Meet the Teachers

Today we get to meet our partner teachers for the first time. I am so looking forward to it. I could not meet my new teacher without reconnecting with my all my friends in Gulu.

I went to the market and spent my lunch time with Patrick. He took me to a restaurant near the market with delicious food. We ate curried rice and beef. It was a great experience to chat with him about his studies, the changes I noticed in Gulu town and his excitement over his first exposure in a hospital at Kitgum.

After lunch I left for Layibi to meet with Robert, physics teacher, and reconnect with his wife Maureen. Robert was part of the reciprocal exchange we had this past January. He was a fellow teacher at Layibi last summer and we became very fast friends. He is very respectful and curious. I always had a great fun when we spent time together. He also got to come and dine in my home in NYC. So it was with great joy that I visited his home this summer. Before heading out I asked Patrick what I should bring as a gift. He often was my Acoli intermediary to gift giving. He suggested passionfruit, as people had been a bit ill in the home recently. It was the perfect gift and brought much joy to Maureen when I gave it to them. I finally got to meet Mark, Robert's son, who I had danced with last summer. Maureen was heavily pregnant last August and we went dancing, so I always say I danced with Mark before he was born. He is a very bright and curious boy and once we danced again he took a liking to me. I also got to meet Robert's daughter Tina. She was so polite and cute. All in all, I had a wonderful day.

This leads into our meet the teacher dinner. While most schools were a bit late, no one of the staff of Sacred Heart arrived within the first hour. It was a bit disheartenening at first but once they arrived, we were all very happy to speak and get to know one another. My partner teacher is Otim Francis. The Acoli people are named by the circumstances surrounding their birth. Otim means “born in a foreign place.” He is called this because he was born in Kampala and not in Gulu town. He has been teaching for three years and I am looking forward to working with him. He teaches S2 Math at Sacred Heart.

p.s. Oh yeah by the way I totally wiped out in front of all the teachers. My thigh hurts :(