Teachers Gift from HSBC and Ugandan Homes

We met with the teachers at the Bethlehem Primary School today and presented them with a gift that was given in May from HSBC in Buffalo. Graciously, HSBC has sponsored some of the teachers to help support their salaries. The sponsored teachers have decided to use the money to build a ‘Teachers Quarters’ at the school. This will provide them with a place to not only sleep, but also a space to eat and meet away from the children.

Some of the classes at the school last as late as 10 o'clock at night and most teachers have a long trip home with an early wake-up call in the morning to begin classes again. This new space will provide four rooms for teachers to stay on the grounds of the school. Also as part of the new building there will be common space that can be used as a break room and meeting place.

The teachers were extremely happy and excited when we told them about the donation. They put on their new HSBC apparel as soon as we gave it to them. As part of their donation they sent along two gift bags full of collared shirts, hats, visors, pens, and other useful items. Check out later for pictures, or check out my blog at embraceitafrica.org. I’ll be trying to upload pictures while we are still here.

Tomorrow we are going to several different people’s homes to visit and eat. One of the homes is Young Fred's mothers house in Masaka, I've heard she is a real riot. I’m really looking forward to being taken in by Ugandan families. There’s no better way to really experience a culture than to be with the people. It should be a great time!

Loans, School and More Uganda

The past few days we have met with all of the loan recipients from last year with some good results. Mostly all the traders and farmers from last year did better than expected and were even able to pay for their children to go to school with the extra profits.

We met with each of the groups at the school to discuss how things went and to get some feedback on the program. After the meetings we visited each of their sites to check out first hand the progress they had made. All of the loan recipients are able to apply for new ones this year and their prior performance will be strongly considered in how much they will receive this time.

The next few days we will be beginning the new application process and hosting informational meetings.

At the school we picked up the cement and have already started on surfacing the girls dorm and some of the classrooms at BPS. Bunk beds or "deckers" have been ordered and are being constructed.

Over the past few days i've expanded my taste buds by eating some grasshopper, heart, and liver. All of which were not that bad, but the grasshoppers just tasted like a grill and not much flavor.

The internet cafe near by is an interesting experience. First, there is a cow right outside the door next to the computers and you can hear "moooo" the whole time while you're typing away. Secondly, the connection is rather slow and you have to watch out because the fear of loosing electricity is always there.

It was a bit hard to sleep this weekend because there is a night club below our hotel and you can hear and feel the bass while laying in bed. Sounds like they know how to have a good time!

Uganda is an amazing and beautiful country. The views at every glance are great and there is so much color everywhere. Besides the occasional herd of cows that block the street its pretty nice driving around and taking in all of the unique sights and sounds.

As we drive down the dirt road children all along the street chase our car, yell, wave, and chant "mezzoongu, mezzoongu", what they call white people. Its a pretty amazing thing to witness and they really love Americans.

I ordered a cheeseburger tonight in honor of memorial day... Should be interesting to see how it turns out.

Tomorrow we are working with the students on the pen pal program we have set of with primary schools in Olean and Allegany in New York. Also, we will be starting the art exhibit project where the work created by the students in Uganda will be displayed in a museum in the US.

First Visit to the School, Driving, and Loan Meetings

My first visit to the school yesterday was amazing. We were greeted at the road by the entire school singing and dancing surrounding our car forcing us to get out. They then surrounded us with song and dance, throwing flowers everywhere and walked us up the driveway in a parade to the entrance of the school.

The energy, happiness and spirit of all the children was incredible, especially considering all that they've been through. Sadly we learned that over half of the children at the school are positive for HIV.

I can't begin to describe to you the genuine appreciation they all had just from us being there. There was a big celebration all day long in our honor with singing, dancing, and entertainment by the children throughout the day. I think I've already become a better dancer in my short time here already!

I had my first driving experience in Uganda on Friday and as Mr. Fred said, "If you can drive in Uganda, you can drive anywhere". I can truly say that I believe this 100% as the roads here are traitorous. It's about a 15-20 minute drive from where we are staying to the school and its dirt road the entire time. Potholes everywhere would make it hard for even a hummer to navigate and we have a small sedan. The roads are barely wide enough for one car and they are not only used as a two way driving street for cars, but also for motorcyclists, bikers, walkers, and trucks. Since it's the rainy season it's hard to judge the depth of the potholes filled with water so I’ve had to make sure to go slowly so I don't splash innocent bystanders.

Today we are meeting with one of the groups who received our loans last year to see how they did and to review the process. Things seemed to have gone well and it will be interesting to hear what they have to say.

The sun is finally out! I hope everyone back home is doing well. I’m having a great experience so far and it seems things are only going to get better.

Thank you again to everyone who has made this trip possible for me.

First Full Day

Today was our first whole day in Uganda and the rains came in and out all day. The sun finally started to shine through near the end. Its 7 hours ahead here from the east coast.

Driving around here makes NYC look like a walk in the park, at least there's traffic signals there. We were driving in Kampala in our taxi, basically a large van, and a guy on a motorcycle hit someone walking in the street. They both fell to the ground as another taxi ran right into the motorcycleist. Everyone just got up and walked away like it was no big deal!

After lunch we exchanged our US currency for Ugandan Shilings. Its about 1 USD to 2000 UGX. So 250 dollars is about half a million shilings. Everything is relatively inexpensive once you get here. A bottle of coke at a restaurant is around 1000 shilings or around 50 cents.

We spent the rest of the day making our Way from Kampala to Kyotera where we'll be staying for the next three weeks. Its a small town in close proximity to The Bethlehem Parents School and Orphanage. On our way there we passed the equator line, my first time being that far south.

I can't wait for tomorrow, we are going to the school first thing in the morning. I've heard so much about the children and am really looking forward to finally getting there.

Arrival to Uganda

We made it! After a long journey we finally made it to our hotel in Kampala. We had a great welcoming from Mr. Fred and Young Fred who were VERY excited to see us. We eat dinner at the hotel which was delicious. It was dark so I couldn't really see what I was eating, but it was good whatever it was. Anyway, its been a long day of traveling and we are getting up early to tour Kampala so I'm going to head to bed.

Getting Ready To Leave

Well it’s the night before our trip to Uganda and I’ve just finished packing for the night. I have a few more things I need to get together before I leave for the airport around 2PM. The excitement is really starting to kick in as the adventure is finally beginning. There has been so much work and planning leading up to today that it never seemed real. That all changed today as I actually began to assemble my things.

I’ve got two bags that I’ll be checking, one with my personal stuff and one with school supplies, sporting equipment, and first aid products that we will be leaving for the students at the Bethlehem Parents School and Orphanage (BPS). It didn’t all fit into one bag so I’ll be taking a carryon as well.

Anyway – I’m going to get to bed, getting up early in the morning to finish everything up. Keep checking this blog, I’m not sure as to how much internet access we’ll have over there, but will be trying to update as much as possible.

Lindsay's Blog: Summary of Plans for 2009 Trip

Check out Lindsay's Blog at embraceitafrica.org

"Our second trip to Bethlehem is coming up soon! Our team for this year, myself, Zachary Rodriguez, Andrew Mantilia, Lauren Morris and Dr. Pauline Hoffmann will be leaving on May 19th to return to Uganda for three weeks. Here is a run-down of what we will be doing in our time there:

Continuing Improvements to the Bethlehem Parents School
We will be using all of the donations for BPS to improve the existing buildings, improve the classrooms and fix up the orphan’s dorms.

Expanding the Mikwano Financial Agency
We plan to give out about 15 loans to members of the Bethlehem community for expanding their livestock farming, crop farming and trading businesses. We will also be evaluating the progress of last year’s loan recipients.

Introduce Phase 2 of Mikwano
We will be adding a community service requirement for all loan recipients. They must do something to benefit the children of BPS. For example, a pig farmer must not only make his payments, but also teach the children how to raise pigs. This is all in an effort to increase ties with the school, community and loan recipients.

Nutrition Project
Since the school is running low on funds for school, we will be working to expand our new nutrition project. We are creating sustainable food programs so the school can continue to grow their own food and raise their own livestock. This not only benefits the school by providing more food, but it also provides an opportunity for the students to learn more about farming.

Recreation Expansion
We will be working to increase recreation programs at the school to improve the quality of life for the students there. From separate funds, we will be purchasing new instruments, costumes and sports equipment to help accommodate for their growing interest in performing, dancing, singing and playing sports. We will also be establishing structure and leadership for these programs.

World Children’s Art Museum Project
We will be working with the children to make artwork to be displayed in the World Children’s Art Museum in Glenn Falls, NY.

Pen Pal Letters with Washington West
The students at Washington West are getting another set of letters and photos ready for us to bring over to the students at BPS. We will be going through and reading all the letters as well as writing responses to bring back for the Washington West fourth graders.

Research and Evaluation
We will also be continuing our research on the community and school to learn about how we can be the most effective there. In addition, we will be doing more future planning for the Business Center that will be built within the next few years to house a computer center and library, internet cafe, Mikwano Financial Ageny office and health center in conjunction with Both Your Hands.

Research in Jinja
We will be spending time in Jinja, where Young Fred lives and goes to school. We will be working with the street children there and learning about how we can help support Young Fred’s work with the children. "