February 24, 2012

We visited Kyetume primary, a protestant school of about 700 students, and 12 teachers. The presentation was on Health and Leadership.

On the way home I sat outside a store after purchasing a cold beverage. The store operator comes out and starts pouring liquid from a can into a coca cola bottle. I suddenly realize that the store is also a gas station.

Later on Kirsten insists on getting something packaged. A fifteen minute walk/ her singing about the joys of processed food leads us back to Kyetume. I purchase some chips and cabbage from a girl cooking at a fire outside.

February 25. There is no power, so I hang up my laundry to dry and head into Masaka.

A torrential downpour falls, and my laundry remains wet til the next day.

Below are photos of some of the school dorms.

The Senior Ones finished exams on Friday, and to celebrate they hosted a dance at the school. A room was converted into a dance party. The windows were covered up, a generator was brought in to power large speakers, a dj used a laptop to pump dance music throughout the school. Bottles of soda were sold, and juice was given out by volunteers.

The project officially started on December 29th, 2012 as the first step to self sustainability. The project was facilitated by a team from St Benedicts University. John and Cole came to URF to help build coops, as well as fundraise to purchase approximately 600 chickens. The goal is to reduce donor dependency, and to help develop smaller projects with income from sale of the eggs. The end of the year target is 1000-1500 birds producing 50-100 eggs a day.

About ten feet from the edge of the building where I sleep is a chicken coop. A wooden frame coated in metal panels. The interior is coated with chicken wire for obvious reasons. Wooden poles criss cross over wooden feeding containers. Around 524 chickens occupy the room, and when the power goes out they huddle together.

The rooster likes to wake me up at 5am, and on those mornings where I do get up I like to venture out in the darkness and see these birds.

A short hike past Kyetume down a dirt road there is a little path right beside a collapsing house. This leads to another small house, behind which is a kitchen in the early stages of construction. Bamboo like wood and banana leaf reeds are used to make the frame of a small building to protect Zytoon and Olivia from the elements as they cook over a fire. I felt a bit useless at first, three walls of the frame had already been built. The poles on the top of the wall needed to be held as reeds secured them to posts already in place. Two poles on either side of the frame are tied on to seven different poles holding them together. The goal is to create a frame that will be filled with mud. After the wall is finished I head into the field to find Jehan and peel dead leaves off of more posts for the roof. The reeds are piled near the kitchen for another die.

A storm rolls in shortly after arriving at URF, thunder crashes as rain pelts the tin roof.

As quickly as the downpour started, it is gone.

Jehan starts up the van and we head to Kalisizo primary to do a leadership and health presentation. We are welcomed by the headmaster and introduce ourselves. We are lead to a classroom to talk to three grades, primary 5, 6 and 7. It starts with the Ugandan national anthem. Most of the girls are wearing a green and white dress, and all the children have uniform hair. Most students seemed to be lacking footwear. The talk included leadership qualities, respect, listening, public speaking, goal setting, as well as malaria, HIV and the importance of handwashing.

The children are eager to learn, when asked to disucuss some of their favourite activities, and what they excelled in, many were quick to bring up mathematics, science and english.

A baby, unable to walk, squealed as he tried to communicate with children outside the classroom looking in at the presentation. Growing tired of this, he pursued his agenda at various points around the classroom before being escorted outside by one of the older students. A cool wind had followed the storm, blowing in through the glassless windows, some children put on jackets.

As the finish became apparent the children clapped uniformly. The teacher thanked us before saying he prays for our being alive, so that if chance have it, we come back that they will be alive to. He said he would pray for our safe travel. The children all stand and a prayer is said, the children sit and we exit the building. Children flock to the van as we leave, and we introduce ourselves and shake hands. One girl kneels slightly as she shakes my hand.

I watch my head as the van traverses a road filled with holes. At home cicadas attempt to drown out traffic, silouettes of trees against a heavy blue that eventually darkens and sparkles.

It was glorious, but short lived.

Let there be light.

It's 7:30 pm on Tuesday. My room does not have a ceiling. I hear a click and a beam of light hits the rafters. It takes me a second to realize it is static. It is not a flashlight, but a light fixture.

We have electricity. I dash to the livingroom where KC is on the phone, and we flick on a light and rejoice.

"It's too bright in here" I say as I flip the switch back off.