A Mixed Bag of Emotions

Before I came out here one of the many things I was excited about doing was a bit of teaching. Of course teaching my little cousin Sarah as an 9 year old counts as 'experience in the classroom' right? So I sat down with Ron and Ann and told them I was interested in getting involved. Ron and Ann are the lovely couple who set up Jinja Christian School. They are basically our Mum and Dad in Uganda, you could go to them with any issue and they would sort it out. Plus they are from Australia, so I feel like I'm on a constant episode of neighbours. 

Teaching P3 Class

My first lesson as "Teacher William" was Maths, or for those Americans reading 'Math'. I had 10 kids from Primary 3. They try to sort classes to age groups however most of the time they have to do it on ability. I would say ability wise they were year 2/3 in England. Having an hour and a half to fill and not much time to plan I had to think on my feet for most of it. I have doubled my respect for all those teachers out there, especially those who had to teach me. Keeping the interest of a class is a skill and a headache in itself, however I was pleased with the way it went. By the end of it, they were all counting in a northern accent. 

I also taught an English lesson to many different groups throughout the day. Instead of doing a typical English lesson, I did a Drama lesson which was so much fun. We had a poem which we turned into physical theatre. This gave them the opportunity to have a go at speaking English aloud….again with a northern accent.

Finally I taught a Music lesson. This was also great fun as we did singing. However not having a piano in front of me tested my abilities. You would think all Africans sing beautifully…. pitching was challenging. Here is a video of one of the songs we did. 

Teaching the Senior class

This week we got an opportunity to visit the slum down the road called Masese. There are more than a 10,000 people living there in such a small amount of space. In the slum community poverty, Hunger, alcoholism and disease are part of everyday life. Many are forced to turn to prostitution, picking through trash for food and brewing alcohol to sell. Most children can't afford school so instead they are fetching water, looking for food or begging on the streets. 

We were taken round by a translator to four different families. We gave each family a bag of sugar, a bar of soap and prayed with them. This was very eye opening as you can imagine. Praying for food and water for a family isn't something I have ever had to do. 

A Mother and 4 out of  7 of her Children

This is one of the families we met. The woman is 29 and has 7 children already. Even though she is smiling for the picture, they hadn't eaten for at least 24 hours. Her husband said that he was going out to look for work months ago and hasn't returned leaving her with nothing. Her youngest children are twins which are aged 1 and a half, but because they are so malnourished they looked only a few months old. As we were talking with her, she was breast feeding them. However because she hadn't eaten or drank in a while she was completely dry. This was so hard to see such hungry babies desperately trying to get food. 

The sad thing is, when you work out what they have to pay for a place to sleep and think what you would use that money for at home, it knocks you sick. 1 McDonalds meal would give shelter to a family for a whole month. A pack of chewing gum is the amount of money someone would earn for a whole working day.  

The local Supermarket 

A 7 year old caring for her baby sibling 

The way most people travel is by a Boda Boda (a motorbike). Most journeys cost about 25 - 50 pence. Because I am white and they all assume I am rich, some try and charge you a 'white persons price'. After trying a few out I eventually found a decent, safe and reliable driver. He is called Charles. Charles is my personal chauffeur… well I like to think he is. Whenever I need to get somewhere I call him and he will arrive in minutes. As if he is waiting round the corner for my call. He earns from £2.50 - £6.00 a day. When he makes £6.00 in a day, he is over the moon. Again try and put that into perspective of your own life……its scary.  

After having many journeys getting to know him, I found out he was an orphan himself and had a really hard life. He has three children who are constantly being sent home from school because he hasn't been able to pay the fees. Last week his son Jerome, got sent home from school. I ask how did he manage to sort this and he had got a loan from one of his friends. The loan was for £25 with £5.00 added each 2 weeks. He didn't even have £25 to his name.

He then invited the three of us for sunday lunch. We were so pleased to be asked however slightly nervous of what we would be served.

(L-R) Charles, Joash, Jerome, Jemima and Justine  

Once we arrived to their two room house we were greeted by 4 huge smiles and 1 crying baby (he was scared of white people). They were all dressed in their Sunday best and had this huge meal set out. This meal would have cost them more than a days wage. They even bought bottled water for us because they knew we don't drink local water. We asked where do you prepare the food and she pointed to the floor where this small coal burner was. Charles plays keyboard for his church so he got out the church keyboard and he started playing some Uganda worship songs. This was so moving because the whole family got involved singing. After a while I played him a few English worship songs as the girls sang. This was so touching and a really special moment that I will cherish. After some thought about the loan, I decided to use some money that someone kindly donated to me to pay off his loan. We wouldn't bat an eyelid about spending this kind of money. For us such a small gesture…. for him it meant the world. 

The three of us and Charles' family

A selfie with the neighbours

                                                                                     

Over the past few weeks as I have been walking down the road our neighbours would often come running over to me and ask me to come and play. Eventually I got to know them all quite well. This one time they dragged me over to the bench and said "sit, you must eat with us" I didn't really have a choice…. Even though they don't have much, they are so willing to share their meal with me. As the sunset, all we were lit by was the stars and moon. I felt so African. However I have to admit I did get my head torch out to walk home.  

This is 'Momma Danny' when you have a child you are automatically called your oldest child's name. House group was at hers this week and she lives where I had dinner. She is my age and is already married to Moses and has one child, Danny. It came to prayer requests and she told the group she is pregnant and hasn't felt the baby move for days. She believed she had been pregnant since July yet wasn't showing at all. This left me very confused. We all prayed for her. The night I was over for dinner she told me she has really bad stomach pain. My alarm bells were ringing and I decided to get in contact with Nurse Dent. After some advice I got the girls to come across with me to chat to her about the lady things. We decided the best thing was to take her to hospital the next day. Of course this was never an option for her as that would be so much money. We left the next morning at 6.30 and there was already a large queue.  After a scan they discovered that she had miscarried a while back and was still carrying the baby. She was devastated. The only way of knowing if you are pregnant or not is if you miss a period. There are no tests, unless you can afford a scan which most people can't. For a consultation, a scan and medication, all it cost was £4. 

Sarah, Rachael and I all agreed that we should cook them a meal one day and buy them a soda each. So on Monday we cooked Chapatti, Beans and Rice and took it over to eat with them. We also bought them a soda each which cost us 18 pence per drink. As we handed them out, one girl said "It is Christmas" After we ate we put some music on and danced with all of them under the stars. Momma Danny was still recovering so couldn't dance however she had a good laugh watching me dance. The lady with the traditional dress on at the back of the picture is 80 years old. She is left to look after her 2 grandchildren because they don't have anyone else. It was great to see her having fun and dancing with us. 

Selfie with the neighbours 

Momma Danny's house 

This week has certainly been a mixed bag of emotions. However it is such a privilege to be here and to be a part of what is going on. Thank you again for all the support and for reading my blog. 

Jesus looked at them and said, "with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" Matthew 19: 26