As we drove from Kampala through the stunning Ugandan countryside, with increasing matooke plantations, towards Lubanda village on Sunday afternoon everything felt so familiar. I could feel the excitement building in me and when we finally pulled into mamma David's house, where we stayed last year, it was like coming home. I jumped out of the car and rushed over to Ritah (a 16 year old girl who almost single handedly runs the house and who had taken amazing care of Chad, Brenton and I during our last trip) and gave her a huge hug. Then I greeted all the kids and other people that were around, and although there is a huge language barrier that doesn't exists in Bujagali, I could see the joy on everyones face as they recognized me. David was barely able to contain his excitement as he lead us the few hundred metres through the matooke to the clearing where The Suubi Centre proudly stands. I was so emotional to finally be seeing it with my own eyes! To think that just a little over 12 months ago it had been a vision and dream that David had presented to us in a concept paper and now here it was standing in front of us in reality - absolutely amazing!
Our first sight of the Suubi Centre that HUG and D+ built earlier this year with funds from the HUGfest concert and many other generous donors!
David (seconded left) was so excited to show us all around.
After much yipppppeeing and congratulations we unloaded our gear and set about organizing our selves for our first night. It was now almost 7pm, the sun was going down, and although the power had been connected at Suubi the week before, we soon discovered that a power pole had fallen down in a nearby village and we would have to make do without it! David had to head back into Masaka Town to collect the materials and man power we would need the next day at Kyassonko Primary school so we were really thrown in the deep end........no power, pit latrines and with Ishmael being the only person around that could speak enough English to have a conversation with! Sue, Samuel, Yvonne, Annette and Ashlee all coped unbelievably well and as we climbed in under our mosquito net onto our paper thin inflatable mattresses on the floor of Suubi that night, I could sense that they were all pumped to be there!
The real deal! Sleeping under Mosquito nets inside Suubi.
The main training hall in Suubi, where Annette set up her mossy-free tent.
More hair washing fun!
Monday morning we set off to Kyassonko Primary school where we would be putting in a water tank and organic garden. David had organised to meet with the head teacher and the parents to explain to them their responsibilities and the need for them to be involved in the building of the base of the tank the following day. It is very important to get everyone involved and give them ownership of the project if it is to be a success in the future. David has the amazing ability of motivating the whole community and it is inspiring to see them being empower rather just relying on a hand out. The parents and teachers that were there assured us that they would send the message out into the village and the people would come the next day.
Sam gave the school a soccer ball which will be loved to certain death!
Sam and Ishmael.
After delivering the others back to Suubi for chance of a little recovery David, Ishmael, the guys who had so brilliantly constructed the tank on the school site and I headed back into Masaka Town. When we arrived, we headed to the hardware store to collect garden tools, paint, wire, concrete, etc etc that we would need over the coming week. After hours of standing around waiting as person after person was served in front of us because we had too many things to buy we finally got on the road back to Suubi as the sun was setting. So the usual 45 min trip turned into well over an hour as we travelled along the pot holed filled roads in the dark. Boy was I glad when we finally pulled up at Suubi that night!
On Tuesday morning we headed back to Kyassonko to make an actual start on the work that needed to be done there. As we drove in the kids realized it was us 'muzungus' (white people) from the previous day and enthusiastically welcomed us. There was a class of probably 60 grade 3-4 kids out in the playground doing different sporting activities, most of which were accompanied by a song and/or lots of cheering and laughing. We unloaded the school set of garden tools that we were supplying-hoes, rakes, slashers, pangas and watering cans. We decided that while we waited for the parents to arrive we would mark them all so they would be easily traceable. So most of us sat down on the dusty ground and patiently took turns to paint 'HUG D+ Garden Project' with the 1 paint brush we had bought. Sue eventually came up with the idea that we could just as easily do it with sticks so that we could all work at the same time. Inspiring improvisation - A lesson well learnt from watching the Ugandans!
On Tuesday morning we headed back to Kyassonko to make an actual start on the work that needed to be done there. As we drove in the kids realized it was us 'muzungus' (white people) from the previous day and enthusiastically welcomed us. There was a class of probably 60 grade 3-4 kids out in the playground doing different sporting activities, most of which were accompanied by a song and/or lots of cheering and laughing. We unloaded the school set of garden tools that we were supplying-hoes, rakes, slashers, pangas and watering cans. We decided that while we waited for the parents to arrive we would mark them all so they would be easily traceable. So most of us sat down on the dusty ground and patiently took turns to paint 'HUG D+ Garden Project' with the 1 paint brush we had bought. Sue eventually came up with the idea that we could just as easily do it with sticks so that we could all work at the same time. Inspiring improvisation - A lesson well learnt from watching the Ugandans!
Preparing to present the school with a full set of garden tools!
By 11 am the people were starting to arrive, just as they had promised. And by 12 we had more that 60 parents there. It was a fabulous sight to see students, teachers, fathers, mothers with babies on the backs and us muzungus all working together to collect bricks. As a few of the parent who are builders expertly worked on constructing the base of the tank we headed to the much neglected small garden area the school already had.
Working together to build the base for a school water tank.
The agricultural teacher bought a few students out to work with us, so it wasn't long before we had a small row of double dug garden beds almost ready for planting. Ishmael will return there before sowing season at the end of July to teach them all about adding compost and and organic fertilizer so that they will get the most out of the soil.
The Kyassonko kids loved learning about the 'double-dug' technique.
The kids crowded around to watch Annette paint the credits on the water tank.
After such a rewarding morning we headed back to Suubi to discover, as we traveled through the nearby trading centre, that the power was back on!!! Very very exciting! After a short rest when we arrived 'home' the women's craft group began arriving. I had promised to teach them the double weaved bracelet technique that Flo had so expertly shown me last week. Soon we had the centre FULL with women all eagerly wanting to learn. It was quite chaotic trying to get around to them all and explain things with my very limited luganda skills! At one stage when I was feeling absolutely exhausted Sue expertly lifted my spirits when she said to me, "take a step back and have a look at all of these women chatting, laughing and learning together. Isn't that exactly why Suubi was built!" Absolutely right! Thanks Sue - you're a super star!
It was so exciting to see Suubi being used for the craft group, who last time we were here, were working out side on the ground!
Some of the ladies also from the Masaka Widows Project worked hard to perfect their braclets.
Wednesday morning David arrived with the builders at 6.30 in the morning to discuss building bandas at the centre. It must have been quite a sight to see me bleary eyed, wondering around with them in my PJ's trying make important decisions!! But thats Uganda- you just have to go with the flow! When we had finished the builders stayed on to do some unfinished rendering inside the centre and to help us sand the walls ready for painting. Annette and I helped with this until we realized they were far more skilled at it than we were so we headed outside to help Yvonne, Sue and Ashlee who were busily trying to level off the ground in front of the building. It was very very funny to watch us all trying to swing a hoe like the locals! It was a fabulous feeling to stand back at the end of the day though and see what we had achieved.
It was tough going for us Aussies who are not so skilled with the hoes!
By 4 oclock the craft ladies were starting to gather again for the day. I had told them the previous day that I would show 4 of them, the ones who had picked things up very quickly, the next steps and they could then teach all of the others. Only thing was that they all wanted to be part of it so at least half of the 25 women turned up again just to watch - so great that are all so enthusiastic! That evening we had a fabulous time. Many of the village children had come to watch a DVD that David had told them we be showing. Only trouble was the power was out again!! So we all sat out the front of the centre in the dark and sang songs. They all beautifully preformed while us poor Aussie struggled to even sing Old MacDonald had a farm! The kids are definitely one of the many highlights of Uganda and to spend that time singing, dancing, laughing and enjoying each others company was such a buzz!
Thursday was dedicated to painting the inside of the building. We had made rules that said there would be no yuppie gadgets for the day (mobile phones or laplaps) which was quite a challenge for some - especially David! After a slow start when we all thought that it would take a 100 coats of the watery Ugandan paint, we were finally finished just in time for the craft ladies again in the afternoon! Although we only had a brief opportunity, it was very rewarding to admire our work at the end of the day.
Thursday was dedicated to painting the inside of the building. We had made rules that said there would be no yuppie gadgets for the day (mobile phones or laplaps) which was quite a challenge for some - especially David! After a slow start when we all thought that it would take a 100 coats of the watery Ugandan paint, we were finally finished just in time for the craft ladies again in the afternoon! Although we only had a brief opportunity, it was very rewarding to admire our work at the end of the day.
Is was great fun painting the inside of Suubi.
It was quite a sight to see David in shorts - Ugandan men wear long pants almost every day despite the heat and humidity.
By 6.30pm we had children starting to arrive again. David had put out the word the previous night that we would be handing out the clothes we had bought from Australia. We had more that 250 items of clothing that had been donated and/or lovingly made to distribute. Again it was chaotic at times but when I thought of all those happy kids heading home it made it all worth while!
The kids waited patiently to receive a brand new item of clothing. Most kids have NEVER had a new anything! All clothes are purchased second hand and then passed down through the family.
They were all so excited to have 'little people' clothes! Usually the only clothes available are second-hand grown-up clothes.
Some kids even arrived at 6:30am the following morning with their parents to see if their was still clothes available. Luckily for these beautiful little girls, they collected the last 4 dresses!
The sight of the night though was David and Ishmael slipped into two matching frilly numbers to do the performance they had promised us the night before! Funny, funny stuff! I think they liked dressing up in women's clothes as much as we enjoyed watching their performance!
Ms. David Ssemwongerere!
This morning we thought we were going to have a leisurely morning packing up for our 11am departure for Maksaka town. No such luck! The builder arrived at 7am to start on the ceiling of the room we had been sleeping in which will become the area for computers. We hastily transfered everything into the other room for packing and by about 10.30 we were having a shower before we set off. I really am beginning to see why the Ugandans shave their head! On the way in to town we dropped into Kyassonko again to see the progress and then onto Regional College School Kinoni which will be connecting with the school Annette teaches at in Bathurst.
So thats it for our amazing, spectacular, rewarding, inspiring...................um ....................I can't think of enough adjectives to described our unbelievable first week at Suubi!
We are heading of to Fort Portal and Rwanda tomorrow so I not sure when I'll get a chance to up date you all again. I really hope you are enjoying coming along with Sue, Sammy, Yvonne, Annette, Ashlee and I on this wonderful journey.
Love to you all.
HUGs from Helen
Comments
Post a Comment
Please log in to post a comment.