The Children of Busoona Primary School

On Thursday June 24 we visited the Busoona Primary School for an introduction to the Head Master, teachers, and students in the school.  We were also going to look at what exactly we would be doing in the classrooms and inspecting the current conditions of the water tanks at the school.

We left our apartment and made our first of many crossings over the Nile and into the center of Jinja.  It was incredible seeing the Nile for the first time.  You grow up reading of the historic Nile River in text books since 1^st grade.  To see the forceful beast winding through the green hills of Uganda was a spectacle and surreal moment.  It is awfully strange visiting places you grew up hearing about; places that seemed so distance, so far away; nearly untouchable.

We made our way through the center of town and onto the road that leads to Busoona Primary.  As we left the center town, the road slimmed down, only able to fit one vehicle.  The dust from the roads rose up as thick as the dust bowl.  I felt awful for the people walking and biking alongside the road getting caught in a storm of dust coming from the back of the car.  As the road continued, the trees grew thicker and only a few clay huts appeared through the trees every now and then. 

Children played alongside the streets and at their homes, and as they saw us drive by they would smile and jump in delight yelling “Jambo!  Jambo!”  Jambo is a tricky translation.  It is technically a hello in passing.  We would yell jambo back to the kids and they would begin laughing and giggling even harder.  In these rural areas, the people (especially the children) have had little to no contact to foreigners.  It was very exciting for them to see us driving by. 

We have often had our cameras out recording the scenery, and the children would see the cameras and be immediately drawn to them.  In most cases, these kids have never seen images of them and have no idea what they look like.  As we record driving by, groups of kids run along the car, jumping and laughing trying to get into the shot.  We pulled over by a group of kids and I asked them if they would like their picture taken,  They all quickly gathered and ushered each other into a group and stood waiting for the camera to snap.  You could see the anticipation building in their faces.  I took several photos and turned the camera showing them the group shot.  I smiled to the smallest girl, about 2 years old wearing a pink dress, and pointed from her to the reproduction in the screen.  “Thats you,” I said.  Her eyes widened and she turned away running and crying.  I think I might have scared her.  She wandered back as we were getting into the car and began laughing again yelling “Bye!!!” as we drove off towards Busoona. 

We arrived at the school, and it was even farther out on the outskirts.  Busoona is a very small school, with about 3 buildings with 3 classrooms in each.  They will cram upwards of 200 kids into a classroom that maybe seats 90 comfortably.  The school has a total of 1,700 students in grades P1-P7 (similar to our 1^st grade -8^th grade).  Once they complete P7, they go off to high school.  The age range at the schools is age 8-14.  To put the numbers into perspective, I went through Ashford school, which had pre-k through 8^th grade and 600 kids in a school literally 15 times the size of Busoona.  Try to imagine the lack of space and quality that there is in the educational environment.  The children can barely afford books.  They have one notebook and one pencil.  They wear no shoes, and walk upwards of 2 miles to school everyday.  The government covers their school fees and uniforms, which is a bright yellow dress or shirt.  Sanitation is extremely poor, and all of their water tanks are cracked or broken.  Gutters are in place which collects water when it rains, which may be 1-2 times per week at the most during the rainy season.  The water runs from the gutters and into the water tanks.  This is their source of water. 

When we pulled into the school, there were many children playing out in the yard outside the classrooms.  They all became extremely silent and turned their heads towards us.  The car came to a stop, and in my peripherals I saw hundreds of children gathering around the car.  Many children hid behind a few trees, and some dared to cautiously walk up towards me, ducking and inspecting us.  Other children poured out of the school, and a sea of yellow surrounded us.  Out of the short crowd stood one of the teachers, who laughed and smiled as he called to us and greeted us. 

I looked towards one little girl who, out of what seemed to be a great amount of bravery, came within a few feet of me.  I knelt down and smiled, “Oli Otya (How are you?)?”  Her eyes widened, not believing what I had just said, and she began laughing and ran back towards her friends. 

We met the Head Master, who was very thankful for our volunteer service, and one of the teachers continued to show us around the school.  We were introduced to several classes.  As we walked in, all of the children stood up simultaneously and began singing and clapping as they laughed.  We asked Davids what they had sung to us, and he said that it was a thank you song.  As we left the classroom, we waved to the children and spoke, “Wabale ino,” which means thank you very much. 

After visiting the classrooms, we were shown the water tanks.  There were 2 tanks:  enormous plastic cylinders that stood beside two of the classrooms.  There were holes and cracks in the bottom of them, and in one of the tanks the entry point for the water was completely clogged.  The gutters that channel the water to the tanks were misaligned and broken.  We were shown that we were going to repair the gutters, and the tanks, as well as ordering and installing new tanks at the school.  Behind the school, the land slightly slopes downhill towards gardens.  We will also be digging channels so that water can flow from the tanks and down to the gardens for irrigation. 

Besides working on the tanks and the water system, we will be teaching Basic English to the students.  The main key of the lesson will be to share different aspects of the two cultures and to share where we come from.  We will also be participating in after school sports and activities.  Later in July, we will be spending a morning and evening with a family of one of the students to getting a more intimate grasp on the culture and functions of daily life. 

We completed touring the school just as classes had ended and some of the children came up to us.  A little girl walked towards Evan, raised her hand and bowed saying hello.  We didn't know what to do or how to react.  Davids informed us of the split between genders.  It is common courtesy for a woman/girl to bow to a man when greeting.  Davids said that this custom is slowly declining and that women still bow to their elders as a sign of respect.  This was a new introduction to the culture that we had yet to see.  Older women tend not to bow, but the children are taught to bow to their elders in every day life.  It is a common aspect of their daily interactions.

The first water tank will arrive at 10 a.m. on Monday morning and we will begin installation.  We begin teaching on Tuesday.  I am excited and nervous all at once to begin teaching, but cannot wait for our project to make headway. 

Currently the our work at Busoona is being run through the Tourist Center in Jinja under the direction of Davids, but the incredible news is that Davids is well on his way to founding the Busoona Primary School Project as an official Non-Governmental Organization, which will only increase benefits for the future.  The goal is in the years to come to bring solar power for computers and electricity, school supplies, more classrooms, and installing new bathrooms.  We have already confirmed our return trip for next summer to continue the work for Busoona, and once the NGO is approved, the project will have its own bank account.  With these advancements we will begin fund-raising projects at our Universities for Busoona as well as bringing more volunteers next summer.  With more volunteers we also hope to expand our services to other primary schools in the Jinja community.

I will have more updates in more detail on the Busoona Primary School Project.