Hi Friends!
Uganda is hot and dry right now, that equator is fierce! I hope you are all well and happy! I've been back at school at for nearly a month already. I've been working with Christine and nine other third graders the past few weeks. Sometimes I actually see progress, which is very rewarding, but quite often, it's simply a test of patience...which is why I suppose it's so good for me! We received more packages from another Aunt of mine... Aunties are sooo good! It was so fun watching the kid’s reactions to some of the things in the boxes. They love the pencils that have sayings or pictures on them, and especially the sparkly ones. Actually, it was the adult’s reactions that were most entertaining. They are just like the children when they see some of these unfamiliar things. The SPAM was the best, Meat in a Can?! Whoever heard of such things? They were surprised and very eager to try it. When I gave the secretary a can of it, she immediately opened it and dug her fingernail in to try a cold, slimy piece of it. She said it was very good, I told her it is much nicer when you heat it! They've never seen such things as a doggy pencil sharpener that sharpens when you crank his tail, but then again, who has?! The pencil pouches were snatched up by Teacher Beata, Teacher Chantel and the Bussar (School Secretary). They were the three that were in the office when I brought the boxes in, they are like vultures. They took the pencil boxes home to keep sugar and salt in. The other most entertaining thing was a bookmark that had a hologram picture of a cat; the cat is watching a heart on a string swing overhead. When you move the bookmark it looks like the cats head is moving back and forth following the heart. Oh, it was so good! Watching their faces, they were trying to figure out what was making it move. They touch the picture, they flip it over and look at the back. One kid even asked me if it was "my cat"?
While I was in Kabale I met Kenneth at his internet cafe. When I asked about some of the photos around the cafe, he told me about his "project" and the school that he started in his home village. He also told me about the famine that is currently occurring due to the crops being damaged by hail. They also have a beetle that is eating the matoke trees. The green banana is cooked and eaten like a potato, usually topped with beans. It is their staple, especially during the dry season. A water shortage on top of that and you get the little village of Ntungu. My ears perked at the words, "water shortage". He showed me some incredible photos of the kids on, "Ending the Water Crisis" day. He explained that many of these kids walk for hours each morning before school to fetch water. Now, in the dry season, they have to get up even earlier because the water dries up by the time the sun comes up. They rarely bathe because the precious water they do have is used for cooking. I told him I'd like to go visit the school.
The long, dusty journey began at 5 a.m. last Wednesday, or so I thought. The bus actually left at 7 a.m. Perfect, I hate sleeping anyway! Ha Ha! After a long and expensive adventure we arrived laden with goods on Thursday evening around 5 p.m. The children were just leaving school when we arrived, they were excited to see us and we told them we'd see them in the morning. We stayed at his parents’ home, a true village experience. No electricity, no water and no rats!!! No mosquito’s either! Don’t you just love it when you sit down to dinner at someone’s table and they ask, “Do you eat grasshoppers?” as they pass you a big pan of crispy, fried legless insects! Of course, I’d been warned that grasshopper season was coming and I’d seen them in the market, but I thought I had until November to build up my courage to actually eat them. “Sure, I eat grasshoppers!” Who doesn’t? I grab one and ignore the black eyeballs staring up at me. It’s actually really tasty, like a potato chip, crispy and salty.
The private taxi for the last stretch of the journey was fifty dollars, but we brought seven 50 kilo sacks of corn flour. It's the flour they use to make the posho dish, a tasteless paste, also served with beans. I couldn't supply for the entire village of 600 adults, but we brought enough to distribute a two kilo bag to each student. "It isn't much, but it's more than what they came to school with." Is what Teacher Olivier told me. As long as we had the car, we loaded it up. We brought books, pencils, pens, chalk, boxes and boxes of crayons, jump ropes, a ball, books, puzzles and even one of those famous beach ball globes. And, of course, a sweetie for each child. Thanks to so many of you for all that love and all those “goodies"! The school was shocking to say the least. They had 30 or more students squeezed into a classroom no bigger than most of our bathrooms at home. No desks, no tables, no chairs, just some old, tattered grass mats on the dirt floor. Dusty arms and legs were everywhere. The walls are small poles, or small logs and the roof is iron sheets. Each classroom has a small blackboard which is removed at the end of each day and locked in the staff room. There are some charts or posters on the walls and a few pictures that were colored by the kids. No food or porridge is served, so each of the 170 students carries his or her lunch to school. Many of them walk over an hour to get here. They are the sweetest, tiny little people; I can't imagine them walking for hours each day! Perched on top of a big, grassy hill overlooking the surrounding villages and matoke plantations is "Hilltop Nursery and Primary School". As I was touring the school and visiting the classrooms all six teachers were in the house filling the small plastic sacks with two kilos of posho flour from the 50 kilo sacks.
Uganda is hot and dry right now, that equator is fierce! I hope you are all well and happy! I've been back at school at for nearly a month already. I've been working with Christine and nine other third graders the past few weeks. Sometimes I actually see progress, which is very rewarding, but quite often, it's simply a test of patience...which is why I suppose it's so good for me! We received more packages from another Aunt of mine... Aunties are sooo good! It was so fun watching the kid’s reactions to some of the things in the boxes. They love the pencils that have sayings or pictures on them, and especially the sparkly ones. Actually, it was the adult’s reactions that were most entertaining. They are just like the children when they see some of these unfamiliar things. The SPAM was the best, Meat in a Can?! Whoever heard of such things? They were surprised and very eager to try it. When I gave the secretary a can of it, she immediately opened it and dug her fingernail in to try a cold, slimy piece of it. She said it was very good, I told her it is much nicer when you heat it! They've never seen such things as a doggy pencil sharpener that sharpens when you crank his tail, but then again, who has?! The pencil pouches were snatched up by Teacher Beata, Teacher Chantel and the Bussar (School Secretary). They were the three that were in the office when I brought the boxes in, they are like vultures. They took the pencil boxes home to keep sugar and salt in. The other most entertaining thing was a bookmark that had a hologram picture of a cat; the cat is watching a heart on a string swing overhead. When you move the bookmark it looks like the cats head is moving back and forth following the heart. Oh, it was so good! Watching their faces, they were trying to figure out what was making it move. They touch the picture, they flip it over and look at the back. One kid even asked me if it was "my cat"?
While I was in Kabale I met Kenneth at his internet cafe. When I asked about some of the photos around the cafe, he told me about his "project" and the school that he started in his home village. He also told me about the famine that is currently occurring due to the crops being damaged by hail. They also have a beetle that is eating the matoke trees. The green banana is cooked and eaten like a potato, usually topped with beans. It is their staple, especially during the dry season. A water shortage on top of that and you get the little village of Ntungu. My ears perked at the words, "water shortage". He showed me some incredible photos of the kids on, "Ending the Water Crisis" day. He explained that many of these kids walk for hours each morning before school to fetch water. Now, in the dry season, they have to get up even earlier because the water dries up by the time the sun comes up. They rarely bathe because the precious water they do have is used for cooking. I told him I'd like to go visit the school.
The long, dusty journey began at 5 a.m. last Wednesday, or so I thought. The bus actually left at 7 a.m. Perfect, I hate sleeping anyway! Ha Ha! After a long and expensive adventure we arrived laden with goods on Thursday evening around 5 p.m. The children were just leaving school when we arrived, they were excited to see us and we told them we'd see them in the morning. We stayed at his parents’ home, a true village experience. No electricity, no water and no rats!!! No mosquito’s either! Don’t you just love it when you sit down to dinner at someone’s table and they ask, “Do you eat grasshoppers?” as they pass you a big pan of crispy, fried legless insects! Of course, I’d been warned that grasshopper season was coming and I’d seen them in the market, but I thought I had until November to build up my courage to actually eat them. “Sure, I eat grasshoppers!” Who doesn’t? I grab one and ignore the black eyeballs staring up at me. It’s actually really tasty, like a potato chip, crispy and salty.
The private taxi for the last stretch of the journey was fifty dollars, but we brought seven 50 kilo sacks of corn flour. It's the flour they use to make the posho dish, a tasteless paste, also served with beans. I couldn't supply for the entire village of 600 adults, but we brought enough to distribute a two kilo bag to each student. "It isn't much, but it's more than what they came to school with." Is what Teacher Olivier told me. As long as we had the car, we loaded it up. We brought books, pencils, pens, chalk, boxes and boxes of crayons, jump ropes, a ball, books, puzzles and even one of those famous beach ball globes. And, of course, a sweetie for each child. Thanks to so many of you for all that love and all those “goodies"! The school was shocking to say the least. They had 30 or more students squeezed into a classroom no bigger than most of our bathrooms at home. No desks, no tables, no chairs, just some old, tattered grass mats on the dirt floor. Dusty arms and legs were everywhere. The walls are small poles, or small logs and the roof is iron sheets. Each classroom has a small blackboard which is removed at the end of each day and locked in the staff room. There are some charts or posters on the walls and a few pictures that were colored by the kids. No food or porridge is served, so each of the 170 students carries his or her lunch to school. Many of them walk over an hour to get here. They are the sweetest, tiny little people; I can't imagine them walking for hours each day! Perched on top of a big, grassy hill overlooking the surrounding villages and matoke plantations is "Hilltop Nursery and Primary School". As I was touring the school and visiting the classrooms all six teachers were in the house filling the small plastic sacks with two kilos of posho flour from the 50 kilo sacks.
The school has just six classes, Baby class thru Primary 3.
Baby class is more-or-less daycare without projects! They begin at two-and-a-half years old. They sing songs, they play on the playground and they sit in the dusty classroom all day long.
Middle class is 3-4 year olds
Top class is 4-5 year olds. After that, they start first grade. It is not uncommon to repeat grades, so when I walk into top class and there's a kid almost as tall as me standing next to a four year old, it's a little surprising at first.
P1: First Grade
P2: Second Grade
P3: Third Grade
Baby class is more-or-less daycare without projects! They begin at two-and-a-half years old. They sing songs, they play on the playground and they sit in the dusty classroom all day long.
Middle class is 3-4 year olds
Top class is 4-5 year olds. After that, they start first grade. It is not uncommon to repeat grades, so when I walk into top class and there's a kid almost as tall as me standing next to a four year old, it's a little surprising at first.
P1: First Grade
P2: Second Grade
P3: Third Grade
The 150 students that were present formed a huge
circle in
the big, grassy sloping hillside that they call their playground. They
invited
me to the middle of the circle, first we did the hokey-pokey and they
enjoyed
watching me do it more than anything. Then, I handed out the goodies,
they
“ooooohed” and “aaaaawed” over the school supplies, they screeched at
the ball,
the jump ropes and the dumdum sweeties, but the highlight was, by far,
the
posho. I tried to picture the kids at home lining up to receive two
kilos of
flour to take home. They quickly formed the straightest line. They were
quiet
and patient with all eyes on the posho as they eagerly waited for their
bag.
They had just eaten their lunches under the big, shady trees. They
kneel, like a genuflect and say "thank you" when they get their bag.
They carried the
sacks around with them like babies, some of them on their heads, others
cradling it in their arms. They were shouting and singing when we
squeezed in
the “courtyard” between the classrooms for an assembly. They thanked me
and
they sang for me. I thanked them for
being so welcoming and for being such good and hardworking students, then I
sang for them. Just as I was wondering how the rest of the school day would
pass without the thin plastic bags tearing open they start waving good-bye to
me. The barefoot little ones hug my legs and scurry off up the trail. School
was dismissed around 2:30 that day! It was a sad, beautiful, confusing and
amazing few days. I'll let the pictures do some of the talking!
The e-mail from Kenneth a few days ago:
I have been thinking about this since this term start, if you did not come along our way, i would be closing the project by now.... i thank God who brought you to Uganda and thanks for your much support for this term. Words of appreciation are coming from all sides, children, community, local leader and the church.
Here I am getting the praise for your hard-earned money again, so I thought I'd pass it on! We have improved the lives of many today my friends! In a couple of weeks, I’ll be going back to Hilltop and this time I’ll bring with me a 5,000 liter water tank! The transport will be a large cost for this project, but don’t worry…that truck will be loaded to the gills!
The e-mail from Kenneth a few days ago:
I have been thinking about this since this term start, if you did not come along our way, i would be closing the project by now.... i thank God who brought you to Uganda and thanks for your much support for this term. Words of appreciation are coming from all sides, children, community, local leader and the church.
Here I am getting the praise for your hard-earned money again, so I thought I'd pass it on! We have improved the lives of many today my friends! In a couple of weeks, I’ll be going back to Hilltop and this time I’ll bring with me a 5,000 liter water tank! The transport will be a large cost for this project, but don’t worry…that truck will be loaded to the gills!
“Never doubt that a
small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. In fact, it
is the only thing that ever has.
–Margaret Mead
Today I am hobbling, but just a little. A 6,000 ft. descent did a number on my thighs! Mt. Muhabura was incredible. The greenery up there blew me away. I thought a 13,000 ft. (4,127 m) volcano would be full of big, black volcanic boulders, like the roads in Kisoro. But it was green all the way up to the top. It looked like desert shrub with giant Acadia trees and wildflowers with names like, "red hot pork". That mystical equator, working it’s magic again!
Today, although I am walking like an 87 year old, I am enjoying turning 37; my God I'm blessed and lucky. People tell me I’m getting VERY old. The average life expectancy is just 53 years old here.
Today I am hobbling, but just a little. A 6,000 ft. descent did a number on my thighs! Mt. Muhabura was incredible. The greenery up there blew me away. I thought a 13,000 ft. (4,127 m) volcano would be full of big, black volcanic boulders, like the roads in Kisoro. But it was green all the way up to the top. It looked like desert shrub with giant Acadia trees and wildflowers with names like, "red hot pork". That mystical equator, working it’s magic again!
Today, although I am walking like an 87 year old, I am enjoying turning 37; my God I'm blessed and lucky. People tell me I’m getting VERY old. The average life expectancy is just 53 years old here.
Here's to life and to being loved!
Here's to being Grateful, grateful and grateful!
Loving you,
Bonnie
“I am not bound to
win, I am bound to be true.
I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have.” –Abraham Lincoln
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