Nile and Safari

Here I am, with the whole world in my reach!



Murchinson Falls...



Is it a wild African beast??? Yep... Fred our driver, being funny.



The elephant in the background isn't as dangerous as Fred. He's a cannibal.




Me with the Nile River in the background.




An interesting road to somewhere unknown




Jerome is either proposing to Renata, or he is pleading with her to increase her fruit intake...

Mukono Namyoya School Visit

Mukono Namyoya Schoolhouse...

The team stopped in on a school day. We knew most of the kids in the village from our previous visits to the church building and well digging projects.



Inside the school



I love meeting other teachers throughout the world. These teachers have "students" as young as 6 months.... So they teach ALL ages. Can you imagine teaching reading, math, and all subjects to 30 or more students while simultaneously watching infants! Talk about hard working teachers!



We did a project with the kids.




They were happy to show their results!

The Dichotomy of Africa

Scenes from Everyday Life in Africa





Africa has such a mixture of great beauty, yet pieces of ugliness are scattered throughout the culture.






It is Majestic........



It is Sorrow.....

AIDS graves such as this one are all over. There is not one man, woman, or child in Uganda who does not know a family member or friend that has died of AIDS.



It is Despair.......

The AIDS clinic that is built in Kamwenge, one of the hardest hit regions for AIDS in Uganda. However, there is no money to currently open or operate this clinic.



It is Community..... These people live with very little economic resources, but they are rich in relationships.



It is Strength... The women here lead hard lives, but they are proud and strong



It is Innocence.....




It is Rural... These long horn cows wander freely. Don't get in the way!



It is Confusing, and sometimes Entertaining. The signs are very different here.




It is Beauty.........



It is Entreprenurial...

This family sells their produce in a store they built from sticks and mud.




It is Fun..

This little boy made his stilts from sticks...




It is Hard Labor....

These boys have no money to attend school, so they work at breaking rocks to use to pave the roads to earn money for their families.



It is Poverty.....



It is Love...

This man takes his baby almost everywhere with him on his bike because there was no one to watch him at home. The baby (who looks about 18 months old) must hang on over many kilometers of bumpy dirt roads



It is Hope....

These schoolchildren hope for a better life through an education.

Kamwenge School...

We went to Kamwenge and visited a school there.. The community was so happy to see us. They had made baskets and mats for us. We bought some, but they wanted to give us some as well. They wanted to show us their love for us as we were showing our love for them.




This woman made this heart..... and clearly gave it from her heart.




The school building is a central part of the community.


True ingenuity... I love how the people here make things work and they think outside the box; This is an old wheel from a car, which is the school bell.

The older students learn a trade, such as sewing and embroidery so that they will be able to earn a living.




The patterns that the girls use for the sewing classes are made from stiff paper and reused many times.





Primary Students




Taylor and Renata handed out school supplies. It was like Christmas in June! They were thrilled.



This teacher really was amazing. Being a teacher myself, I could tell that she really had her act together and was doing an excellent job. Although she had little materials, and with over 45 small kids in this little room, she was doing a fantastic job in giving them the best education possible.


The primary classroom, for 45 students.



We did a puppet show called The Guardian Stone Lion (about a greedy brother and a generous brother) knowing the cultural tendency to like stories with a moral to them. Milton, our Parents Concern community facilitator was BEYOND EXCELLENT. He should be a teacher himself!




The kids were captivated. It was definitely a low-budget production, but they didn't mind a bit! I am so grateful to my team of puppet people for making this good for the kids.



Although we geared it to primary kids, the adults were plenty interested too! We had people hanging in the windows so they could see the show too!


I presented the Henry the Hand handwashing methods as part of the health and hygiene program. The puppet team helped out!

Again, Milton translated for me, and put a lot of enthusiasm into it! The kids really liked the part where I put the special lotion that shows germs glowing under the blacklight on a student's hands!



Henry The Hand posters and puppets were given to the school. We turned it into a party with balloons and stickers for all the kids.

Torro High School and Linda's Sweet 16th Bday

On Monday morning, we went to Torro High School in Fort Portal. This was the second time I'd been there, and some of the students, girls mostly, were so excited to see me again. I'd spent quite a bit of time talking with them at the football game the first visit.

They greeted the group with some songs, speeches, and poetry they'd created.








Taylor, Renata and Debbie pass out supplies. This school is a boarding school and the girls of the school must live there for safety reasons. The subject matter they know is amazing, especially with the limited resources. They really need even the basics. We read a report on the 82 students supplies for school A few of the statistics of the first of the year:
Students that have a plate and cup 35/82
Students that have a mattress and bedsheets 16/82
Students with shoes 24/82
Boys with a pair of underwear 4/22
Girls with pair of underwear 33/60
Students with soap 5/82
Students with at least a dozen exercise books and 2 pens 15/82



We did a puppet show... And as it turned out, they could totally see us! Funny!!


They liked us singing to THEM.. JJ rocked the house... so much she got dizzy and almost passed out

During the lunch break, I went to the girls with them back to the dormitory... 54 girls sleep in bunk beds under the supervision of a matron (Rose) who is kind to them, but keeps things in line. It was Linda's Sweet 16 birthday and her roommates decorated her bunk with good wishes posted. I asked if I could add mine.. So, I wrote my favorite quote :"Be the change you want to see in the world."- Ghandi. I added a personal message. But I wanted to do something really special for her. She was really far from home and her family. So that night after dinner, I came back with my best imitation of a birthday cake.. Fruit and cookies made up to resemble a cake, complete with candle.


This is Linda's "birthday cake" that I concocted with fruit and cookies that I bought at the only gas station in town. Decorated with lollipops and a candle.



Linda was scared to be called to the headmaster's office during evening study hours. She really thought she was in trouble!!! But she was so happy to find out I was there to surprise her (along with JJ, Taylor and Jaimie) with the cake.



She invited some friends to share, made a wish and blew out the candles.