Initial and Random School Visits

During training and twice since, I have gone to schools for no purpose than to tour the school and meet students at the request of the Head Teacher. For a while I did not understand the purpose of these visits, but the Head Teacher seemed so interested in my coming to the school that I could not refuse. When I get to the school, all of the children line up and do their daily or weekly songs for me then I answer questions about America for the children and the teachers. Between my talking we have lunch of usually matooke, rice, beef, maybe greens or cabbage, and possibly beans. This is an extravagant meal for the schools to give; the other teachers must love it because they get a real and good meal at the school. Other than answering America questions, I encourage the students to stay in school, work hard, try to have goals and a job, not get pregnant, etc. and all of the other messages that are seen on after school programs. Sometimes the children bring me a mango or a piece of corn or something small like that, but these tokens are incredibly sweet and really make me feel special.

Because of this special treatment I can’t help but feel suspicious of the intent of the Head Master, maybe it’s the New Yorker in me. I don’t understand how the sharing of my experiences and me talking about America grants me the rights to lunch and a day of no studying. However, I do remember when I was in school and having school assemblies with guest speakers or people who came to give positive messages to my classmates and I. Although I have no idea, I believe that these guest speakers were given lunch and depending on the program could have been paid to come. So I suppose it is the same thing. But I also notice that the Head Masters have always hinted at how I can get them money for some project and they direct me around the school pointing out what they have done and the tons of improvements that need to be made and the school’s lack of funds. At the same time, at least one student in every class has asked me to sponsor them and every time I speak with teachers they ask how they can get a teaching or any job in the US. I know I will have to get used to the constant requests to be taken to America and to the inquiries about jobs in the US but right now I can’t stand it—it makes me feel awkward, spoiled, almost overprotective of the US. Still not knowing how to correctly respond, I usually tell them that it’s honestly difficult to find a good job that will make over minimum wage. For teachers, since they think they can just teach in America because they teach here, I let them know that they would have to retake all of the education and college courses over again. Just hearing the requirements from friends who are teachers and the differences from state to state, I tell the teachers here that I although it differs from state to state, at least in New York they will have to get their masters and even then it doesn’t guarantee a job right away. They also want to know how much a teacher is paid. That’s not a simple answer, but considering that even the lowest salary given in the most inner city school is an enormous amount to these teachers, they don’t really care about what they have to do. But like everyone in Uganda, they don’t understand the cost of living in America and only think about how much you can earn, but not about how much they would need to spend just to survive. I think I will be alright as long as I tell the truth and be my blunt self.