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.