My two weeks Teaching at NIAAD

Hey there.

So I just wanted to write a little recap of my time at NIAAD having just finished my last day teaching photography.

It has been a crazy experience in so many ways and I am really happy with what we have accomplished. I had 25 students and I did not meet with all of them each day which made it difficult at times. There were also language barriers. For two days when I was telling them small f-stop, small depth of field, opening (aperture) is opposite they thought I was saying opening is up side and never clarified it with me. The culture of school here is much different. They still call me Madam instead of Lauren and they are taught to be submissive in school. I was told that if a student raises their hand to answer a question it is seen as being a showoff and not acceptable. It took a week before there was real open conversation in the classes. I taught most days alone (without the other teacher they assigned to my class) which I preferred because I could be more encouraging and not grind the thought of commercial photography being their only way to make money with photography into them. I noticed it on their notes and then realized it was a wide spread issue.

Between the violence that paralyzed business in Kampala for a weekend, power outages, cost and horrible customer service at 2 of the 3 photo labs we have used it has been a challenge to get photos back I think this last batch that should have come back tonight will be good. Students have been working in pairs and have now been assigned a long term conceptual project for when I am north. We are going to meet the day before I fly home in November to look at all of the work. They all chose separate topics (like culture or family) and then met with me to discuss how they are going to convey these topics with 2 rolls of film. I quickly realized this is not a normal way of assigning things here, but I hope it will help them think about their work in a new way and give it a purpose and an outlet of self expression.

One thing they really enjoyed was light writing at night. There were two nights where I came back to where they stay after dark and we played with the bulb setting and light movement. The photos turned out great. you can see a progression of their thoughts and exploration. Towards the end they had 4 colors from putting flashlights behind plastic wash basins and plastic bags and they were using the flash to capture them and then the light movement. They really started understanding the shutter better too. We did it on my digital so they could see it immediately. We were all dancing and chasing each other. It was wonderful.

Most of them genuinely enjoyed the experience. Dr. Kizito let me know that some students told him that this workshop has been the best thing they have done in two years which was great to hear because the first few days they relayed information to the school that they were very frustrated and not getting it.

As for other updates Esther just wrote me an email and let me know she can not make it here until Sunday so I will be able to go rafting with 3 Israeli volunteers in Jinja this weekend. I had my schedule cleared for Lira, but this works great. The trip was supposed to be last weekend, but was cancelled due to the violence in Kampala and along the road to Jinja. Also, we has a little splurge meal in Kampala last night - Chinese food! I wanted something nice before I go North and away from the city.

I will keep you all posted as I can.
peace-
Lauren