Plans, progress, and working in a war-zone
I just returned from having my first hot shower in over a month. Man, I miss hot water! We took Peace, one of the ACF staff, and Gracie, the kid from the garbage dump, swimming at the Sheraton hotel. There were lots of things Gracie had never seen, like flights of stairs, swimming, and hot showers. He never dared to go in the shower, and swimming took about an hour to persuade him to do, but once he got in he had a lot of fun. He probably peed in the pool. Peace had only been swimming once before so I was teaching her. She wasn't swiming by the end but I reckon it was only because Gracie's pee made her less buoyant.
I've been teaching at the kindergarten every day. It's tiring but enormous fun. Today I found out that many children don't get fed, despite lunch being included in the school fees, because they are only given porridge if they bring a cup. Many children lose or break their cups and for whatever reason their families don't provide another one, so the kids go hungry. Of the 170 students, the headmistress told me about 100 children had lost their cups and so don't get fed unless they bring extra money for food they can eat with their hands.
I made an arrangement with the headmistress that I will buy a cup for each child on the condition that from now on the school is responsible for the cups. The teachers will make sure they are all returned after lunch, and if any are lost it is up to the school to replace them within one week. I'm buying 20 more than are needed to ensure there's always enough, and I've written up a contract between the president of the charity (who pays many of the children's school fees) and the headmistress, outlining the rules and guaranteeing that every child is fed every day regardless of the circumstances. Both parties have agreed to sign.
I've bought 2 sewing machines for the widows's empowerment program, and hired three women to make school uniforms for the kids in pre-primary who don't have them. I don't know for sure if uniforms will help their studies, but most of the kids are short on clothes anyway and the money goes to a good cause.
On Tuesday I got fitted for my hostage costume for the film, then I had a meeting with the director of Feed the Children Uganda. It looks like there's more adventure on the horizon! She gave me a bunch of options, and I chose to work on 2 projects: I'll be researching and writing a report on the effectiveness of FTCU's programmes, to be presented to Canadian Feed the Children who is their main donor. I'll have 3 or 4 staff to help me. I'll also be working in a refugee camp in Gulu, Northern Uganda, with children under 5 whose parents are missing because of the civil war. Gulu is still in civil war, so it will be a bit more intense than the work around here. Apparently there are more than 1000 children in the camp. Taking this work on means I'll probably be here at least a month longer than I planned.
Lots of responses from people tracking down playstations! Thank you so much everyone! If anyone has any games, memory cards or extra controllers as well that would be really helpful too. I figure memory cards can have space rented on them too, or it could come with a membership or something. I also plan to have a portion of all staff's wages get paid into a 3 year GIC, which will help them stop living day to day long-term.
The internet cafe is closing. Time to go.
I've been teaching at the kindergarten every day. It's tiring but enormous fun. Today I found out that many children don't get fed, despite lunch being included in the school fees, because they are only given porridge if they bring a cup. Many children lose or break their cups and for whatever reason their families don't provide another one, so the kids go hungry. Of the 170 students, the headmistress told me about 100 children had lost their cups and so don't get fed unless they bring extra money for food they can eat with their hands.
I made an arrangement with the headmistress that I will buy a cup for each child on the condition that from now on the school is responsible for the cups. The teachers will make sure they are all returned after lunch, and if any are lost it is up to the school to replace them within one week. I'm buying 20 more than are needed to ensure there's always enough, and I've written up a contract between the president of the charity (who pays many of the children's school fees) and the headmistress, outlining the rules and guaranteeing that every child is fed every day regardless of the circumstances. Both parties have agreed to sign.
I've bought 2 sewing machines for the widows's empowerment program, and hired three women to make school uniforms for the kids in pre-primary who don't have them. I don't know for sure if uniforms will help their studies, but most of the kids are short on clothes anyway and the money goes to a good cause.
On Tuesday I got fitted for my hostage costume for the film, then I had a meeting with the director of Feed the Children Uganda. It looks like there's more adventure on the horizon! She gave me a bunch of options, and I chose to work on 2 projects: I'll be researching and writing a report on the effectiveness of FTCU's programmes, to be presented to Canadian Feed the Children who is their main donor. I'll have 3 or 4 staff to help me. I'll also be working in a refugee camp in Gulu, Northern Uganda, with children under 5 whose parents are missing because of the civil war. Gulu is still in civil war, so it will be a bit more intense than the work around here. Apparently there are more than 1000 children in the camp. Taking this work on means I'll probably be here at least a month longer than I planned.
Lots of responses from people tracking down playstations! Thank you so much everyone! If anyone has any games, memory cards or extra controllers as well that would be really helpful too. I figure memory cards can have space rented on them too, or it could come with a membership or something. I also plan to have a portion of all staff's wages get paid into a 3 year GIC, which will help them stop living day to day long-term.
The internet cafe is closing. Time to go.
2 Comments:
At 1:51 PM, Anonymous said…
Hi Rich,
How can we get the playstations to you?
CD
At 1:59 PM, Rich Lowenberg said…
Anyone who has one to send should email me, then I'll reply with the address of a future volunteer in North America who will bring it over in their suitcase. That way we avoid corruption, potential taxes, and high shipping charges. Thanks!
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