Sunday Afternoon - Oct. 5, 2008

I'm back in Mukono - we've been out of power in Nkokonjeru for a few days so wanted to come to blog (and get some groceries). I really try to get the blog done before Sunday so I won't get obsessive, but it didn't work this week! Started out the week very wordy, so get a cup of tea!

Last Saturday I was in Mukono to check the P.O. and shop (peanut butter, etc.) Sent the picture CD so there should be some new pictures in a few weeks! I hadn't taken many in awhile but got activated again! Got back Saturday afternoon for the craft class (2:30). Margaret (the teacher) didn't tell me that the dyed palm fronds we'd purchased needed to be hung to dry and so they were pretty moldy!! Got them scraped off and we used the best and may try to re-dye the others!! Lessons to be learned!

Short aside: Compliments here are sometimes hard to read. Saying "you're fat" is a compliment to women...big women are prized. There are signs all over advertising for herbalists who can guarantee to make you "Grow Big Bums", "Gain Weight Quickly" - it's a sign of prosperity and health (people with HIV, before drugs, really wasted away). The other day Sr. Juliet (with a big smile) told me that my English class "was like a REAL class" - I said "it is a real class" - sort of ruined the compliment for her. The vocational program was really let go the past few years - they had other problems and prioities, but it's starting to come around. Monday a.m. the kids teased me because I was 5 minutes late!!! P.S. Sr. Juliet also told me I'd gained weight while she was gone and looked better (I have).

Sr. Goretti stopped to see my apartment after Mass on Sunday and said it was "very organized" (and "very nice"). They get a kick out my folders, lists and notebooks!!

Sunday I went to Mass, did class preparation - tried to get some copies made but the copy place was closed (I got it done later in the day - found out the lady who runs it is also a part time policewoman in town - I didn't picture her as the type - she's very jolly and a very "traditionally buillt" African lady). Got some yogurt on the way home to comfort myself w. a banana smoothie! Afternoon are getting very hot and sticky, but nights are still O.K.

Went down to PH about 1:00 (got there for lunch). An organization promised the home 10 new wheelchairs but the deadline to apply was Monday, so Sr. J had gotten the hospital scale and was weighing 17 kids to put on a list (ever hopeful)...they needed weights and ages for sizes I guess! I got the list typed and did a Letter of Inquiry for a grant for the vocational school with Global Children's Fund (we'll see if they reply - the Letter is very short so not much time lost if it doesn't fly). We had craft class and the little kids colored on the floor - fun day!!!

Finished "Things Fall Apart" by Chnia Achebe (Nigerian) about a tribal society that fell part when the whites came - why are the books about Africa so tragic? Also read The River Between by Ngugi wa Throng'o (Kenyan) - same theme. Now am reading one Theresa sent called The Night Birds - good book set around the Sioux uprisings in Minnesota (and how the Native American society fell apart when the whites came).

Monday was a day of humility - tried to work on Reading Comprehension in English class, but the story was too long and too hard for 90% of the kids. It was from a P-4 English book, and about raising tea, but the kids are not used to reading (I'd made copies) , or listening and getting the main points. Doreen said was a good idea (bless her heart), but I needed to have a shorter story and go slower (she's right). Then the tailoring teacher didn't come till 1:30 (for an 11:00 class - this is not uncommon in Uganda), and I just blew up at him in front of the kids - very unprofessional! He said he was there but the room was locked, but I was there playing w. Nelson's kids right next door and he was NOT there - the kids were in the room waiting!!! I stayed too long in Nelson's room and the rest of the little kids came back from school (1:15) and they stormed the resource room, grabbing the toys and asking for sweeties and balloons (I'd tried to make balloon animals for Nelson's kids - also not very successful)....had a terrible time shooing them out and getting the door locked!!!

Tuesday was actually a public holiday - the end of Ramadan. BUT, it wasn't officially a holiday till 9:30 Monday night because someone, somewhere had to see the moon for it to be official (it was Weds. in Kenya). I got a call at 9:30 Monday night from Dr. Antonio, the Italian orthopedic doctor, who said he and his wife, daughter and neice were coming Tuesday since it was a holiday - crazy system!! So Tuesday was interesting. The stove guy came at 8:30 and we started up the new stove (THANKS ALL). He stayed a long time helping the cook get used to using smaller pieces of wood and a LOT less wood....porridge cooked very fast with the fire all enclosed under the pot. Very Exciting.

We started CBR - had a short meeting (monthly update) and then the Doctor came. He met with Sr. J and me and his wife and family went out w. Moses and Kinene to see some disabled children at their homes. The Italians are opening their new orthopedic hospital in Entebbe (south of Kampala) in Feb. '09 and he wanted to talk about that, about some fund-raising he's been doing for PH and the clinic he's still hoping to do out here in October/November. He and his wife are really nice and are so interested in helping PH - stayed for lunch (I am really into lunch aren't I?). Good visit all around.

Got to talk to Naomi for her BD in the evening - she sounds in good spirits for someone who's 8 1/2 months pregnant! It was also Holly's BD (they are one year apart). I didn't get to celebrate much w. Holly, but did give her her presents in the evening....mainly a neat basket made by one of the epilepsy clients.

Wednesday I went on the early matatu to a meeting in Kampala at the Africana hotel - Sr. Juliet was invited, but she and Sr. Veronica went to Kenya to take three of our non-verbal children to a special home in Kenya that specializes in speech therapy, so I was elected to go. The meeting was called by Katelemwa hospital to get together groups that work with disabled children in the hopes of working on a draft of policy to be presented to the government and incorporated into a new National Development Plan. A lot of it was over my head, but it was interesting. I was surprised at how many people I knew - guess the advocacy group for disabled children in Uganda is pretty small!!!

Funny trip home - from Mukono the matatu was really a wreck. The sliding door fell off every time they opened it! The driver and conductor had to tie it back on whenever anyone got out. When we got to Nkokonjeru he wouldn't stop anywhere but the taxi park and people were complaining - usually they make a few stops around town before they get to the park...guess they were tired of typing up the door!!! Matatu rides always have stories....

Thursday's English class was much better - took Doreen's suggestions. This time I did vocabulary words first and went slower! Monday I want to do a short story about Ugandan independence and some easy questions...we'll get there!!! I'm learning!

Thursday was Epilepsy Clinic Day and Florence did a great job - she saw 37 people (7 brand new)...the woman is amazing! Had "lunch" at 4:00 and she left at 6:30. I was exhausted and she still had to go back to Kampala. People's stories are sometimes so tragic - she's great at talking to them. Kinene talked to the waiting patients/parents for two hours about Epilepsy and other health problems - Moses translated for Florence - I just sit there and am caught up in the stories - it really went well.

The sisters had choir practiceat the chpael outside my window till 10:30 p.m. - drums and all. Great way to fall asleep - very relaxing. It's been raining a lot at night and the power was out Friday a.m. I washed clothes and cleaned for awhile....down at PH by 8:30 - crazy day (when are they not?). Bookkeeping teacher didn't show...I called him and he was in Mukono! He hadn't called to say he wouldn't be there- said he was out of phone minutes. Really, this is NOT unusual in Ugandan schools, but VERY frustrating! Tailoring teacher, again, didn't show by 11:00 - I called him...he had a "meeting" till 2:00 he said (no notice)....eventually, it rained at 2:00 and he never came either!

But, Sr. Margaret (the former administrator) showed up with a group of students from Tororo (north) who are here to study at St. Anthony's girls' school for a month to get ready for their secondary exams. The boys (about 20) are staying at PH in the dorm (but eating at St. Anthony's). Sr. wanted some of the tailoring students to sew St. Anthony patches on white shirts for the "new" students. Rushed around to get organized, get bobbins and white thread and then the four 2nd year students sewed - I was really proud of them. Took them several hours but they really worked - and the boys were waiting right there watching them! Sr. Margaret said some of the boys are former child soldiers in Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in the rebel insurgency in Northern Uganda - now going to school in Tororo!

At the same time the carpenter was here to measure a new shoe-making table for Doreen so she can work from her wheel chair and Sr. Juliet wanted me to come to a "budget meeting"....which turned out to be trying to allocate some Liliane grant money she got to all the school fee debts Providence Home has - of course, it wasn't enough so we had to "budget"....don't know what will be left for the vocational school teachers, but I hope they get paid - might improve their attendance (I hope).

Saturday a.m. I biked with Holly on her 16 mile run - then went with her for awhile to another women's baking class. Came back for craft class at 2:00 and there were visitors from an organization called Mukisa Foundation that pays the OT's salary - came out w. two visiting British Airways pilots who actually fund the organization. The kids were really having fun with them. The craft teacher didn't come (this is getting old)....it was the Feast Day of St. Francis (and these are Sisters of St. Francis) so St. Anthony's, where she works, had a big ceremony and meal and she couldn't get away....just wish people would let me know in advance!!

So, now it's Sunday, and I'm writing this all down....it was a busy week, but I like that. Happy 5th Anniversary (last Sat.) to Gail and Jesse. Jamie and Naomi have about a week or two till their due dates! Wish them the best - easy and fast deliveries (but time to get to the hospital and get settled).

Thanks to everyone for the your prayers and letters and just for remembering me! Coming up on 6 months (Oct. 10) at site - one quarter of the way through. Some days are harder than others, but I do feel I'm making a contribution, however small. Will make for good stories someday!!!