June 2nd was an exciting day as we set off to begin installing a water tank at one of the local primary schools. Sue and Terry had raised money for this prior to leaving Australia and they were thrilled that the day had finally arrived to get to work on it.
As we travelled the windy road up to Sharon Primary School we could see the countryside changing around us. Even though Lubanda Village, where Suubi is situated, is in a remote area, we were moving deeper into rural country. There were very few trading centres or roadside market stands along the way and it was almost like the school appeared out of nowhere when we finally reached there.
As we climbed out of the van excited children ran from everywhere to see the 'muzungus'. It was quite an overwhelming feeling and our volunteers will remember it for a long time to come. For the first half an hour or so we were surrounded by children, all of who wanted to have their photo taken!
Then as the excitement started to die down, we spent time casually chatting with parents and teachers and heard lots about their children and Sharon PS.
Jan surrounded by children.
The volunteers mingled with the parents and teachers.
By late morning many more parents were starting to arrive and it was time for the more formal part of the day. The head teacher spoke to the parents, teachers and students about the opportunity the school had been given and explained that everyone needed to capitalise on in. Next David spoke about the partnership between Sharon PS and Suubi and the many ways the school could become involved at the centre. And finally Helen and each of the volunteers spoke about why they were in Uganda and what they hoped would be achieved during their visit.
Many parents came to participate in the days activities.
Terry and Sue spoke to the school community about how the money had been raised to purchase the tank.
At different times throughout the talks the school choir, drummers and dancers performed beautifully as a way of showing their appreciation. It was an amazing sight to see children and teachers dancing in full flight, and there is nothing quite like the rhythm of an African drum!
The children performed by singing, dancing and drumming.
With the formalities out of the way it was time to get to work on actually constructing the base of the tank. The whole school community was part of this. Mothers with small babies worked along side teachers, students and the volunteers to carry bricks, stones and sand to the tank site. Here fathers and grandfathers actually built the base for the new tank.
Parents, teachers, students and volunteers worked side by side.
Even the very young children helped to carry bricks.
Stones were loaded into containers to be carried.
The tank base soon started to take shape.
It is a very conscious decision to do things this way. Instead of the volunteers walking in, doing all the work and then walking away, it is very much about having everyone involved from the beginning. We believe that that this will encourage the whole school community to take ownership of the project and therefore feel part of the partnership between the school and Suubi.
So although we were there to help, we mostly spent the day simply enjoying time with the kids and soaking up the Ugandan hospitality. It was a fabulous day! We will return to the school in a week or so when the tank has been fully installed to check it out and also to hand over garden tools.
There was plenty of time to enjoy interacting with the children.
Back at Suubi during the week, Terry has definitely been leaving his mark. He has been hard at work building a new path in front of the bandas and also a display inside the training hall so that the women will have a place to show off their craft work. Samatiko is now his right hand man and they are both learning from each other!
Terry took Samatiko for a ride in the wheelbarrow.
The new path that Terry had built.
Over the weekend Jan and Helen happened to be out walking with Ishmael where they passed one of the local families killing off a pig. Jan decided that it would be a good idea to buy some of the meat for our evening meal. It really was quite surreal as we sat down to eat it knowing that we had seen it killed in the morning, hang up for sale under a tree in the afternoon and been prepared by Madelana in the evening. No food miles in that meal!
The hair was burnt from the pig after it was killed.
People came to purchase the meat from under a tree in the village.
Our portion of meat was weighed out.
Madelena prepared our pork meal.
And while all that was happening with the pork, Helen spent SIX HOURS on Saturday afternoon having her hair braided. It almost killed her to sit still for that long! She did it just for you Sue - Oh Yeah!
Helen's new Ugandan hair style.
Margaret and Flavia worked on Helen's hair
We will now be travelling to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Western Uganda for the next week.
Hopefully we will get some great wildlife photos to post next time.
Beera bulungi (stay well)
HUG'S from the team.
Beera bulungi (stay well)
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