Goodbye Children

End of term has arrived for the primary and secondary schools. I am so sad I can hardly stand it. The primary school is like a ghost town. Only a few orphaned children remain. I didn’t know end of term meant they would leave for three weeks. I didn’t get to say goodbye.

…All the more motivation for me to return to Uganda soon…

With love,
Kristen

Joseph

I have told you about Joseph many times. He is one of the most precious little boys I have ever met. The other day I was working in the office at the school when Joseph snuck in and crawled onto my lap. I played for a little bit but since I had so much work to do, I had to ask him to leave. He came back again about an hour later with his final report card and I let him sit on my lap again as I went over it with him. He didn’t do very well, but I made it a point to get excited about certain parts because he deserves it after all that he has been through. If I don’t, who will?

The third time he came back, I was typing on my computer and he looked amazed! He sat in my lap absolutely mesmerized by my fingers. When one of the teachers brought my lunch, she told him he needed to go get food too. He almost started crying! He left with her after much begging, only to sneak back in after she had walked away.

This kid is going to be a hard one to leave. 

With love,
Kristen

Sweet showers

My cousin suggested for me to bring a solar shower to my village. Wise man. I honestly didn’t bother using it until probably week 5 because I thought I was doing okay without. Then one day Festus busted out a solar shower from storage and when I used it my world changed. It felt amazing after a long hot sweaty day to actually rinse my hair. I fell in love with that thing.

Then it broke.

Awe, but thank God I had brought one! Now we have been using mine ever since. There is just nothing like having a pressure tube squirt you with water.

Sometimes life is about the little things. 

With love,

Kristen

Dirty Mazungu

After my first couple weeks here I realized a lot of the mazungus put aside their hygiene while they are in Uganda. Women stop shaving legs and armpits, men stop shaving beards, eyebrows go un-plucked, the beds of fingernails start housing germs, showers get skipped, as does deodorant.

Why? Ugandans shower twice a day. Twice! They are an extremely clean population of people. Even if they only own one outfit, they wash it every day. Every. Day.

Yet some mazungus treat places in Africa as if the continent is a savage place that allows for unhygienic behaviors. Well all I have to say is, “Hey Mazungu, wash up or go home!”

With love,
Kristen

Tip of the Iceberg

I have titled this blog, "Tip of the Iceberg" because I am about to cram a ton of blog posts into one weekend!

I know a lot of people back home have been frustrated with the lack of communication from my end this summer. I find it hard to maintain communication from here for a few reasons. First and foremost, I am here to work. This week I put in 60 hours, but I usually average 50. Honestly, that's just the hours that I clock as "work" because there are about 10-15 more hours a week that I spend doing what I consider housework.

Secondly, it takes a long time to do anything here. I went into Mukono [the closest "big city" from my village] to do some errands on Thursday and it was an 8 hour round-trip. When I bathe it takes me a minimum of 25 minutes just because splashing yourself clean takes longer than using high powered water pressure. Cooking mashed potatoes, matoke, rice, and beans takes about two and a half hours, because we use fire and coal and cook in the dark. Traveling to the homes of only three children who live in the same part of the village can take five hours. Sending an email from my village internet connection usually takes me about an hour. Just for one email. [Granted, part of that is because my computer hates Uganda and it takes an average of two reboots before it starts running, then the internet takes two or three tries before it starts running, so it isn't all because of Uganda...] I try to get on Facebook to check on my family and friends every so often, but usually that takes about 45 minutes to load any page and at least 15-30 minutes to post a status update or wall comment. Even this blog post took an hour to compose because I first write everything on paper, then when I have a window of power availability, I type it into a Word document, and later when I have a solid internet connection, I post it to the blog site. Things take a long time, and my priority here is my internship, so my social relationships have taken the back seat for when I have more time. [I really do love you guys though!]

This weekend I am in Kampala and I don't have any plans other than to catch up on my work. Lucky for those of you who read my blog regularly, I have decided to make this part of my work. I will be posting an update about my Gorilla trek (which naturally includes a description of the rainforest and me being sick), my trip to the island, and a few blogs I have written but have not had the connection to post until now. If you look at the rafting blog, you will find new pictures from that adventure as well!

Just because I haven't posted in a long time, here is a picture treat for you!

A bit of the sunset from the island 

With love,
Kristen

The Nile

Rafting on the Nile was one of the coolest things I have ever done. The thought of rafting always freaked me out, but it really isn't all that bad! In fact, it was so much fun, I'm already trying to plan where my next rafting adventure will be! You are welcome to join!! One of my favorite parts was the view we had as we traveled along this famous river. I can't possibly begin to describe the feeling of having an adventure on this river that I have learned about since childhood, and hoped to visit my whole live. Not only did I visit it, I was also submerged in it, drank gallons of it, and bled a little in it too! [Don't worry, just a minor cut from my paddle, but still, it counts!]

Today’s stories are of Sandra, Julious, and Osward: The student leaders of my peer-health education program.

Sandra, Julious, and Osward

Sandra’s Story:

I know that as a mature adult who is spending time with over 100 children every day it is not right for me to chose a favorite. Yet Sandra is hands down my favorite…just, please don’t tell the other kids.

She is ten years old and is already smart, witty, fluent in English, well versed in the entire Harry Potter series, and incredibly kind. Whenever a younger student cries, Sandra is always the first person to tend to their tears. She runs towards them, wraps her arm around their shoulder, and speaks with a gentle soothing voice until they feel better. Sandra wants to be a doctor when she grows up so she can, “treat poor peoples the way they deserve and so I can teach about health.” Perhaps you are beginning to understand why she has become my number one?



Sandra stays in the current housing facility at Future Diplomats even though she lives nearby and has both parents. Her reason is that if she goes home after school each day she cannot learn as much due to the demands of housework. In order to accomplish her goals in life, this ten year old asked her parents if she could stay at the school and get the most out of her education.



Julious’ Story:

Julious is 11 years old and a very soft-spoken young man. His English is minimal, but he is still always very eager to talk with me. Julious only has one sibling, an older brother. His younger sister died a few years ago. This is Julious’ first term at Future Diplomats. He boards at the school for the same reason as Sandra, to learn. He wants to become a lawyer some day. However, unlike Sandra, Julious lives about five hours away from the school. Future Diplomats is special for a rural school in that parents send their children very far to attend the school because it is one of the best.



Granted, teachers at a private school in Kampala probably have more education, experience, and expertise when it comes to teaching. However, for a rural school, Future Diplomats is a great bang for a parent/sponsor’s buck. It provides meals, housing [albeit currently limited], and teachers that do not use violence in the classroom. Julious may have to sacrifice time with his family, but the school guarantees meals, shelter, security, and an education.



Osward’s Story:

Sweet Osward [as I like to call him in my head] is 10 years old. He was very shy at first, but now that I have been around him during our peer-education training sessions, he is finally warming up to me. For the longest time, I thought he couldn’t speak English, as it turns out he speaks almost as well as Sandra. Just like Sandra, he wants to become a doctor when he grows up. For now, Osward is not fortunate enough to live at the school. Instead he leaves his house every morning at 6:00am [in the dark] to walk alone to school. When he gets home he must do the full days chores, and does not have any time for studies. It doesn’t seem fair that Sandra and Julious have a place to stay at school, but Osward still puts his life and education at risk to come to school every day.



Kids like Osward—with dreams of becoming doctors—deserve the opportunity to excel too.

With love and appreciation,

Kristen

How it works

I have received a few questions about how this “donation process” works. 

To clarify:

Step One- You recognize the need for the construction of this dormitory 

Step Two- You discuss with your partner (if applicable) or spend some time thinking on your own about the amount of money you would like to contribute to my Foundation

Step Three- Once you are sure you want to help this cause; you click on the “donate” button embedded on my blog

Step Four- The link takes you to PayPal, an online money-transferring site that is used by many businesses and corporations to ensure safe money exchange for both parties 

Step Five- You enter the amount you would like to donate and follow the billing instructions as you would for any online purchase

Step Six- I receive a notification via email and through the Foundation’s PayPal account that you (your name and email address appear on the account balance spreadsheet) have made a donation of $X.XX amount. 

Step Seven- I transfer the money into the Future Diplomats Education Centre Foundation’s bank account in America. 

Step Eight- Once an ample amount of money has been received, we will wire the funds to Uganda and construction can begin (this step will be repeated until construction is complete)

Step Nine- You receive a lifetime of my thanks and appreciation! Eventually you will also receive a picture of the completed dormitory that could not have been built without your generosity!    

9 simple steps to making this dream come true! I hope this helps! 

With love and appreciation,

Kristen