We met with a bunch of principals from the schools and they were very enthusiastic about the project. We're so excited about developing this curriculum and training because there are a lot of places that have requested this type of help from us. So once we help with this huge district we'll be able to implement it in small villages and stuff. Bingo!
The meeting itself was...kind chaotic. We were all sitting around this big rectangular table and I really felt like I was sitting in on a parliament session or something. Everyone was talking at once, talking louder is the only way to make yourself heard, the woman in charge would frequently call everyone to order, when people wanted to speak to the group they'd get her attention and say, "Madame". haha Somehow, through all of the chaos, it worked. Everything that we wanted to discuss and get hammered out, worked. It was different than I was used to initially, but it worked like a charm. I'm stoked to get this project underway.
Other projects: We're SOO excited to go back to Child of Hope--the school in the Namatala slum. The leaders of that organization are kind, trustworthy, genuinely good people. I'm excited to go back to the slum and work on the water sanitation projects and women's group projects that we currently have in the works. This place has a lot of needs and we are excited about working with them.
We also have a team going out to a village that was worked with last year. Last year, the team helped build a school and since we've been gone (anyone else just sing that kelly clarkson song in their head? No? Just me?) they've added on to the school! Only problem being that they don't have a roof for it. So we're going to build a roof for them and see what else we can do to help them out.
A pair of volunteers met with someone who has a soccer league here. Last year the team helped advertise and work with this soccer league as an extracurricular activity for the kids. Apparently some of the kids have even made it to the national team after playing in this league. Cool eh? They have things they'd like us to do and we have some volunteers in on that.
The village we went to on Thursday has a lot of potential project opportunities. We have two medical peeps on the team that are going to be getting some clinical hours in at their clinic there. And we have another volunteer that is going to be preparing leadership training classes for the high school students at that school. Might good stuff.
Today (in about 10 minutes) I am leaving to another meeting with a village school. This is a little village in the mountains. I was lucky to get in on this, I just happened to be here with Mallory when Holly came back from meeting with him and we asked if we could be in on it. It sounds like an awesome opportunity. Essentially there are problems in this village with girls getting pregnant while they're really young and, therefore, is an abundance of AIDS...stuff like that. Girls get married young (12, 13, 14) because they think that is the only way to be provided for, but really if they stayed in school they could provide for themselves. So a project proposal is to teach classes teaching the girls about empowerment/self-esteem/and abstinence...or at least waiting past the age of 12 to get involved in that stuff.
There's plenty to do here and plenty of need. I think the trick is choosing what is a priority and trusting who you work with. We've mostly worked with really wonderful people who want to partner with us for the improvement of fellow Ugandans. Let's do this!
:-)!
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