Another great week in Uganda! Everywhere we go all the little children point at us and say 'Hi Mzungu'. Which is 'Hi white person'. We probably hear it about 50 times a days. It is amazing how young some of these children are and they know that we are mzungus! It seems like it is every childs first word here. We have been going pretty much non-stop every day until today. It has been nice though keeping busy. It's still crazy to me that I had my 21st birthday here and it was very different than in the US. Here they call it ‘bath-day’ because most people can’t afford gifts so they shower you with water instead. I went all day without getting a 'bath' but the whole house got me really good that night. I was not expecting it at all but I sure felt extra clean after! I spent this week between the school and the farm. I wanted to go to the slum base and work on the projects there but wasn’t able to make it.
The farm is 20 acres total, 7 on the side with the bunk house and animal pens and 13 on the side where all the crops are growing. There is a lot of land that is not being used yet because it is too hard to manage. At the farm they use the technique Farming Gods Way. It is a more natural or organic way to farming. They don’t water the crops; they lay what is called ‘Gods Blanket’ or the waste from harvested crop and dead grass over the planted seeds to help keep the moisture in the ground. Also the way the plant their crop produces about twice the amount of a normal farmers crop. It’s a technique that they go to school at the farm for a year to learn because you have to find just the right amount to put. Monday at the farm we did a lot of labor. I spent my 21st birthday there moving a pile of bricks from one end of the yard to the other. Then we got to pick weeds in the carrot patch and move ‘Gods Blanket’ to the crops. It really was a fun day though and there is no place I would have rather been. I also spent Wednesday at the farm painting logs that separate the crops from the path with oil so that the termites wouldn’t eat them. We also got to set fire to a large termite hill that wasn't all the way dead and in the way of our fence. It was pretty exciting to watch. Haha
At the school we were again filled with lots of busy work. Mostly wrapping books with plastic covers for the library so it will help them last longer. We also helped organize the storage closest with all the donated school supplies. I got to work in the classroom some which was really nice. On Tuesdays I am helping with another girl teach cursive in the grade 5 room and on Thursdays another girl and I are helping with choir class. These kids are so amazing. They are always just so filled with joy and love having us around! Probably the work but biggest accomplishment project was when we spent almost all day Friday weeding a bean field. My legs are quite sore from it and my back got pretty burnt but it was something that needed to be done to help the crop grow so the kids at the school can have food. I got a pretty bad rash from it too but a little benadryl helped me out.
Yesterday we did another medical clinic in a little village near the school we work at. I was more excited for this one because I knew what to expect. It was a lot different than the clinic in the slums though. First off there weren’t as many people so it was a lot more laid back. Also the children seemed to be a lot more aggressive and had more respect for everyone so it was more fun.
On Wednesday we will be heading back to the village Kilaro which is where we spent our first two nights. We will be there for 4 nights this time and are setting up a medical clinic to do there and a soccer game for all the kids. It will be a semi relaxing four days spent with lots of children.
Again there is just so much to share I feel like I could write a few books. The food is getting a little hard to eat because it is just so much starches – beans and rice almost every day. I brought enough cliff bars though for 2 every day that are definitely helping hold me over. I found an almost Kit-Kat-Bar the other day at a little market by our house which was a nice little treat. We have also been getting a lot of pineapple and mango which are sooo amazing here! That’s all I have to share for now but I’ll write again next week! Love Hard.
peace.love.joy
