One Term Down...

Dec. 7th marked the official closing of the school year for students at Maranatha Christian School. I was invited to attend the parents' meeting at 2pm, the afternoon of the 7th, with the promise to meet with the Head Mistress immediately following.

I've been told in the past that I can be overly optimistic at times (which is not necessarily a bad thing)... and I guess this was one of those times. I left home, fully expecting to be home by 5pm. I even left laundry out on the line, feeling confident I'd be back before dark. I mean, how long can a parent meeting take?

Well, first mistake...thinking the meeting MIGHT start on time. I did arrive a few minutes after 2pm knowing they wouldn't start exactly on time, but then stood around for about 45minutes before they declared enough parents were there to start the meeting.

Mistake two...thinking I would be able understand what was going on at the meeting. I sat and listened to about 4 hours of Luganda! None of it was interpreted, since I was really the only one there that needed it to be to understand. Every once in a while I'd hear English words thrown in there among the mess of Luganda, like "Sports Day", "school fees", and "Obama".

I sat wondering why I was even there...but at the end of the meeting all of the teachers were asked to introduce themselves in front of the parents, including me. The parents clapped for each of us, and I received an extra hearty applause after I spoke :)

Many of the parents came to greet me as they exited the meeting to collect their child's report card, saying in broken English, "You are most welcome. Thank you for coming!"

By now the sun was setting and I hadn't gotten to meet with the Head Teacher yet. I wanted to go over the exam results of the students I had been working with during the last term and set goals for the beginning of next school year.

Now rushing, so I could catch a taxi before it was completely dark out, I met with the Head Mistress. There were a number of interruptions, but I felt satisfied with what we discussed and headed home in the dark.

So, how did my students do? I am very happy with the improvements my students made this last term, especially considering the circumstances and situations that came up throughout the term! Of course, there is still much to be done...

All in a Ugandan Day's Work!