Lira & Kampala Kids Day

Just as it was last year, the senior 3's organized a kid's day for the primary children at Ambalal school as the culminating task of the leadership program Kirabo delivered.

In Kampala, we held another kids day with Right to Play for the impoverished children of Bwaise. Both days were very successful and super chaotic! I think all of us volunteers were exhausted by the end of our volunteer program- but no matter how much dust, diesel and body odour we inhaled during our time here, and no matter how many screaming children there were, we had a blast doing it!

Sweet Nutella!

Every morning we do construction at the school. Some of the volunteers are working on a mural that is being painted on the wall of one of the school's buildings.

I, on the other hand,am shoveling rocks,carrying buckets of water,
mortar,

hauling bricks,

laying foundation and building a kitchen and an additional dormatory for the girls! This is some serious physical labour! I think the Ugandan workers thought a mzungu wouldn't be able to handle the tough work but I showed them!



I was even able to carry and stack more bricks than the little barefooted four and five year olds who were eager to help! Don't laugh, these kids could probably out-bench me in the gym! LOL!

The afternoons are spent teaching a leadership workshop to the senior threes (which is equivalent to grade nine in Canada).



After that, I have a bunch of students who showed interest in my music research. We get together, play some rhythms on instruments, sing songs and dance! You should hear some of the songs these kids have written themselves. Stephen, my little Usher wannabe, wrote a song called "African Child", the words were unbelievable- its hard to imagine a kid could write something so profound, but then again, it just goes to show that their experiences are drastically different from our own.



We've even had two movie nights at the school. The first night, all 400 of us crammed ourselves into a classrooom (yes...400) since we were flooded by a thunderstorm...let me tell u, when it rains it pours...HARD!



One of the volunteers brought a projector and a laptop so we were able to share some movies with the students once we got the generator going. That was a cool experience! the interaction with the kids is of course the best part of this whole experience- especially my time with Denis (my sponsored student) and another boy named Jasper who I was able to help out a little last year.


(Denis)


(Jasper)

The kids have been so hospitable and welcoming, I think they appreciate that I've managed to come back twice now to see them and based on what they've told me it shows them that I truly care about them (which I do)- or maybe they just said those things because I introduced them to nutella! Yes! I they do sell nutella here in town- how could I deprive them of the chocolately goodness on bread! LOL!

The other night I caught some sort of bug that I think was with me for a couple of days but reared its ugly head within the last 24 hrs. Not to fear its all out! Sort of... I did have to miss an afternoon of activities, but coming back to school was really special when many of the kids were welcoming me back and literally thanking me for recovering! Some of them were so worried they were saying prayers for me! Love these guys!

Children of the Corn

Just to recap some of my experiences so far, let's just say, that my stay at the Red Chilli Hideaway in Kampala was much better this year (my roomm wasn't as scary) and the monkeys running around and coming in for a close up to my camera are so cute and funny!


This year there are 10 volunteers unlike last year there were only 3 of us. They are an amazing group of people and getting to know them over the last week has been a blast! I had the pleasure of meeting with Benedict again- the headmaster of Almond school and now goood friend of mine- as well as my friend Jane who does some work with Right to Play, and helps us out on kids day in Kampala.

So far, I have not been yelled at for wearing shorts this time- I smartened up and brought more skirts with me. Our drive to Lira in Northern Uganda was good, minus cutting myself on barbed wire in the bush while taking a 'rest' stop (thank you tetanus shot!) We also stopped long enough to feed some monster sized baboons just after crossing the Nile river and finally our arrival at Almond was BEYOND welcoming! The students, came running up to us with hugs and loving words it reduced me to tears! They're so amazing words cannot express how much I love them! The schools welcome did not disappoint as many students performed poems, songs and dances as they graciously accepted us back at their school. We even jumped in and started to dance traditional Acholi style but I don't think I was able to shake my butt as hard as they did!


One of my favourite moments was bumping into a little village girl that I met last year and took so many pictures with (my students in Canada would recognize this girl since she's framed on my work desk)I wanted to put her in my suitcase and take her home with me she's so adorable. I found out her name is Dukas (I've impressed myself with my expanded Lango vocabulary when I asked her name) and she recognizes me from last year.

She played shy with me at first but quickly opened up and has not left my side (along with 10 other kids) since! Note to self: do not give out candy until the day you leave...I've been chased by the little kids who chanted for the mzungu's (or munu's in Lango) to give them sweets... the scene resembled an African version of the horror movie "Children of the Corn"- they really were coming out of the corn/maize fields! Lol! Not a day goes by where the little kids come running after us, hoping for us to chase them in return. They're always laughing and smiling its hard not to fall in love with these kids!

"I'm Back!"

I wasn't sure if I would make it back to Uganda this summer- especially the way things have gone over the last few months- but I made it here and I am so grateful to God to have this opportunity again. I had initially planned to come back, visit with the people and students I met last summer at Almond school and then do some research for my masters program at U of T. Well it just so happened that Calvin, the director of Kirabo Canada who I travelled and volunteered with last year has so kindly let me do my research in conjunction with the leadership program we deliver to the students at Almond- and it is going very well so far. In the fall I took a course on community healing and peacebuilding so I decided to do my research on the use of music to heal and build community peace. Its perfect really- I get to see my kids again, and study a topic I am very passionate about in a country and district that places a significant role on the use of music in their culture. I've already had an opportunity to meet with some people who work for the Justice and Peace Commissions here in Lira, including a woman, Santa, who writes peace music and goes around to schools delivering programs on peace education. I have also meet with my professor's "Interchange 4 Peace" colleagues here in Uganda and was able to get some info regarding the work they do here in Uganda. Interchange even has a chapter in Croatia! Maybe I'll go there next summer!