THE LIBRARY IS OPEN

During the term break (August 16th – September 15th) we got the library all set up. I received a grant to build bookshelves and so it began. With the help of many other peace corps volunteers and Kumiko (a Japanese volunteer stationed at Bishop Brown – my school) we got the books from Kampala back to Kayunga, bookshelves built, room set up, etc. Organizing the books is more tedious work than I could have ever imagined, but all the books were put onto an excel spreadsheet that was printed out alphabetically by title, then by author, then by category. We separated the books into 8 categories: Easy, Intermediate, Difficult, Science, Science Oversized, Oversized, Chapter Books and Guided Reading Books. After labeling all the books, we shelved them in alphabetic order based on category, then title. I’ve registered over 900 books sent from home! I can’t believe how much support I’ve gotten.

The first week of school not many pupils show up because the pupils are required to clean the school compound (slashing the grass and such). Honestly, I wouldn’t come either…hard labor is not my idea of fun. The second week I held library orientation for each class down to P4 since P1 and P2 only learn Luganda in class and P3 is still too young to read in English. Orientation was interesting. I stood at the front talking to the pupils about how to read a book and how to care for a book, etc and they just continued to ask ‘When can we come? When is it open? What time? What day?’ I could see the excitement in all of their faces so at the end I answered all the questions and then said ‘Raise your hand if you like to read.’ Every hand goes up. Then, ‘Why do you like to read?’ All the hands go down. Upon coaxing answers out of them I received things like ‘You can gain knowledge.’ ‘You can practice your english.’ Then one boy stood up and said ‘I like to read because reading is beautiful.’ I thought it was sweet.

The library opened yesterday (October 1st) and it was a little chaotic. I had originally wanted no more than 25 pupils in the classroom but when it came down to it, I couldn’t refuse children at the door. Although I do refuse the little ones, but they always find ways to sneak in. Putting the books back has been a real hassle so we are trying to come up with a new strategy for that. Also, one kid pulled out a puzzle so I started showing her how to do it and kids crowded around to see and now puzzles are the new favorite. Children bolt out of their classrooms as soon as the bell rings for breaktime, lunchtime and after school so they can arrive at the library first to ensure getting a puzzle for themselves. There are about 15 puzzles so pieces have already gone missing and have been put back in the wrong bag. Overall they are pretty careful with the stuff and I’m hopeful that it will last.







I make all the pupils sign in when they enter the library and it gets crowded by the book so I know many don’t do it, but the first day over 100 pupils had signed in. They are allowed to come at break time (10:30-11am), then again at lunch time (1-2pm) and last after school (3:30-5pm). Eventually I hope to help children reading, but as of the second day it is open, things are too chaotic to do anything but monitor and help with puzzles.



Another volunteer, Brett, came to Bishop Brown to hold a workshop on free reading during class. So just allowing the pupils to choose a book and sit around the compound to read. Tomorrow (October 3rd), she’s coming to do a workshop on guided reading with the class. I have received 2 sets of books that are uniform (60 of each set). One is an intermediate book, maybe for P4 and the other is a small chapter book for P6. If the teachers don’t understand exactly how to use them, I may start teaching an English class twice a week.

Other work…the reproductive health classes ended last term and we may start those up again. The computer class continues to go on. I used grant money to repair both of Bishop Brown’s computers and buy new monitors for them. Also, I have received a total of 5 laptops. The 3 working ones have been put to use. One is at Ssezibwa, a school where my first computer students are from; they are teaching others from the school. The other two have been used at Bishop Brown and I have been teaching on them since the Bishop Brown computers were broken for a long time. The two that aren’t working I will take to Kampala next week for repairs.

I think that is all to report for work!