Post #8 Party Time

Hello! My apologies for writing this a day late! It has been such a busy weekend! Many of my weekends here have been pretty relaxed and filled with washing clothes, catching up on emails, and visits to the kids who stay at Faith and Good Hope. It’s fun to get to spend some extra time with the “boarders” at the schools (most of them orphans) and nice to get to hang out with them outside of a classroom setting!!

This weekend however was filled with a celebration each day! Each one was so special and lots of fun! I wanted to take some time to tell you about them.

The celebrations kicked off last Sunday with a 1^st Birthday Party for a little boy named Lincoln. Lincoln lives next door to George Mike, one of the KACCAD workers. Whenever I walk to school, I pass by George Mike’s compound. Usually his wife is outside with their 10 month old son Elvis and his best friend/nextdoor neighbor Lincoln. I usually take some time to chat with the moms and hold the babies for a few minutes- they are two of the cutest little guy I’ve ever met! Birthday Parties are not common but Lincoln’s family was able to afford one for him. I felt so honored to be invited to join in the fun!

When I arrived at Lincoln’s home, I was greeted by a large group of kids! Most of them looked familiar as they live in the houses I pass everyday when I walk to school. Usually my conversations with them are brief so it was really nice to be able to sit down with them and ask them their names, which schools they attend, and what they like to do. Many of them had questions for me! I’ll make a list of the most common/funniest “in your country….” in another post.

We had fun playing games and chatting when Lincoln’s mom told me to sit down. Although there were many people there- fathers, mothers, grandparents, kids, cooks, the birthday boy- I was served lunch first. I was very appreciative but I didn’t feel deserving of the first and fullest plate of food.  All I’d done was show up!  But I remembered a phrase my best friend’s grandma taught me when I was little- “it’s just as important to be able to recieve a gift as it to give a gift”, so I accepted the food with a smile and enjoyed it!

The food in Uganda is delicious! Vegetables and fruit are fresh and plentiful. In the volunteer house, I eat a lot of rice, beans, eggs, potatoes (called “irish” here), avocados, spaghetti, and chapats (delicious! Kind of like a pancake meets a tortilla- often served soaked in beans  as a “Kikomando” or rolled up in an egg as a “rolex”). The average person in Uganda can only afford rice and food like this for Christmas. Most people here eat matoke (cooked bananas, texture of mashed potatoes), porto (kind of like gritz, made out of corn), beans, greens, yams, and “g-nuts” which get ground up to make a sauce. Beef is not common and chicken is only had on the most special occasions.

At all of the celebrations I attended, I was served a plate with rice and matoke and then a bowl of chicken and a bowl of beef. The idea is that you take the rice or matoke and let it soak in the juice of the meet before eating it. Forks are rarely used in Uganda. I’m still working on mastering the art of eating with my hands.

After eating, there was more talking and mingling. I learned that to ask children here what they want to do when they grow up, you ask them, “what’s your future?” I had fun asking that to the kids and hearing their answers- teacher, lawyer, driver, doctor, pilot, military, and football player were a few popular ones. The size of the crowd started to grow as the time to cut the cake approached.

Think about the last time you went to a birthday party. Chances are, there was a cake. Most American birthday parties have cakes, if nothing else, as a formality. When it’s time for cake, the host puts out the cake and offers everyone a slice, usually starting with the Birthday Boy or Girl. Often times, a guest will say “I’ll just have a small piece!” or take a piece and only take a few bites. It’s not uncommon for the cake to be large, resulting in leftovers that get thrown away a few days later. 

Cake is a delicacy in Bulenga. The one thing all 4 parties I attended had in common was the cake ritual. A small table is put out with some type of delicate white cloth on top of it. The cake is put out a few hours before it’s served, allowing everyone a chance to look at it. The cakes here aren’t quite as detailed as most cakes in America, but they still have frosting (a hard icing) and words piped in colors. A few bottles of soda are put around the cake. I don’t know why they do this. To me, the bottles of soda resemble sweet little soldiers protecting the prized queen of the sweets.  Anyone with a phone takes a photo of this set up and little kids will stand and stare at the cake alter. When it’s finally time to cut the cake, a huge emphasis is put on the actual cutting part. There is a countdown starting at 5 or 10 for the guest of honor to put the knife through the cake. Once the cake is cut, sections are broken up into very small pieces and crumbs and brought around by the guest of honor. The guest of honor serves all his/her guests before enjoying a few bites for him/herself. Adults are served first and parents will give small pieces of their piece to their children. No crumb is left uneaten. The tray the cake is on and the plates the cakes is served on are given to the kids once all the cake has been served. They swarm around these, trying to get one last molecule of the cake crumbs.

When I watched the cake being served at Lincoln’s birthday, it reminded me of the story in the Bible where Jesus feeds 5,000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. A small cake sat on the white cloth. In an American bakery, it probably would have been labeled as a 6 serving cake. At this point, many kids who lived nearby had joined the party, hearing that cake would be served and hoping they too could receive a few crumbs. It was a lovely cake, but I couldn’t imagine how it could serve the over 75 people who were now at the party. I watched in awe as Lincoln’s mom and aunt circulated the crowd with pieces of cake. Everyone got some! Most of the kids just received a handful of crumbs but they were thrilled! Dancing followed- it was a wonderful night!

This past Friday, I got to attend a graduation celebration! Derrick’s wife, Shakirah (not the same Shakirah that runs the volunteer house but a closer friend to her), just graduated from university! I’ve met her a few times in my time here so far and she’s so friendly and funny. She actually just gave birth to a baby boy, Dannish, last week so she’s had a pretty exciting couple of days! I didn’t attend her graduation ceremony but I met up with some of her friends and family at her mother’s house for a “welcome back” party! Shakirah’s family is relatively wealthy and was able to afford some speakers and a tent for this party. While we waited for Shakirah’s return, I chatted with some of the other guests. I fell in love with her friend Sheha’s daughter, a 1 year old girl named Swahil. Usually the first time babies here see me, they scream and cry. For many of them, it’s their first time seeing someone with such light skin so I understand why they’re frightened. Swahil nearly jumped in my arms when she met me though! She’s a very smart and happy baby! I had a nice time chatting with her mom as well!

When Shakirah returned (around 5pm), we ate lunch. I was brought onto a large mat with Derrick and Shakirah’s uncle. Even though she’d just graduated and also was recovering from giving birth, Shakirah kneeled down and served us our food. It was a little uncomfortable- I wanted to jump in and say “you sit and rest- I got this one!” but as Derrick’s wife, it is expected that Shakirah will serve him. Gender roles are much stricter here and sometimes I have a hard time seeing the ways women are restricted. I’m not here to judge or start a feminist revolution though, so usually I don’t speak out against it. Sometimes I’ll ask question to try to understand why things are the way they are. While many women aren’t upset about their positions in society/their households, it can be good (for everyone!) to challenge what’s accepted as a “normal expectation”.

After a delicious lunch and getting to meet Baby Dannish, the cake alter was prepared. The song “Happy Birthday” played on the speakers and candles were lit on the cake. This made me laugh but nobody questioned the situation. I think these are just things expected to go along with cake. Remember how I’m still getting used to the loose/slow timing of Uganda? The candles on both Lincoln’s and Shakirah’s cakes were really tall. They were lit and left burning for a few minutes while final arrangements were made. Usually, cake candles in America are blown out almost immediately but here, the candles last longer, allowing for a little bit of extra time before they melt and destroy the cake. Whoever started the birthday candle business over here knew what she was doing when she tripled the size!

On Saturday, I got to attend the confirmation of a wonderful girl named Cherise. I met Cherise at Faith my first day there. She’s 11 and has no living family so she stays with Teacher Betty. We clicked instantly- she loves math and goats (future WPI student maybe!) She’s incredibly smart and hardworking. During my first few weeks (her holiday) I made a math worksheet for her everyday to give her some practice during the break/gauge her abilities. She wowed me every time- succeeding in problems that are beyond the skill level of most Primary 5 students. She also speaks English very well and is helpful when I’m trying to explain game directions. Sadly, there is no Primary 5 class at Faith (not enough students in that age group) so she has to attend class at another school. I miss seeing her everyday but still visit her at Teacher Betty’s house on the weekends. She’s a little bit quiet but so bright and always looking out for the younger kids. I just really love this girl so as you can imagine, I was stoked to get invited to her confirmation!

I arrived to Teacher Betty’s house Saturday morning and we went with Cherise and her good friend/next door neighbor/my student Sheila to the next village over. We arrived at a beautiful church! It was huge and as we walked in we realized it was packed full with girls and boys in little suits and dresses and mothers in traditional Ugandan gowns. Some fathers wore jeans which are considered very fancy/classy here. Many of the little girls were wearing white- some in new gowns covered with sequins others squeezed into what looked like a little sister’s dress up ballet skirt. It was fun to see all the outfits- there was certainly a variety!

The mass was beautiful! I’ve been able to check out a couple of churches since I’ve been here. The one I’ve liked best is called “Watoto Church”. It’s a large non-denominational church with a few branches across Wakiso District. The phrase “sweating like a sinner in church” (thanks Katie) has been the case every time I attend a service somewhere. I get very hot during the non-air conditioned, partially outside services and feel like I end up leaving a small pool of sweat in my seat when I leave. This was my first time at a Catholic Mass in Uganda and it was really nice! The music was led by a choir. It resembled the Latin mass choral music sound I’m used to but was accompanied by some drums which added a really lively flavor! The entire service was in Luganda but Teacher Betty translated for me which was helpful. Over 200 kids got confirmed so it took quite a while!

After the service, we went back to Teacher Betty’s house. I spent some time playing and catching up with the other kids that stay with Teacher Betty and the kids that live nearby. I saw many of my students/students from younger classes at Faith, which was fun! Usually when I visit on Saturdays or Sundays, I get to hang out with my students outside of class . It can be a really nice opportunity to get to know them better! When it was time for lunch, Teacher Betty rolled out a beautiful mat for me and poured me soda in a goblet. Again, I was served first. We ate he rice and also had chicken. Most of the kids only got a small part of the chicken but no meat was left untouched. The kids sucked on the bones for a long time- getting out every last piece of flavor.

When I asked Cherise a few days before the celebration what I could get her as a gift for her confirmation, she told me she would love a cake. Asking for a cake was probably the most selfless thing an 11 year old girl could ask for as a gift. The cake cutting ritual went about as usual and Cherise asked me to help her cut the cake which was really sweet of her to share the honor. Many kids from the homes nearby came by for a few crumbs and again, the cake was devoured. It was so incredible to see Cherise serve everybody first. Before she got any for herself, she even put away 2 pieces for friends that couldn’t make it.

The final celebration I attended was the Good Hope Primary 7 Leavers’ Party (7th Grade Graduation). These students will take their final exams in a couple of weeks, finishing “Primary School”! In January/February, those who can continue to afford school fees will attend Secondary School somewhere new. I’ve gotten to teach math to this group a few times and have gotten to know many of the students just from hanging out at the school in the afternoons. They’re so bright and a class full of enthusiasm! Mo, the other volunteer, knows them really well as she’s been their English Teacher since she started here. Fortunately, she was able to make it back for their celebration! Her brother passed away in a car accident and she flew home to attend the funeral last week. Despite some really tough times, she came back to finish up her last month volunteering here. She really wanted to continue her work here and her family wanted the same. While she’s still going through the tough emotions that come with having a brother die, she’s been continuing to pour her heart out over here. It’s an incredible thing to see.  I’m very glad she was able to come back!

Mo and I arrived for the Leavers’ Party around noon. A big tent was set up and chairs lined the inside, excited to be filled with teachers, parents, and honored students. There are about 30 students in the P7 class and it was wonderful to get to honor them. The festivities started around 3 with a sermon from a local pastor.  Then, all the parents/grandparents/guardians went up and prayed for each student individually. About 15 parents/grandparents/guardians were there. I don’t know the exact number, but several students in P7 don’t have parents or anyone taking care of them. After a couple of speeches, lunch was served (Promptly at 5pm)! The students brought us each a plate of food. Parents and teachers were served first. The food was again, delicious and a huge treat for the students. They usually eat porto (gritz, made with corn flour, pretty must tasteless) for lunch and dinner every day.

A gospel choir from a nearby church performed a few songs for us. Then, a few teachers gave speeches after lunch. Teacher Mo and I were each invited up to give speeches- a huge honor! I offered some words of advice to the students about having confidence in what they know and that knowledge is power. The committee of students who planned the Leavers’ Party spoke- thanking those who helped fund the party and explaining some of the challenges they had in organizing it. Some parents spoke as well- offering encouragement to the students as they prepare for exams and new schools. The cake alter was put up at noon and we all starred at it from then until it was cut at 7. At this point, I wasn’t surprised. After the final speech, the P7 students ran to their dormitories and came out a few minutes later changed from their school uniforms to fancy clothes. They tried to cut the cake together and a few boys shook up the soda bottles and let them spray like champagne as “Celebrate good time come on!” played on the speakers surrounding us. It was a very funny scene indeed and Mo and I could not stop laughing. 

What would a party in Uganda be without dancing? After enjoying some cake, all the girls from P7 rushed up to Mo and I and begged us to dance with them. Thrilled at the invitation, we excitedly joined them! At this point, it was dark. The party had some speakers and lights though so the dance floor was bright! We danced the night away. I didn’t know most of the songs but I sang loudly to the ones I did. As I mentioned earlier, these kids know how to DANCE! It was amazing to see even the little ones moving their bodies like professionals. I had a blast dancing with my students. Usually at school dances, teachers line the outside of the floor as chaperones. At this dance, all the teachers, parents, P7 members, and other students at Good Hope were together on the dance floor (there was no floor, but the phrase “dance ground” sounds weird). It was a great way to celebrate a worthy occasion.

I have been doing much more than partying this week! Teaching both at Faith (mornings) and Good Hope (afternoons) has been going well and I’m trying to approach units and topics in creative, hands on ways to help students really understand what they’re learning. I’m getting a little stressed out as I realize there are certain standards each student will have to meet for his/her class by the end of the year. I’m worried I won’t finish topics fast enough/review enough and they’ll fail as a result. I’m working on planning ahead to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for each of my classes to strengthen their existing knowledge and learn everything new they have to know!

I’m absolutely exhausted but wanted to make sure I gave you a glimpse of what celebrations in Bulenga are like! I may be the only person in Uganda to have ever had 4 pieces of cake in 1 week. I’m certainly grateful to have gotten included in so many wonderful occasions!

I hope you are well and that you have something to celebrate in the week to come!

Love,

Hannah

getting to meet some of the kids I say hi to everyday at Lincoln's 1st Birthday!

cutting up the cake for all to share

The beautiful and accomplished Shakirah!

Shakirah's good from Shila and her daughter Swahil 

Cherise (left) in her confirmation dress with her good friend Sheila (right)

A group of the kids who got confirmed standing with the priests! There were many more!

Not a great photo but looking back from the front of the church! It was big and beautiful! The balcony amazed me- it had no ledge, bar, or anything to keep people from falling off!

Lunch at Teacher Betty's! Matoke (cooked banana) is under the green leaf

Cherise in a Birthday hat (despite the fact that it wasn't her birthday) preparing to cut her cake! Many children gathered around the watch. 

The Good Hope Primary 7 class goes down a line of parents, each one praying for each student.

Zachariah and his daughter Viviann! Zachariah translated the entire P7 ceremony for me as most of it was in Luganda! I was very appreciative- it was a long ceremony!

Meeting the mother of one of my wonderful students, Benita! Benita is so smart and has become a dear friend to me. Her mother is so beautiful and kind like her daughter!

Post #7: Length x Width

Last Monday, I was greeted by a number of new faces when I arrived at Faith to teach. Finally, the school had enough students to expand beyond 1 classroom! The school was now spread out with a classroom for Primary 6 (6^th grade, highest class at the school), Primary 4 (no Primary 5 due to a lack of students in that class level), Primary 3, Primary 1 & 2 combined, and the 3 levels of “nursery school” (Top, Middle, and Baby class).   I quickly learned the names of the new faces thanks to the help of the kids I already knew. As I mentioned earlier, the math teacher that was supposed to be at Faith did not return for this term so I’m stepping in! It’s really nice to get to fill a need, but this position also brings huge responsibility. As much as I love math, I’m not a math teacher. I’m terrified to think that my lack of experience and poor timing of topics could result in these kids being unprepared to pass their exams at the end up the year. Still, even the math teacher with 0 qualifications is better than no math teacher.

At the beginning of the week, there were 3 teachers including myself at school. With 5 classrooms (2 of those rooms containing more than 1 class), you can imagine this made things a little difficult. I still haven’t figured out how to be in 2 places at once, but it sure would have come in handy last week. For the first few days, I was sprinting in between the 3 highest classes teaching both math and English. Once the other 2 teachers showed up, the mornings became much less exhausting and more productive.

My youngest class is now a group of Primary 3 students. While they’re not as adorable as the Baby Class students, they’re much more independent! There are 12 students in the class and each one of them is so enthusiastic about learning. As soon as I step in their class, they start squealing with excitement and shouting “MATHEMATICS!”  It’s a little difficult to balance the fun and focus with this group. This class has a good group dynamic, which can either be “seriously focused” or “crazy fun”. There seems to be no in between.. I’m working on little tricks to get their focus back quickly from “crazy fun” mode and am still grateful for all their laughter and joy, even when the timing isn’t ideal.

In P. 3, we’ve been working on measuring. The curriculum book for this unit includes activities for them to practice measuring lengths of given lines, drawing a line of a given length, and lining up a ruler correctly. As soon as we started working on this unit, a big problem arose. Only 1 student in the class had a ruler. As you can imagine, this made teaching 12 kids how to measure very time consuming. After two days of quarrel filled ruler sharing, I took matters into my own hands and cut up some cardboard. When I gave out my hand-made rulers out to my students the next day, it was as if I’d just handed them golden tickets to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory! They were beyond thrilled. Within minutes, each student was constructing lines and rectangles of the correct lengths. We learned how to calculate perimeter & area this week. Shout out to whoever donated a tape measure- it was kind of random but I threw it in my bag. It has since created a classroom supply of cardboard rulers and has been the center of a variety of math demos! 

In my Primary 4 class, we’ve been learning about time and dates. This class has 9 students and each of them puts great care into neat handwriting and perfectly straight lines under final answers. Some of them even rotate between pencil and pen when appropriate. These kids put my chicken scratch and notebooks filled with doodles to shame. I’ve been teaching this group how to convert days to weeks, hours to minutes, years to months, etc. I’ve also been showing them how to add/subtract particular number of days, months, and years to a given date. This class has a HUGE range of abilities. A few students fly through the exercises and can get most of the answers in their heads. For others, it takes a few tries to read the problem and interpret the directions correctly.  And then there are a couple of students in my P. 4 class who are extremely behind where they should be. It’s both frustrating and difficult, but I know I’m here in Uganda for these kids. These kids get left behind and the gap between what they know and what they should know will only grow greater as they get older.  At this point, I’ve identified the kids who are really struggling and I sit beside them whenever I can to go through the steps of the problem slower or offer an alternative explanation. Often times, the brightest few get bored quickly and the ones who struggle give up because they can’t figure out the problems. In an attempt to motivate the students, I started tallying points for correct answers- Girls vs. Boys style. It’s worked like a charm! I simply draw a T chart on the board and award point throughout class. My students have never asked me if there’s a prize for the winner.

The group of kids I’ve grown the closest to these past 2 weeks has been my Primary 6 class.  There are only 6 of them and they’ve all known one another for a long time as a result of going through their primary education at a small school like Faith. They love to joke around and are so interactive. They’re English is great so we can have casual conversations in addition to talking about what they’re working on. This group doesn’t have the crazy energy that the younger students have, but they work really hard. We’ve been doing geometry (finding perimeter & area of quadrilaterals, circles, and irregular polygons) and they’ve struggled more than I expected them to. It takes them a really long time to complete problems that involve multiplication. Many of them still draw out boxes and dots for simple 1 digit by 1 digit problems like 4x3.  To help them recognize the products of simple multiplication problems better, I started giving them “timed tests”. You probably had to do these in elementary school- the tests that contain a bunch of simple multiplication problems that you figure out as fast as you can. This may have been how you learned to add quickly or, if you were lucky to have as great of a calc teacher as I did, complete basic trig problems in a couple of seconds. These tests allow the students to practice their mental math and start to wean off of the 12x12 multiplication table. I created a few levels so that the students are strong with the basics before they move onto more challenging problems like 7x8 and 9x6.  I imagined the students would grumble and/or become stressed out about these tests, but to my surprise, every time I announce it’s time for “timed tests”, the whole class cheers!

I’ve tried to make the P. 6 lessons as interactive as possible. The easiest way to teach all of this would be to stand up at the board and write the formulas for each shape’s area and perimeter and have them copy it down.  I want these kids to really understand these formulas though. While it’s been difficult to find visible examples of certain shapes/culturally relevant figures to reference, I’ve managed to get creative a few times on the spot!! Pencils, pens, and hands allowed for some great examples of parallel lines and the shakes they make. Chalk on the floor and that handy tape measure (thanks again!) allowed me to explain the constant ratio, pi, that exists between any sized circle’s diameter and circumference. I’ve also been teaching English to this class. I have not been as creative with the English lessons but I’m working on it. The “curriculum book” for P. 6 English is simply a general English grammar booklet.

School starts at 7 and I teach until 1. There is a break in the morning so the kids can run around for a little bit in between subjects. I usually spend a chunk of this time setting up for the next class and chatting with Teacher Betty. The oldest kids usually hang out in their classroom so sometimes I’ll join them to chat about life. Other times, I join the masses outside and try to organize a game. It can be pretty difficult since so many of the kids running around are from the youngest classes and barely understand English/my accent but usually, a few kids from the older classes will join in and help out. They LOVE learning songs with little dances. I’ve been so grateful for the songs I keep in my back pocket as a result of my camp counselor training. While I try to teach the group new ones, they usually want to sing the same ones I’ve been singing with them since the beginning. They’re favorites are “Boom Chicka Boom” and “The Alligator Song”.

I’ve been so fortunate to have another volunteer by my side during my time in Uganda so far! Mo is a Texas Born, Australian raised world traveler. She’s a surfer, artist, extreme hiker, rafting instructor, and free spirit. By the time I arrived, Mo had been here for 2 weeks and already had an address book full of friends in her Ugandan phone. She has an amazing ability to connect with people and form friendships wherever she goes. She claims to be 19 but I’m not really sure how that’s possible. This girl has had a life packed to the brim full of heartbreak, triumphs, adventures, unusual experiences, and friendships. She would have had to start as an infant to fit all of it in at a normal pace of life! I think the catch is that Mo has a very different pace of life than what may be considered normal. While we’re pretty different, I’ve loved getting to know Mo. In the absence of TV and movies, I’ve been grateful for her many amazing and entertaining life stories!

Mo is spontaneous and incredibly compassionate- especially towards animals. Last Thursday, she came upon a man selling a baby monkey on the side of the road. Upon a closer look, she could see the monkey had not been fed in a few days and wasn’t being taken care of. While some people may spend weeks or months contemplating the idea of adopting a pet, Mo did not need much time to make her decision. She came home that night and told me she had something to show me. I was both shocked but thrilled when she pulled out a baby monkey.

“Yaz” is now about 4 weeks old. We’re pretty sure she’s a Capuchin monkey who was tragically taken from the forest and from her mother not long after her birth. She eats bananas and sugar cane and drinks lots of milk! Mo is a natural expert on everything nature related and while she’s not the biological mother of Yaz, she’s done everything she can to give Yaz the best life a monkey out of the jungle can have. I’m not sure what the long term plan will be for Yaz. Without her mother, she’ll die if she’s returned to the forest. Sadly, there aren’t many wildlife refugees here in Uganda for orphaned and trafficked animals. We’re looking into some options though and hoping for the best future for her. In the mean time, it’s been a lot of fun to see Yaz grow! I’ll include some photos- she’s pretty adorable J

Sunday night, Mo received news that her brother passed away. She flew back to North Carolina the next day in order to make it home for the services. Sam was 20 and was killed in a car accident Saturday night. Please keep Mo and the Taggart family in your prayers as they deal with this sudden and unimaginable tragedy.

Thank you all for the continual love and support. I think about home, school, friends, and family everyday and miss it/you all very much! Still, I’m so glad I’m here and grateful I’ve had the opportunity to press “pause” for a couple of months. It’s weird not having homework or to-do lists and only checking the internet every few days, but it’s been wonderful to see what that time gets filled up with instead. More to come next week!

Love,

Hannah

(Left to Right) Prisca, John, Aisah, Abel, John Paul, James, and Jovia, some of my wonderful (and enthusiastic!) Primary 3 students!

Helpful to have when teaching how to measure

Some practice problems for my Primary 4 class- girls were in the lead as you can see from the tally on the left!

Primary 6 is the place to be!

 Saturday spent at Teacher Betty's house hanging out with the kids I got to know my first few weeks! Robert right here is probably the cutest thing on 2 feet! He never lets me leave without a high-5

John Paul who I got to know early on is now in my P. 3 class! I usually find him doodling and drawing. Last weekend, I brought paper and colored pencils for the group of kids at Teacher Betty's. Most kids drew houses and flowers and pigs. When I asked John Paul what he was drawing, he explained "you're not supposed to recognize it". This kid is a budding abstract artist!

A much needed dance party at the end of the week!! 

Mo and Yaz on our first day with her! She only wanted to be held and to drink milk. She slept a LOT our first few days with her. 

Yaz loves being outside and climbing around the volunteer house porch!

Any banana left in here?

Post #6: It's Lit

This week was a little bit different than my other weeks in Uganda, because we had some visitors at the volunteer house!! On Saturday, Sarah Baird and Ben Kerman, founders of Let There Be Light International, arrived at the volunteer house. Their organization is combatting energy poverty and has made some huge differences in this community and others nearby since it started in 2013.

Many people in Uganda light their homes using Kerosene lanterns. Kerosene is both harmful to the environment and its users’ health. Not only is it the cause of countless horrible burns, but it also puts people at high risk of a variety of respiratory illnesses and eye problems.  Refilling these lanterns can become quite expensive. As a result, some households use light very sparingly making it very hard to do anything after dark (7pm these days).  

Over the past several weeks, I’ve joined George Mike for a few “Solar Light Outreaches” at the health clinic in Bulenga. We’ve gone to the clinic during its highest populated time-when vaccinations are being offered to infants.  Mothers fill up the clinic and form a line out the door sometimes. While they wait for the vaccinations, George Mike and I teach the group about renewable energy and the advantages of using solar lights instead of Kerosene lanterns. We bring a Pico Solar Light to demonstrate how to recharge the light. They’re extremely easy to use, safe, healthy, and very bright. While they require money up front, there is no maintenance/refilling cost. These lights last 3-5 years and can end up saving households a significant amount of money. Many of these mothers have never heard of solar energy before so our goal is for them to learn what it is and why purchasing a solar light may be worth considering.

Some of these women end up purchasing these lights, which is fantastic and supports the local market for solar lights.  For some people in Bulenga and in other villages in Uganda though, the cost of a solar light is completely out of the question. Let There Be Light International provides solar lights to vulnerable people can’t afford solar lights. The organization also promotes solar lights and helps those with the ability to purchase them understand their advantages.

Sarah and Ben Baird are from New Haven and have been connected with KACCAD (the organization over here I’m volunteering with) since they volunteered with A Broader View a number of years ago. It was SO fun to get to know them and spend time with them this week! It was a wonderful taste of home to be with Americans (Sarah is from Buffalo so we instantly bonded over love of Wegmans). They had some great stories from their multiple trips here and also shared some helpful insight. They are two of the friendliest and most selfless people I’ve ever met. While their organization has done some incredible things over the past few years, they’re super humble about everything and looking for ways to help more.

On Tuesday, I got to join Sarah and Ben as well as the other KACCAD workers for a Solar Light Distribution in the Gomba (a few hours away from Bulenga). After a bumpy but beautiful drive, we arrived in Gomba and were greeted by a large group of people, excited for the events of the day. Local leaders had spent the weeks prior selecting the most vulnerable households in the community to be recipients of the solar lights.   The recipients fit into one or more of the following categories: elderly, disabled, HIV/AIDS, new/expecting mother.  All morning, I worked with a translator to interview recipients about their living conditions, lighting needs, and previous lighting methods. After gathering information, everyone went outside for a ceremony/series of speeches. Many local leaders spoke in addition to Sarah (founder of LTBLI), Derrek, and George Mike. After a couple of hours of trying to understand Luganda (the language of most of the speeches) and hanging out with some local school children, it was time for the distribution! I got to take pictures and see the firsthand reactions of the recipients!

People were so thrilled about receiving these lights! Hugs, laughter, and smiles were abundant once the distribution began. After hearing stories all morning ,it was clear to me just how much of a difference solar lights could make for these people. Almost all of them suffered from health problems as a result of Kerosene lantern. A few people there had suffered horrible burns. Many of them had a difficult time completing daily tasks because of the limited light Kerosene provides. Additionally, school-attending children living in these households had very little ability to study/read/do homework after dark.

After the distribution and in the days following, I got to join Sarah and Ben for visits to the homes of past solar light recipients. It was incredible to hear about the impact 1 light can have.  Sadly, I don’t remember most of the recipients names (I think my “learning name” spot in my brain was maxed out this week after learning new names at school!) but I do remember a few stories. I spoke to an old woman for a while who lives in a room with her husband and 2 grandchildren whom she takes care of. While her “house” is a small room, it’s a much more functional place now thanks to the solar light. The kids can study at night now and she uses the money they would have spent on Kerosene to purchase medicine.

We visited the home of an 8 year old boy with Hydrocephalus. When we arrived, we were greeted by a 6 year old girl who keeps the house and takes care of her brother and younger siblings during the day while her parents work. Though he smiled when we came in, I know life is very hard for the 8 year old boy we met. Treatment and therapy are extremely expensive, so he spends all day in bed. Their house was very dark during the day so the solar light made a significant difference in the brightness. While this home has a lot of needs, I’m glad the little girl at least had a safe and healthy way to use light during the day.

The toughest part of this week was visiting the home of a mother with triplets on our way back from Gomba. Twins are extremely uncommon here so you can imagine what a surprise this young mother received when she gave birth to three babies last week. The father took off immediately (not uncommon, a woman who gives birth to triplets is thought to have something wrong with her) leaving this now mother of six completely abandoned in the delivery room. When we arrived at her home, our crew could barely fit in the little room she and her 6 children live in. There was blanket in the corner, some basins for washing clothes, and a wooden stand with a small Karosene lamp. The mother, who looked about my age, was feeding her tiny babies and apologizing for how wet her home was becoming (it was raining outside and there were a couple of leaks in the room/walls). We asked her some questions and spoke with her for a few minutes. She has no source of income and no family to speak of. I stood there stunned and heartbroken. Looking back, I wish I had said something encouraging or hopeful. But I was so speechless in the moment. Sarah gave the woman a solar light which will provide some financial relief and safe lighting to this family. But it was so difficult to walk away a few minutes later knowing this woman needed so much more. I have been thinking of this mother a lot since we visited and have been praying that her community knows her desperate need and that they will wrap their arms around her family to keep them afloat. I’m still trying to brainstorm ways I can help her and her family out.

Going around with Sarah and Ben filled this week with heartbreak and hope. I won’t forget the homes I stood in that were so far from anything I could ever imagine living in. Many of the people I met this week survive extreme hardships everyday. While a solar light may not change that, it can certainly help these survivors live days that are longer, easier, safer, and brigher.

Thank you all for reading and the continual encouragement! I also did a lot of teaching this week and have some great stories about some of my new students to share! More to come in the next post J

For more information on Let There Be Light, check out there website here http://www.lettherebelightinternational.org! Next time you find yourself with some extra pocket money or a desire to help others in a big way, please consider donating to this INCREDIBLE organization!

In addition to providing lights to over 2,000 homes, Let There Be Light has also installed solar lighting systems to 9 health clinics in Uganda. These health clinics are in remote areas where they are the only source of medical care for thousands of people in surrounding villages. Having solar lights means that people can easily locate the clinics at night, the clinic can extend its hours, and emergency procedures can be performed after dark.

Sorry if these pictures are a little out of alignment....

Light recipients from the Solar Distribution in Gomba! Everyone was dressed up for the occasion!

Preparing for the Light Distribution at the KACCAD offices. Lots of work goes into the interviewing process to make sure the best and most helpful information is gathered.

Sarah, founder of Let There Be Light, speaking before the distribution!

New Mothers run to hug eachother immediately after receiving their lights!

They're pretty excited about this!

This little guy could not wait to use their new solar light!

These kids will now be able to do homework and study after dark!

A KACCAD volunteer explaining how to use the solar light to a group of women.

This man was the first person I interviewed! He was one of the first in line when we got there at 8am and he lives quite a journey away (we saw him walking home). I can't imagine what time he had to wake up to get there on time! He was so eager to receive his light. After interviewing him, he kept coming back to the table asking when the lights would be given out. He stuck around for a while afterwards and had the happiest look on his face with his new light in hand.

I didn't even ask her to pose for this!