School Bells

Term 1
The term started off slow then seemed to disappear (the term ends May 3rd [but the kids are sent home around April 27 so the teachers can grade]). The school got their act together and I started classes. P1 and P2 Literacy classes have gone well. P1 is making progress with their alphabet and P2 is starting to put the sounds together. We made up fun new motions to the alphabet song involving a motion for each letter that represents an Acholi word that starts with that letter. The kids are enjoying it! The attendance has fluctuated a bit but that only makes the class more manageable for playing games with them. We split P1 and P2 so that they are on different days. Yay no more 200 kids jammed in one classroom! I was also thrilled to catch a phonics lesson on the chalkboard from during the day.
P7 has been a little less promising as it has had nothing but delays. For one reason or another class was cancelled - P7 behavior meeting, emergency meeting, no school, students are away, transportation failure, long weekend. At this point, I'm just hoping for better next term.
Unschooled Kids Class has been really fun. It is challenging having so many young students and having so many coming and going. They are making progress and it has been such fun working with them!
Pece Bible Club is going well. We have a pretty regular group of kids that come.
Saturday tutoring has been really encouraging. The sponsored kids class is much further along than the other classes. They are reading!!!! And they love books! I often bring the stack of the Acholi books I have managed to find and let the kids at them. They quickly gather into small groups around a book and read in a chorus. Even the older kids are happy to get a book and read together. YAY!!!

A Weekend Adventure in Karamoja

     On the north east edge of Uganda lies Mt. Moroto. It has not been hiked as much in the last 20 years or so due to instability in the region. It is finally safe again so we ventured out into Karamoja to summit Mt. Moroto. The roads to get there proved as challenging as the hike itself. It was worth it though. We hired some local guides and headed up. The views were amazing. Along the way you can look out and see into Kenya. The semi-arid landscape had so many faces. Not long before we decided to set up camp, it started raining. Aaaaaand, it continued to rain off and on until the next day. We summited early in the morning inside of a cloud. Besides just the raw beauty of the views, the adventure of the hike, and the challenge of the summit, I found what little I saw of the Karamajong fascinating (note- Uganda has over 50 different tribes). Traditionally they are nomadic cow herders. Time changes things, but they have stuck to their traditions in many ways. When you enter Karamoja, there is something noticeably different. The dress changes from a majority of western style wear to a majority wearing the traditional woven fabric; crops change to cows and open space; huts loose the mud and are raised off the ground and grouped in fences. Our time was limited with the expectation of freshly watered mud terrain for our long trek back before work again. I really just wanted to sit with some old man or perhaps our guide (who left for shelter from the rain when we camped) and learn about their culture. Maybe next time. Fascinated.  

Rest and Soul Searching

     Mto Moyoni is a retreat center run by two ladies from in Jinja that holds conferences geared for healing of the heart and seeking the Heart of God. I was invited to go along by a friend of mine who graciously offered to sponsor my attendance. God is good. Little did I know how much I needed to get away and attend something like that. I realized places I had hardened my heart and areas I needed to seek or give forgiveness. Always a work in progress. So, I have a lot to be thankful for; the conference and respite; what God is doing here in Gulu; what God is doing in my heart; but mostly that He is there – a Comfort, Forgiver, and Healer. He makes all things new. I am hoping it sticks and I stay out of the hard hearted rut I had fallen in. Always a work a progress.

School - A Life Changer

She is now in school... She will not be the same. 

     We went in the morning. Apiyo now has a sponsor and is finally able to go to a school that has a program for the hearing impaired. Apiyo loves to study. She regularly attends the small Catholic church in her small village and has perfect attendance in the little class for unschooled children. In fact, she is very often found at the school hanging around, observing, and learning what she can. Her parents tried to send her to the local village school, but without services, were eventually told to keep her home. We arrived at her home. Over the course of two weeks we had met with her family and the school to arrange her coming. She was beaming, freshly showered, and wearing a new dress. Her family gathered a few belongings and what necessities they could afford to contribute. We waited on a mat in one of the grass-thatched mud-huts making up her home. Her mother wanted to finish cooking before we left. We ate a delicious meal of cassava, chicken, and ground-up white ants. Then, after loading her things onto the back of the motorcycle, we left for town. It warmed my heart to watch her take in the sights of town; the shops, large buildings, and paved roads all busy in comparison the the village life she just left. I was also relieved to see she understood what was going on and seemed excited despite having to leave home. We arrived at the school around lunch time, unloaded the required supplies we had purchased, paid the rest of the fees for school and boarding, and met her new teachers. They were sweet and welcoming. Apiyo took it all in. We partnered her with another sponsored girl in our program – an older girl from the same village who got sponsored a few years ago and was doing very well in school. Apiyo got a bed next to her in the girls' dorm. We visited a little while but wanted to leave before the rain. Apiyo was smiling and doing well. I couldn't help feeling a little sad leaving her there in a new place. I kept wanting to ask, “how are you doing? Are you sure you're ok?”, but I couldn't. Her smile and thumbs up said she was fine. If I feel this way after taking responsibility to transport a student, I can't imagine if it was my own kid. I am thrilled for her though and stoked to see her learn sign language and progress in school. I will have to visit again soon.