WEEK IN MASULIITA

On Monday October 22 Jolly and I drove to the school property and arrived late in the afternoon.  We got settled into the guest house, and then walked around the property.  Mummy Sophie who looks after the abandoned babies had arranged supper for us and then we had an early night.  Uganda is on the equator so the sun always sets at 7:00 pm and rises at about 6:00 am.

The guest house pictured below is wonderful and provides us with a room, bed and an actual toilet.  JNFC was able to provide the paint necessary to paint the inside of the whole building.  A toilet has always been my number one request because until now we stayed in the village (with a 45 minute walk to the school) in a similar building but with pit toilets and no lighting so you can imagine how night time visits went. :(  We purchased those miner's lights and wore them on our heads...not a pretty sight!  We cook on a propane burner and boil water for everything - dishes, bathing, drinking, cooking etc.  Jolly and I had fun making spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and other vegetables.

I woke up at 6:30 on the Monday morning to the sounds of children laughing and playing.  I dressed and went outside to find children in their school uniforms assembling for school.  All of the children gather by 7:30 for morning devotions which means lots of vibrant singing, drumming, prayer, and then a short devotion by the pastor or one of the teachers.  It was so amazing to see the enthusiasm that the children have for an education.  They get up at 6:00 am as soon as it is light, some of them don't have anything to eat or drink, and then start walking to the school.  A few children have to walk a long distance of about 2 km.  I am lost for words when I see all of this.

Classes start at 8:00 am with ages 3-5 in the Early Childhood Education Centre and P1 to P7 in regular classes.  The little ones get a cup of porridge, made of maize or soy, at break time, and then go home at 12:00.  Children from P1 upwards will get a meal of rice and beans at 12:00.  Then they stay until 5:00 pm with a break in the afternoon.  I find it quite amazing to see the long days that they put in, and the teachers hold extra classes for those children who also need to prepare for exams.  All last week the P7's had extra classes from 5:00 to 7:00 pm to help prepare them for their National exams.  Then if that wasn't enough they come to school on Saturday.  I believe the exams are in a couple of weeks and then at the end of November they have their long holiday for December and January (compared to ours in the summer).   In case you are wondering, as I was, the teachers make sure all the students get home safely by either accompanying one child or making sure they walk in groups until some parents meet them on the way home.  The parents all agreed to this arrangement so it works.

I finally understand why they have such long days at school.  If they were to go home after the regular school day, they would never get any studying done because the parents would want them to do a lot of chores.  Most of the parents are not educated and do not understand the importance of receiving an education.  It is a constant struggle - so in my opinion the teachers here are heroes!  And they are paid $200 a month.

On Thursday I was able to go down to the sports field that Rotary provided last year.  The whole school goes to the field and the different ages play soccer, net ball, volley ball, skip or just play.  The field has filled in well with grass and is well utilized.  Here are a few photos:

These wonderful red soccer uniforms were donated by a soccer club in Victoria.  They are greatly appreciated and the teachers noticed that they are very good quality so a big THANK YOU to the Peninsula Soccer Club.

I spent two days seeing all of the JNFC sponsored children at the school and delivering the letters from their sponsors.  I would have them read the letter or help those younger ones read.  I love this part as I get to really visit with each child.  They love getting photos from the sponsors to see a little bit of Canada.  Some sponsors send photos and a piece of clothing which always lights up their eyes and brings smiles to their faces.  This is Sophia - the lovely girl Geoff and I have sponsored since 2008.  We have seen her grow and she reads very well.  As soon as she saw me this was my greeting.

Then I spent two full days visiting about 34 homes of the 46 sponsored children, and many of the families have more than one child being sponsored.  This is also one of my favourite things to do.  It is full of adventure, sorrow, joy and sometimes disbelief when you see how some families live.  All of these things strengthen my (our) resolve to make sure many children receive an education.  Despite their circumstances they all appreciate the JNFC sponsorship, and whatever their religious beliefs they all want prayer.  Many families give gifts of all that they have - sweet potatoes, sugar cane, cabbage, eggs, and beautiful woven mats.

Saturday morning Jolly and I did some gardening before we left to come back to Kampala.  Since first coming to Victoria she has always loved our garden and gardens of Victoria.  So we have talked about this for a number of years now that we would plant roses and lavender in her garden.  The land in front of the new guest house needs to be levelled.  On the side 6 garden beds were prepared for planting in the week by parents of the sponsored children.  They planted beans in two beds, chilies and peppers were planted in another bed, and Jolly and I planted flowers in the other four beds.  We found 7 roses and a lavender plant at a Nursery Bed (Garden Centre)!  I love roses and lavender and so does Jolly so now she has them too.

Parents gardening at the school

It is now 6:00 pm on Sunday and I will get ready for another function.  Till next time...

LIFE ON A SUNDAY

Before I tell you about Sunday, let me tell you about the food.  Since our family has visited Uganda a number of times before, we are getting used to the different foods and their different ways of cooking.  For breakfast you can have eggs, pineapple, small sweet bananas, mango, bread, matoke (cooked green bananas) or a hot dish with matoke and ground nut sauce (I not have described it right).

Lunch is usually a hot meal with a starch like rice, matoke, and/or sweet potato & pumpkin.  There is usually a stew made of either chicken, beef or fish.  Then the evening meal is served around 8:00 pm and the choice is similar but with added surprises like cooked slivered cabbage & onion.

Matoke can be cooked in a lovely sauce made of water, spices, onions, green & red pepper, and tomatoes.  I really like this dish!  In Uganda there are around 22 different kinds of bananas and a bunch is the large stalk cut off the tree with many clusters.  In Canada we purchase a cluster of bananas.

There are the best peanuts here.  They are called "ground nuts" and are quite small with red skins and very tasty.  They are grown without any pesticides or fertilizers in very fertile soil.  You buy ground nuts in large quantities and can roast & salt them, or you can cook then raw and make a sauce which you put on rice.  Below is a picture of Beatrice roasting ground nuts on a small fire just in front of the outside kitchen at Jolly's home.

The cows I talked about yesterday which are the Ugandan breed. 

 It was also so interesting to see pine trees growing with eucalyptus trees and right beside banana plants (above).  And not that far away are mango trees.  Uganda is a very beautiful country with very rich fertile soil.

Sunday was another full day with a 2 1/2 hour church service...with very loud lively music.  The people are extremely friendly and welcoming - I love being with them.  Then there were meetings and fellowship.  We went home for a few hours then attended a "wedding meeting".  Ronnie will be marrying Eunice in mid November and in Uganda all the friends, relatives and church community have meetings around wedding preparations including how to fund the wedding.  This was a very different experience for me but the idea is to have the couple start their married life without debt.  So there was some business going over all the parts of the ceremony, reception and various other expenses.  Then there were a few activities to raise money and the best one was an auction like I've never seen.  It is hard to explain but it was a lot of fun.  In the end they had raised a fair bit of money.  

On Monday morning we will be going to Masuliita to spend one week at the school.  I am told that the internet service is not always very good so I might not be able to continue with this blog until I am back in Kampala.  Signing off for today...

Back in Vibrant Uganda!

Saturday, October 19.

I'm thankful the long flights were very good, and I arrived safely on the 15th with all my bags.  Jolly, her daughter Eunice, Ronnie and Takka were there to meet me.  It has been so good to be back here with our friends.   The air was still and warm with the familiar smell of charcoal fires cooking all sorts of wonderful things.

The last four days have been very full spending a lot of time with Jolly catching up and learning about the changes since we were last here in February 2012.  I was able to meet all the staff again on Wednesday and I discovered that Elizabeth and Vanessa are both expecting babies within one month!  These women are social workers who work with very poor clients in the community.

It took me awhile to get organized with internet, phone and cash.  Uganda is mainly a cash society and they use Ugandan shillings so when you go to the bank you receive a stack of bills.  For example $130,000 UGX is $55 CAD.

On Thursday Jolly and I went to the village of Biika in Masuliita where the Jolly Children's Education Centre is located.  This property has the school with Early Childhood Development ages up to grade 7.  At the school, there is the sports field JNFC built last year through the Rotary Global Grant as well as the library which is used by the students every day.  JNFC received a donation of 33 soccer uniforms from a soccer club in Victoria which I brought to the school.  The teachers are grateful for them as they are very good quality...and the players look very smart in them.

There is also a medical clinic which serves the surrounding rural poor community as well as the school.  Sponsored children at the school receive free medical care while the community members will be required to pay something - whatever they can afford.  This is how they plan to keep the clinic sustainable...with some outside help.  This clinic has certainly made a huge difference in the community for the better.  The closest Government run clinic is 5 km away and it usually doesn't have any medicine.  I was able to bring a suitcase full of medical supplies donated by the Compassionate Warehouse and the staff are all very grateful.

I also was able to bring some baby clothes & knitted toys for the abandoned babies which are housed in a small house on the property called Queen Esther Palace.  The picture shows Sophie, the house mother, and I am holding a one month old beautiful boy who was found shortly after birth beside a ditch.  For anyone who knows me well, would expect me to shed tears...and I did.  But I was thankful that at least this place will give this little boy a chance to grow up in a healthy and loving environment until he can be adopted.

I saw the new kitchen which is almost completed.  All of the children at the school receive a hot lunch every day which is usually beans and rice.

One special moment was when I saw Sophia again.  She is the girl we have sponsored for over 5 years now and she gave me a big hug.  Next week I will be going to the school with Jolly to stay for the whole week.  I will then have time to meet with the teachers to discuss future plans and observe life at the school.  I will also be visiting all of the JNFC sponsored children which number 47 now.  Geoff, Jill and I have always loved this part of our time there because we get to see the children in their homes with their family.  Family for them might be parents, grandparents, aunties or older siblings.  So I'm looking forward to that.  Many sponsors sent me letters and small items for their sponsored children so I will deliver them at that time.

The weather is hot and humid now because we are in a rainy season right now.  Today we travelled north to a village where Jolly & George's relatives keep some cows for them.  We passed many mango trees with large sweet mangoes.  We also passed a lot of pine and eucalyptus trees which is something Jolly has always wanted to do so she is experimenting with growing some trees.

I 'm signing off now as it has been a long day of travelling on some good and some very bad roads.  Bye for now.