Chatting It Up

On my first day at KEFRAMA, we walked up to 226 students lined up in the courtyard and stood there gawkily as Augustine introduced us and told them to “be nice” to us. 

These children are much older now and I didn’t really know how they would receive me or what I could expect my relationship with them to be like.  After all, I wasn’t there to teach or really work with them directly.

What I found was typical of everyone I have encountered in Uganda - general curiosity about the ‘monos’ (read staring), incessant questions about the weather and true warmth and hospitality.  Every day multiple children find an excuse to come into the office and say hello, ask a question or just touch my electronics.  Okay...so maybe they are just after the electronics, but I’ll take what I can get.

When I sit outside in the afternoons, as I customarily do when my computer battery dies, you can always count one of four boys to break the ice and be the first to come over and say something.  Then slowly, one by one, more and more will come over until suddenly I am in front of a herd.  For some reason, they always stand behind you.

The conversations are usually painfully repetitive:

o   How do you find the climate?

o   It is very cold where you come from, no?

o   How do you like the food here?

o   What is the education like at home?

o   How much does it cost to fly to the United States?

o   Can I play with that [my Kindle]?

o   …why does your kindle not have pictures?  This is not as cool as Chelsea’s iPad.

o   Do you have something that will take my picture?

 As the students grow more and more familiar with me they also grow bolder and bolder.  Below are some of my favorite interactions to date:

Student:  Does Chris Brown go to church?    
Me:  In the US religion is very private and personal, so I don’t know if he goes to church.
Student:  But he lives in America and you must know him.

Me:  No, America is very big.  I don’t know Chris Brown.

 Student:  But you must read the websites.  You must know if he goes to church
Me:   No dude, I really don’t.  [paraphrasing by bumbling response]
Student:  Ah, I don’t believe you.

Student:  Someone told us that you burn old people. 

Me:  You mean when they die?  Yes, that’s called cremating them.

Student:  No, when they are alive but no longer useful.

Me:  Oh….Uh, no. 

Student:  Are you married?

Me:  No, I am not

Student:  You are very old.  You should be married by now.

[Related:  Student to Chelsea:  You should bring home a black man and marry him.]

But not all of these conversations have been as lighthearted.  There is still tragedy and abuse in many of their backgrounds; issues they are still struggling to deal with today.  One such student, Judith, sticks out in my mind.

When Judith’s parents died as a result of AIDS contracted in the IDP camps, she and her four siblings were left utterly alone. Judith went to live with a relative who ended up abusing her and said “she wouldn’t waste money on educating a girl child.”  When KEFRAMA staff learned of Judith’s situation, Jimmy Francis personally convinced the family to let Judith attend KEFRAMA on scholarship.   Today, Judith is a bright and smiling young girl who talks incessantly about how much she loves it here and how everyone is her friend.  She even sang me her favorite song as we sat in the office (it was awkward, she was tone deaf).  She says, “I feel very lucky to be at KEFRAMA – without it I would have had to drop out of school.  It changed my life and helped me see the possibility of a new future.”  She now wants to be a doctor so she can help other orphans like herself.

What has surprised me the most about KEFRAMA is how dedicated these kids are – how much they WANT this.  In the US, we take education for granted.  We complain about having to go; some of us even have to be dragged. 

But these kids, who attend school from 7-5pm for 283 days a year, are GRATEFUL.  Even on their breaks, you find them scattered around the campus with their papers out.  When asked what could improve KEFRAMA, they talk about more candles so they can study at night.  Honestly…at first I thought it was an act.  But if it is…it’s a damn good one.

And the sad part is, despite how much they want to learn….they still will never be able to compete in a global market.  The lab materials are nonexistent.  I have yet to see a calculator.  There are no books for them to read -- even text books must be hand copied by the teacher.

Not to mention that these kids have never seen a computer.  One of the first times I sat outside with mine (a mistake I learned not to make again), I was mobbed by kids who waited 15 minutes just for the chance to type their name.  They had never touched one before.

This was the first round -- it grew....

Needs are great everywhere.  And just by being at KEFRAMA these kids are getting further ahead than they would have.  Because for them the alternative was crime, abuse and poverty.  It doesn’t change the fact that great work is being done here. 

Again I have no great summation on the inequalities of education in the world, more just a mere rumination on what it is like to see the other side of things.