It's been a while...

It has been ages since I last blogged, and mostly its because of the total lack of predictability of when we're going to get electricity. Every time I sit down to write an important e-mail or blog, the power decides to shut off. The joys of living in rural Uganda. On the bright side, at least I can try to focus on the most exciting happenings of the last month.

On the second week of October, we went on a "field trip" to Alliance School in Kyazanga - a village about 10 km away. We (at least 40 of us) piled into the back of a pick up truck and the kids played drums and sung songs the whole way there. Although I was scared for our lives, it was one of the most fun things we have done with the kids thus far. It reminded me a lot of my global ed trip to Thailand when we all got (the power went out immediately after writing that sentence and only JUST came back on...see, I wasn't lying!). Anyways, as I was saying, the drive reminded me a lot of our drives out to Mae Kong Pae in our global ed trucks. So many memories!! The actual purpose of the field trip (from my understanding) was essentially to compete against Alliance to see whose better at life (well not really life, but singing/dancing, debating, netball, and soccer...the basics that make up life). They kicked our butts at dancing, and soccer (although they had a bunch of ppl from other schools on their soccer team...cheaters) and we schooled them at debate and netball. It sounds like it could have been a tie, but we had a MUCH better school anthem (verses and all) and theirs was just the name of their school ("Alliance School") in a high pitched voice. That definitely put us over the edge!

Other than that, things have been pretty uneventful at Hope Academy. Over the past 3 weeks, we have been dealing with some frustrations with things at URF. We seem to be in a weird situation as volunteers because we are not exactly sure the best way to help. Since I am considering staying here until April, I really want to make sure that
a) I am useful in someway that a Ugandan won't be (I don't want to be taking a job away from someone that could be needing one) and
b) That I am actually doing something useful and sustainable

Both of these are things I have been thinking a lot about lately while finalizing my decision to stay until April. I have been assured by many that not only is it difficult to find Physics and Math teachers (seems to be a problem worldwide) but also I would be doing them a huge favour by saving them money on a salary while the school is still young and can barely afford to pay the teachers they already have. Sounds good, but then there is the problem that I sometimes feel like the kids aren't learning anything! For the last couple weeks I was feeling really hopeful...the kids were doing MUCH better and they all earned the sugar I promised them if they could get a class average above 60%. But I just got back from marking a bunch of their midterm math exams and they're pretty much back to where I started. I can't begin to explain how frustrating this is!! I have been trying so hard to move slowly through the material and not to rush them, but I'm not sure that it even makes a difference.

Then there is problem b). As much as I do love teaching, there is a bigger goal in what I hoped to accomplish here. I would like to be able to help URF so that once I leave, they are better able to help the people of Masaka. Many of the previous volunteers who have come and gone have started projects that either don't get finished or are just not sustainable. It is so aggrivating because we have to spend a lot of time finishing or sometimes even cleaning up their "messes". There are lots of little improvements URF needs to make, mostly caused by the large distance between the people in charge and the projects. Daniel, Caroline, Jessie and I have been talking incessantly about this for the past 3 weeks and none of us really know how to approach this. We have been having meetings with John Mary (who is in the States), Fred and Adrian (who are in Kyetume with us) and Peter (who is in Kampala) trying to figure things out.

A couple weekends ago, I went to visit a Ugandan from Vancouver who I met through my dad - Justus. His family happens to be from a small village called Ndgeya which is right in Masaka district!! I got to eat amazing food - Tilapia, pork, posho and even the Matoke was delicious. (More and more, I am convinced that it is Hunny Bunny who is giving me a bad impression of the food.) Not only was the food good, but I got to meet his entire VERY lovely family. He is staying in Kampala for most of his visit and so along with a couple business related meetings, the volunteers decided to make a trip out to Kampala this weekend. Partially to celebrate my birthday and partially because we all needed to let loose a little bit. It was definitely a much needed break. Kyetume and Kampala are like night and day (and the weirdest part is that they are only 2.5 hours away from each other). It was the best Ugandan birthday celebration I have had in my life :) We stayed at a cute guesthouse that had flushing toilets and HOT, RUNNING water. It was the first time in 2 months that I felt REALLY clean. We ate lots of delicious food - of course there was cheese and salads and burgers, but the most exciting thing consumed was SUSHI!!! We went to a restaurant called Wasabi (which is owned by a Canadian...yea Canada!!) and it was actually very good (no Eatery, but beggars can't be choosers). They even sung me happy birthday and had a roman candle to go with the banana crepe. If you don't believe me, look at the bottom right of the picture!!

We spent an afternoon at a mall called Garden City Shopping Center (mostly in the food court where we indulged in pizza and ice cream) and then we went swimming at the International Hotel which had a gorgeous view. We took Fred's youngest son who is 5 with us (he goes to boarding school in Kampala). It was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. He had so much fun, and was so determined to swim but I'm pretty sure he drank at least half the pool's water before he got out.

We spent a couple late nights out with Justus and Kirsty a friend of his that was visiting from Vancouver. Justus definitely knew where all the hot spots were and hooked us up for future visits in Kampala. We even had a very fun adventure on the way back home. A semi truck had filpped on the only road that leads to Kyetume and was blocking the ENTIRE road. Our taxi driver decided he was going to try and find a shortcut through the tiniest, crappiest road of all time. A couple cars got stuck in the mud or maybe just died trying to make it through. I was pretty sure we were going to tip over with all the bumpiness...Caroline even has a bruised arm from the ride.
Other exciting happenings...I tried the white ants (or enswa as they call them) and ensenene (which are grasshoppers). Definitely preferred the grasshoppers...not only do they look less like bugs, but they are also much tastier. I won't be making a habit of eating either, even though they are both high in protein and protein is something my body is in dire need of.

We are going to be beginning training for the Women's Crafts project next week. I hope the women are as excited as we are. There is going to be a "disco" at Hope Academy which I figure is kind of like a school dance and we're going to visit another school in Kinoni. I will keep you posted!

Thank you everyone for all your birthday wishes and birthday calls. It wasn't easy having all my family and friends so far away, but it did mean a lot to hear from all of you. I love you and miss you. Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers,

Love,
Missy

PS. We just finished watching the elections on TV. The power went out last night (again while I was in the middle of blogging) and we were all worried it wouldn't come back in time, but we got to watch Obama become the 44th President of the United States in a Landslide. Everyone (including all the Ugandans) are excited. It's amazing to see how much this means to people in ALL corners of the world. All I have to say is...It's about time!!!

Jonah not sure what exactly to do on a piggy back ride.


Hours before turning 26...on the phone with A. Veron & accepting flowers stolen out of someone's garden from Justus


Jessie and Caroline devouring their delicious pizzas at Garden City Shopping Mall