Short stories

I have been asked to post some short vignettes about St Fausta's and the good folks here. 

As teachers come asking for jobs, and they do. I ask a standard question that none have answered correctly... yet. What is the definition of a hypotenuse? Acceptable answers include the long side of a right triangle, the side of a triangle opposite the right angle and my favourite: C squared, because A squared plus B squared equals C squared.

This exposes a more serious problem in that teachers in Uganda are both under educated and under paid. The plan is to address this problem with computers. I am not worried about teaching the children how to use the new technology, rather the teachers will present the most difficulty. Of course a stable source of electricity to power said computers would be nice.

Power check now: 156 volts.

Choir?

Eh! These kids can stab without even trying. Everyone in my family is musical with one significant exception. And now the students are asking the significant exception to organize a choir. Why can't they ask for something easy like a diesel motorcycle, a Beatles reunion tour or world peace?

Drums we can make... The St Fausta's Drum Choir? Look here for the latest!

Netball!

Need I say more?

What's this?

Teacher Catherine and her Primary One class. In this photo we see the future of St Fausta's and the future of Uganda.

And here we have Joseph and Jolly wearing current and vintage St Fausta's uniforms.

Both boys are Division I (close to straight A's) Jolly wants to be a pilot but for now is happy with a length of fishing line and hook. Tom and Huck.

More as bandwidth allows
Peace

Chicken anyone

Good food makes good minds. Chickens are a good way to to do a number of things in the garden as well as a good source of food for the children. to this end a hundred baby chicks, "broilers", were purchased and placed in a makeshift brooder in the Burser's home. Of course from chicks come chickens and they soon required fancier digs. Built by the secretary, Lovine, and Dr. Imelda the Principal, these are some pretty fancy digs. The roof is made of a layer of papyrus followed with a layer of plastic and another layer of papyrus. The floor is brick with a layer of plastic and wood chips/sawdust. And recycled planks for the walls.
This form of chicken raising is not a sustainable model but it is readily accepted by the people working on the chickens. As with all things ruled by momentum, slow incremental change is most effective.