For the past three days we’ve been running a holiday camp for children at ‘Treasured Kids’, a school some members of the team have been working at these past few months. We’d turn up at 8ish, have a meeting with the teachers who were helping us there about what the day would involve, then start setting up. We served porridge at 9am for the kids breakfast, tho Ugandan porridge is nothing like English porridge, it’s completely liquid with granules instead of oats. Then we’d have 2 meetings a day with the kids with singing, games and a short talk, with an hour of sports and activities inbetween. Then at the end of the day we’d serve them rice and squash. We had about 300 children at the camp, divided into age groups that we were in charge of in pairs. JC and I had the oldest – Year 7, who were almost fluent in English which was great. Way more than 300 would turn up for the food at the end tho and we always ran out of drinking water. The water at this school is so disgusting, I drank some on our first day and it tasted rough. I asked a teacher why it tasted so weird and he told me it was because it was filtered through a graveyard, and not many families can afford coffins… The school is desperately saving to build a well but it doesn’t even have enough funds to pay its teachers so clean water seems a long way off. The rice on the other hand was delicious tho and I’ve become very adept at eating with my hands!
Other things this week have included seeing Chrissie, a friend of mine from school. She came out to Kampala for 10 days so I got to see her quite a bit and stock up on some English chocolate and shampoo and conditioner for Westerner’s hair! It’s been really fun showing her round the city and bringing her to my school. School was very boring towards the end tho, just marking and doing reports, spent an entire day hole-punching and putting things on folders. On the last Friday the kids all came back tho and we had a brief assembly where the teachers gave us some presents – big straw hats and African shirts for the boys, and massive African dresses and straw bags for me and Phoebs. We’ve another visitor as well, Pete Alston, a friend who knows most people in the team, turned up out of the blue last Friday night. He’s been living in South Africa for 8 months and decided to visit us before heading home. He’s been living with us which has been fun but is heading off tonight.
That’s all for now, hope everyone’s well at home. Looking forwards to seeing people in 3 weeks time!
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
End of school!
Time has been speeding away and I've come to the last week of school! Last week I spent all day supervising their end of term exams, and this week I am marking paper and writing reports with the teachers and the children have gone home. They're coming back on Friday for a final assembly then i'll never see them again which is quite sad because there are some really cute ones! It's been quite dull recently tho with no teaching so will be quite nice to break up. All the teachers are coming over for supper tomorrow night, should be interesting as they are all a bit insane! Talking of suppers.. last Friday the street children team from church came over (12 of them) and cooked us a massive Ugandan supper as a thank you. It was such a lovely evening, playing volleyball then having the most delicious food ever which we ate with our hands. It was a bit messy trying to eat rice and matoke and posho etc with a couple of different sauces but was OK once you get the hang of it. On Sunday we had another fun supper which was this time traditionally English - steak and mushroom pie followed by apple pie, cooked by Jim and Katie. We had a dress theme of pairs picked from a hat - including Mikey having to dress as Tinkerbell, and Barney as Maid Marian!
Other than that life had been quite uneventful. Katie and my wounds are healing up well, tho I think they will scar a bit :-( The chickens are proving not such a good buy as they don't lay that many eggs, they keep coming into the house, they peck our toes, poop everywhere and are very noisy early in the morning. Still quite fun to have around tho.
Also, Chrissie (a friend of mine from school) has just come out to Kampala so I'm gonna get to see one of my best friends which is v v exciting indeed!
Hope all's well in England,
xx
Other than that life had been quite uneventful. Katie and my wounds are healing up well, tho I think they will scar a bit :-( The chickens are proving not such a good buy as they don't lay that many eggs, they keep coming into the house, they peck our toes, poop everywhere and are very noisy early in the morning. Still quite fun to have around tho.
Also, Chrissie (a friend of mine from school) has just come out to Kampala so I'm gonna get to see one of my best friends which is v v exciting indeed!
Hope all's well in England,
xx
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Ssesse Island trip
Last weekend we had a girls’ weekend away to the Ssesse Islands in Lake Victoria. We arrived on Friday two hours early for our ferry from Entebbe and sheltered in a little shop from the heavy rain and thunder. Throughout the 3 hour boat ride the weather improved and we arrived on Bulago (?) – the main island – in sunshine. Our little hotel was right by the beach so we had an evening swim in the gorgeously warm water of Lake Victoria. (Unfortunately didn’t really realise at the time that this water can give you Bilharzia: a tiny bug thing that works its way through your bloodstream and eventually infects your liver. Have to take pills for that when we get back to the U.K.) So worth it tho!
The next day we decided to try to find a beach we’d read about by walking to the main town (took about an hour) then getting a boda-boda (motorbike taxi, the island’s only public transport) to this beach. We’ve all taken bodas around Kampala before so having 3 to each bike, including the driver, with no helmets or protection seems completely normal to us now. The journey was over 15 miles they claimed so we got on and set off, enjoying the experience. Katie and I were on one bike and our driver was always at the lead, going very fast over the bumpy tracks. At one point he swerved to avoid a big dip in the road and fell off, dragging us along the ground. When we stopped Katie and I climbed out and lifted the bike off the driver, while the others got off their bikes to come and help. Both Katie and the driver passed out on the road and I was in a lot of pain so we were pretty unsure of what to do. The others cleaned our wounds with water the other drivers put their friend on a boda when he came around and took him o ff. Suddenly up came a massive open-back truck who offered to drive us to the nearest health clinic when they saw what had happened. Katie and I sat in the cabin and the rest stood in back. They took us to a clinic that didn’t have running water or electricity but it was clean and the nurse there cleaned our grazes. Katie had grazes on her arm, hip and a big one on her chest, as well as some cuts on her face. I have them on my arm, a big one across by back and shoulder and lots of skin missing from my feet and toes. We were so incredibly lucky not to have hit our heads or been trapped under the boiling hot exhaust pipe – tho it was only inches away! We got interrupted at the clinic by a horrible drunk man who we’d met on the ferry who came barging into the room and started being rude and aggressive but fortunately the others got rid of him.
We needed to go to a hospital to get the wounds looked at properly but there’s only ferry to the mainland per day which had already left so the lorry driver said he’s take us back to our hotel instead. However, they needed to make a stop-first to transport sand to a building site. 15 minutes later we reached a quarry to find that the ‘sand’ turned out to be pretty moist soil. They loaded it into the back amazingly fast, it only took maybe 10 minutes to fill an enormous truck using only 3 spades! We squeezed 3 people in the cabin behind our seats, crushed against the back, but the other two had to get in the back again. This proved hard because the dirt was piled up higher than the edges. They eventually managed to dig little holes for themselves to try and ensure they didn’t fall out and off we set. After another stopover and dirt exchange, we got to the hotel all in one piece.
After a completely sleepless night, Katie, Heidi and I caught the 8am fery back to the mainland, leaving the others behind to enjoy the rest of the weekend. We got a private taxi from Entebbe to the hospital, eventually arriving there at about 1pm. Once there our wounds were cleaned and dressed, and we were given tetanus shots and antibiotics to take. It’s now the following Monday (9 days later) and we’re both healing up OK. It’s quite hard to leave the house, firstly because we have to find something decent to wear that still doesn’t cover our grazes, and secondly for me because I can’t wear a shoe on one foot. We’re definitely getting better tho and the team is looking after us so well – the boys even put flowers in our rooms when we first came home!
Other news is that we now have 7 chickens - 5 we bought as a team and 2 were given to the twins as birthday presents. Fresh eggs and fresh meat hoorah!
Hope all is well at home and you’ve had a nice Easter.
Love, Charlotte xx
The next day we decided to try to find a beach we’d read about by walking to the main town (took about an hour) then getting a boda-boda (motorbike taxi, the island’s only public transport) to this beach. We’ve all taken bodas around Kampala before so having 3 to each bike, including the driver, with no helmets or protection seems completely normal to us now. The journey was over 15 miles they claimed so we got on and set off, enjoying the experience. Katie and I were on one bike and our driver was always at the lead, going very fast over the bumpy tracks. At one point he swerved to avoid a big dip in the road and fell off, dragging us along the ground. When we stopped Katie and I climbed out and lifted the bike off the driver, while the others got off their bikes to come and help. Both Katie and the driver passed out on the road and I was in a lot of pain so we were pretty unsure of what to do. The others cleaned our wounds with water the other drivers put their friend on a boda when he came around and took him o ff. Suddenly up came a massive open-back truck who offered to drive us to the nearest health clinic when they saw what had happened. Katie and I sat in the cabin and the rest stood in back. They took us to a clinic that didn’t have running water or electricity but it was clean and the nurse there cleaned our grazes. Katie had grazes on her arm, hip and a big one on her chest, as well as some cuts on her face. I have them on my arm, a big one across by back and shoulder and lots of skin missing from my feet and toes. We were so incredibly lucky not to have hit our heads or been trapped under the boiling hot exhaust pipe – tho it was only inches away! We got interrupted at the clinic by a horrible drunk man who we’d met on the ferry who came barging into the room and started being rude and aggressive but fortunately the others got rid of him.
We needed to go to a hospital to get the wounds looked at properly but there’s only ferry to the mainland per day which had already left so the lorry driver said he’s take us back to our hotel instead. However, they needed to make a stop-first to transport sand to a building site. 15 minutes later we reached a quarry to find that the ‘sand’ turned out to be pretty moist soil. They loaded it into the back amazingly fast, it only took maybe 10 minutes to fill an enormous truck using only 3 spades! We squeezed 3 people in the cabin behind our seats, crushed against the back, but the other two had to get in the back again. This proved hard because the dirt was piled up higher than the edges. They eventually managed to dig little holes for themselves to try and ensure they didn’t fall out and off we set. After another stopover and dirt exchange, we got to the hotel all in one piece.
After a completely sleepless night, Katie, Heidi and I caught the 8am fery back to the mainland, leaving the others behind to enjoy the rest of the weekend. We got a private taxi from Entebbe to the hospital, eventually arriving there at about 1pm. Once there our wounds were cleaned and dressed, and we were given tetanus shots and antibiotics to take. It’s now the following Monday (9 days later) and we’re both healing up OK. It’s quite hard to leave the house, firstly because we have to find something decent to wear that still doesn’t cover our grazes, and secondly for me because I can’t wear a shoe on one foot. We’re definitely getting better tho and the team is looking after us so well – the boys even put flowers in our rooms when we first came home!
Other news is that we now have 7 chickens - 5 we bought as a team and 2 were given to the twins as birthday presents. Fresh eggs and fresh meat hoorah!
Hope all is well at home and you’ve had a nice Easter.
Love, Charlotte xx
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Holiday!
Last week we went on holiday for 5 days - it was gorgeous! On Sunday afternoon after street kid work and church we got on our bus and drove to Jinja, about 2 hours away. We got to our hotel at about 5. The hotel wasn't the most attractive thing - a seedy bar at the bottom and big construction work going on in the centre of the building, but it was only for 3 nights. Jinja itself is a nice town in some areas. We went for supper at a really touristy restaurant on the first night - I had pizza for the first time in 3 months, and got to watch the Liverpool victory against Aston Villa. It was quite expensive tho - blew half our week's food budget on that one-course meal.
The next day we went white-water-rafting on the Nile!! It was so much fun, I absolutely loved. There were some calmer bits where we paddled along in boats of six, swam or generally sunbathed, then the rapids themselves, grades 3, 4 and 5. We capsized on one which was a bit scary - I came up on the opposite side of the boat to the others and got carried off a bit but other than that they were all incredible. The waves are so big when you are in them! We stopped and had lunch on an island half way - pasta salad and cheese and ham snadwiches, the most Western food I've had so far. It was a great day but some people got very very sunburnt because we weren't in the shade at all. Nat got sunstroke and was acting completely drunk throughout supper - really dizzy and disorientated and giggly, then collapsing with exhaustion. The next day we went back to the same spot where a few people bungee-jumped. It was Ash's birthday so we took him to a coffee bar which was really nice, and had lunch there, then spent the rest of the day wandering round the city and had a long walk before a slightly disasterous supper. (Only one thing on the menu, no other customers, not much light and an IMMENSE amuont of insects and bats that actually fell into our food!)
The next morning we left for an island called the Hairy Lemon, about an hour away from Jinja, also on the Nile. It was the most beautiful island I've ever seen and was all eco-friendly - no electricty or running water or anything. There were only fuor other guests, it was a small place, so it was so peaceful too. We just pottered around for a day and half - reading, swimming a bit (I got a bit washed about by the super-strong currents, some good grazes on my hips and legs), playing volleyball in the water and lots of card playing too. We stargazed for an hour or two both nights, it was just idyllic. Ooh I even saw a snake! In our room at that! Our room had a roof and then had part walls/part mosquito nets round the edge which didn't quite meet the ceiling so I guess that's how it got in. It was a harmless one but they've seen lots of poisonous ones there too - even a Black Mamba a few months ago!
OK my time's up for this session,
Lots of love, xxxxxx
The next day we went white-water-rafting on the Nile!! It was so much fun, I absolutely loved. There were some calmer bits where we paddled along in boats of six, swam or generally sunbathed, then the rapids themselves, grades 3, 4 and 5. We capsized on one which was a bit scary - I came up on the opposite side of the boat to the others and got carried off a bit but other than that they were all incredible. The waves are so big when you are in them! We stopped and had lunch on an island half way - pasta salad and cheese and ham snadwiches, the most Western food I've had so far. It was a great day but some people got very very sunburnt because we weren't in the shade at all. Nat got sunstroke and was acting completely drunk throughout supper - really dizzy and disorientated and giggly, then collapsing with exhaustion. The next day we went back to the same spot where a few people bungee-jumped. It was Ash's birthday so we took him to a coffee bar which was really nice, and had lunch there, then spent the rest of the day wandering round the city and had a long walk before a slightly disasterous supper. (Only one thing on the menu, no other customers, not much light and an IMMENSE amuont of insects and bats that actually fell into our food!)
The next morning we left for an island called the Hairy Lemon, about an hour away from Jinja, also on the Nile. It was the most beautiful island I've ever seen and was all eco-friendly - no electricty or running water or anything. There were only fuor other guests, it was a small place, so it was so peaceful too. We just pottered around for a day and half - reading, swimming a bit (I got a bit washed about by the super-strong currents, some good grazes on my hips and legs), playing volleyball in the water and lots of card playing too. We stargazed for an hour or two both nights, it was just idyllic. Ooh I even saw a snake! In our room at that! Our room had a roof and then had part walls/part mosquito nets round the edge which didn't quite meet the ceiling so I guess that's how it got in. It was a harmless one but they've seen lots of poisonous ones there too - even a Black Mamba a few months ago!
OK my time's up for this session,
Lots of love, xxxxxx
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Visiting the slums
Not this Monday but the one before I went to visit the street boys where they live in Kisenge slums. (Not sure if thats how you spell it.) This is in central Kampala yet is completely different to the city around it. I don't know how big it is overall or really how it's seperated but I just know that inside it there are no streets or vehicles or electricity. I went with 3 Ugandans from church, who go a few times a week, and Jim and Heidi from the team. The charity that our church has links with is called African Voice, and they have rented four rooms in the slums for the kids. We saw one of them which is where Jessica (the American) does some basic healthcare treatment for those that need it. She's not trained or anything but seeing as they can't afford a doctor's or hospital there's no alternative. She dresses wounds and burns and hands out bandages but can't do much more. Some of the boys sleep in this room during the day. To give you an idea of size this room is 7 feet x 7 feet. It has one window and door. Despite this it's cheerful tho - painted half purple and half white with lots of the boys handprints all painted and labled on the wall. Then we saw the room where the boys can sleep safely overnight. They need this protection because it is at night that the police come round and pick up any boys they find and take them off to 'juvenile rehabilitation centres' which the boys all call 'prison' because they are mistreated there and they all end up escaping and finding there way back to Kampala, even tho it may mean walking for days in the cases of some of the guys I've met. The room this charity rents is in a compound with another of their rooms which is for 14 teenage mums and their children and these are both behind a bolted door. If you stand in the centre of the 'sleeping room' you can touch all four walls. The boys pack in at night but there is no room to lie down so they just stand there together in this tiny space - up to 20 of them packed in. The ceiling has quite a few holes - its just an old sheet of corrugated iron, so when in rains it gets very damp and smelly. The last room that is for the street boys is their church. It is 4.5 feet wide and about 14 feet long with one door at the end and no windows. There are benches along the length of the room and we managed to fit about 25 of us in there - sitting, crouching and standing, with another few outside. We taught some of them literacy and numeracy for two hours or so which was so rewarding, I enjoyed it so much more than teaching at school! I worked with 16-year-old Joseph (my personal favourite) the only girl there, a little 15-year-old called Prossy and a Congolese refugee who only couldn't speak English or Luganda so we managed to get by in French! Then we had a mini church service'. We did some singing with big actions that the kids loved, and had a 10 minute talk. It was a bit hard to concentrate because almost without exception all the children were high so they would keep falling around and giggling or talking, and also the room was so incredibly hot, and very dark and smelly.
This all sounds a bit negative but actually it was my greatest day here by far. The boys are so affectionate and friendly and happy, they are so easy to talk to and banter with. They each have such incredible and sad storise yet they still manage to be upbeat. They're so welcoming that I feel as if I've genuinely made some friends among them, they just completely put you at your ease.
To answer Kate's question about street girls - there are basically no girls just living on the streets like the boys do - I only know one girl and over 50 boys. I'm not quite sure why - I asked someone but didn't get a very clear response. I think they tend to get picked up by people and either are forced into prostituition or are used as very very cheap housegirls. There aer more charities out there specifically for girls so hopefully some of them find their way to shelters. I'm really not sure tho. I think girls are less likely to run away from home too which is what some of these guys have done. Hmmm... I'd like to find out more about that actually!
Love to all, I will write again when I get back from the holiday we're going on tomorrow - white water-rafting for a day, then a bit of general relaxing for a few days after that.
xxxxxx
This all sounds a bit negative but actually it was my greatest day here by far. The boys are so affectionate and friendly and happy, they are so easy to talk to and banter with. They each have such incredible and sad storise yet they still manage to be upbeat. They're so welcoming that I feel as if I've genuinely made some friends among them, they just completely put you at your ease.
To answer Kate's question about street girls - there are basically no girls just living on the streets like the boys do - I only know one girl and over 50 boys. I'm not quite sure why - I asked someone but didn't get a very clear response. I think they tend to get picked up by people and either are forced into prostituition or are used as very very cheap housegirls. There aer more charities out there specifically for girls so hopefully some of them find their way to shelters. I'm really not sure tho. I think girls are less likely to run away from home too which is what some of these guys have done. Hmmm... I'd like to find out more about that actually!
Love to all, I will write again when I get back from the holiday we're going on tomorrow - white water-rafting for a day, then a bit of general relaxing for a few days after that.
xxxxxx
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Past week
This past week has been one of the best since coming out here. This was partly due to the work with the street children I got to do this week. On Saturday morning we went to our church at 11am and met about 50 boys there - I was with the older group. We played cards with them and chatted, and I got to learn some Luganda from some of them (always good!) Then there was a Bible talk then we hung out with them some more and had bread and tea. They are such lovely guys and when we got into small groups after the talk to answer any questions, there was some really positive feedback. At about 1, Katie and I left to do a bit of shopping in Kampala and decided to get some African dresses made. So we went to a material shop and a lady there took us to her storeroom which was down this tiny alley where at the end there were about 100 people on sewing machines. We chose some material then went to a tailor and designed dresses for ourselves and had our measurements taken. Can't wait to see what they look like next Saturday!
That Saturday night was also pretty interesting. There's been this American guy, also on his gap year, working at one of our schools just for one week so we invited him over for supper on Friday. He's been in Uganda for 4 or 5 months and has another couple left, staying with people from the church that his church back in America has links with. The best thing about him has got to be his name - Largent Rape. Actually, even better, his sister's name - Randy Rape. No joke. Apparently it doesn't have the same meaning in America... Largent's really confident and unselfconscious told us about the dancing that he does - hip-hop, ballet, tap, jazz, everything! He takes these weekly dance classes at a church in Kampala and invited us to one on Saturday evening. The church was in the process of having a roof built and so was covered in general building materials, the only available space for us was the big stage at the front. There was also no power that day so it was lit by one big light on a stand that would fade in and out and made it a bit hard to see Largent who was leading us all. It was incredibly hot and doing press-ups and star jumps etc for a warm-up was not a good idea. The African teenagers there were amazing at dancing, completely put us to shame so we bowed out and just watched them towards the end. Another surreal experience of the trip, but another good one too.
On Monday I got the chance to go into the slums where the street children are from and see the work that happens there. My time's run out for this session but I will describe it soon because it was the most amazing thing I've seen all year.
Love to all, xxx
That Saturday night was also pretty interesting. There's been this American guy, also on his gap year, working at one of our schools just for one week so we invited him over for supper on Friday. He's been in Uganda for 4 or 5 months and has another couple left, staying with people from the church that his church back in America has links with. The best thing about him has got to be his name - Largent Rape. Actually, even better, his sister's name - Randy Rape. No joke. Apparently it doesn't have the same meaning in America... Largent's really confident and unselfconscious told us about the dancing that he does - hip-hop, ballet, tap, jazz, everything! He takes these weekly dance classes at a church in Kampala and invited us to one on Saturday evening. The church was in the process of having a roof built and so was covered in general building materials, the only available space for us was the big stage at the front. There was also no power that day so it was lit by one big light on a stand that would fade in and out and made it a bit hard to see Largent who was leading us all. It was incredibly hot and doing press-ups and star jumps etc for a warm-up was not a good idea. The African teenagers there were amazing at dancing, completely put us to shame so we bowed out and just watched them towards the end. Another surreal experience of the trip, but another good one too.
On Monday I got the chance to go into the slums where the street children are from and see the work that happens there. My time's run out for this session but I will describe it soon because it was the most amazing thing I've seen all year.
Love to all, xxx
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Past week or two
Sorry not to have written in a while, I wrote a very long post the other day but the computer froze when I tried to put it up so I lost everything.
I've been up quite a lot over the past couple of weeks, starting with last Sunday. Last Sunday after church we went back to Jessica's house (the American woman involved in the street kids work), which she shares with 18 6-13-year-old boys who used to be on the streets but have since come off drugs and now live with her. Jessica stays there about 6 nights a week, sharing a one-and-a-halfer bed because the funds are so tight with this woman who is paid to live there all the time and cook for and look after the boys. There are some men who are involved as well, and when they stay over they sleep on mats of the floor. The boys are 6 to a bunkbed (they're 3 levels high and the children lie top-to-tail.) There is no electricity or running water but despite this the house is really cheerful. All the walls are painted purple, the floor is swept clean and there are 2 baby rabbits and a puppy wandering around. The thing that makes it most cheerful however are the boys themselves. There is a big emphasis that they are brothers now and it's noticeable that they really do look out for each other. They were so fun to hang out with - they managed to do loads of gymnastics with the one thing in their yard - an old tyre - and created crazy games with no resources at all.
The policy in bringing the boys home is that they try to aim for the youngest ones, or the ones that are really really ill, and the boys have to prove that they are ready to live in a real home and respect Jessica by showing a real effort to come off the drugs they are all so dependant on. Jessica, Andrew and Derek (the adults who work there) are such an inspiration, they give so much time and so much love to these boys, and without them some of the boys definitely would not be alive today because although the food and healthcare these guys provide is pretty basic, it has still made a life-or-death difference for many people in the slum.
This Sunday I got to work with some the street kids (who are still on the streets, not living with Jessica) for the first time. I got to church at 8am with a couple of others and we played a game with the boys for half an hour or so, and generally chatted. I felt a tiny bit awkward being the only girl in a room of 26 men and boys ages 13 up because some of them were quite eye-contacty and tactile. Then someone gave a 15 mintue Bible talk and people asked questions which was so encouraging that they'd been listening. Also some of them fell asleep and some were high which wasn't so great. After helping out at that for an hour or so I went to go help with Sunday school which was good but the children were really badly behaved!
On Sunday afternoon the 7 girls in our team and Mikey went to go see this dance troupe in an area of Kampala called Ndere. It was traditional Ugandan dances from various tribes and regions, and traditional instruments too. It took place in this amphitheatre type setting with an audience of about 200. Because it had been Mikey's birthday that week they got him to come up on stage with his friends or family, so us 7 girls came traipsing after him, then the presenter guy made us dance in front of everyone. It was great! Then he kept calling more and more people up on stage and eventually the whole audience was on the stage, dancing together and even holding hands in a circle at one point and singing Amazing Grace. I think it was my most surreal experience out here so far!
OK, my time's up but I will write more soon, there's so much to tell!
Love to all, xxx
I've been up quite a lot over the past couple of weeks, starting with last Sunday. Last Sunday after church we went back to Jessica's house (the American woman involved in the street kids work), which she shares with 18 6-13-year-old boys who used to be on the streets but have since come off drugs and now live with her. Jessica stays there about 6 nights a week, sharing a one-and-a-halfer bed because the funds are so tight with this woman who is paid to live there all the time and cook for and look after the boys. There are some men who are involved as well, and when they stay over they sleep on mats of the floor. The boys are 6 to a bunkbed (they're 3 levels high and the children lie top-to-tail.) There is no electricity or running water but despite this the house is really cheerful. All the walls are painted purple, the floor is swept clean and there are 2 baby rabbits and a puppy wandering around. The thing that makes it most cheerful however are the boys themselves. There is a big emphasis that they are brothers now and it's noticeable that they really do look out for each other. They were so fun to hang out with - they managed to do loads of gymnastics with the one thing in their yard - an old tyre - and created crazy games with no resources at all.
The policy in bringing the boys home is that they try to aim for the youngest ones, or the ones that are really really ill, and the boys have to prove that they are ready to live in a real home and respect Jessica by showing a real effort to come off the drugs they are all so dependant on. Jessica, Andrew and Derek (the adults who work there) are such an inspiration, they give so much time and so much love to these boys, and without them some of the boys definitely would not be alive today because although the food and healthcare these guys provide is pretty basic, it has still made a life-or-death difference for many people in the slum.
This Sunday I got to work with some the street kids (who are still on the streets, not living with Jessica) for the first time. I got to church at 8am with a couple of others and we played a game with the boys for half an hour or so, and generally chatted. I felt a tiny bit awkward being the only girl in a room of 26 men and boys ages 13 up because some of them were quite eye-contacty and tactile. Then someone gave a 15 mintue Bible talk and people asked questions which was so encouraging that they'd been listening. Also some of them fell asleep and some were high which wasn't so great. After helping out at that for an hour or so I went to go help with Sunday school which was good but the children were really badly behaved!
On Sunday afternoon the 7 girls in our team and Mikey went to go see this dance troupe in an area of Kampala called Ndere. It was traditional Ugandan dances from various tribes and regions, and traditional instruments too. It took place in this amphitheatre type setting with an audience of about 200. Because it had been Mikey's birthday that week they got him to come up on stage with his friends or family, so us 7 girls came traipsing after him, then the presenter guy made us dance in front of everyone. It was great! Then he kept calling more and more people up on stage and eventually the whole audience was on the stage, dancing together and even holding hands in a circle at one point and singing Amazing Grace. I think it was my most surreal experience out here so far!
OK, my time's up but I will write more soon, there's so much to tell!
Love to all, xxx
Thursday, 19 February 2009
burnt
On Monday we went to this American club in our district which is gorgeous. It has everything - a pool, volleyball court, tennis court, squash, table tennis etc. It's mostly white people there tho with Ugandans serving them which feels a bit awkward. But a lovely place to go once in a while! Despite lathering up in suncream we all managed to get very very sunburnt, and having children launch themselves at you and cling to your shoulders etc has made this even worse. But I'm sure it'll turn to tan.
We found the most humungous spider I have ever seen in my life in our bedroom the other day. It was hairy and had pincers and its legs spanned about the palm of my hand. The boys caught it but released it still pretty near the house..
Other than that life is good, had a chat with a couple of the teachers today, think we gradually becoming friends.
I don't know if I'll be putting up more photos because it takes so so long but I'll try at the weekend at a different internet cafe.
Love to all, xxx
We found the most humungous spider I have ever seen in my life in our bedroom the other day. It was hairy and had pincers and its legs spanned about the palm of my hand. The boys caught it but released it still pretty near the house..
Other than that life is good, had a chat with a couple of the teachers today, think we gradually becoming friends.
I don't know if I'll be putting up more photos because it takes so so long but I'll try at the weekend at a different internet cafe.
Love to all, xxx
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Photos
The bottom photo is of the school where I'm working at - Children's Corner. That's the playground and all the classrooms are around the top, with nursery and Year 1 kids at the bottom, as well as the two dormitories and staffroom.
The next one is of a typical Ugandan classroom, not at my school but at one of the others. There all bare, with a blackboard and benches. We've made some posters to make it look more lively, and they have some old ones up too.
This next is a street near school, it's what most streets here look like that aren't in the city centre: dirt road with lots of dips and potholes, women washing clothes, bananas everywhere, and those shacks are normal Ugandan shops.
The next one is of a typical Ugandan classroom, not at my school but at one of the others. There all bare, with a blackboard and benches. We've made some posters to make it look more lively, and they have some old ones up too.
This next is a street near school, it's what most streets here look like that aren't in the city centre: dirt road with lots of dips and potholes, women washing clothes, bananas everywhere, and those shacks are normal Ugandan shops.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Thursday
There are now four of us at Children's Corner (my school) - me, Ash, Phoebe and Mikey because their previous school didn't work out. I've been teaching Year 1, 2, 3 and some nursery kids, sometimes with another teacher, sometimes with another one of the team, and sometimes alone. It's still pretty hard because some of them are so much quicker than others and when they finish their work they're really distracting. One of them threw a ball of paper at Ash the other day which he picked up and a human poo fell out. These kids are wild. One of them today thrust a horrible bug into my face at break which was embarassing because I shrieked when apparently they're actually edible! Well he ate it so at least I think they are... Some of the younger ones are sweet tho - I went for a walk today at lunch and two of them came out onto the street when I came back to try and drag me to their classroom. I felt loved.
There's one teacher at school - Teacher Mark who is such a funny man, some welcome comic releif. Often he wears a 3 peice suit with jacket and waistcoat and everything, once he wore traditional African dress (like a big kind of kaftan with normal trousers), yesterday he even wore a velvet bow tie with his suit. But today he came in wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a massive photo of his face on it, with his number and email address. He claims it's to advertise his computer fixing skills. What a joker.
Another funny thing I saw this morning was at this roundabout on the way to school. The Ugandans aren't great with roundabouts so all the big ones require a traffic warden. This traffic warden was standing in the road doing his job when this bus came by with an open door, the traffic warden announced 'I have to go now' and just hopped on the bus! Then, the man hired to garden the roundabout looked around, dropped his tools and stepped out into the road, wearing welly boots and trousers and nothing else and started trying to direct the traffic instead! Sadly no-one listened to him and he almost got run over so fled back to the safety of the centre. It was probably the most surreal thing I've seen out here so far!
There's one teacher at school - Teacher Mark who is such a funny man, some welcome comic releif. Often he wears a 3 peice suit with jacket and waistcoat and everything, once he wore traditional African dress (like a big kind of kaftan with normal trousers), yesterday he even wore a velvet bow tie with his suit. But today he came in wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a massive photo of his face on it, with his number and email address. He claims it's to advertise his computer fixing skills. What a joker.
Another funny thing I saw this morning was at this roundabout on the way to school. The Ugandans aren't great with roundabouts so all the big ones require a traffic warden. This traffic warden was standing in the road doing his job when this bus came by with an open door, the traffic warden announced 'I have to go now' and just hopped on the bus! Then, the man hired to garden the roundabout looked around, dropped his tools and stepped out into the road, wearing welly boots and trousers and nothing else and started trying to direct the traffic instead! Sadly no-one listened to him and he almost got run over so fled back to the safety of the centre. It was probably the most surreal thing I've seen out here so far!
Monday, 9 February 2009
Weekend
I can't upload photos - this is so frustrating. I'll have to do my best with words.
Today is Monday - we don't teach on a Monday but use it as day to prep our upcoming lessons. We don't have any lessons to prep because school's only just begun and is still pretty unorganised, so this morning we instead had an introduction to the work with street children we'll be doing. The team that heads it up are all from our church - Calvary Chapel. There's a young American woman called Jessica, two Ugandan women called Ruth and Rita, and two Ugandan men called Andrew and Derek. They go into this slum every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and offer medical help, cook a hot meal, and just get to know the kids. They also offer reading, writing, maths classes at the church on Saturdays. These children suffer so much. Most of them ran away from home because they were abused, some were abandoned, some are refugees from the Congo and Sudan. They beg and steal and scravenge from bins to find food. Most of them are addicted to drugs (lots of glue and petrol sniffing) and alcohol because it numbs the lonliness, cold and hunger. These kids are 6 to 14 years old and they are dying on the street because they can't afford to better their lives. But the outreach programme has successfully placed some children back with their families, and Jessica, Andrew and Derek live together and have opened up their home to 11 boys who live with them as a family.
I have to go but will describe more about the amazing and tireless work they are doing out here soon.
Love to all, xxxxx
Today is Monday - we don't teach on a Monday but use it as day to prep our upcoming lessons. We don't have any lessons to prep because school's only just begun and is still pretty unorganised, so this morning we instead had an introduction to the work with street children we'll be doing. The team that heads it up are all from our church - Calvary Chapel. There's a young American woman called Jessica, two Ugandan women called Ruth and Rita, and two Ugandan men called Andrew and Derek. They go into this slum every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and offer medical help, cook a hot meal, and just get to know the kids. They also offer reading, writing, maths classes at the church on Saturdays. These children suffer so much. Most of them ran away from home because they were abused, some were abandoned, some are refugees from the Congo and Sudan. They beg and steal and scravenge from bins to find food. Most of them are addicted to drugs (lots of glue and petrol sniffing) and alcohol because it numbs the lonliness, cold and hunger. These kids are 6 to 14 years old and they are dying on the street because they can't afford to better their lives. But the outreach programme has successfully placed some children back with their families, and Jessica, Andrew and Derek live together and have opened up their home to 11 boys who live with them as a family.
I have to go but will describe more about the amazing and tireless work they are doing out here soon.
Love to all, xxxxx
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Starting school
On Wednesday we all had our first day at our respective schools. I've been paired up with a guy from Oxfordshire called Ash who is really nice. Our school is called Children's Corner and is the poorest out of all the schools we've been placed in. When we arrived at 9 o'clock we had a chat with the guvenor because the headmistress wasn't there and she told a teacher to take us to any class. So Ash was taken to Year 4 and I was put in Year 3. The teacher wasn't expecting me so didn't have anything planned so I just sat in the corner and watched. The children were being taugh science and were just reciting off the blackboard by rote about living things and germination etc. (They can barely speak English so they weren't understanding, they were just repeating what the teacher said and copying what was written on the board into their books.) After quite a while another teacher came in and told me to come with her. So I went with her into her class - Year 2 and she asked if I wanted to be involved with the Christian side of school life. I said yes so she asked if I would do chapel that day - basically an entire school assembly. She told me to pick a bible story, preach on it, and teach the kids to learn a verse off by heart, starting at 11 o'clock. There are no clocks in school so I didn't know how long I had to prepare or anything. I spotted a book that had a series on Moses so picked that as my story and started to write a talk. At break I went and found Ash and he helped me finish it off and together we managed to do a reading, give a talk, teach the 150 children (aged between 3 to 13) a verse and do a quiz. Not sure how much they understood, but we did have a translator which was good. During our talk a random man was dragged through the yard (where the meeting is) by two armed policemen, struggling all the way. The kids all turned around to look and some of them started beating on the drums.. it was ever so slightly distracting.
After that assembly I went back to Year 2, the teacher asked me to 'teach them English' and then left alone with about 20 5-7 year olds who didn't speak any English. I didn't know what they'd already covered or anything soI tried teaching them some basic greetings - Hello, how are you, my name is etc but I didn't know the format and they didn't have text or exercise books and it kind of broke down. The teacher would wander in every now and again and tell them all to be quiet but when she left they would go in and out of the classroom, shout, talk to each other, noe of them hit me a few times but I think that was just banter. At least I hope so...
Finally the teacher came back and told me it was lunch time so I fled. For lunch we were given posho (maize) and beans. The posho had the exact consistency or play-doh, and tasted not great and some of the beans were off. They gave us massive portions but none of the teachers ate with us, they all made excuses and left the staffroom (a tiny room with no door that has some plastic chairs stacked in a corner and which the kids come and go from) so we gave our half full plates to these children to get rid of.
After lunch I was with Year 3 who are tamer but they just don't understand my accent and I don't really understand their's. I watched lessons for 2 hours and finally the bus came to pick us up so we could go home.
Today I was with Year 3 all day again. I was told to teach them reading, given a sheet with some sounsd and again left alone with 18 children. I tried teaching them letters and sounds and stuff and thought it was going ok, but then I set them an exercise which wasn't only copying off the board and they were baffled, but didn't ask me what I meant. When I took in their books 4 of them had understod that I wanted them to make up their own sentences, and 14 of them hadn't. It was a disaster. The teacher came back and when I explained she said 'Don't worry, you are teaching them right but the children are weak,' whatever that means and then told the class that Teacher Charlotte was very angry and cross with them all which was so unnecessary! Then she made up some sentences, wrote them on the board and they copied it down - which means that agani they weren't really taking any information in. She also slapped some of the children in the head when they talked or got an answer wrong, not very hard but it still wasn't something I agreed with.
It was so hard teaching them and I came close to tears like 6 times throughout the day but managed to keep it together. At lunch Ash and I went for a walk in the area to try and avoid the posho which was a change of scene although not an altogether pleasant one and the school is in a slum so we were stared at the whole time. In the afternoon I helped Teacher Susan (the Year 3 teacher) do some marking which was good coz it's something I can actually do and just watched her teach.
I'm finding it really really hard but hopefully it will get better because I know they loved last year's team who went there - they keep mentioning them and asknig if we know them and showing us where they did a wall painting etc, so if they did it so can we! Having said that I have to teach Year 2 again tomorrow ... argh.
After that assembly I went back to Year 2, the teacher asked me to 'teach them English' and then left alone with about 20 5-7 year olds who didn't speak any English. I didn't know what they'd already covered or anything soI tried teaching them some basic greetings - Hello, how are you, my name is etc but I didn't know the format and they didn't have text or exercise books and it kind of broke down. The teacher would wander in every now and again and tell them all to be quiet but when she left they would go in and out of the classroom, shout, talk to each other, noe of them hit me a few times but I think that was just banter. At least I hope so...
Finally the teacher came back and told me it was lunch time so I fled. For lunch we were given posho (maize) and beans. The posho had the exact consistency or play-doh, and tasted not great and some of the beans were off. They gave us massive portions but none of the teachers ate with us, they all made excuses and left the staffroom (a tiny room with no door that has some plastic chairs stacked in a corner and which the kids come and go from) so we gave our half full plates to these children to get rid of.
After lunch I was with Year 3 who are tamer but they just don't understand my accent and I don't really understand their's. I watched lessons for 2 hours and finally the bus came to pick us up so we could go home.
Today I was with Year 3 all day again. I was told to teach them reading, given a sheet with some sounsd and again left alone with 18 children. I tried teaching them letters and sounds and stuff and thought it was going ok, but then I set them an exercise which wasn't only copying off the board and they were baffled, but didn't ask me what I meant. When I took in their books 4 of them had understod that I wanted them to make up their own sentences, and 14 of them hadn't. It was a disaster. The teacher came back and when I explained she said 'Don't worry, you are teaching them right but the children are weak,' whatever that means and then told the class that Teacher Charlotte was very angry and cross with them all which was so unnecessary! Then she made up some sentences, wrote them on the board and they copied it down - which means that agani they weren't really taking any information in. She also slapped some of the children in the head when they talked or got an answer wrong, not very hard but it still wasn't something I agreed with.
It was so hard teaching them and I came close to tears like 6 times throughout the day but managed to keep it together. At lunch Ash and I went for a walk in the area to try and avoid the posho which was a change of scene although not an altogether pleasant one and the school is in a slum so we were stared at the whole time. In the afternoon I helped Teacher Susan (the Year 3 teacher) do some marking which was good coz it's something I can actually do and just watched her teach.
I'm finding it really really hard but hopefully it will get better because I know they loved last year's team who went there - they keep mentioning them and asknig if we know them and showing us where they did a wall painting etc, so if they did it so can we! Having said that I have to teach Year 2 again tomorrow ... argh.
Monday, 2 February 2009
First post
Hello all! Sorry it's taken a while to write on this - today (Monday) was the first day I've been able to get to our local internet cafe and it is so slow! Taken me 18 minutes so far to get onto this.. But fortunately it's very cheap - 40p per hour.
We arrived in Uganda last Tuesday and since then have been getting to know the place as we don't start teaching until Wednesday. Our house is in a suburb of Kampala called Makindye (pronounced Mach-in-day) and is quite nice. We have a very tropical looking garden with a banana and mango trees and also some monkeys apparently, tho we have yet to see these. Inside it is quite sparsley furninshed with just beds, tables and chairs but we've spread all our stuff around so it looks quite homely. We sleep under big mosquito nets which feels especially fun! We have a lady called Prossie who cooks supper for us on weekdays and so through her have got to know some Ugandan foods such as gnut sauce - a purple paste that is served hot and tastes of peanut butter - mashed savoury banana, and 'wacky cake' which we are trying today which includes coke and chocolate as two of its ingredients.. Meat is very expensive here so we only get it twice a week - never thought that would have bothered me but I do actually miss it! On the plus side, fruit is cheap, so we have pineapple and passionfruit and mango every day (although for the first two days it did make me throw up.)
We went into Kampala on Wednesday, split into two groups with a list of things to buy/find with no guidance at all. It was quite an experience - finding a bus to take us there and finding our way round and home again after but through asking a lot of help from people on the street we managed to do OK. It's actually a really great city, hectic and busy and hot and dirty but friendly as well and has some awesome clothes and fruit on sale in the markets. Crossing the road can be a bit of a challenge as cars and buses don't seem to mind hitting people gently. Also bicycles are loaded up with stuff so they are hard to steer and people carry such large goods on their heads (ie. poles or even a TV I saw!) that you have to duck and dodge all over the place.
The people are so friendly in this beautiful country - the other day a couple of us were walking through the village next to ours and a lady started talking to us and invited us to her house where she gave us drinks, introduced us to her family and was just really welcoming. After church on Sunday I also found everyone there to be so warm and chatty with us, although there were a couple of awkward moments when people would come up and ask us for money. People here assume that being white makes you automatically rich. Everywhere we go the kids cry out 'Mzungu! Mzungu!' which means 'white person!' I've been trying to learn some Lugandan while I'm out here - the two most spoken languages are English and Lugandan, tho there are another 52 'commonly used' ones! - and the big smiles you get when you greet people in their native tongue is amzing. They always laugh tho for some reason .. I'm probably getting it wrong. And I can never understand the response. Conversations between locals are great - they shake each others hansd for a really long time and say 'how are you?', 'how are the children?' 'hiow is the house?' how ae the chickens?" 'how is your wife?' etc etc for ages.
My time has almost run uot but I will be back soon, hopefully later today to add some photos and to keep writing - there is so much more to tell!
Love to all, xxx
We arrived in Uganda last Tuesday and since then have been getting to know the place as we don't start teaching until Wednesday. Our house is in a suburb of Kampala called Makindye (pronounced Mach-in-day) and is quite nice. We have a very tropical looking garden with a banana and mango trees and also some monkeys apparently, tho we have yet to see these. Inside it is quite sparsley furninshed with just beds, tables and chairs but we've spread all our stuff around so it looks quite homely. We sleep under big mosquito nets which feels especially fun! We have a lady called Prossie who cooks supper for us on weekdays and so through her have got to know some Ugandan foods such as gnut sauce - a purple paste that is served hot and tastes of peanut butter - mashed savoury banana, and 'wacky cake' which we are trying today which includes coke and chocolate as two of its ingredients.. Meat is very expensive here so we only get it twice a week - never thought that would have bothered me but I do actually miss it! On the plus side, fruit is cheap, so we have pineapple and passionfruit and mango every day (although for the first two days it did make me throw up.)
We went into Kampala on Wednesday, split into two groups with a list of things to buy/find with no guidance at all. It was quite an experience - finding a bus to take us there and finding our way round and home again after but through asking a lot of help from people on the street we managed to do OK. It's actually a really great city, hectic and busy and hot and dirty but friendly as well and has some awesome clothes and fruit on sale in the markets. Crossing the road can be a bit of a challenge as cars and buses don't seem to mind hitting people gently. Also bicycles are loaded up with stuff so they are hard to steer and people carry such large goods on their heads (ie. poles or even a TV I saw!) that you have to duck and dodge all over the place.
The people are so friendly in this beautiful country - the other day a couple of us were walking through the village next to ours and a lady started talking to us and invited us to her house where she gave us drinks, introduced us to her family and was just really welcoming. After church on Sunday I also found everyone there to be so warm and chatty with us, although there were a couple of awkward moments when people would come up and ask us for money. People here assume that being white makes you automatically rich. Everywhere we go the kids cry out 'Mzungu! Mzungu!' which means 'white person!' I've been trying to learn some Lugandan while I'm out here - the two most spoken languages are English and Lugandan, tho there are another 52 'commonly used' ones! - and the big smiles you get when you greet people in their native tongue is amzing. They always laugh tho for some reason .. I'm probably getting it wrong. And I can never understand the response. Conversations between locals are great - they shake each others hansd for a really long time and say 'how are you?', 'how are the children?' 'hiow is the house?' how ae the chickens?" 'how is your wife?' etc etc for ages.
My time has almost run uot but I will be back soon, hopefully later today to add some photos and to keep writing - there is so much more to tell!
Love to all, xxx
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