A DREAM REALIZED IN UGANDA

The garden is planted. Well, the things that we can plant at this time, anyways. Their maize has to be harvested before we can plant the pineapples and apple-banana crops. There's more work to do with soil bands and irrigation channels ( to prevent soil erosion ), but at this point, there are ten avocado trees, ten mangoes, five orange trees, six banana trees, ten paw-paws (papaya trees), three raised beds with cabbage, kale and eggplant, plus the field is marked and measured for the pineapple suckers and apple-banana crop. Intermingled will be matoke, a type of banana plant that's commonly served as a main staple, and maize and beans in the remaining land.  Jane, our inspiring and deeply knowlegeable rep from Nogamu, an NGO dedicated to teaching organic farming techniques, was a great teacher and negotiator.  She conducted a meeting with the school leaders, and within minutes of concluding the meeting, we had shovels in the ground and were in non-stop motion for two incredibly 'fruitful' weeks at Buppala Primary School.  

The garden was made possible by a generous grant from SCA Corporation. They are deeply committed to sustainability, and this garden is intended to create a sustainable source of food and nourishment for generations of students at Buppala Primary School.

   None of this would have been possible without my Kampala-based engineer, Moses Bagonza Tindyebwe, and my tour guide and collaborator stateside, Joanne Trangle, the founder of Kuchanga Foundation. They do all of the negotiating, planning and arranging in Uganda, and they are the reason we've been able to be so successful.

        Surrounding the garden are our beautiful Peace Flags sponsored by REF.                                   They are magnificent. This incredible effort was coordinated by one of my former eighth grade students, Catherine Spence-Godin. She made me so proud. Her gentle spirit encouraged the children at Buppala Primary School, and Radnor Schools, and Valley Forge Middle School, the Gesu School in Philly, and in workshops with Radnor friends and family to experiment with color and create messages expressing their love and gratitude. If you know anyone who's looking for an inspiring art teacher, Catherine is beyond qualified and recently certified.

 

Tie dying was a thrilling experiment for these students, and the results speak for themselves. The school looks like a hippie encampment now.  The Peace Flags and the the tiles we erected two years ago are bright reminders of the potential of kids to create beautiful things.  When you look at the flags, it's often impossible to distinguish whether they were tie-dyed by a Buppala kid or a Radnor kid; a P3 student or an eighth grader.  Each flag is unique and perfect, and, altogether, you can't help but smile when you see them flying in the breeze.

 The images of the Buppala kids admiring the flags after they were hung speaks volumes. The flags look like jewels inviting the students into their garden. This was big.  Thank you, Radnor Educational Foundation, for sponsoring this collaborative outdoor art installation.   



 

There was a closing ceremony where the children sang and danced, and the community laughed as we tried to sing along: When we are born we have a learning mind, a learning mind, a learning mind. When we are born we have a learning mind. We always learn from our environment! There were words of gratitude, and I read the proclamation that Dr. Stevenson wrote, formally pronouncing Buppala Primary as our sister school. This was a deeply significant gesture; perhaps more than we realize. The villagers applauded and whooped several times as I read the framed document. They take us at our word: we are their family. Forever.   

Family means many different things to different people, and perhaps we use the term recklessly, but in Uganda, family is everything. We try to instill that value here at RMS, and sometimes we do a great job at it. This work with our pen pals is teaching me a great deal about what it means to take care of one another. The difference in the health of the children there is immediately visible since my last visit two years ago when we installed the latrine. Daily lunch has made a HUGE impact. Kids who were worryingly thin last visit look healthy now, and attendance has also improved. The headmaster says their ability to concentrate is also noticeably better.

Joanne's business is all about service coupled with adventure, and she makes sure to blend in thrilling excursions to beautiful sights around the country. We worked at the school during the week and stayed in a lovely hotel about a half hour away. It was a comfortable place with good food and plenty of Nile bee-uh and Fanta, and it was great to come back to the same spot. Our first weekend excursion we visited Sipi Falls, waking up in a banta on the side of a mountain to a breathtaking view. Then our guide Patrick led us up to the waterfalls on a rigorous hike that the locals scamper up and down on a daily basis.    

SIPI FALLS EXCURSION

 

 Afterwards, we made coffee by roasting the beans and shucking the shells in a tiny hut while the skies opened up.

 

There was a special little girl in this compound that Catherine fell in love with. It was heart wrenching. 

The second adventure was a white water rafting trip down the Nile. True to the Ugandan nature, we were well fed and cared for.

  After the second week of working with the Buppala School, we took off for a safari adventure at Murchison Falls National Game Park, then back to Kampala for a little shopping before our voyage back home.

Re-entry is always difficult, and I try desperately to hold on to some of what Uganda has given me. Last time I wanted to remember to practice patience, and this trip was a good reminder of that. This time I think I want to practice sustainability. I want to try to sustain this relationship, even though it's annoying sometimes, sort of like your family members, but you're stuck with them for life. My parents celebrated their 60th anniversary this summer, and they're a great model of sustainability for me. They make it look easy, though. I know this won't be easy, but I'm gonna try and stick it out, and I'm going to trust that when Anthony wrote a proclamation that said Buppala Primary is our sister school, he meant they're our family in the best sense of the word. So, I thank you for sharing this journey with me and our students and alumni and community, I beg you to help sustain the connection that hundreds of students and friends have initiated over the past five years, and as my daddy always proclaims at every family gathering, "L'chaim. To life!"

PEN PAL PROJECT FEATURED IN PHILLY INQUIRER!

Thank you, Art Carey, for capturing the heart of this project so eloquently!