I am sorry that I haven't blogged for a while, but I have been a bit busy with finishing up our national conference and saying many goodbyes.
National Conference
On June 12-13, we had our national conference for secondary teachers of English language and literature. About 60 teachers and 20 support staff attended the conference. We had many presentations and the participants seems to enjoy the conference. Planning things here is incredibly stressful because so many things are last minute. We changed the venue literally the week before and I was a nervous wreck. In fact, during the last week (2-3 days before the conference) we arranged the food, facilities, conference books, IT support, and sound system. I was so, so stressed out. Everything came together, but not without many reminders and some not nice words from me. Things here seem to get stuck on formalities of addressing people by names and waiting for "important" people. For me, all people are important and the real heroes in this society are the teachers who work thousands of hours with very little gratitude or pay. We started the conference 40 minutes late the first day because we were waiting for the head of department and dean. The second day we started the conference 30 minutes late because of power and sound issues. I thought it was just me annoyed with the wasted time, but many participants also complained on the evaluation form. I apologized and told them it was out of my control. Most of the staff knew I wasn't happy and I told them it was unprofessional to waste time or be absent during the conference. At one point, it was just me and the MC at the conference from our department! But that is just my opinion that I get to express because this is my blog! :) Overall, the conference was a success and I made connections with very many people.
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| supplies ready! |
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| name tags for presenters |
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| break tea |
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| Add caption |
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| James speaking about students with disabilities |
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| Daniel speaking about reading comprehension |
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| giving out certificates |
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| education students |
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| hanging out with some of our BED students |
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| looking sharp! |
Rakai Visit
On June 17, I visited Rakai district, which is about 206 km (about 128 miles) from Mukono. It took us about two hours, but would've taken us longer by public means. Thankfully, Joseph borrowed a car from the director and we set off. Joseph had asked me to visit an organization that he started in Rakai last year based on his internship experiences at Rakai Health Science Program. During his internships, he saw the number of children affects by HIV/AIDS and wanted to find a way to sponsor them in school. He began a sponsorship program for about $30 a month, which helps to provide meals, school fees and supplies. It was such an honor for me to meet the caretakers working with these orphans. They are dedicated to changing the lives of these children one life at a time. I have seen many, many organization here in Uganda, but my favorite is the ones started by our students who want to give back to their home area. The money is not swindled by higher officials and it goes straight to the kids. There is no middle man, which allows the money to be used for what was intended. The organization is called Rakai Orphans Hope Project and the offices are located in Rakai.
The objectives of the organization are:
- To advocate for children with HIV/AIDS and orphans.
- To provide legal protection, counseling and other services needed to keep the hope of the widows and orphans.
- To provide start up capital to orphans to support themselves to become self-reliant.
- To provide income generating activities to vulnerable children and orphans to improve on their income status.
- To provide education to the school going orphans for the widows to improve on their cognitive aspect to compete for scarce resources in the society like other children.
- To educate and sensitize the community about the rights of orphans.
- To provide health information to the widows and orphans and measures to stay healthy in the society.
I was so impressed with the way the organization was ran and dedication of the volunteers. The caretakers organized so that I could meet all of the children and it was a wonderful experience. Of course, most of the children do not speak English, but smiles and hugs show a lot. After our visit Joseph told me that a lot of his classmates feared to come to this area because of the high rate of HIV/AIDS, which seems to convey a lot of ignorance here in Uganda about HIV/AIDS. We still have a lot of work to do in educating people about this disease. I told Joseph I wanted to get involved, so he made me the U.S. coordinator for sponsors. It is much easier for me to coordinate sponsors since I am heading back to the U.S. and will be able to call and mail sponsor packets. I am looking forward to helping out with the project!
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| Joseph and I |
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| visiting some of the orphans |
We were able to visit a "family" of people who are taking care of each other. This was the location where a documentary was filmed for the organization.
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| Bernadette! |
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| the grandmother |
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| coffee drying |
The above pictures is the grandmother of several of the children. She was so excited to see us that she came running down the road shouting. She squeezed me so tightly that I thought my sides would burst!
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| awesome poster |
We also visited the Rakai Health Science Program where Joseph did his internship. They offered amazing services, all for free! This program has many sponsor including the Gates Foundation, Columbia University and Johns Hopkins. Find out more information about the program
here.
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| incinerator |
We were able to go on a tour through the labs led by Moses. We also toured the rest of the facility. I was especially impressed with the circumcision clinic and the advanced technology. They also had huge generators to keep everything continuously running because of the rolling black outs here.
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| lunch! |
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| listening to the story of hardships |
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| radio station! |
We were also able to visit a radio station where one of Joseph's friends worked. It was a cool experience. I was honored to visit Rakai with Joseph and his friend Ivan. We had a nice time and it really allowed me to see the work they have been doing. I am thankful for experiences like there that I can take time away from my work on campus and see real life. When I go through experiences like these, I often think about what I spend $30 on in my life. What can $30 buy back home? My cell phone bill is $100 a month. My gym is $50. I even pay more $50 to register for a half marathon. Imagine what $30 dollars a month could do for a child's future. Crazy! If you are interested in learning more about this project, you can check out their website
here or email me at jlcardwell77@gmail.com or call at 314-363-1957. I look forward to getting much more involved and organizing sponsors.
