My First Day at Work

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Before this post I must make an apology. I don't know why but I had been writing the name Hector when I actually meant Herbert.

I woke up early even though I didn't have to do anything for the day. It was once again loud in the hostel. Also I’m not always the most comfortable in my bed. I don’t have very much room under my mosquito net. My feet tend to hang over my bed. I’m in a mummy sleeping bag so I don’t have much room to move and I don’t have a pillow so I sleep on my sweatshirt.

I still hadn't heard anything about my project so I figured I would do my laundry. I didn't have many dirty clothes but you have to wash them by hand so it takes a while and I can't fit very many in my washing basin. I started with just socks and boxers because I was afraid of absolutely ruining my clothes. It just seems so strange to wash clothes by hand instead of machine. I get so used to using a machine that you forget that it's possible by hand. I sometimes assume that anything done by a machine is beyond my abilities.

I went down to the washing area with my detergent and basin and decided to have a go. I mixed everything in the basin and started to just swish it around. That's what the machine looks like when it's washing clothes. I just assumed that the detergent would just clean everything. There was a Ugandan student washing his clothes next to me and I guess my technique looked so wrong that he thought he should say something. His name was Vincent and he became my laundry instructor. You really need to scrub the clothes in order for them to get clean. It's very tiring and not fun at all. Also since you can't wash as many clothes at once I will be needing to do it more often. It also makes me think of all of those people back in North America who don't even know how to do their own laundry with a machine. In the middle of my lesson one of the interns Swanee came up to me and asked me if I was ready to go. With my hands holding onto a wet soapy pair of boxers I confusedly replied "go where?" She said "To do the swITch project. Martin told me that he would wake you up and then I would take you to the project" I replied " and when are we leaving?" "Now". I quickly rinsed off my clothes and hung them up to dry and then got ready to go to MUK (the other Makerere campus).

On the way we decided to get something quick to eat. We went to a small stand to get some rolexes (the food). I was a bit nervous trying it because it's at a very dirty stand, the guy would just wash his hands in a bit of rain water before cutting up the tomatoes. He would then mix the tomatoes and eggs together and throw it on a black burning pan. None of it looked clean and I was sure that this would be the day that I get sick. The one redeeming factor was that the cooking surface was extremely hot so maybe it would kill off everything. After ordering we took our food and put it in our bags since eating while walking is taboo and then we got into a taxi. As usual since we are Mzungus (foreigners) we have to negotiate the price. It's very easy to negotiate prices. I know that it should cost me 500 Shillings. The drivers usually say 700 or 800 so I tell them 500 and they reply "okay". I think they just see if I know the price. If not then they'll try to get away with charging more.

I was asking Swanee about the project on the way because I really had no idea what was going on. I was also worried that it would be beyond my abilities. She explained to me that they had had one session. I would be helping out with the second one. The first session they taught the students how to use a mouse (difference between right click and left click) and how to open programs and the basics of how software works. The high school students really don't know anything and this is really the only time that they use a computer.

We walked into the university and I met the other students on the swITch project who were all from Kenya. There are about 5 of us which was more than I expected. We got into the "classroom" which is a large computer lab. We use about a quarter of the lab for teaching then the rest is just regular students using the computers for other projects. It's not the most intimate setting but at least we have computers to use. We use a projector on the wall to show students what we are doing. Although it's very difficult to see what is happening in on the projector. There were about 48 students which was a lot but luckily there was enough of us to be able to go through the aisles and help out. This session we were practicing Microsoft Word. We taught them how to open up the program. How to type a document (typing can take them a while so we may need to drill them a bit more on this). How to save the document. How to find it after you had saved it. How to change the font and style of the words. It's a bit difficult to show them why they are using this program since they don't have a printer. Without any inputs or outputs (such as internet or a printer) you can't do many practical things. It's definitely interesting seeing people use computers for the first time and trying to use it. Since I've used them most of my life it's hard to understand where there is confusion or what doesn't make sense. Highlighting and copy and paste was an important one to show people as well. Many of the students had fun typing and then playing around with all of the different fonts. The students would ask me if I study computers at my university and I try to explain to them that where I'm from you need to know basic knowledge of how to use a computer to do everything.

After our session many of the students came up and shook my hand and said "thank you" which as very nice and always appreciative. We also had a small meeting with everyone who is working in the switch project. I guess it's because of my experience with doing tutorials but somehow I became the new "headmaster" so now it is up to me to create the session plans for the classes since Swanee is going to be leaving. I don't really mind though since I don't have anything else to do and our next session wasn't until Thursday at 5pm. We all then went to lunch which was just basic rice and beans. They give such big portions and I still can't finish them. I feel very bad though since growing up you always hear that you need to finish your food because they're starving kids in Africa.

After our session we went back to the hostel and then to MUBS to use the internet. It was then that I started to try and create this blog. Since I started late I've been mostly catching up what I've done. The next couple of days should be brief as I really didn't do too much but write in my blog, try and do laundry, and watch soccer.

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Photos

Laundry
Washing clothes by hand at the hostel.

Computer Lab
We usually fill about 4 rows with students