We did our follow-up assessment at Rototo this morning. The P5 classroom had 70-something students and Vererian, the teacher-in-charge, allowed the assistant head teacher to facilitate. “Buy-in” is important and she didn’t have a clue as to the scope of the program. Form there we visited the remaining schools that lie north of the center to clock mileage and come up with detailed directions.
After a stop home for lunch we went to Bushenyi, on an errand run and to check the internet. While there I found a place to get my haircut. Not since basic training have I paid so little (1,000/= ($.55)) or had so little input into the style. I felt like a piece of topiary – he used clippers for the whole thing. It went well right up to the end when he sawed off the bangs right at the hairline, African style. It may be short but it is looking awfully gray. At least I have 11 months for it to grow out.
Extra – The African Way
Not only do Ugandans cut hair differently – even young girls have “recruit cuts” – they have different methods of doing many things.
Brooms are made of straw and are less than 24” long.
Giant bunches of bananas, rolled mats of tea, lumber, jerry-cans, chickens; almost anything that can be tied to a bicycle, is. If too heavy to ride, the bike is pushed along.
Lumber is cut by hand in saw pits.
Furniture is crafted by hand using hand saws, planes, and pegs rather than nails.
Fields are cultivated using a heavy-duty hoe and woman power.
Gravel is made by hand; big hammers for big rocks, smaller hammers for smaller pieces. The gravel is put in sacks and carried from the quarries.
Bricks are also made by hand
Brick ovens are used to make charcoal and bricks
People do not own pasture land so they stake their goats along the roadside to graze
Butchers work in the markets or along the roadside with the meat hanging from a tree.
Ironing clothes is done with an iron filled with coals. It’s necessary to prevent mango fly infestation.
Taxi-vans always coast downhill. So do boda-bodas.
Cripples use one long pole held with both hands rather than crutches.
