John, and my dad. He told me that he really enjoyed the plays today and videotaped them - and wanted to ask how comfortable it was for a guy like me (gay) to be doing theatre with the kids in such a disapproving country. We chatted for a little about the irony of the situation and then agreed that everything was fine as long as I didn't bring up my sexuality. No one would even think about it or care. I realized that part of my wanting to come and help out was to subvert the politics a bit. I have no plans to change anyone's minds, nor am I capable of that single-handedly, but I do feel like they deserve to meet someone gay - even if they never find out he is gay! It's good for them to see a man who is expressive and dramatic and fun and colorful. Does that make sense? Sidenote about washing hands and latrines: I'm somehow fine with it all. The constant dirty hands, the dark, smelly squat latrines, the rusty bent nails to lock the door, the old bleach jugs filled with rainwater that you use to wet our hands over the ground and the little square bars of hand soap sitting nearby. It's kind of a fun game. And makes me feel weird about harshly judging men back in NYC who don't wash after using urinals. Who cares? These people don't give a SHIT. I've shaken every person's hand in Bumwalikani and I've seen them all eat with their hands and pet their filthy cows and pick up roosters and sit on the ground. We hiked up the insanely steep mountain to John's mothers' home to enjoy a big family dinner, complete with the Best Cabbage Ever (a lot like moo shu vegetables, my favorite Chinese food) and delicious bamboo shoots. We sat on the mountainside overlooking the tall, rolling hills and mountainsides and had a nice talk with several of his relatives. The family has a big cow named Bernice and a 2 month old male calf, who they hadn't named yet. I spent some time with him, giving him a little massage and letting him lick my legs. Hilda told me it was time to name him and I should pick one for him. He was a sweet little guy and being a young, pacifist bull myself (Taurus), I immediately thought of Ferdinand the Bull. Remember that cartoon? I thought it was appropriate. We walked home together after sunset in the bright moonlight down the mountain, satisfying exhausted. The only way I have had to access wi-fi at all on this trip has been to coax Marissa the Volunteer Coordinator to turn her Android into a hotspot. Knowing that every text, email, and picture costs her precious data, I have limited my begging to once a day - and even gave her 10,000 shillings. (That amount seems generous as I was handing it over, but then I realized it was equivalent to $4. I'm awesome.) Anyway, the point is that for a couple days her hotspot hasn't really been working, so I can't even send this daily update. I'll send it when I can!