Hello again everyone!
Thank you all, sincerely, so much. I am amazed and truly touched by your overwhelming response to my request for help. We have not only bought a water tank for these children, but thanks to your amazing generosity, we may even be providing a water tank, or some other major necessity for another school or orphanage! I've found it's better to buy them something tangible, something they can use for a long time into the future, rather than to give them money. It always seems to end up in the wrong persons pocket if I give cash, not helping the kids at all. Corruption is the name of the game here!
I must admit that I feel a little selfish receiving all the glory for your hard-earned money! I wish I could share with you the joy and the goosebumps I have experienced by the reactions here. Their gratitude and appreciation are so humbling and sentimental it is unbelievable. I will definitely send photos as the project progresses.
Because the world is so small, I spent the past week and a half visiting a friend from Alaska, who just happens to spend half of the year here, in Uganda. Rick spends half the year in Alaska and the other half in Fort Portal and is married to an incredible Ugandan woman, Priscilla. It was really nice to get on a crowded bus again and travel ten hours wondering if my legs and my feet were still down there in the darkness with the chickens under the seat and to see more new, beautiful scenery. We drove through The Queen Elizabeth National Park, I strained my eyes hoping to see elephants, but was only rewarded with a herd of African buffalo and a herd of Cob. The cob is a type of antelope, the male standing majestically next to the road with his two massive horns standing straight up on his head was a real reminder of where I am...in case the chaos, noise and colors of the world around me weren't enough of a reminder!
It was so good to visit with Rick and Priscilla and their incredibly friendly family. It was especially good to see a Muzungu's African home. Everything was neat, orderly and clean! They even had counter tops to work on in the kitchen. Ava is often shredding cabbage, or chopping onions on the floor! In addition to their cookhouse outback, where Mary, the maid, cooks over a fire they also had a kitchen in the house! When Priscilla wanted to make us dinner, she could continue to visit with us. Of course in the house they had a gas stove to cook on. The best part was the bathroom! Not only did they have a regular toilet, but the shower area was enclosed with a little lip built with bricks around the bathing area and even a shower curtain! The water stayed in that space instead of getting the entire bathroom floor and toilet wet! So simple, so sensible! I had a bucket of steamy hot water to bathe with every single night...pure delight. No burnt rice floating in...just clean, hot water! Mary, Priscilla and Valley laughed at Rick and I for needing hot water to bathe with, they "like" cold water! Of course the greatest pleasure was being able to talk as fast as I wanted and not having to repeat myself over and over and over again to be understood. Even better than that was having someone who is as against rats in the house as I am! I can get used to showering with geckos, I can even get used to finding jiggers embedded in my skin and needing to dig them out with a pin and a razor blade. But I cannot get used to living with RATS! A few nights before I left Kisoro I woke to the sound of a rat gnawing on my mattress. When I shone my flashlight on it, I heard it scamper off. The next morning I found one little rat turd on the bed right next to my pillow. Rick has a "no rat tolerance" in his home. In addition to their incredible hospitality and kindness...that I appreciated!! Thank You Rick and Priscilla...you are amazing.
So, here I am back in Kisoro. The heat of Fort Portal, which sits very near the equator is replaced with the cold, wet mountain air of Kisoro, which sits at 6,200 ft (1,890 meters) surrounded by volcanoes. The day before I left for Fort Portal I purchased the six bags of cement that is needed to build the platform that the water tank will sit on. I must admit, I didn't have very high expectations of any progress while I was gone. Much to my surprise and delight...I was wrong! They have completed the platform! We are on our way to providing water for the children of Amazing Grace!
It seems there are some questions and concerns about the water tank, how we will fill it, maintenance of the tank and life here in general. So here goes....
The water tank is a 10,000 liter enclosed tank that is designed to catch rain water. We shouldn't need to clean it or sanitize it. The gutters, which we are also providing, will run directly into the top of the tank. Other than the gutters coming into the top of the tank it is completely enclosed to keep debris out. The tank will have a tap at the bottom where they can fill their vessels. It rains almost every day so the water will be used and replenished regularly. June, July and August are the dry months and they will have to buy their water, like they do now, for those months from the city water line. The hope is that this tank will provide them with water for nine months out of the year for free. They do have to boil it before using it, but they also have to boil the water that comes out of the city line before using it. So the firewood expense for boiling the water will be the same as it is now.
A few other questions:
How big is Kisoro? Where do you get this tank stuff from? The estimated population is 12,900. So, it's not exactly a village, more like a small town. There are many shops here. There's even two shops that sell the water tanks, they may have to order and ship it from Kampala, which is about a ten hour drive. That cost is included in the price they quoted me. Which is 4 million Ugandan Shillings, or about $1500. U.S. dollars.
Where do I go for internet? There's about five different internet cafe's in town. I have tried them all and I've found the fastest one in town! I pay about $1./hour...I've been here for about three hours now...I think it's time to go!!
Is there electricity? Yes, Kisoro has electricity although it usually goes out when it rains, when the wind blows...etc.! I'd say about two or three nights a week the power goes out for some reason or another. Many of the small villages that I've visited do not have power. Sometimes they have a generator in a shop and you can take your phone there and pay them to charge it. It's a business, that's how they pay for their fuel for their generator. Other than phone charging, people don't really use electricity in those villages. Just like at home...EVERYONE has a cell phone, that is every adult!
How do I bathe? Ava, the hardworking maid that I live with heats water on the fire for me every day. I mix the hot water with some cold water in a basin and I take a bird bath! First I dunk my head in to wash my hair, then I splash water on the rest of me and work my way down as I scrub-a-dub-dub!
Is their toilet paper? Yes, there's toilet paper for sale in the shops. If you use a public restroom at a restaurant or at a bus stop there is never toilet paper provided, nor is their ever soap or a towel to wash and dry your hands. I always carry toilet paper with me in my backpack.
What are the toilets like? Well, some of the toilets are regular toilets like we have at home. Mostly though the toilets are a hole in the floor that you squat over and aim. Most people have an "outdoor" toilet. It's like an outhouse, but instead of a seat there is a hole in the floor that you hover over and aim. You can imagine some of those are pretty dirty and smelly, often the hole is missed and you have to be very careful where you step! When that's the case, I prefer to just pee outside, the problem is you never know where there might be a person...people come wandering out of the bushes all the time!
Am I eating enough? Yes! Absolutely! I never imagined I'd be eating so well while in Africa! For the most part people eat two times a day. It's a lot of work preparing a meal, making a fire and cooking over it is not a simple, or a quick task. There's no microwave to heat up leftovers and there's also no refrigerator to store leftovers in. People don't really buy snacks, cookies, or crackers. All the food they eat comes from the ground, which means it usually needs to be cleaned and cooked, so there isn't much snacking. When it's meal time you eat and you eat a lot! When I see peoples plates I often think of my brothers when we were kids. We'd be out making firewood all day, then we'd come in to eat and their plates would look like mountains, the food was piled so high. This is how the plates often look here. At home it was potatoes and gravy mountains. Here, it's rice and bean mountains, or posho and bean mountains. I remember wondering how they could possibly eat so much...I wonder the same thing here. "How can that tiny lady eat all that food?" She's been doing physical labor all day, digging in the fields, or hauling water, splitting firewood...that's how! I recently met a man who has twenty children...that's right TWENTY children! He has two wives and twenty children. When I asked him how he could possibly feed that many children, he said, "food is not the problem, food is free, we grow it all, the problem is school fees"! So...there you have it, that's how it's possible for African's to have so many children, food is free, it grows on trees! The problem is school fees! Another great thing about visiting Rick was that we had a variety of foods to eat. We had pasta, Ugandan-style pizza and soup! What a nice treat! Did I mention I enjoyed that visit immensely?!
Packages:
When I told the 7th grade girls that some friends from America wanted to send them packages, I asked them if their was anything they wanted, their requests were very simple. They wanted soap, jump ropes, pens and pads. I said, "how about some sweets?" They jumped up and down and squealed with delight at that idea! I am including the address of the school, feel free to send packages, however be warned, the packages my sister sent were over two hundred dollars for shipping! Granted I don't know if she sent bricks for the water tank platform or what but be warned...shipping is hefty! I figured soap would get pretty heavy to ship, so WE have bought two cases of soap for them. If you have little hotel bars of soap that you've been collecting and you're ready to retire your collection feel free to send them, otherwise I can buy soap here! I know there are already a few packages on their way here with balls, crayons, cards, pens, etc. They will be ecstatic to receive these packages and so will I! Any school supplies would be really useful, also clothes of any size will easily find a home here. Toys are not very practical, they'll be lost/broken in no time and there's so many kids...
Please keep in mind I will be here for about two more months, after that I will be at an Orphanage. There will also be a great need for your love, goodies and support there. If you'd like to wait until then, we can spread out our love and goodness to more children.
Amazing Grace Pre and Primary School
P.O. Box 290 Attn. Bonnie Bzdok
Kisoro, Uganda AFRICA
If you have other questions, let me know and I will answer them as best I can!
Love, love and hugs to all!
Keep on living and Givin'
Bonnie
He is Risen, He is Risen! Enjoy the Celebration and enjoy the MEAT!!
p.s. have you hugged your hot water heater today?!
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