Bat to School

Hello! Hope everyone’s well. We are well and have had a good week. We started school! It was well exciting going in with our pencil cases.

On the first day all the teachers were there but only about 5 kids turned up! Imagine that at the first day back in the UK! The teachers were like, ‘yeah this happens a lot, they’ll all be here by Friday’. So, on the Tuesday there were a few more. We had around 10 in each class. I taught P5 and P6 English and James taught Science. It was loads of fun but I was pretty worried about having to correct their spelling as I can’t spell myself! It was fine though. I asked the students to write me letters telling me about themselves. Some were so sad, telling me they were orphans because of AIDS. Others were writing I love teacher Amy, I want to be friends with her family! It was sweet.

On Thursday we went to a different school in Mukono to do some outreach work. We gave a talk to 200 kids about HIV. We tried to make it fun. We acted out a drama on how HIV works in the body. It went really well. It was me, James, Frank and Kayiira!(ill put some photos up of that soon) It was loads of fun. Then we played true or false games with them. At the end they were asking loads of questions which felt good because it meant they had been listening. One student asked us if HIV had been invented to kill all Africans… I didn’t know what to say, I was pretty taken back by it. We explained that anyone can get it, even white people. Then they were shocked, even the teachers were like, really??

Yesterday we went to Jinja to Interview more of the Pik Tek women (women who make the beads). This time it was women who had fled from the north. Again their stories were fascinating. I enjoy working with these women, they tell you a lot about life in Uganda.

Then in the evening it was the most surreal night ever. We were sat chilling out in the guesthouse, there were around 7 other volunteers and us. We were just chatting when a bat flew in. I was pretty scared but Esther (the house manager) caught it (after about an hour of it flying round the living room). Then.. 10 more flew in. It was terrifying; it felt like something out of a teen horror film. Esther and James ended up killing them all with brooms. Esther was like, this has never happened before it’s so strange. I wouldn’t come out of my room, I was such a wimp but it was sooo horrible! We think what happened is that they normally live up in the roof minding their own business but that day someone decided to smoke them out so they had all flown into our house.. Nice! I just hope it doesn’t happen tonight otherwise I’m not coming out from under my mozzie net! I think Esther said they were going to poison them or something.

So that was our eventful week. The internet has been pretty poor recently so I haven’t had chance to upload photos.. I’m going to try it now so fingers crossed! Love Amy xxx

Kitgum

Wow. I don’t know where to start. We have had an amazing and extremely interesting weekend. We went to Kitgum, this place has suffered a great deal form the rebel war. We went with a local lady who wanted us to conduct some interviews with the children and their families for a sponsorship program that the organisation we are here with are running. It was so hot all weekend and we sat under a tree and interviewed about 10 – 15 different families about their lives and the way they live. This was to go on the website to try and gain sponsorship for the children so they can continue schooling.

The first person we interviewed was 19. He sat down with us and I was just not prepared for his story at all. He started to tell us (through a translator) how he lived at home with his mother and father and 3 younger siblings. When the war broke out rebels came into his home and killed his father with a machete right in front of them all. They abducted him and took him into the bush. He was taken for 2 years and trained to kill. He was then taken back to the local villages (where his mothers and sisters were still living) and was told/brainwashed into killing everyone there.

After 2 years, one day in the middle of an ambush he escaped. He ran miles to get back to his old village, when he got there it was deserted. Eventually he was picked up by World Vision (an NGO working in Kitgum) who housed him and rehabilitated him. His mother and sisters were thankfully found and they were reunited. Shortly after his mother became unwell and died. He was then left to support the family. They have been living in an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp and have been living on food supplied by the World Food Program. As he was abducted when he was 14 he did not finish school and has had no vocational training. This sponsorship program will hopefully help him pay the younger children’s school fees and allow him to do some vocational training so he can provide for his family.

He was not the only one with a story, each family had there own story to tell about the war and how it affected them. It was harrowing. They all live in hope that the peace agreement will work out and it will stay peaceful. It was amazing to see how positive these people are after everything that they have been through.

After the interviewing I sat with the mothers and they showed me how to make jewelry out of paper. It was fascinating and lots of fun. This is the way they make there living. They roll the paper into beads and thread them on string. They are absolutely gorgeous and of course I had to buy some to bring home!

We then went to visit a disabled children’s home where one of the volunteers are working. This was run by a nun. She was an inspiring woman who had set up the home on her own and with donations from local organizations. There were around 200 children living there. However we were there in the school holidays and there were only 10 students there. These were children whose parents and not turned up to pick them up. So they stayed there.

We spent a lot of time with 2 local guys who were family members of Rose (the lady we went with). They took us to one of the IDP camps. People were practically living on top of each other. Apparently there were quite often outbreaks of cholera, you can see how when one person goes down with it, they all do. There were so many NGO vans buzzing around and the guys were telling us, they are now working on sending people back to their villages. The only problem is, people have lived in the IDP camps for so long they have nothing to go back too. Plus they have been living off food from the World Food Program for so long they have not got there own means of buying food. It is such a difficult situation for everyone involved. It makes me think about Darfur and the whole crisis there and what the aftermath will be like for Sudan.

I could talk for ages about what we saw, but I won’t go on any longer. We came back yesterday and have not been able to think of much else.

There are 12 new volunteers coming on sat for the start of the school term. That will be interesting as James and I are used to it being pretty chilled in the guest house. It has been raining a lot today which is kind of nice, it means it’s been cooler and makes me think of home!

Amy xxx

The Hairy Lemon and Royal Ascot Goat Races...

Hello!
I hope everyone is well.
It’s been a while since I last wrote so I’ll try and remember what we’ve been up to!

It was James’ birthday on the 26^th so we went for the weekend to Jinja. (The source of the Nile). We played golf, which James was very happy about. I was pretty rubbish (although in my defense I have not played before and it was baking hot.) From there we went to a place called the ‘Hairy Lemon’. It’s a good little getaway on its own little island. To get there you have to get 2 taxis and a boda. The boda then drops you at a random little hut infront of the river where there is a wheel hub and a stick. You have to bang on the hub and wait. We were waiting for about 15 minutes not really knowing what to expect. Then a guy in a little boat came paddling across the river to collect us. It was like something out of a film! When we got over to the Island there were a few people there who looked like they had been there years. It suddenly reminded me of the book/film ‘The Beach’. I got a bit scared incase it was some crazy cult in the middle of Uganda where you can’t leave. But luckily for us it wasn’t it was just a hide away with a couple of other travelers! They were all very nice and pretty sane. So we hung out there for the weekend, relaxed by the ‘beach’ and swam in the Nile. (A part where you are allowed to swim).

Then this week has been interesting, if not a little odd. At the beginning of the week I was a bit unwell. Luckily I am feeling much better now. Apparently it was an African sore throat and my body was just not used to it and decided to go crazy. But it’s under control now! Thankfully.

We visited a village, one that we have been to before and gave an HIV awareness workshop. This time we went back with the Uganda Red Cross to do some HIV testing and blood donating. It was very interesting. We got there and The Red Cross set up shop in the middle of the village. It was fascinating to see the similarities and differences between the way things are done here and the way things are done at home. I got talking to one of the men who work at The Red Cross and it turns out he has his own radio show and talks about issues that are troubling the youth in Uganda. Issues such as HIV and other STI’s, getting jobs, school work and family problems. I thought it sounded really interesting and asked if we could go along to visit! (You’ve got to ask these things eh). He seemed really keen so hopefully were going up to visit the studios soon. I am also going to try and link The Youth League with them and hopefully that way The Youth League will be able to tell people what they are about and also give a series of the ‘Staying healthy when HIV+’ talks. So we will see what happens there!

The rest of the week consisted of going back to Kampala to visit the US embassy, to apply for funding. Again we have another huge proposal to write so were keeping ourselves busy!

Then yesterday we did the most random thing ever! We went to an event called ‘The Royal Ascot Goat Races! It was hilarious. People were there in ball gowns and suits and all had huge hats like you see at the races in Cheltenham! Suddenly for the day we were transported out of Uganda into some crazy posh world full of money and power. It appeared to be a place where a lot of the Ugandan businesses conducted their big deals! The British High commissioner was there presenting awards to the winning goats! He was a picture. So unbelievably, stereotypically British!

The other crazy thing about it was that the goats clearly had no idea what was going on. They were getting distracted by the smell of food and shitting on the course! I did start to think it was a bit cruel and decided to lay off the betting. Instead I sat on the edge of Lake Victoria and enjoyed the View. It was beautiful.

After all that excitement a few new volunteers came. We had a bit of a welcome part in the guesthouse. There were about 15 of us, it was cool to hang out and talk to everyone. Some people are from USA, one from Belgium, one from Peru, a couple from Canada and of course some from Uganda. It was just nice to chat to everyone from around the world. I realised I have not really had that chance before.

It is coming to the beginning of term now so we are getting ready to start teaching. I’m looking forward to it and have stocked up on some supplies such as books and pens and teaching materials for the school (courtesy of peoples donations, thank you so much!). Again I hope every one is well, it’s so nice to hear from people so keep messaging me!

Goodbye for now xxx