I have tried to start this post 1,000 times already and since I'm getting tired of rewriting sentences, I'm just going to get on with it. The past few days have been hectic, and I'm excited to be in my bed now, with my mosquito net tucked under my mattress, preparing for sleep. Many of you have asked me over the past week how the boys are doing. I'll do my best to re-cap the past few days, while giving you an update on each of our boys.
I'll admit to you all that Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty boring days in the eyes of most. I spent most of the days doing Internet research for grants while working on some administrative paperwork, while Andrew took the boys to a local health clinic to get the immunizations required by Ugandan schools.
Wednesday evening I did get a chance to go to Come, Let's Dance (CLD), an organization that I was originally supposed to work with this summer, but declined to help The Street Child Project progress further. It was so wonderful to get to see the children at the CLD Kid's House that I worked with last summer, especially two abandoned babies that I became very attached to-Jordan and Jackson. The babies are now growing toddlers and adorable as ever--they're learning much more English and even sang "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" for me! I couldn't believe how these two babies, abandoned at a trash-dump just last summer, have become so well-established at their new home. Last summer the babies were so emotionally wounded from their abandonment, they rarely showed any positive emotions. This summer, however, they are all smiles and giggles. I couldn't take my eyes off of them-they are simply beautiful little kids. There is word that one of the teacher volunteers might adopt one or both of them, which brings up a lot of emotions inside of me. Still, knowing that Jordan and Jackson could find a permanent home is something that makes me very happy, even if I wouldn't get a chance to see them on my future trips to Uganda.
Thursday was an incredible day spent with our boys at the camp. Tracy and I traveled down to Entebbe to hang out with the kids and ended up, instead, in a long conversation with Andrew about the boys education. We're constantly faced with the dilemma about the best opportunity for them. All of the boys have missed out on many years of their education, and are subsequently far behind other children their age who have been regularly attending school. If we were to put them straight into school that would mean putting 11 and 12 year olds in the equivalent of Kindergarten or 1st grade, with 5 and 6 year olds. Concerned about the emotional trauma such a situation could cause, we've been frantically trying to come up with an alternative situation.
Thursday, we all came to a conclusion. We would look for a certified teacher to tutor the boys up to their appropriate school level until the new school year starts in January/February. We were trying to decide where to find a proper teacher, when Andrew remembered that one of our most loyal volunteers, Eric, was a trained teacher! We brought him into the discussion and ended some time later with Eric's decision to come on staff with us for the next six months as our teacher. Praise God that we were able to find someone who knows and loves the kids and is qualified to fill our needs!!
The most exciting part of the afternoon was formally bringing the kids into the discussion. Tracy is always advocating that the children be included in all major decisions and that they have an opportunity to voice their opinions and ask questions throughout the process. Providng them this chance has been such an incredible form of child empowerment and has been a learning platform for all the staff.
As we explained to the boys our idea of "home-schooling" in the garage of the new house, they seemed a bit nervous at first. We explained that the 10 boys would be assessed by the teacher and divided up into groups according to their educational levels. These groups, or "learning pods," would meet with the teacher twice a day, before lunch and after lunch, four days a week. They all expressed concern about being assessed and grouped with students that were either above or below their own educational levels. Most of all, they were concerned about the teacher and what kind of punishment they might use in the classroom. (Ugandan schools are known for caning their students.) The kwagala moment of the day came when we explained that "Uncle Eric" would be their new teacher and the boys all started cheering and clapping with joy. When they imagined a strange, perhaps unfriendly instructor teaching them, they were all visibly nervous. But from the moment they heard that Eric, a trustworthy man that truly cares for the kids, was filling that role, their faces changed from anxious to joyful and the room filled with laughter and excitement. In just a few moments, it was as though their hope was renewed, their spirits uplifted and their desire to learn ignited once again.
Shortly after we announced that Eric would be teaching, the boys started giving some suggestions for how they wanted to see our school run. Robert suggested they start school at 8am, after they completed chores. Kabugo said he wanted to bathe every day before school. Kimbowa said he wanted to be fed big meals at lunchtime. (Just to clarify, I have eaten lunch with these boys many, many times and can attest to the fact that their meals are sizeable and we keep them well-fed.) They all wanted a blackboard in their classroom and voted for "color changes" as a form of punishment, as opposed to caning. After hearing their input and taking notes on their suggestion, we let them go outside to play cricket-their new favorite game. It has been decided that the boys will start tutoring this August and go until the new year, when they will all take entrance exams and enroll in a local school. Tomorrow we're off to buy school supplies and the first round of furniture for move-in day on Monday!
with love,
Amanda
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
changes come
Dearest friends,
My sincerest apologies for taking so many weeks to give a thorough account of my life in Uganda these days. There is now so much to account for I don't know where to begin!
I wish I could write back from the beginning-starting with the art/sports camp led by the American volunteers, but for time's sake I won't go into as much detail as I would love to. Instead I'll start with dropping the Charlotte team at the airport. Leaving Eva, Rachel and Laura was so difficult--they brought me so much joy and encouragement every day that I truly wanted to make them miss their flight and keep them in Uganda with me. (Rachel probably would have been okay with that!) I told them later it was like leaving a part of my heart behind when I left them at the airport! But more than that, the boys miss them terribly. Both the volunteers and the kids adopted each other into their families. Peter even cried today because he missed Laura so much...
After the Charlotte team left, Tatiana and I moved in with her host family from last summer-the Mutungi family. The family was so sweet to me and treated me just like one of their own kids. Both parents turned out to be great resources for me to talk to--the mom has worked with children's orgs across Kampala and the dad, an art professor at Makerere, has led community art projects sponsored by the Ford Foundation, the United Nations and USAID.
After spending some time with their family and interviewing Professor Mutungi, Tati and I met with the director of a children's village in Wakiso district. We spent Monday with him and visiting his children's home and primary school. He's been the best person, next to Victoria, so far that I've talked to about starting an organization. He listed every step for registering a children's home/school and gave advice I haven't heard anywhere else so far.
On Tuesday and Wednesday Tatiana and I did our best to turn the camp into a school. The boys were begging us for English and math lessons, so I took one subject (English) and Tati took the other. We were also able to use some country profiles that my dear friend Jenny Morgan made that allowed us to introduce geography: different continents and oceans, countries and capitals and how to read a map. We tried to organize the boys and cater to their different levels, and ended up teaching for non-stop during the days. Their desire for education is something I rarely see in students in the West--it was so refreshing. The experience really motivated me to start looking for schools in which to enroll them.
On Thursday Tracy and Pastor Phillip surprised all of us coming to the camp and bringing an American art teacher from Come Let's Dance to do a painting project with the boys. They also brought a lot of children books for the boys to read, which was so helpful. As much as we loved doing English and math with the boys, it was good to have a program for the day instead of trying to come up with an endless supply of vocabulary words! Tracy spent the night on Thursday with them and then led a focus group with them on Friday morning that introduced them to the UN Convention for the Rights of a Child and some basic ideas of child empowerment.
I dropped Tatiana off at the airport early Friday morning. She had been such a help and encouragment to me, I was really sad to see her go as well! But as soon as I dropped her off, I jumped into work and spent the weekend with Andrew, first securing a new house for the boys to move into and then visiting various primary schools in the area (Kitala) for the boys to attend. The house is on the other side of Entebbe Road, but walking distance from Banana village. It's very spacious with 4 bedrooms and well within out price range. If everything goes according to plan (which it rarely does) we hope to move into the new house next Monday. The only tricky matter at the moment is finding furniture for the house and moving it to the house this week.
I was back at the camp today with the boys, leading more English lessons, playing some ultimate Frisbee and recording for the documentary I hope someone will make for the website. When we arrived all the boys were painting outside, which was a wonderful sight to see. Kimbowa was doing two splatter paintings which he explained as representing his life on the street and then his life after coming to our project. In the first painting, he shared that the black and red represented the death and blood he witnessed on the streets, the green represented street children's love for money and the little specks of yellow were for the love and his best friend, Kalisti, shared for one another. The painting is messy, dark and depressing.
The second painting is orderly, though created with the splattering of paint. It is three colors-white, which represents the love that came from the people he met at our project, orange, which represents his happiness, and teal, which represents the love of his freedom to practice his passions like art. It was so encouraging to see such a young boy passionate about art and able to share his testimony through his work. Then again, that's what the Street Child Project is all about-seeing lives transformed and turning passions into professions.
Thanks so much for taking time to read this message-I know it's long and I'll try to limit the next ones! Hope all is well at home. Please continue to pray for our boys--that we will continue to see changes come and transform their lives and that each of their passions may be developed. )(Don't forget to let me know if I can pray for you as well!)
love,
Amanda
My sincerest apologies for taking so many weeks to give a thorough account of my life in Uganda these days. There is now so much to account for I don't know where to begin!
I wish I could write back from the beginning-starting with the art/sports camp led by the American volunteers, but for time's sake I won't go into as much detail as I would love to. Instead I'll start with dropping the Charlotte team at the airport. Leaving Eva, Rachel and Laura was so difficult--they brought me so much joy and encouragement every day that I truly wanted to make them miss their flight and keep them in Uganda with me. (Rachel probably would have been okay with that!) I told them later it was like leaving a part of my heart behind when I left them at the airport! But more than that, the boys miss them terribly. Both the volunteers and the kids adopted each other into their families. Peter even cried today because he missed Laura so much...
After the Charlotte team left, Tatiana and I moved in with her host family from last summer-the Mutungi family. The family was so sweet to me and treated me just like one of their own kids. Both parents turned out to be great resources for me to talk to--the mom has worked with children's orgs across Kampala and the dad, an art professor at Makerere, has led community art projects sponsored by the Ford Foundation, the United Nations and USAID.
After spending some time with their family and interviewing Professor Mutungi, Tati and I met with the director of a children's village in Wakiso district. We spent Monday with him and visiting his children's home and primary school. He's been the best person, next to Victoria, so far that I've talked to about starting an organization. He listed every step for registering a children's home/school and gave advice I haven't heard anywhere else so far.
On Tuesday and Wednesday Tatiana and I did our best to turn the camp into a school. The boys were begging us for English and math lessons, so I took one subject (English) and Tati took the other. We were also able to use some country profiles that my dear friend Jenny Morgan made that allowed us to introduce geography: different continents and oceans, countries and capitals and how to read a map. We tried to organize the boys and cater to their different levels, and ended up teaching for non-stop during the days. Their desire for education is something I rarely see in students in the West--it was so refreshing. The experience really motivated me to start looking for schools in which to enroll them.
On Thursday Tracy and Pastor Phillip surprised all of us coming to the camp and bringing an American art teacher from Come Let's Dance to do a painting project with the boys. They also brought a lot of children books for the boys to read, which was so helpful. As much as we loved doing English and math with the boys, it was good to have a program for the day instead of trying to come up with an endless supply of vocabulary words! Tracy spent the night on Thursday with them and then led a focus group with them on Friday morning that introduced them to the UN Convention for the Rights of a Child and some basic ideas of child empowerment.
I dropped Tatiana off at the airport early Friday morning. She had been such a help and encouragment to me, I was really sad to see her go as well! But as soon as I dropped her off, I jumped into work and spent the weekend with Andrew, first securing a new house for the boys to move into and then visiting various primary schools in the area (Kitala) for the boys to attend. The house is on the other side of Entebbe Road, but walking distance from Banana village. It's very spacious with 4 bedrooms and well within out price range. If everything goes according to plan (which it rarely does) we hope to move into the new house next Monday. The only tricky matter at the moment is finding furniture for the house and moving it to the house this week.
I was back at the camp today with the boys, leading more English lessons, playing some ultimate Frisbee and recording for the documentary I hope someone will make for the website. When we arrived all the boys were painting outside, which was a wonderful sight to see. Kimbowa was doing two splatter paintings which he explained as representing his life on the street and then his life after coming to our project. In the first painting, he shared that the black and red represented the death and blood he witnessed on the streets, the green represented street children's love for money and the little specks of yellow were for the love and his best friend, Kalisti, shared for one another. The painting is messy, dark and depressing.
The second painting is orderly, though created with the splattering of paint. It is three colors-white, which represents the love that came from the people he met at our project, orange, which represents his happiness, and teal, which represents the love of his freedom to practice his passions like art. It was so encouraging to see such a young boy passionate about art and able to share his testimony through his work. Then again, that's what the Street Child Project is all about-seeing lives transformed and turning passions into professions.
Thanks so much for taking time to read this message-I know it's long and I'll try to limit the next ones! Hope all is well at home. Please continue to pray for our boys--that we will continue to see changes come and transform their lives and that each of their passions may be developed. )(Don't forget to let me know if I can pray for you as well!)
love,
Amanda
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