Pleasure in Work

You can see the pleasure. It was so nice to see Jane today. Catching up with old friends is only part of the pleasure. Today the research team met to talk about their pilot interview study. We are adjusting the protocol and practice according to the pilot experiences. We will also be working to analyze the pilot data toward the end of this week and the beginning of next.  

The pilot study involved interviewing focus groups of 5 students in two schools across three grade designations (lower primary, middle primary, and upper primary). The aim of the study is to understand how the children conceptualize peace and non-peace, to hear what stories they are telling about peace, and to see how they are making sense of what they learning purposefully and what they are learning with less intention.

Jane is on this research team and she brought a lot of reflection to the meeting today. At one point she told the group she felt so humbled with the way the children opened up about their experiences. I was really touched with the way members of the research team talked about their experiences listening to the children.  Each of the members  reported that the children were quite frank and open and willing to talk.

They shared some of the responses and of course I am not going to write them all out here, but there are smattering of things that I think get me looking forward to the analysis. It was interesting to me how many children reported basic economic things as part of peace – like having enough food and being able to pay their school fees (the government schools are not free).  The children also said things like “When daddy greets mommy in the morning” and “when no one is quarrelling.” They seemed to be very aware of how people in the family treated one another, which is not a big surprise, but their analysis of it in terms of peace was quite astute.

The children shared traditional cultural stories of peace. These are new for me, but everyone else on the team was quite familiar with them.

They also related obedience to peace and keeping order, being polite as peaceful activities.  They had sad stories to tell about violence -- always riveting for someone like me who grew up in such a loving home.

I enjoyed hearing about team’s work on the pilot study. When I was here last February we drafted the study plan and interview protocol. Then, when Chalmer, my IUPUI colleague who started this project, was here in November they finalized the protocol. Then they conducted the interviews.  They talked a lot about the process. The need for more time to build rapport, for addressing language challenges, for honing the expectations of particular questions. They didn’t need me, but it was a pleasure to witness.

I met the Vice Chancellor (this is like the president or chancellor of the university). He is a new VC, only at Kyambogo for one month. James and I met with him and talked about the research, creating peace centers in key areas in the country, and developing a Ph.D. program.  He seemed very receptive and had some good ideas to share.  

Late in the afternoon I met with Nathan and David. Nathan is going to work on a Ph.D. from a university in western Uganda. The way the Ph.D. program works here, you write a concept paper to be admitted and you have to identify 2 Ph.D. faculty to guide you in your research. Then you get admitted, if that is successful. Then you prepare a proposal which gets defended. Then you do your dissertation research. When you are finished, the dissertation is sent out to external reviewers (2) for comments. This is followed by a public defense and hopefully a conferred degree. No coursework which is one of the struggles in terms of developing research expertise. Well, I am going to be one of Nathan’s two faculty and David will be the other. Nathan is going to study the topic of large classes (e.g. in the government schools it is common to have 40 – 50 kindergarten age students in one class).  I am pleased to be working with Nathan and David on this Ph.D. program.

Meeting up with Old Friends

Today was my first day in the department. I walked the long way, passed the music department so that I could stop in and say hi. I also greeted the Dean at the School of Psychology and Dr. Adupo, Dean of Arts and Sciences.

Most of the morning was consumed with a departmental meeting and then a very big luncheon. Lunch – pineapples, ground nuts, beans, rice, potatoes, bananas. YUM!

James is the new head of department and he chaired the meeting. The department has faced challenges lately, but they are once again feeling optimistic about making some progress with their goals. We spent a little bit of time talking about their needs and articulating goals for my visit. I will be giving a University wide lecture on research publishing next Wednesday. Otherwise we have not programmed out next week, but we did pencil together a schedule for this week. One thing I have learned through my work here is that flexibility with schedules is the norm. Tomorrow morning I will meet the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. After that, I will be meeting with the research team and anyone else who wants to learn a bit about doing research.

The afternoons have been designated as an opportunity for me to work one-on-one with faculty and staff. This afternoon that put me in contact with someone I had not met before – David. David is a part-time professor who only joined Kyambogo University this past semester. He has quite a lot of research experience and was very interesting. He will be moving to a department in a new university called Busitema University on the border with Kenya. He has not heard of action research, but his work definitely fits that approach in style. He said that in the 2000 following the passage of the universal primary education act in Uganda, there were some new schools opening for what Americans tend to think of as the middle grades. These schools were located at a distance from where children lived and so their parents would take them to the city and get an apartment for them to live in while going to this middle grades school. David was interested in studying the effects of living out of the family for these youngsters. He found that it was a disaster in terms of safety, sexual exploitation and all myriad of other problems, particularly bad for girls. The education result was high drop-out. David labored over what to do with these terrible findings and concluded that he should start a boarding school for girls in the area. He proudly talked about some of the girls who succeeded in earning their O levels and some even went on to become teachers. This school is still going.

His more recent research interests include examining the effects of the war on displaced families. He is interested in the resiliency and resolution of war-effects for people as they move into peace. Anyone interested in this kind of project should contact me so I can put you in contact with him.

Another project David is contemplating involves a problem at the border. Young people, men I believe, have dropped out of school to take odd, nefarious jobs on the border. David is interested in studying this group. He is interested in figuring out ways to address the challenges associated with these drop out decisions because he is, of course, interested in seeing changes in this phenomena. We spent quite a bit of time talking about how one might go about such a study.

Today at the meeting, I was able to spend a few moments talking with Mr. Okumu, former Department Chair, and friend. You can see him foregrounded in the picture below. I absolutely love the way Mr. Okumu talks, but I cannot at all express what it is like. It is not just the words, though he is quite eloquent. He has a poetic sense of humor and a bright smile. It was nice to see him. 

Settling in Ntinda

Kyambogo University is nestled between two distinct areas of Kampala, each with their own personality. One of those two areas is Ntinda. The apartment I am staying at is located between Ntinda and the University, giving me a nice walk each day. I want to describe Ntinda for you. First, I have to admit that the descriptions pale in comparison with the actual experience of the place. It is nearly impossible to describe the myriad of sounds and rich smells. Also, many of our words for poverty are pejorative and this makes it difficult to describe the visual scene and cultural context in a way that captures its richness.  Ntinda is a bustling shopping district. You can find almost anything you need (besides electronic and high tech stuff) in this area. There is one woman-owned cottage industry where the owner dyes her own fabric and sells it. I always return with about 4 yards of something from her. Last fall, I wore a dress I made of this fabric on the first day of school. Every time I visit there are new buildings in Ntinda.  This time I spotted a glass-sided building going in. From where I stay, at the extreme upper end of Ntinda road, there is about a mile distance to the main hub of the area. Also, every time I come there are improvements to the roads and the ditches (for draining the water during the rainy seasons).

 As I walked to Ntinda this morning, I was passed by a group of bicyclists - about 7 white people led by an African man. Huffing and puffing their way up the road. This was a new sight for me here.

On Sunday morning the busy Ntinda is at its calmest. Most people are in church and shopping does not really begin until after services. I walked up the road to get in my morning walk and to take a few pictures to share with you. The air was filled with singing. Beautiful, sweet singing. A myriad of churches in the area. 

 

One of the pictures I took this morning is of matooki – from the banana family. It is not sweet and has a consistency of thick mashed potatoes when cooked. Matooki is a staple in the Ugandan diet. I love it and it’s a good thing since it is served as part of almost every meal.

 

On this visit I will be cooking for myself for the first time. James stocked the kitchen with potatoes, onions, tomatoes, margarine, jelly, and ketsup. Sister Kaawha brought over lettuce, greens, beans, bananas, cabbage, avocado, and papaya. I guess I am set. It seems like more food than I could possibly eat.  I had planned on eating lunch out most days (not at Mr. Tasty – Meagan Call-Cummings take note), and only cooking a little in the evening… but these groceries inspire me.