How Uganda has Changed Me

When you compare and Ugandan 5th grader and an American 5th grader you quickly realize that there are many similarities, but then some glaring differences. I found the children in Uganda to be very light hearted and playful. When we played soccer they were competitive, worked hard, and lax on the rules. The Ugandan children did not really question your decisions, they would execute orders and make strategies come to life.

After three weeks of American soccer practice I am experiencing a different scenario. The boys are still playful, but not nearly as light hearted. They seem to carry a greater burden on their shoulders, the ability to be goofy and joke around just is not quite there. They have a more serious tone to their competitiveness, they want to win. And that is a big difference, the Ugandan 5th graders found pride in their ability to compete with the 7th graders and to put up a good fight, the American 5th graders only would see their failure to win. I find this to be a stark difference in the expectation that each group has...I believe the Ugandans had much more fun playing soccer than my American boys do and that is having a profound affect on how I am approaching them.

I have become a lot more playful. I've always participated in practice with the boys here, I believe that everything I have them do I should do the same. They desperately want to beat me, so now I've been letting them come a little bit closer that I normally would. At one point, I had the kids tell jokes at practice. Sometimes just kidding around helps bond the players together, practice doesn't just have to be practice. I want to lighten them up. 

After spending so much time with the Ugandan kids I've come to appreciate more that my boys are still kids. That changes your perspective of them. If you look at the picture to the left you will notice one boy is wearing a glow in the dark t-shirt...they are kids. I know this seems like a silly realization, but honestly I now want them to have more fun. They need to have more fun.

My roommate went to Africa the same time I went, but she went to Nambia. It is strange listening to her experience and realizing how different our two trips were. She went on safari and saw all sorts of animals and slept in a tent. This sounds really neat, but her perspective of the Africans was very different. She saw what you may expect from a Unicef commercial, she saw the poverty. Meanwhile I was exposed to a different Africa, I experienced a land where the people are mostly farmers, they are exceptionally open and friendly, and they are not necessarily in poverty, though they do not have a great deal. I felt like I experienced Uganda for what it is, I had the opportunity to see them in their world...not so much the tourist world. My perspective has changed, this experience will surely affect my teaching of Africa in history class.