Hello friends. I have so much to share, and the connection here is uncertain, but I will try to fill you in on where I am and how our project is progressing. Right now, I'm in a hotel outside of the village where Bupala School is. Soon, we will take a taxi full of men, women, children, babies & chickens into the town of Idudi where we will hire a boda-boda (a motorcycle) to drive us to the village. We pass little compounds with families and goats and cows...and when they see white ladies they laugh and wave. "Mazungu! Mazungu!" they holler....white lady, white lady! The school is a good distance from town, and many of the children have never seen a white person before.
The children crowd around to welcome us, they shake our hands and giggle. Some take a while to decide if they are brave enough to touch our hands. This is an extremely poor area. There are about 500 students in this school, and for many of them, going to school means going without food all day. Their school day goes from 7:30 until 5:30. This is difficult to describe, but their teachers are trying to encourage the kids to learn what is required to pass the national exams - something like our PSSAs -but there are no textbooks or resources. Some classes meet under a tree without even a chalkboard. I can't imagine how they manage.
The latrine is lovely. Yesterday the tiles were being put up. The head teacher held the tiles up and explained that they were made by you because you love us. There's a lot of love here. While people may be poor and hungry, they are magnanimous with their joy. They wave and smile with no hesitation, and when they claim to be your friend, they mean it...there is no cynicism here.
There's so much need here that determining how we can best help Bupala and Mirembe Schools is the next challenge. I have some ideas that we will explore when I return, but there is no doubt that these are our sister schools, and we have so much to share. Here in Uganda, people take care of one another and older siblings are primary care-takers, so we need to do what we can to take care of our sisters and brothers here.
Tomorrow from noon to three is 'a commissioning' for the new latrine. I think it's a big party. I just requested that we be able to feed everyone something. These kids are hungry...that's so hard to witness. These occasions are full of official speeches and welcomings and closing remarks...and drumming and dancing and ululating (look that one up on you.tube!) . In any case, I am humbled by their appreciation and I am honored to represent our pen pals and Radnor and Hollywood and America. We have so much to learn from our friends here, and so much love to share. So, I bid you farewell and send you my love and gratitude. Be well, and I can't wait to tell you more!
The children crowd around to welcome us, they shake our hands and giggle. Some take a while to decide if they are brave enough to touch our hands. This is an extremely poor area. There are about 500 students in this school, and for many of them, going to school means going without food all day. Their school day goes from 7:30 until 5:30. This is difficult to describe, but their teachers are trying to encourage the kids to learn what is required to pass the national exams - something like our PSSAs -but there are no textbooks or resources. Some classes meet under a tree without even a chalkboard. I can't imagine how they manage.
The latrine is lovely. Yesterday the tiles were being put up. The head teacher held the tiles up and explained that they were made by you because you love us. There's a lot of love here. While people may be poor and hungry, they are magnanimous with their joy. They wave and smile with no hesitation, and when they claim to be your friend, they mean it...there is no cynicism here.
There's so much need here that determining how we can best help Bupala and Mirembe Schools is the next challenge. I have some ideas that we will explore when I return, but there is no doubt that these are our sister schools, and we have so much to share. Here in Uganda, people take care of one another and older siblings are primary care-takers, so we need to do what we can to take care of our sisters and brothers here.
Tomorrow from noon to three is 'a commissioning' for the new latrine. I think it's a big party. I just requested that we be able to feed everyone something. These kids are hungry...that's so hard to witness. These occasions are full of official speeches and welcomings and closing remarks...and drumming and dancing and ululating (look that one up on you.tube!) . In any case, I am humbled by their appreciation and I am honored to represent our pen pals and Radnor and Hollywood and America. We have so much to learn from our friends here, and so much love to share. So, I bid you farewell and send you my love and gratitude. Be well, and I can't wait to tell you more!
