First week of "lectures"

First off, sorry to all of those frequent readers (I’m assuming this group is composed solely by my mom) for such a long time between posts. This last week has been especially bad for writing due to a combination of electricity issues, internet crashes, and numerous small projects. Hopefully I’ll catch up a little in the upcoming few weeks!

My classes officially began last Monday (Sep 15); I reported to campus, not knowing what classes I was supposed to take or when they would be held and was pleasantly surprised to find that a class schedule had been posted. My first class was scheduled for 10:00 that day, but when I arrived for that class, there was only one other student there, who informed me that the professor and everyone else probably wouldn’t be coming. This, as I would find out, appropriately foreshadowed the upcoming days.

I was supposed to have two classes the next day, but I had been given the opportunity to spend the day in the Luwero District – about 50 miles north of Kampala – where a jatropha project was being implemented by VEDCO. Jatropha is a plant that is known for its ability to grow rapidly and in arid areas. The most exciting aspect about jatropha is that the oil obtained by pressing the seeds can be used directly in a diesel engine. There are definitely some technical issues that still need to be resolved with the plant – especially finding a way to increase plant yield and make harvesting more efficient – but jatropha has potential to make a huge impact in biofuels in the upcoming years, especially in developing countries. Anyway, I’m getting away from the theme of this post; I will probably do another post in the future about jatropha and some of the other energy projects with which I’m helping. The Tuesday jatropha visit was very interesting, but highlighted some of the challenges of implementing a jatropha project.

I came back to campus early on Wednesday so I could make it to my 8:00 lecture on time. Instead, I found the same student in the classroom, who informed me that we probably wouldn’t have classes that day, we hadn’t had any classes the day before, and we probably wouldn’t have any classes for the rest of the week. All I could do was laugh and think to myself, ‘TIA…’

I was back to the office on Thursday to work on setting up some of my research, and to double-check on the scheduled lectures. Once again, it was just me and the same classmate, Petros from Ethiopia, sitting in the classroom. Petros, however, informed me that we would be having a lecture the next day. This was going to be a special lecture given by a visiting from Norway (not from a professor who was supposed to be teaching one of our courses).

On Friday, September 19, nearly one month after I had first anticipated starting classes, I had my first lecture at Makerere University. It was an improvised/off-the-cuff lecture since the professor’s laptop was out of commission with 200+ viruses, and it covered several random topics, mainly revolving around the use of hydroelectricity in Norway. Let the studies begin! …maybe.

To cap off the first week (and every week thereafter for this semester), I had a lecture scheduled for 9:00 am on Saturday. The professor, naturally, didn’t show, but I came to campus and did some work just in case. Average for the first week of lectures: 1 out of 8 = .125, with the 1 coming from a pinch hitter (can you tell I miss baseball?).

So you’re probably wondering why lecturers/professors don’t come to class, right? Good question. I don’t know the exact reasons, but here are a few of the things that I’ve gathered:

• What I experienced was by no means an isolated event; it seems that the first few weeks of classes rarely happen. Beyond that it is just as likely for lecturers to skip class as it is for students
• Lecturers/professors at Makerere (and Africa in general) get paid a lower relative wage than those in the U.S. This means that many of them have jobs beyond their work at the university, typically some type of consulting.
• Funding in general is lacking at Makerere. Many of the buildings have deteriorated due to inadequate upkeep. There are some pockets of investment that are impressive, but overall, there is much to be done to improve Makerere. And dilapidated buildings & technology naturally have more problems that slow things down even more (i.e. electricity and internet issues that I’ve been dealing with every day).
• To say that things are unorganized over here would be the understatement of the century. For example, I don’t think our Monday lecturers even knew they were supposed to give a lesson on the first day of classes because the class schedule came out so late.
• My program is still very new (this is the first time these courses have ever been taught), so there are plenty of logistical problems that are being ironed out as we go.

Makerere is touted as the Harvard (or Oxford) of Africa. That may be stretching it, but for all of its shortcomings, the people at the university have been very impressive. There definitely are some top-notch professors here and some programs that are very well known. Although my program didn’t get off on the right foot, I’m still optimistic that it will turn out to be a very rewarding experience. Everyone I’ve talked to has only had good things to say about it, and since the program is funded by a Norwegian University and coordinated with two other universities in Addis Abbaba and Dar Es Salaam, it can bypass many of the problems that can hamper other Makerere programs. And, honestly, I didn’t choose Africa for a host country due to the academic rigor I might receive. I still consider myself lucky for finding this program in the first place!


Cheers!
Chris


Pic: The new Faculty of Technology building. Looks pretty nice doesn’t it? It should be finished just in time for me to miss getting to have any classes in it :)


Pic: This is where I get to hang out every day…let’s call in “homely”