I never knew Nando's tastes that good!

Its amazing how much happens in one week! We went into Kampala on Friday to drop off Renato and meet with Uganda Crafts (an NGO that is going to help us sell the stuff the women's group is making). Our first stop was Nando's where I ate a chicken pita (with CHEESE) and fries and had an ice cream cone for desert. I have a love/hate relationship with Kampala. It has all the ammenitites you could ask for, but it is by far the most chaotic city I've been to.

After lunch, we met with Betty and Kakende from Uganda Crafts. They have a little store where they sell some of the crafts right on site and I couldn't stop myself from buying a couple really cute cards and a scarf so that I could tie it on my head like a real Muganda! The meeting was very successful and we decided that we will have them come to Kyetume in 2 weeks time to train the ladies. Training takes 6 full days, and the women will learn not only how to make baskets, but also how they can go about finding other ways of selling their crafts and how to keep track of their costs and profits. After they finish the training, Uganda Crafts will be able to give them orders to fill and they will get paid for each basket they make! This is an awesome opportunity for the women; for many of them it will be the first time they will be able to make their own money!

We spent the night in Kampala in the most beautiful area ever! We were a 2 minute drive from Lake Victoria and Fred's cousin Frank found us a guest house just a few houses away from his. When we arrived, he had tons of luxurious food waiting for us (hard boiled eggs, fruit, avocado, fried chicken, sugar cane). We were treated like kings and queens! We watched some music videos (mostly Boney M - and no one knew who they were except me) and drank some wine and got ready to go out that night! Capitol Pub was bumpin...we had some drinks, played some pool and danced a lot. The club was in a building with an open-air center where the dance floor was. So far the 2 clubs I've been to in Uganda have both been bigger and better than any club I've been to in Vancouver...although I don't know if that's saying much...sorry Tonic :P

Coming back to Masaka wasn't exactly easy...it's a totally different world here. We left Fred in Kampala to rest for a few days (probably the first days off he's gotten in months) and Daniel and I got back on Saturday afternoon. We went straight to the women's empowerment meeting and gave our talk on women's health. The women showed me how to tie the scarf I bought on my head, and were really excited that I wanted to wear it like them. On the way back we found the shedded skin of a cobra which we kept and I got to hold a baby chick that was just one day old! Its those kinds of things that make it really easy living in the village.
We are back at school this week, although today is a public holiday! It is the end of Ramadan and last night someone (still not sure who) declared it a public holiday in Uganda. I always thought those things were decided ahead of time, but apparently not! I am going to use the day to finish a bunch of chores...like doing laundry, cleaning up my room and of course lesson planning. Next weekend we are going to head to Deo and Zaitun's (two sibling orphans) to help them dig! I am really looking forward to that. Its a huge learning experience and eye opener to participate in the daily lives of the people here. The kids especially have gone through so much in their lives and yet they are the most resilient people I have met in my life. They are genuinely happy, even with the little they have.

Last night I had my first real feelings of being homesick. It was all brought on by some nasty termites that keep trying to build their house right outside my room. Everything about it gives me the heeby jeebies and makes me itchy all over. I think Jjajja is going to buy some chemicals to get rid of them. I feel really bad being grossed out by something so petty, but I really can't help it. Maybe in time I will just get used to them, as I have to spiders, geckos and all the other creepy crawlies in my room. I'm also really frustrated with the school system here and don't know how to approach the millions of problems with it. If any of you...especially all the teachers have any advice...please please let me know! Can't believe its been a month since I've been here and almost 3 months since I've been home. I can't remember what its like to smell good and look nice. That's mostly why I have avoided posting too many pics...but I will put a couple up for your enjoyment :) Miss you all soooo much!

Missy
xoxo

Lesson Plans, Teaching and Marking...I feel right at home!

Can't believe it's already been three weeks! I have been especially busy the last week and a half because classes started last Monday and I have six different preps (Math for S1, S2, and S3 as well as Physics S1, S2 and S3), not to mention all the other things that are going on around here.

The kids I teach are really great kids. Most of them, as I think I might have mentioned before, are drop outs....not the North American kind, but the Ugandan kind...meaning that they haven't been going to school because they haven't been able to afford it. URF works really hard to find them sponsors or allows them to stay at the school through cost sharing. The students are really motivated to learn, but at the same time they really don't have it easy. A bunch of kids come here from Mbirizi a village at least an hour's walk away. All the kids have to wake up really early to get water and firewood and then be at school by 7:45am. School gets out at 4pm and then the after-school program goes until 6:30pm. The after-school program is from my understanding, supposed to be a chance for the kids to review what they learned at school since as soon as they go home they have to start doing their chores again. By the time they are done, it is dark and they don't have electricity in their homes so they can't really study. I know this sounds a little depressing, but when you see the kids you don't necessarily think about these things because they are all so happy to be there.

The best part about teaching is that the students call me Master Marissa! How cool is that. In Uganda the men are called Master and the women Madam. But really...how much cooler does it sound to be called Master?? The kids laughed hysterically the first couple days, but know its known...I am Master Marissa, Uganda's first female master! We write on chalkboards...really old crappy chalkboards which drive me crazy with all the dust...not sure if there is really an alternative. I think I'm going to go into Masaka sometime this week and make some handouts for the kids instead.

One last point about teaching...the curriculum here is a crazy mess. They learn all sorts of things and the strangest order. They learn about Forces in three dimensions and Brownian motion! before they have even learned any trigonometry or calculus...in fact, to put things in perspective, they are teaching this to S1 - S3 kids (which is the equivalent of grades 8-10). In addition, all the teaching and testing is done in English, even though a huge percentage of the kids don't understand a fraction of what's going on. I had to give my kids a beginning of the term test and the results so far have been miserable! I'm going to really have to think of a strategy to help these kids. That is pretty much my mission for the next couple weeks.

So what else have we been up to here in Masaka?? Well we had a mzungu night out last weekend! It was amazing...Renato, Daniel, Fred and Charles (a Waliggo brother) went into Masaka and went out for the most amazing dinner of all time. Butternut squash soup, a toasted piece of bread with MELTED CHEESE (one thing that I crave sooo much is cheese), fried chicken and fries...oh and don't forget a delicious bottle of french white wine! If I can do that once a month (maybe twice...who am I kidding) I will be a happy camper. AFter dinner we went to a club called 'ambiance'. Yep, that's right...a club in Masaka. It was really fun, although we didn't stay too late since we were all pooped from the week's work.

We (and by we I mean 4 ridiculously great guys) finished paving the school this week. Abdul was the "boss" and he was such a kind gentle soul. He and his friends worked so hard to finish the school. It is so much better now that everything is paved. Hopefully no more jiggers for the students (and teachers) at Hope Academy! They also gave us some tips on digging as we tried to make a garden outside of the school. Abdul came down and in 2 minutes he had dug up more than the 5 of us had in 20 minutes. It was sad to see the workers go, but they said they would come back this Friday to play soccer with us. It will be nice to see them!

Another great thing are stars...there are millions in the sky. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful it is. The other day while I was on the phone with Chris, I saw the most beautiful shooting star of all time. Oh then there's the calf who we've named Darla. The other day I was walking up from the school and Darla started following me up to the house...right into the house! She is a cute little thing.

On Saturday evening, we went to a "Nigiina" which is kinda like a birthday party for a woman in a village (meaning she gets presents) except its not really her birthday. Every month the women in the village pick a different lady and they all buy her presents. We ate food, played with kids and danced until it was dark. The Ugandans certainly know how to dance and party!

Another couple projects that we have got going are we put up some tarps at one of the child-headed families houses because they had a HUGE hole in their roof over their bedroom and seeing as though rainy season is well underway, this posed a big problem. We have yet to see if the tarps have helped, but hopefully we'll get to go to check it out later this week.

At the same time, Dan and Chris have started a campaign to build a new boy's dormitory for the kids at Nazareth Orphanage because the structure is literally about to fall. If it sounds like there are lots of projects on the go, it is because there are! Daniel and I have been discussing some of these issues, because it seems like everyday someone (usually past volunteers who are now back at home) wants to start a new project. The big problem is that there are only really two people here (Fred and Adrian) to implement the projects and their plates are more than full. They don't like saying no to any of the projects because they want to help as many people as possible, but at the same time I am sure they will burn out if they keep this up.

Anyways, we will be going to Kampala this weekend for a mixture of events. We will be dropping Renato, Dan and Chris off to the airport, meeting with an NGO called Uganda Crafts (they are going to sell the crafts that the women in our empowerment group make so they can generate income), take the empty water bottles to be recycled, oh yea...and go clubbing and eat some good food. I will add some pics later.

Miss you all
Misss
xoxo

Oh yea...there was a mouse running around the house last week and Renato bought some rat poison and well...the picture pretty much tells the rest!

A week of many firsts...

It took me a couple days, but I can officially say that I am settled in...not only settled in but loving it here. I have decided that I will stay until the New Year (and will have to stick to that commitment since I told Erika she can come visit for Christmas).

I'm gonna try my very best to describe what its like at the Waliggo's (the family's house where we stay). There are animals EVERYWHERE! There is of course the rooster, a bunch of chickens, goats that constantly fart (or shart), a huge cow with giant horns who just had a baby calf, a couple huge pigs and their little piglets, and best of all are the ducks. I got to see ducks have sex for the first time. but not the last. The ducks have sex ALL THE TIME and just yesterday we got to see the outcome when one of the ducks walked around the back of the house with 8 little furry ducklings following behind. If that wasn't enough commotion, there are also people coming and going at all times. Jaja (which is Luganda for Grandma) is the head of the household. She has 7 children, all of whom we have met, except John Mary who is the founder of URF and lives in the states. She also has 7 grandkids around that sometimes sleep in our house and if the roosters don't wake us up, its the kids that usually start screaming before 7am. If you were deaf, they'd be really cute kids :P

I wasnt sure what to expect for temperature, but I am glad that I brought lots of warm clothes because it is pretty cold at night and first thing in the morning. It is the start of the rainy season, so for the past couple days it has rained in the morning for and hour or so (which is good, because that's how we get water for showering, washing clothes etc.) and then it clears up and gets really hot. This weather should continue like this for the next couple months, which doesn't bother me...it almost makes me feel like I'm back in Vancouver.

As to what a typical day looks like, I can tell you what its been like so far although I'm sure that will change once school starts tomorrow and I actually start teaching!! We wake up at around 7am and relax (Chris or Daniel will play guitar while we journal or read). By 9am we start running errands (we have bought food and clothes for a couple child headed families in Rakai, we have taken 3 women to the clinic in Masaka to get treatments for HIV, vaccinated chickens - that was all Daniel, set up a library in the school, and supervised the workers who are currently paving the inside of the school). When we are not running errands, there are constantly kids from the school and the after school program that come around to talk to us or get us to help them with their schoolwork they don't understand. They are for the most part really great kids...although there are a couple that you just can't help feeling like they have an alterior motive. Some of them think that we are super wealthy and able to help them each individually, which would be nice, but realistically an impossibility.

This weekend we held a Youth Camp at the school. When I say youth camp and you think youth camp those are 2 totally different things. Had this camp occured in North America, I am pretty sure there would have been at least a couple law suits. About 45 kids showed up although only 20 had registered. The kids were split up into 4 groups (Canada, US, Brazil and Uganda) and we painted their faces and I of course tatooed my team with my dollar store tattoos. They made their own dinners, collected their own firewood and water and did all sorts of chores. The boys all slept in one of the classrooms while the girls slept in the other. We had a couple seminar/discussion groups where we taught them to use the library we set up, talked about recycling (and not littering which is a huge problem here) and career options. The best seminar had to be the one where we had to show them how to use an actual toilet! The school has 2 "toilets" meaning they have put a seat over the latrine. Unfortunately the kids are not familiar with how a seated toilet works, so some of them stand on the seat and squatting and therefore end up pooping and peeing all over the seat. Gross, I know. We played a soccer game against the boda-boda drivers in Kyetume (motorcycle taxis) and watched "educational videos" with them. It was really fun and to top it all off, we (Daniel, Fred and I) slept down at the school on the floor in sleepingbags...just because we weren't roughing it enough already ;)

A big first this week was my first jigger. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but it is some sort of parasite or worm-like creature that buries itself into your feel and then grows and itches like crazy. Fred said it feeds on your blood although I have heard different things from different people. He took it out with a safety pin while I bit Daniel's shoulder and Renato commented on how disgusting it was and took pictures (which I havent uploaded yet). I hope that was the first and last time I'll have to do that!

This evening we went into Kyetume (pronounced chetumeh) to lead a session with the women about women's health. Seeing as though I am the only female volunteer here at the moment, I had to do all the talking. I think it was fairly successful. We talked about the conditions in which they cook (over a fire in a closed room with no ventilation for the smoke which is incredibly bad for their lungs), anemia and menopause (which most of them had never heard of and knew nothing about it). Daniel and I have been brainstorming and talking about the possibility of installing chimneys into the kitchens, to solve some of these problems. So if any of you have any expertise on chimney construction, please let me know!

I will try to write again sometime this week once school gets going and I settle into the groove. I am really nervous about teaching here! Part of what I think makes me a good teacher is my ability to relate to my students and I wonder if I will be able to do that with the kids over here. I'm sure I had more to say, but its late and I should get to bed. Goodnight!

Missy
xoxo

PS. I also got my first letter in the mail this week from Francesca (my cousin from England)! It was exciting to receive a piece of mail...hint hint!

They really meant Rural...

So here I am...in Masaka, 35km outside the city center of Masaka in a village (from my understanding) called Kyetume. I have only been here just about 36hours although it feels like weeks...not in a bad way though.

We (Daniel and I) spent the first night in Kampala with a friend of my dad's. This was a really nice transition for us. We got good meals, a nice shower and a good night's sleep. Fred came to pick us up from Delia's and we were on our way (4 and half hours) to Masaka. I'll start by giving you a low down on the people around, since I'll probably be mentioning them a lot. These are really only first impressions since I have only known them 36 hours!

Fred and Adrian are the project co-coordinators who have pretty much dedicated their lives to URF. They are both incredibly kind and funny and have made my first few days more enjoyable. Fred is really knowledgable on the political history of Uganda and is in the middle of writing a book about politics in Uganda since the 1980s. I have already spent a couple hours picking his brain on lots of different things. He will have to deal with my millions of questions for the next few weeks/months!

Dan and Chris are from Boston. Chris is a psychotherapist and Dan is a retired history and socials teacher. Dan is 79 years old! Isn't that great?!?? He taught for a couple years in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Then there is Renato from Spain (although he is orignally from Brazil). He is CRAZY...its not the rooster crowing in the morning that wakes me up, its Renato mimicking the rooster that does the trick! He is full of energy but unfortunately only here for a month.

Then of course there is Daniel, the southern guy from Alabama who says "yes sir" and "no ma'am". That is pretty much the only southern stereotype that he fits - thank goodness hehehe. His plan is to stay until December.

So by now you guys are wondering what exactly it's like out here in the bush...well it is a lot more rural than I expected. If it weren't for the amazing people (especially children) I don't think I would be able to handle the living conditions. Its not that they are all that bad, they are just not what I expected. I thought that they were preparing us for the worst on the website, but they were pretty much dead on.

My bedroom is very small. It has a bunk bed in it and a dresser and that's it! Well not quite...three spiders live with me, a baby ghecko and LOTS of flies. I have made a decision not not go out looking for creepy crawlies because I WILL find them. What I don't know can't hurt me. The only time I really spend in my bedroom is when I sleep.

The bathroom is a room with a drain. I took my first "shower" today and it was difficult. I am thinking of cutting my hair because it is impossible to wash. I'm pretty sure I used just about the same amount of water today than I would at home. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon or I may just end up shaving my head :)

"Washrooms" are latrines...meaning a hole in the ground. I was really scared the first time I had to pee, but Renato gave me really good advice. Don't think about it...just do it! And just my luck, since I have been here I have had to pee wayyyy more than I ever go at home. The good thing is that I am almost used to it. Pooing in a hole...I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. Its funny how many things we take for granted at home.

Meals here are bland compared to what we are used to back home. Nothing like goan curries or sushi that's for sure. I miss the eatery more than words can describe!!! Breakfast consists of tea - just tea! Lunch and dinner (so far) have been the same. Matoke (which is pretty much squashed, heated bananas), potatos, sweet potatos, rice and some goat. We were lucky one meal and got an avocado and watermelon...but for the most part we are only eating startch. The goat is soooo tough, I can't even chew through the pieces.

Goodness I could talk forever. Nothing is anything like it is at home. Yesterday I told Daniel that I almost stepped on a chicken on the way to the bathroom yesterday and we laughed thinking about what an outrageous sentence that would be back home. Anyways, I will get going and send you guys an update next time the internet and electricity is working (so far 1 for 3).

Thank you for all the messages and if you have any specific questions let me know. I love getting updates from you all. Lots of love,
Missy
xoxo