Generosity

"Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee!"

Megan, Paul and I have spent the last week or so saying good-byes and we have been enjoying invitations to people's homes and accepting gifts from the staff and our friends here.  It has been rather overwhelming to see the generosity of people who choose to use their limited resources to write a kind letter of thanks, buy some small gift or prepare a meal to share with us.   Their kindness is very humbling!

dinner at Sylivia's (the school chaplain) house

 a very fancy salad prepared by Joseph, our school cook

 Megan, Paul and Deo (the school driver) enjoying Sylivia's hospitality

 Megan and me in other dresses that were given to us

 a plaque made of banana fibre that was a gift from Ritah, the school secretary

another delicious dinner prepared by Doreen at her house

a handmade and personalized wall-hanging made by Julius, a university student

 who helps out at the farm here at Timothy Centre during his school holidays

Friends

I return to Canada in two weeks and the fact that I'm leaving Uganda really began to sink in this morning as we attended our last service at church. The pastor's wife organized a gift of custom made "kitenge" outfits for us to wear to church for the occasion and it was a lovely (albeit somewhat teary!) service.

As we brought our final greetings, and thanked the church for all they've meant to us, I began to reflect on some of the people that I've met during my two years that I now call friends. I have been so blessed by their generosity, hospitality and patience as they have tried to answer the many questions that arise when working cross-culturally.

These people have inspired me, made me laugh and have taught me so much about life here. It is men and women like these, who possess such a strong passion for the people in their communities, who will really make a difference in this country. It has been so wonderful to have gotten to know them, and since they have become my friends it is easy to imagine that I'll be visiting them again at some point!

Comment made to us by several people at church? --"You are smart!"

(which means we were looking particularly well-dressed!)

My friend Evacy--Timothy Girls College Head Teacher. The woman who is REALLY responsible for opening the school. She's the expert on Ugandan schools; I just do what I can to help her. I have so enjoyed working with her!

(left) Paul, a Sunday School teacher and English translator at church who sends his sister to our school and is a member of our Board of Governors, (centre) Pastor Elijah and (right) his lovely wife Florence

another photo with Pastor Elijah and Florence

our good friends David and Doreen--they live close to us and visit us often. We've introduced them to cupcakes, coffee and chocolate and they have tried to explain several complicated aspects of Ugandan culture to us. We laugh a lot when they're over!

Doreen and me

Party

We used Canada Day as an opportunity to invite the students to our housing compound and have a bit of a social time. The girls spend their days in the part of our property designated for school buildings and the majority of their time is spent in class, studying or in extra classes that teachers may decide to hold. Therefore, we thought it'd be fun to have them over for a brief celebration and let them share in some Canadian traditions.

The girls enjoyed playing a game that introduced them to Canadian wildlife, as they'd never heard of moose, raccoons, loons or bison (or any of the other animals on the list, for that matter!) When I asked them which animal they thought would be dangerous to humans, one girl guessed "the beaver" because of their big teeth! We also have some visitors from Canada staying here currently, so the girls loved chatting with them and learning more about our country. The highlight, of course, was the chance to drink soda and eat cake! They were very reluctant to leave when the time came to return to their dorms, but they assured us that on October 9 (Ugandan Independence Day) they would host us and teach us about their country.

we served Pringles potato chips, and it was the first time many of the students

had tried such a snack

Head Teacher Evacy got into the spirit and wore her red t-shirt

the makeshift flagpole we erected for the occasion

Church

I have attended Masaka Full Gospel Church since I've been in Uganda and during my time here, I have had the chance to preach, teach Sunday School, sing with the worship teams and also sing "specials" (often with various visitors we've had from Canada.) Megan, Paul and I also were on a youth camp organizing committee and were given the opportunity to give talks at the camp as well. We have felt very welcomed at church and we have made some very good friends. As well, several people from the congregation have been able to help us here at the school in a variety of ways.

Some church experiences...

clockwise from left: the children perform a dance in the service, a little baby (with great hair!) that joined our Sunday School class one day, the goat that appeared to listen to a whole Sunday School lesson, performing a "special" on Christmas Day 2009, Megan and the goat

some of our preaching opportunities--in the church and at youth camp

Staff

I recently had to take a photo of each of our staff members for their staff ID card, so I thought I'd make a collage of all the photos. These are the great people I get to work with each day. These are the teachers, secretary, driver, security guards, cooks and cleaners that work so hard to make this project a success and make my job a lot easier! They have been very patient as we continue to work out the challenges associated with opening a brand new school and I appreciate their positive attitudes and commitment.

It's a shame they're not all smiling in these particular photos, because their personalities aren't evident from these shots, and we have a lot of fun together. As the school continues to grow over the years, we want to add more great people to the Timothy Girls College staff team.

24

We admitted our Twenty-Fourth student to Timothy Girls College today and it was so wonderful to be able to help this girl. Her story is all too common here unfortunately. She finished Senior 4 last year with strong results and was admitted to the local secondary school this year to complete her A-Levels in Science. She is probably about 15 or 16 years old.

Despite the academic promise she showed, she did not go to school for first term. Her father had refused to pay the school fees, as his plan was to marry her off so that he didn't have to be responsible for her anymore. The girl's aunt brought her to us today to see if we could help. This lady is a Headmistress of a primary school, so she knows the value of an education for girls, but she was unable to pay the full fees as she has several other children for whom she is responsible. After hearing about the situation, we assured them that the girl needed to be here and arranged a fee subsidy so that she could stay here and finish her education.

This girl's arrival today is a valuable reminder of how important it is for our school to offer a quality education. We aim to provide the knowledge, skills and attitudes to equip these girls to become independent and strong leaders in their communities and work for change. Educating young women is so important to a society's development and I feel so privileged to be a part of this project that can make such a difference.

If you want to help provide more spaces for needy girls to study here at Timothy Girls College, you can donate to a TGC scholarship fund. Contributing to this fund allows us to offer more subsidies to other deserving girls who would benefit so much from a chance to complete their education.

Contact the Pacific Academy Outreach Society for more information. www.paoutreach.net

our students' campaign posters for the position of Head Girl--leaders in the making!

Travels

I realize I haven't written an update for quite some time, and that is largely because I have spent the last month outside of Uganda. It has been a month of seeing new sights, getting more stamps in my rapidly filling passport, enjoying the company of family and friends and preparing to return to Canada to a new job.

During the recent term break, I took a trip to Croatia where my sister met me and we had a wonderful time visiting a few towns on the beautiful Dalmatian Coast. We enjoyed listening to church bells on Easter Sunday, eating delicious sea food dishes, sipping coffee in outdoor cafes and marvelling at the clear, turquoise water of the Adriatic Sea. It was also very fun to watch the Royal Wedding in a hotel lounge in the company of some British tourists who were able to identify various personalities in the crowd at Westminster Abbey and provide the colour commentary on the festivities. It was a wonderfully relaxing holiday in a beautiful part of the world.

However, it seems that while you can take the girl out of Africa, you can't necessarily take Africa out of the girl. While enjoying the pleasures of a Mediterranean holiday, I came down with another case of malaria a few days before I was scheduled to leave Croatia. However, the hospital we visited was able to provide the necessary medication and I improved in time to continue my travels.

From Croatia, I travelled to Vancouver and had a brief visit to the West Coast. There are the obvious things to enjoy about visiting home--driving on wide, smoothly paved roads, eating familiar food, visiting with family and friends and taking advantage of all the inherent "conveniences" of life in the West. However, I also enjoyed some more subtle pleasures--the most significant was the fact that I was able to understand what people around me on the street, in the mall, on the radio, etc. were saying. So often, here in Uganda, I feel disconnected from situations since I don't speak the language; I'd sort of forgotten what it's like to be able to "eavesdrop" on conversations happening around you!

My travels in the last month also took me briefly to the "Merry Old Land of Oz" when I took in the London production of the musical "Wicked" during a long stopover en route to Uganda. The show was very entertaining, and, while I must admit to nodding off once or twice during the production, that was purely a result of jetlag and is definitely not a comment on the quality of the performances!

I'm glad to have arrived safely back in Uganda and these next few months will fly by, I'm sure.

Fire II

It was around 10:00 last night when I got a call from Evacy saying that there had been a dormitory fire in one of the local secondary schools where several of our students from Kibaale have been studying. She had been asked by one of the child-sponsorship staff members in Kibaale to go to the school on her behalf and make sure all these students were fine. As Evacy doesn't drive, she needed someone to take her into town. She and I, along with one of our security guards, headed out and were prepared to bring all the Kibaale students at that school back here, if need be.

As we arrived at the school, it was quite the chaotic scene. The fire was out, but parents and guardians had arrived in droves to check on their kids, and there were also lots of neighbours hanging around watching all the commotion. There were cars, motorcycles and pedestrians everywhere! Our guard stayed with the vehicle while Evacy and I went into the school compound to check things out. What a zoo! There was power in town, which helped a bit in illuminating our path, but I still needed to use the small flashlight on my cell phone to find the way. Someone was shouting instructions in Luganda over a loudspeaker, yet there didn't seem to be any sort of organization in terms of handling the large crowd of students, parents and other interested parties that was milling around.

We had no idea how we were going to find the kids we were looking for. I held onto Evacy's arm as we made our way through the crowd, because I didn't think I'd find her in the dark if we got separated. We headed toward an illuminated classroom block; we figured that since I was definitely the only muzungu in the crowd, people would find us. Sure enough, seconds after arriving in the lighted area, one of the boys from Kibaale came to greet us. He was very glad to see a familiar face and quickly went to find the others. Within about 5 minutes, all 6 of the students we'd come to see had found us. Not only that, but the son of another friend of Evacy had found us and was able to use her phone to reassure his parents that he was ok.

We learned that the fire had started in the girls' dormitory, while the girls were studying elsewhere, so no one was hurt. Most of the Kibaale students at this school were boys, so they were fine to remain, but we decided to take the one girl student back with us. She was obviously very upset and was worried that her books and notes were lost. (It is exam time here at the moment, and students rely on their extensive notes to prepare.) Evacy kept reassuring her, that her life was more important than anything that may have been lost, and that we were just glad she is fine. We signed her out (another rather chaotic process that I won't bother describing) and drove back to the Timothy Centre, so she could have a good night's rest before heading back to the school in the morning to check on her belongings.

Dormitory fires are not that uncommon in boarding schools here, unfortunately. The rooms are often overcrowded, which complicates both supervision and evacuation, and from what I witnessed last night, there also doesn't appear to be much of a system in place to handle such a crisis when it does happen. I am grateful that no one was hurt in this particular incident and that we were close by to offer assistance. (...and I might just take some time today to write a policy regarding fire evacuation procedures for Timothy Girls College!)

Flowers

It rained almost every morning this week, and since we've recently planted a lot of flowers, shrubs and grass throughout the compound, it's so nice to see how green and lush everything is looking. Here's what the gardens looked like one day after the rain stopped.

Computers

Last week saw the arrival of the fifteen brand new laptops that we purchased for the school. I set them up for the teachers to use at that time and they were very excited figuring out how to type out their lesson plans, tests and notes for their students. They are eager to learn how to make Powerpoint slides and use the projector in their classes, and that will come with time.

Yesterday, I bought the wireless router from the Orange network store in town, so we can provide web access. Setting up the internet connection was relatively easy considering it's such a high-tech gadget in this arguably low-tech environment. It only involved one unhelpful call to the customer care number and one return visit to the Orange store to configure the router correctly, but within a few hours, the lab was ready for the students to start their computer class this afternoon.

Megan is the computer instructor, and she had 22 very excited girls in her classes today--many of them had never used a computer before so they were enjoying figuring out a few basic skills in their first lesson. They particularly enjoyed playing an on-line typing instruction game.

We look forward to providing computer training for the students, so they will possess valuable skills when they go to university and enter the job market. We also are excited to train the teachers to incorporate some of this technology in the classroom.

Service

It is a common experience for Westerners visiting or living in Africa to have to adjust to the unpredictable nature of customer service standards. One the one hand, it is can be difficult to be "allowed" to do any sort of physical labour for yourself. For example, the cook for the school personally delivers tea to my office everyday, and if I try to take the dirty dishes back myself and any of the staff see me, they will inevitably look horrified and rush to relieve me of my load. Similarly, the students in my Sunday School class won't let me sit on the bench until they brush the dust off it for me first and the staff at the supermarket in town volunteer to push the cart around for us when we're shopping and then carry the bags out to the vehicle. I appreciate the help with heavy loads when needed, but it can get a bit embarrassing when people offer to take even small packages from me, so I won't have to carry them.

However, there are times, when the customer service can leave you shaking your head in bewilderment. Waiters will dutifully take your order, disappear back to the kitchen for some time and then return to let you know that whatever you ordered is "finished." We have learned to ask "Do you have this?" and point to the item on the printed menu before ordering to try to avoid the long wait and then be disappointed. All of us have stories of this nature we could tell, but today, an interaction with the lady at the bakery was pretty classic, and I felt the need to share the story.

Sue and I went into town today to do a bit of grocery shopping. We stopped into the bakery that we frequent a fair bit. The items for sale are a bit hit and miss, but every once in a while I will pick up a pastry "cheese pie" for a snack. I hadn't had one in awhile, so I ordered one. The lady behind the counter asked if I'd like it warmed up--they have a microwave, which is pretty upscale for this part of the world. As I intended to eat it a bit later, I declined the offer of the warm-up.

Well, she gave me this look that said I was nuts to eat it cold and said, "You don't want it warmed up!??!" as if I had no idea what I was talking about. Her accusatory tone made me feel the need to defend myself so I said that I liked them cold. She sort of rolled her eyes, shook her head, wrapped up the pie and the look on her face communicated that she'd be telling another "crazy muzungu" story around the dinner table tonight.

Meanwhile, Sue decided she'd like a pie too, so she ordered one and said that she would like it warmed up. The same lady, who had just served me, looked at Sue and said "You want it warmed up!??!" in a similarly shocked manner. Sue re-stated her wishes and the lady replied, "No power."

We had a good laugh as we left the bakery.

the infamous cheese pie (not heated up)

Opening

Yesterday was the Grand Opening celebration for Timothy Girls College. It was a really wonderful time where all the builders, the staff, the students, people from the community, other expats and many members of the Kibaale Community School staff came together to mark the start of this exciting project.

Here are some things that stood out as highlights for me:

-the local District Education Officer saying how proud he is that the Luwengo district now has a school dedicated to educating the girl child. This is a stated focus for the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports, but many areas in the nation still can't provide such schools. He promised to do all he can for us as we seek to register the school officially and that was good news indeed!

-the choir made up of all 21 of our students performing 2 songs. Five of the girls had only arrived the night before and had to learn the numbers very quickly. They sounded great!

-hearing the Kibaale staff members cheering loudly in celebration as a long-term goal of that project was being realized.

-seeing how proud of their work the builders were and having a chance to thank them publicly.

-listening to Esther, the first girl that reported for school, speak articulately to the crowd about how happy she was to be a part of the first class of TGC

-greeting a former student of mine when I lived in Uganda in 1996. She is now a nurse that works in the Kibaale clinic, and she recognized me as her former teacher and found me to say hi.

-chatting with another former student of mine who is very seriously planning to run for office in the next election in 2016. He currently works in Kibaale and wants to represent that area in order to bring further development to Rakai district. He was also telling me what a wonderful opportunity it is for some of our students who have come from Kibaale. They have such disadvantaged backgrounds that to be able to study at an A-Level school like ours would have been totally out of reach without the sponsorship they've received.

-being able to tour people through the site and see the support from so many people from the community.

We have high expectations for Timothy Girls College, and it will take time to develop our program, but it feels like we're starting well and it is such a privilege to be a part of it.

Chapel

Since Timothy Girls College is a boarding school, we have the opportunity to meet together on Sunday mornings for our weekly chapel service. We have had two such meetings since the school opened, and I've really enjoyed joining the students in the worship service. The girls lead the singing with local drums as the only accompaniment and everyone joins in very enthusiastically.

It is very hard to convey the mood of an African worship service in words and photos alone; even video doesn't quite capture the atmosphere. The girls in the chapel services sing at the top of their lungs, dance, pound the drums, clap their hands and shout; it is really very fun to be a part of it all. I can't join in the Luganda songs, and it's sometimes difficult to recognize the ones in English, but I can't help but be touched by the excitement all around.

You'll just have to visit sometime and experience it for yourself!

some students presenting a "special"--a song they prepared to perform at the service

the cooks left lunch preparations and joined in and provided the drum accompaniment

Floors

The dining hall/multi-purpose building is nearly ready for tables and benches to be moved in, but first the very dusty floor needed to be swept and mopped. It is a huge floor, so it took all of our cleaners plus a few of the workers to get the job done.

The method: Spray water all over the concrete floor with a hose and then have other people use brushes to scrub the floor and squeegees to push the excess water out the door. Labour intensive? Yes, but it got the job done.

The floor looked white with dust before this process, now the colour shows.