Bruce's guide to orphans, toilets, and everythign else you didn't need to know!

Mar 18th

Into work early to get on with the primary census forms. Out of 106 primaries, only 11 have sent their forms in (or at least, only 11 have reached our office). They were supposed to be in at the end of January. Still, it’s a representative sample. Spend an exciting morning keying in data. By half past ten I’m the only person left in the office; everyone else has been and gone. Even Venantie announces she’s off to visit a Genocide memorial somewhere up north. After all the crowds of people in the office at the start of January, it feels like the Marie Celeste here.

I finish all the primary data, get started on the secondary sheets and then get hungry. Trouble is, it’s pouring with rain outside. The rainy season proper has definitely started, and it’s different from the dry season rains! In the dry season we have heavy thunderstorms which damage the crops; in the rainy season the rain is not so heavy but lasts a long time. I’m marooned in the office till mid afternoon, when the clouds start to break up.

Back home I play around with the data. Interesting things emerge. In all the 11 primary schools there’s not a single textbook in History, barely anything except the odd atlas in Geography. Maths and languages seem the only subjects which have resources. The average school has 23% of its pupils who are orphans – the schools I thought were exceptionally populated with orphans turn out to have below the average number. I still can’t get my head round this orphans thing. Maybe it is the effect of AIDS after all. Schools have up to half the total number of pupils in a particular year group who are repeating the year (usually in the younger classes and because they haven’t learned to read or write effectively during the year just past). The number of toilets ranges from 1 per 50 pupils in one place, to 1 per 200 in another. The number of children with special needs or recognised handicaps in the schools ranges from 0% to 4% - that means that most special needs children are still not being educated at all. There are a few special schools, for example in Gitarama where Karen is working, but in the rural areas I think the kids just have to do without school.

Boy, what a nerd I’ve become! Sorry to bore you with all this stuff. The other thing which strikes me is that barely a single census form, primary or secondary, has figures which add up. They’re all handwritten, covered in tippex and with crossings out all over the place. One has even forgotten to write in the name of the school; we work it out from its phone number. According to one secondary school, the entire place is devoid of books for either pupils or teachers.

In the evening I’m invited out with Cathie and Elson to eat a fish at the Secret Garden bar. As usual, we have to wait an hour or more for the fish to arrive (have they gone to Like Victoria to catch it?), but when it comes its delicious. Show Cathie the party photos and catch up on the latest news.

Best thing about today: being able to get on with working undisturbed.
Worst thing about today: I’m already bored with statistics after 2 days. Mind you, by the end of tomorrow I’ll have done all the primaries and secondaries which have sent in their stuff. I’m not going to bother with the maternelles.