Community school wins trophy!

Today has been a very happy day. Today I saw the fruits of a lot of peoples’ labours and what happens when a community works together and then Global Care gets alongside.  

This morning Simon and I sorted out a case of school packs – notebooks, pencils, pens, rubbers, rulers and sharpeners. David told us how many to put in each pack. When we ran out of bags, David went into town for more and by lunchtime we’d made 80.  This may be the time to confess that somewhere at home there is an Asda bag full of pencil sharpeners.  The only thing we ran out of was pencil sharpeners! I especially wanted to bring lots of sharpeners as lots of small children carry bits of razor blades in their bags to sharpen pencils. Simon and I communicate by writing and at this point he said he once cut himself on a razor blade when he was sharpening a pencil. Hey ho! Do I feel bad? Yes I do. If anyone is coming this way via my house, please can you pick them up…. 

This afternoon (we’ll go at 3pm – we left at 4pm) we took the packs.  And we went to Angoram school.  Yipeee! I went to Angoram when it was mostly huts, then last time I was here we helped to paint the inside of the buildings.  Now it is amazing! The children sang two songs to us then we gave out the school packs. Well we gave out about 30 packs. Then we undid the work Simon and I did this morning to split the rest so each child had something (I lost count at 120). I love Africa – yes, Mrs control freak, compulsively organised, laughed and joked as we chaotically recovered ourselves from not having enough to go round.

 

The school has come on so much since last time I was here.  The flowers and plants have grown and new ones planted.  They now have huts for the teachers and have ploughed a field to grow cassava, beans and maize so they can feed the children at lunchtime.  the girls and boys have separate latrines. The staff and students are all so hard working. Global Care gave them hoes recently.  Some of you will know that in my world, Uganda does not have snakes. I wasn’t best pleased when David said they found a snake when he was there when they were preparing the garden.

They recently won a trophy for a music competition and the government has promised a new school building as a prize.  If you ever wondered what happens to money you give to Global Care, today should reassure you.  

 I am so impressed by the developments each visit and I know that I can be confident that any fund raising I do is not going to result in you giving your hard earned cash to a lost or ineffective cause…

And now I’m going to see if Tom has cooked my tea!

People at work

Today has been another long hot day (see 'Dr Tom Goes Global' because I'm not going to steal his thunder on his meeting today. He's just taken someone to hospital but is planning a blog if he has time tonight). However, today I met some of his research subjects and it made me think about how hard people here have to work.  So, today's blog is about cooks and food and maybe a man or two at work. As I’m writing this, Thomas has just waved to me, having been to collect medication for a child with TB, which he’s now taking out to her village.  Michael Manager has been to the hospital twice today taking food for a grandmother and baby with malaria.  The staff have told me they’re going to start reading my blog so I want them to know I think they’re fantastic! They work so hard and they care for these children in a self-sacrificing way.  

 

The cook here is called Fortunate. She told me her other names are ‘Happy’ and ‘Joy’. She is always smiling. She cooks for everyone on the site so that’s 50+ at lunchtime. She starts cooking at 7am and leaves the site at 6pm.  She sometimes has to chop firewood too.  We have the staple local meal of Posho and Beans which is very tasty.  

 At the minute she cooks in a small room on wood and the room is full of smoke and very hot.  She says that she needs boots because the posho bubbles over the edge of the pot and scalds.  She has two small boys who are becoming my friends now they’ve got used to me.

 

 The girls here decided Tom & I should try white ants so they cooked some for us. We tried them. We won’t be trying them again… Some people here agree with us that they’re not the finest example of Ugandan cuisine

We love going to the market although I don’t like it that the babies cry when they see the Mzungu lady.   

 We’re having an interesting array of vegetables for tea and last night we saw smoked fish – which Tom says he’ll try at some stage.  They have to be re-hydrated before cooking!

I hope Tom gets back in time to go shopping because he hasn’t left me any money and we need to buy food for tea. We buy each day for that evening. 

Today I enjoyed watching the tent go up for Tom’s meeting.  

 

 It’s no different watching the men here trying to put up an awning as HHC in the Park! On the other hand, the grass was mown by strimmer which is a very laborious job and it took a day to clear enough for the tent. 

We had a power cut last night which lasted all morning too so I will stop here for today and make the most of the fact that we have power at the minute to load this up.   The sound of the ukulele signifies that everyone has stopped work for the day and we’re just waiting for them to return from the clinic.

Simon says

Today I spent the afternoon with an amazing young man called Simon. I decided that for my blog today I’d let him tell you his story himself - although this is just a part. We didn’t have a sign language interpreter so we have communicated all day by the written word and it seemed right for this to be in his words.  I am humbled, shamed, challenged and inspired by Simon.  

I grew up a normal child like others. My childhood was at some times difficult when my parents lost their jobs. We are 6 children, 3 girls and 3 boys.  

When I was in Primary 1 and 6 years old, I got some problem with my kidney.  I spent nearly a whole year out of school doing treatment.  Mom had by then saved enough for a Small Business so she was able to pay the hospital bill.  But I missed my dose of drugs one day and almost lost my life, it was a great hearted Nurse who saved me! From this point, I never looked as normal as I used to be. It’s from here that I saw just a small problem at school.  I couldn’t hear the teacher and all I could do was try hard to lip-read the teachers.  I sat in front and it was the only way out.  2 years later, I was not able to hear completely, it was discouraging. There was nothing much I could do, mom just kept telling me I should keep on with school but it was hard bearing with the bullying from the kids at school. They were so cruel. But on the other hand, I had some close friends who understood me; they were the stars that lit my path!

There was no option for me, I loved learning so I struggled with school. I didn’t know anything like sign language by then so I just had to read books in the small school library.  I used to read my friend’s books to catch up. It was tough since there was no way out there, I did my best and what a surprise to be one of the best Pupils at school in my Primary Leaving exams!

Luckily the government Education ministry identified me as a special student and referred me to Ngora High School where there were Deaf students. Here I learnt how to sign in an amazing one year and that was really very promising to me. I was able to join other students who were deaf and learn using sign language interpreters. As the majority of students used to hear, we were given an interpreter to convey the teacher’s message into sign. I loved it and it made me even more bright.

At some point in my secondary education, I was left all alone.  Dad was finding it difficult to raise fees, mom was also struggling with the other kids and I was far from being thought of.  I was in and out of school regularly but I made it a point to keep learning that’s how I ended up in Global Care.  The local Global Care staff helped Simon with his fees at this stage and then found him a sponsor in the UK.  I was able to get to University and now doing Industrial \Design.

I have a great passion for volunteerism!  So far, I have been leading the Youth with disabilities in Uganda, I also volunteer with the African Youth with Disabilities Network a new platform for advocates for Youth with Disabilities Rights across the continent.  I can see myself do some more bits of volunteer work at Global Care, now that we have a disability project.  Children with disabilities are very vulnerable in the Ugandan Community and if anything can be done, that should be to change the world around them before attempting to change them. There is a lot of external pressure than that influences their futures; from family to neighbours and even the physical environment itself. We can make it better if we try to correct such defects. We can give them hope for a better future. I myself I feel it will be bad to see someone else go through the hardships I have trailed through.

If a have just one more wish, it would be to tell the world that Disability is not the state of being unable because of someone’s looks and how he is, rather it’s a state of gaining incapability because of the eyes and negative thoughts of those around the person.  We could not have known about disability if those who were normal did not stare recklessly then say that “Aah I think that one can not manage this!”

I know myself, am Deaf, but I just cannot be called a Disabled Person, because as a friend once told me, my Personality comes First then my disability follows so maybe say I am a Person with Disability, because it’s all about Ability!

Pensioners, Pastors and Parachutes

Yesterday Tom and I were given the morning off. On the advice of the Kampala team we went for a walk round the King of Buganda’s lake.  It’s a very pleasant walk round a picturesque lake which takes you past lakeside dwellings. On the lake side you watch the interesting wildlife on the islands, on the  shore side you pass an amazing variety of businesses – guest houses, lorry washing, samosa stalls, second hand clothes, car parts, shops and the inevitable staring and waving children.  We got back to the hotel while the others were still hard at work and rested by the pool until they broke for coffee. One of the young men remarked ‘You 2 are like pensioners on vacation!’ 

My sons will be pleased to note the tradition of ‘wind up Mum whenever possible’ looks like continuing if the 8 hour journey up here to Soroti with the three staff members is anything to go by. We eventually arrived at about 8.30pm – the highlight being Karuma Falls and the baboons and monkeys at the side of the road. Accommodation consists of a bedroom (bed, chair, wardrobe), en suite (!?) with hot shower and western style toilet, shared living area (not used much after dark as bug screen not entirely effective) and kitchen (2 calor gas rings, limited workspace …I just broke a glass on the stone floor and we all go barefoot indoors :( )

Last night we slept better than the night before. Muezzin replaced by girls singing across the compound with Tom’s ukulele, dogs replaced by cockerels, all night disco on Friday night in Kampala replaced by bars which briefly stopped the loud music for a couple of hours in the middle of the night.

This morning we finally awoke to cries of ‘Auntie, Auntie’ and loud knocking on our neighbours’ door as the girls were trying to get a lift from them to church.   The day had started.  Names are added for those reading this who know who I’m talking about.  Had a great welcome from Joy, Teddy and Naume who introduced me to the others in a way which means I haven’t got a hope of remembering who is who! There are 13 girls who sleep here in the week.  My lovely husband went out to buy me breakfast – Rolex….. translates as rolled eggs (eggs in chapatti).

Then we went to church with our friend Sam (a joyous reunion!).   We had the usual situation where chairs had been left at the front for us but it was a small group meeting under a tree and they made us very welcome.  Lots of loud unaccompanied singing with waving, dancing and jumping… excellent.  


My kind of church meeting.  We even had two songs from the ‘Global Care choir’

 (Tom, Sam & 3 of the girls + ukulele). A pastor was present so I’m allowed that ‘P’ in the blog title.  Then we met Sam’s family, & went to visit Sam’s house.  Note to HHC, when Sam was welcoming us in church he mentioned what you did for him, the church sends their greetings to you.  If you don’t know, ask Rache!

After all that and walking for ½ hour in the sun via Sam’s house to get back home, yours truly lay down for a rest and promptly fell asleep…….

This afternoon we spent some time with the girls chatting, making name badges (to help me remember) and playing ‘snap’.  Then ‘Uncle Mike’ arrived (further joyous reunion) and after a bit of confusion (and more snap while they sorted themselves out) Michael left and Sam reappeared to take us to Michael’s village where he plays with a group of children on Sunday afternoons.  The supposed 30 min walk took nearly an hour and apart from the blistering heat was fascinating. It’s the first time I’ve been able to visit people’s homes and walk through the district.  Children shout ‘Bye Mzungu’ as soon as they see us (the children near the centre have even made up a song) people wave and smile or stare, babies have been known to scream and cry. 

Eventually we heard the familiar sound of children shouting and laughing, and turned a corner to see a group of over 100 children being directed by the amazing Michael.

 Suffice to say, much fun was had by all. My team even managed to win the parachute football. High fives all round.  Tom got his tin whistle out to entertain the children waiting for their turn at the parachute and some of them never went back! He & Sam make a good team. He was a bit miffed afterwards to find out I was having so much fun I hadn’t taken a photo of him swamped by a heaving mass of bodies.  I think Michael has gone through the parachute games book and learnt them all – it’s a long time since I’ve seen so much parachute game variety. 

Then we went to Michael’s house and met his wife Veronica.  Refreshed with tea, pineapple, banana and biscuits we set off for the walk back as the sun was starting to set. Note to Sam – the girls way back was quicker than your way there.

So now we’re both ready for bed.  The red dust is all washed off and being hot, tired and sweaty is a thing of the past as the fan gently wafts the bugs and air around.  What a happy day spent with our special friends who are making us most welcome

De Bono’s Hats and Children in Prison!

 

What a couple of days.  My head is spinning…. Today was particularly surreal. We stood on the balcony outside the conference room looking out over the swimming pool and the King of Buganda’s personal lake, then inside the conference room we heard Tom’s feedback on his research project looking at children with disabilities in Soroti district.

 He gave us a lot to discuss and think about. I thought I understood some of the problems after carrying out some preliminary research for Global Care a couple of years ago.  How naive!!  The reality is saddening and at times the issues seem insurmountable. How can you fight for the rights of a neglected group of people who are rejected and abused, sometimes even by their own families? Tom told us stories of amazing mothers who do the best for their children with no resources, no support and no facilities and where the saying goes “If there’s a problem with the child he’s his mother’s, if he’s successful, he’s his father’s”. 

The key issues I’ve come away with are:

1. Transport – how on earth can children with disability travel? There’s no adapted transport, no money for transport or fuel, the roads are difficult for able bodied people to walk on. How can they get to school, to hospital, anywhere? The answer is: those that can, will crawl and stagger in the mud to reach their destination.

2. Social acceptance – how can you ensure that all children are treated with dignity and respect, whatever their situation? How can you protect them and keep them safe? How can you ensure they have rights? Part of the answer is to empower the children, their care givers and their communities by education and by finding people who will stand up for vulnerable children.

  

3. Culture – how do you work for the rights of vulnerable children where the law works on paper but not in reality, where gender issues pervade every part of society and where disability isn’t always seen as a health issue?

In a moment of madness I said to Tom – let’s try De Bono’s hats* to get this lot talking it through logically and come to some decisions – 10 minutes to prepare over coffee (by the pool of course) – and off we went. Not sure how successful it was but we talked through lots of ideas and people were able to say what they thought and felt.  Never thought that would come in useful in Uganda.

Spent this evening chatting over issues such as prisons and repentance. Discussed the various atrocities committed by women in the name of love.  One of the younger women said ‘Why would a woman do that for a MAN?’ One of the younger men said ‘Why would a man take a second WIFE?’ Someone said ‘Why does God forgive a murderer who repents and how do you know they’ve truly repented’. …… blog reader please discuss with your friends J

And finally we heard brilliant news about some changes that have happened to improve the lives of children who have to live in prisons when their mothers are arrested and/or imprisoned. And that dear reader you will hear more about another day.  Now I am going to try and get some sleep before the dogs and muezzin join the crickets, talking, traffic and occasional blasts of music or the blighters that get through the holes in my mosquito net.

*Note: De B’s Hats = decision making tool as used by yours truly when delivering Facilitation Skills workshops

The Global Care Uganda Training Conference

Last night I walked out of the airport in Entebbe at 11pm after travelling for 19 hours. Exhausted and thirsty I stepped out and smelt that African smell – woodfire mixed with something slightly unpleasant- and found myself grinning from ear to ear.  The muggy warmth and buzzing flies left me laughing and chattering like a giddy schoolgirl.  What a relief – Uganda I still love you! 

We arrived at our hotel in Kampala an hour later after being skilfully driven by Patrick who successfully managed to avoid the taxis with no lights, cyclists all over the road, lorries parked at the roadside selling or loading and the odd driver in the middle of the road.  We were shown to our very pleasant rooms and settled down for a night of much needed sleep. When I met John one of my travelling companions, the next morning, we discussed our night.  While I’m very tolerant of other religions, the early morning call to prayer was very early and very loud and very repetitive and John wondered whether we could find a dog hunter.  

I’d like to pretend that I’m suffering for my cause and life is tough for visitors to Uganda.  The truth is that after breakfast by the pool (yes it’s true!) I sorted out my cases then while the others were at meetings I sat on the balcony, prepared what I have to do tomorrow, wrote my diary and read my novel.  What a lovely relaxing morning!

During the day the other attendees at the Global Care Uganda Training Conference arrived, including of course Husband, it was quite nice to see him. I was allowed to temporarily break the rule of ‘no public shows of affection’…. 

It’s been a great day, catching up with friends and meeting new ones and hearing about all the incredible work the Global Care staff are doing at the Uganda projects.  We heard some heart rending stories of sickness and suffering and fear.  We heard about children afraid from a catalogue of disasters in their city – fire, theft, death from lightening, muggings and riots. There were stories of deception and corruption and feelings of disappointment and frustration.  There are so many challenges and limited resources. But after an initial response of feeling overwhelmed by the difficulties for the vulnerable children in this country I’m going to bed feeling encouraged that nothing is impossible and trusting that the Global Care teams will make the right decisions. 

We heard loads of success stories that give me hope and challenge me to think about how to support the work of these incredible people who are also my friends.  The schools partnership projects, the vocational skills work, individual children and families who have benefited from healthcare and emotional and practical support, a bee keeping project, and building work.

Now I’m hot and tired and ready for bed but looking forward to tomorrow.   I will never view the word ‘conference’ in quite the same way….

2.5 Sleeps to Go

All my bags have been packed at least once and weighed. Why is it that every time I weigh them I get a slightly different result - and why on earth do I think leaving them standing for 2 days will reduce the weight?

Had a great weekend of treats as I decided to celebrate my birthday seeing as Husband wasn't here to come up with a treat for me.  Made me realise what an excellent group of friends I've got. Have definitely over-eaten though. Lots of hugs of farewell over the weekend too - its not like going to Spain for a fourtnight!

So - 2 more days left at work, 2 more evenings to think of things to frret about, and only 2 full nights sleep left. Am very excited about seeing our Ugandan friends again - and rather looking forward to seeing the old man after a month apart.