***THE WEBSITE ABOVE IS EXPLAINED IN THE FOLLOWING POST,BUT PLEASE VISIT IT***
I am nearly positive that the buildings that I live and teach in are technically condemned—even by Ugandan standards. If they are not and I am potentially wrong, then by all means they should be and should be fenced off with bright yellow caution tape and be secure from trespassers 24 hours a day…that is not the case though. I live in a house with asbestos roofing; I teach in classrooms with asbestos roofing, and the cement walls are peeling and even have mysterious beige fuzz growing on them. You should especially see this place when the students are on a school holiday—you would think that it was simply the aftermath of a bomb or war-stricken area. Welcome to the National Teachers’ College, Kaliro—my home for the past 18 months—and I would not have wanted to be anywhere else. We push through though, we find a away to make the best of the situation here, and like always we are open to whatever comes our way to make our lives better. Aside from the classroom where I teach Biology to both 1st and 2nd year students, I spend my time and talk with people. If I were to say at this point what my job has been as a Peace Corps Volunteer it has been a professional listener; or a professional laugher; a pro at eating copious amounts of food mainly in the forms of carbohydrates, or maybe even a professional walker (I walk everywhere; and people here tell me that I walk as fast as a man can ride a bicycle). Living as a Peace Corps Volunteer is a job in itself and any responsibility atop that (teaching, building, etc.) can be seen as the secondary activities.
Our students have just returned for the beginning of their next school year and therefore a new group of minds to mold and get to know are ever-present. Amazing that after 1+ school years here at the NTC, Kaliro I have grown to have expectations for the behavior and attitudes of both the 2nd year and the fresh incoming 1st year students. I have found my way to responding to their uncertainties of having a mzungu around, and that is being myself. So much of the first year was spent holding back, trying to appease these thoughts of what I was suppose to be, and now having relaxed a bit and feeling like I am somehow in the comfort of ‘my own home’ have been able to be more of the strange, odd, unusually American that I have grown up to be. Less than 1 week ago a fellow colleague at the college even told me that she was excited how I have changed, and become so much more integrated as myself and not holding back so much. That was a happy awakening. I have truly made ‘a’ home here, a place that I feel that I could come back to, be excited about and know how to be.
In the recent weeks we have been developing a few projects to better promote our college and to further improve the morale of the students and staff that often tends to be rather low due to the standards of the college. Having mentioned that the entire institution is essentially condemned, we have been looking for ways to at least aesthetically improve the college’ image and we have begun to develop projects that will promote that cause. These projects not only will assist in the aesthetic appearance of the college but also assist in boosting the morale of both students and staff to show the pride and loyalty to the college as a whole. These first two projects being worked on are constructing a new and improved Basketball Court and Rehabilitating the Science Laboratories. These projects are described below in an excerpt taken from the website promoting these projects and seeking funding.
Through the joint efforts of the National Teachers’ College, the local community and friends in the USA, we desire to completely rebuild our basketball court and refurbish the science laboratories concurrently. As all of us here at the college have seen the dirt foundation erode and the hoops lean more and more towards the ground on the current court and students and visitors alike express their incredibly discouraging views on the conditions of the science laboratories, we developed this joint project with a matching dollar agreement. As these two tasks show little connection, the college has agreed that a monetarily equivalent match will be made available from the college of the amount equivalent to the construction of the basketball court. The refurbishment of the science laboratories will aid in increasing the current low level of morale and provide an improved atmosphere for the teaching and learning of sciences, which also includes education on HIV/AIDS. Aside from the obvious recreationally athletic benefits of the basketball court, the students of the sports science combination will have a better opportunity to learn and teach the sport to their fellow students and outside community as well as incorporate the sport in to the teaching of Life Skills as an example of team-building and support for one another. Through the implementation and completion of these two tasks, the National Teachers’ College will prove to be a frontrunner in the development of facilities aiding in the education and morality boost that the students of Uganda need.
I can happily say that the college has already pulled some of its weight and this past weekend (October 3rd and 4th) two staff and five students volunteers used funds acquired from the college to repaint one of the laboratories and I can tell you firsthand that it looks amazingly different from before! These are projects that need to be accomplished, and in hoping that we can quickly and efficiently finish these facelift operations, the potential to do even more in the months to come is a sincere possibility. Please, as you can see fit find your way to the website below, and if we can make these small changes below, more changes could be possible in the near future! Your help is indeed necessary and deeply appreciated by the National Teachers’ College, Kaliro.
CLICK ON ME PLEASE: Donations for Science Laboratory Refurbishment and Construction of Basketball Court at the NTC, Kaliro
I love you all...
Cheers,
Daniel Koza
The Current Basketball Court at the National Teachers' College Kaliro. Through these projects we will create a tarmac court and create improved hoops.
The completed Guidance and Counselling Office at the National Teachers' College, Kaliro which will also be used to host the developing Peace and Human Rights Club.
