Teaching at Tumaini Lutheran University

One hundred eighty students in a class, no text books, minimal computer access, and no audio-visual aids: that pretty much sums up the first class I taught here. Within two weeks, the administration had allowed me to divide the class into two separate sections, each meeting twice a week. Many of the students had managed some computer access. And I had been given a blackboard.

Teaching here is full of challenges I'd not experienced before. I teach six sessions per week, four in first year Communication Skills and one in second year Research Methods, both in the Department of Law. That's a total of 315 students. Although each class meets twice per week for 90-minute sessions, they all meet at different times and in different rooms. To explain, that means Monday at 9:30 (102) in CH, Tuesday at 8:00 (102) and 3:30 (211) in CH, Wednesday at 12:30 (102) in MPR, and Friday at 8:00 (211) in CH and 3:30 (102) in MPR. Confused? There are still days even now near the ending of the semester when Russ and I look at each other and say, "Which class am I going to?"

So much is different from the American experience:
1. A baccalaureate degree here is three years of study.
2. Law is an undergraduate degree from a regular university with a compensory fourth year added on by the government before being certifitied to practice.
3. A semester is fourteen weeks long, but no one attends classes the first two weeks because of the registration period.
4. Three sets of holidays are observed by cancelling classes: Christian, Muslim, and national. That cuts the length of a semester by another two weeks, minimum. To complicate it further, some Muslim holidays are decreed by the moon the night before they happen, so you may not know more than a few hours in advance that classes are cancelled.
5. Students cannot generally afford to buy text books. Mostly we teachers rely on books from the Tumaini Library collection, especially those in multiple sets. In some cases, my students only have to share with six others! In other cases, we rely on their ability to check out a book and photocopy what they need.
6. Sometimes there are chalkboards in the classrooms for lecture notes. Sometimes the boards mysteriously disappear. It's Africa.
7. Tumaini has some projectors that can be checked out and used for power point presentations so long as you have your own computer and keyboard. However, between the lack of screens, the frequency of power outages, and broken machines, it's not advisable to rely on this method of delivery.
8. If students fail or miss an exam, even a final exam, they can schedule themselves for a supplemental. If they fail or miss the supplemental, they can schedule a second supplemental. Etc. The result is that there are students still enrolled and even graduating who have almost never attended class and have virtually failed all their exams, but because of money or family connections or other extenuating circumstances, they "succeed."
9. There is a fairly generous loan program from the government. However, there is leniency in checking financial records. Hense, its possible for students to get both tuition money from their parents and a loan from the government. ( The extra money finds its way into entertainment, clothing and electronic devices, not textbooks.)

In spite of all this, I like teaching here. For the most part, students in university here have the same hopes and dreams as students everywhere. They're eager, enthused, and wanting an education. They'd like a chance to make their world better. In a population where malaria and tuberculosis still claims too many (I get daily notices about students missing class because they're in hospital) and where there's a 16% infection rate for HIV/AIDS (almost daily is the notice about funeral attendance), life is appreciated. In addition, there aren't enough jobs to go around, and the reality is that many Tumaini graduates won't find positions in anything but menial jobs (although Tumaini's employment success is better than most).

A singular experience I had yesterday might sum things up. At the end of the period, I returned a group of papers I'd just finished grading. Several young men were unsatisfied with their results--and well they should have been; they'd done very poorly--and they began arguing for a chance to do the assignment over again. I refused, but they kept badgering me, hounding me at every turn, giving me all the excuses they could manufacture for why they'd failed and demanding they be given higher grades. I stayed firm, even though I'd begun to feel that they were becoming threatening in nature. I can't say I was frightened, but I was unnerved. My walking out of the classroom finally broke the tension. Once outside I heard a chorus of male voices behind me, "Madam. Excuse me. Madam." When I turned to see who it was, there were about a dozen other young fellows from the class who surrounded me. "Madam. We just want to tell you thank you for being firm. Those guys didn't work hard. They didn't do the assignment, and they didn't deserve another chance. We appreciate you."