Screw the credentials just keep your eyes on the b***** road!

Tuesday 23rd

Visited Muganza school today. The head’s at Mbuga TTC for the big training but luckily the teacher knew I was coming. This is probably the most remote school I’ll work with next term. It’s small, with old buildings and its one of the schools helped out by PAM (or World Food Programme) who provide lunch for the children from very poor families. It takes about half an hour on the moto and it’s a tricky route. I’ve done it a couple of times but today didn’t manage to get the bike so had to call one of the moto driver’s to take me. I’m not too keen on pillion at the best of times and today I didn’t cope too well…

Godefroid is a talker. By the time we’d reached the roundabout, I knew he was married with 4 grown up children and a baby son, that he owned a bistrot, that despite a francophone education he was gifted in English and that he was 45 years old. He went on to talk about what he'd heard about me. He started every sentence with 'they say you...' which gave me a bit of a mythical air but also made me feel a tad uncomfortable. Just what did the boys at the rank know about me. ..Luckily not that much. He was also rather large so took up most of the space. At first, I tried to give him some and held on lightly to the grip at the back but if I was to stay on I soon realised that a bear hug was the only way. Then so keen was he to practise his English, he kept turning around to check I was listening (which I have to confess I wasn’t) but so keen was I to keep his eyes on the road, I kept nodding enthusiastically and murmuring the odd thing back.. After a while though I stopped nodding, my head hurt from where our helmets kept banging. Sensing my fear, he explained that he had had a driver’s licence for over 25 years so I was quite safe but admitted that these roads were quite a challenge, even for a pro like him…

Anyway, I was finally delivered to the school where I met all the teachers again. At the moment they’re preparing for the exams next week so were busy writing the papers. The teacher who I’m working with seems keen. She went to our trainings in May so is open to ideas which is good. I helped her mark the books at the end. Most of the children had got the right answers in the task which was addition of decimals to 3 sig figures but many had not and I wasn’t too sure about having the children stand up if they hadn’t achieved, still it’s something to work with.