Katarara Day 2

Day 2 at Katarara Primary School started with the arrival of Paul, a replacement driver for Dona who had carefully driven us to Kisoro and around for the past 3 days.  Paul is an old friend- he was the first guide who took Dr. Aavatsamrk and me on a game drive way back in 2013 when we were scouting out locations and service work.

Before we left, there was some lesson planning for English classes on the front porch of the Golden Monkey Guest House. Upon arrival at Katarara, we were quickly divided up into teaching teams with the charge to running review sessions in the older classes.  Peter, Geva and Lluvia ran an English class review.  Rayne and Isabel ran a math review. Jasmine and Erica ran an English class and had the student perform short skits to review their vocabulary.  Dan help me interview the principle, Deo, about the need for the last school building to be finished in order to have a permanent computer lab. We plan to use the footage in a fundraising campaign back in the States.  Dan and Peter also helped the teachers run anti-virus software on Katarara's computers that no longer run. 

We dropped off 3 suitcase filled with books that the Watkinson community donated.  The children can barely wait for the librarian to stamp them and add the to the collection.  The teachers were also fascinated by the science books that we brought, and immediately thought of when they would use them in their lessons- typical teachers...always lesson planning!

One thing you quickly learn in Ugandan schools is that students are always asking for a pen. I have previously left Uganda without a single pen because I have them all away. This time we came prepared with 600 pens that said "Katarara Primary School". The pic below shows just one class excited to use their new pens during our review sessions today!

Back in town in the afternoon, some of us when to the market and bought sugarcane as well as provided all the locals with a good laugh at seeing a bunch of "muzungus" (aka white people) walking through the crowded market.  Others went over to the Virunga Cookstove Project to carve more gorillas from volcanic rocks....and apparently start a new career as a welder!