Have you ever wondered why our summer
holidays are so long? The 6 week holiday was established during the Victorian
period when nearly 70% of the population earnt their income from the land. The
6 weeks enabled children to help their parents harvest crops ready for sale at
the market. Many school summer holidays are now being reduced to 4 weeks as
children are no longer required to help harvest crops.
In Uganda there is still an important link
between school holidays and the agricultural calendar. Pupils at Halcyon have
just returned from a three week holiday.
None have been on ‘holiday’ as such. I asked one of my pupils, Dan, what
a typical ‘holiday’ was like. Dan returned to his village (Over 80% of the
Ugandan population live in rural villages) to help his parents harvest their
Casava (an East African staple crop that looks like a turnip but tastes like
chalk) and ground nuts (pea nuts). Each morning his Dad ensured he woke early to
do his reading for school before prayers. Dan then helped his parents along
with his four siblings, harvest until lunch. As not all villages have bore
holes he and his brother walked the 5k to Serere to get water. After a week of
harvesting, the family re-ploughed the land before sewing in the new Casava and
ground nut seeds.
Dan gets to return to school with a tub of
ground nut paste which he will add to his beans to vary the taste. His parents
are able to take the crops to market and sell these at a profit as they have
not had to pay labourers to help with the harvesting.
It is a cultural norm to have many children
in Uganda. In fact Uganda has the fastest growing population in Africa. With
such low incomes and high education costs I have asked why this is the case.
Many attribute it to the need to gain help with harvesting. There are other
less economically motivated reasons but this one always crops up in
conversation.
The role of the child is very different
here to in the UK. Children are expected to look after their younger brothers
and sisters. Other than farming, they must take a far more active part in
domestic chores. During school holidays children take over selling at market
stalls and in shops. Children are also required to support their parents
financially once they have a job.
