Gayaza....

I am a Gayaza girl. For those who do not know what Gayaza is, it's a pity but let me explain. Gayaza High School was set up in 1905 for the daughters of the kings, princes and officials - in other words, nobles. Gayaza has produced some of Uganda's most respected women in many professions especially medicine, education and law. It's the 'unofficial' rule that Gayaza girls will marry Budonians from Kings' College Budo (Kings' College Budo was where the sons of nobles went to school) Luckily, my hubby is a Budonian :-) I will stop myself from saying any more because I could go on forever.....

I was in Gayaza from 2000 to 2005. I hated it while I was there. It was far away from home. It was full of girls and some of them were really mean. It had a gazilion rules. We had to wear some really ugly dresses. it was rare to have something exciting happen. Get the picture? I was not a happy camper.

After I left the school a new headmistress was appointed. And boy is she cool!!!!!!!!! She was the deputy headmistress while I was there but I really wish she had been the headmistress.

Last weekend we had dinner with her and few friends and she told us about all the crazy but wonderful changes she is making in the school and I wanted to turn back the hands of time. We had a really good time.

And because we had a good time I decided to join my best friend (or rather Kahini - which is a story for another time) and go down to see good old Gayaza High School.
The Gayaza Performing Arts (GAPA) were being held. This is a competition between the eight dormitories for the top spot in music dance and drama. The eight dormitories are Sherborne, Ham & Apollo, Hutchinson, Kennedy, Corby, Kivebulaya, Cox and Rhoda Nsibambi. I was in Kennedy House and my best friend was in Sherborne House.

We had a very good time. The school has changed- for the better. And I think it has a lot to do with the new headmistress. (Those of you who were with me in school know exactly what I mean.) I got to watch Kennedy house doing their folk dance- Bwola dance and I enjoyed it. Here are some snapshots...

We also watched Corby house do their folk dance - Gazeh dance. Ham & Apollo did the Kinyarwanda dance.

Gazeh dance

Kinyarwanda dance

Even the teachers got up to dance!

At the end of the day, Kennedy House was in the 6th position (sob) and Sherborne was in the 3rd position.

In Gayaza there was/is a punishment tree. If a teacher wanted to punish you for doing something wrong they could choose to tell you to stand under the punishment tree. The aim was for you to feel ashamed because it faces the staff room so all the teachers and any visitors can see you. The punishment tree that was there while I was in school was cut down because (in my opinion and that of several others) it had borne too many sins over the last century and simply could not take any more. So now there is a new punishment tree. It is much cuter than the previous one. The one before it had thorns and hardly any leaves - it was a real punishment tree. Behold, the new punishment tree....

Cute huh?

Good old Gayaza. Even though it was a tough 6 years, I'm proud to be an Old Girl! Never Give Up!