So my laptop busted out on me so I can't put up photos quite as easily due to RUBBISH internet :( So I won't bother with writing about our safari because you really need photos to SHOW you how awesome it was! But here's a little teaser - we got charged by a Silverback Mountain Gorilla and got stuck in a ditch surrounded by a pack of lions. I kid you not.
So by now, the parents have experienced quite a lot!
Their job for the last week was to spend the money they’d fundraised for on my mum’s birthday last year.
Valley View was first on the list this time. The parents had offered to concrete the floors in the brick building. It will make all the difference for a) the safety of the kids b) the teachers won’t be tripping up when they’re teaching c) the kids won’t cut their feet anymore if they don’t have shoes.
Next was spending some of it at ASCO. When we were on safari, all the boys moved into the ASCO house and spent their first night on mattresses! They had a big party (I was so gutted to miss it) with good food, dancing and Will entertained them with fire sticks and fire poi. However they don’t have what every house should have – mosquito nets, especially as it’s coming into malaria season now. The old man went with Moses to Soft Power Education at Bujagali and managed to barter his way to getting mosquito nets for 3000/= (around £1, Nomad mozzie nets for £25 are a rip off!) and they bought the kids a TV and DVD player. Admittedly a TV is a luxury for here, but realistically, keeping 22 boys entertained 24/7 with activities just isn’t possible! And it’s the kind of thing ASCO would never be able to buy with donation money anyway.
We were all expecting the boys to find it difficult going from living on the streets with no rules to living in a house where they need permission to leave the grounds but actually they’re settling in really well! Kanyike, a seven year old who used to come to the project but stopped coming as he was ‘controlled’ by the older paraffin crew street kids, came back too – although seeing such a little boy on a come down and sleeping for 3 days solid is pretty heartbreaking. But at least he’s back now and has fitted in really well.
Moses, Wes (another English volunteer at ASCO), my dad and I went to Massese, the Karamajong village where some of the boys come from, to get our final permission form signed. Peter P’s mum has disappeared and whenever ASCO’s been to Massese in the past his dad’s been passed out drunk in the middle of the afternoon. This time we went in the morning and we found him sober so we got him to fingerprint the form (he can’t write) without any fuss! As ever, we were surrounded by children, but this time we could compare the ASCO kids with the Massese kids. As well as Peter P, we’d also brought George along as he wanted to give something to his mum, and James as our translator. None of their clothes had rips in, their hair was cut short, they weren’t dirty, they weren’t ill, they didn’t have fresh scars from seeing witchdoctors, or whip marks on their backs from their families, they were very healthy, smart boys in comparison, and that’s down to Moses and Sarah at ASCO because four months ago they were worse off living on the streets than the Massese kids we saw. But seeing that poverty, which is pretty much as poor as you could imagine for a whole village, always makes you feel really helpless and you don’t really get over it for the rest of the day.
I did my own little project with the kids this week too! Jess, from BCS, told me about her mum’s art exhibition called Heartfelt. The aim is to get 500 people to decorate a 20 x 10cm heart according to their most heartfelt memory, then attach a piece of card explaining the story. We had to adapt the project slightly mainly because the kids can’t write and we have limited resources. We asked the kids to draw their favourite memory on a tea stained heart in pencil, then Amos, Dan, my mum and I added colour to the drawings with paint (the kids can’t be let loose with paint, they would’ve just painted the whole heart blue or something…) then added pen outlines. On the attached cards, we stamped them with the ASCO stamp, added a photo of each boy and asked them to sign their names. I added their full names and ages which was quite a mission to get – Kanyike said he was 39 years old, and James, roughly 13 years old, said he was 2 years old – none of them have birth certificates or have ever celebrated their birthdays… But I think the hearts look great! Hopefully they’re done right and that’s what we were supposed to do
Then it was time for the family the leave, I think everyone was genuinely sad to see them leave! All the boys keep asking when Uncle Will’s coming back then bust a few break dancing moves, Moses now refers to my mum as his English mum and my dad now owns a hideously yellow African shirt from Moses, Dan and Amos…it can only be a sign of affection!
Monday, 17 May 2010
18/04 - 30/04 The Newbies arrive!
Then comes the arrival of the family!
But first of all, a few days before everyone arrived, Joe, Dom and I offered to do a night shift at Sonrise. In the meantime, Sonrise had acquired tiny little boy twins only days old, and for some reason they put us in charge of them for a night! WHY?!? Neither of the boys had ever changed a nappy, and the last time I had was on Alice, my little cousin, years ago! I was terrified. We sneakily watched the other staff mamas change nappies, and then we let go of all pride and just told Richard we had no idea what we were doing. He didn’t seem too phased and quickly explained how much to feed them and where to find everything. However he didn’t know which twin was which so we renamed them little Joseph and Dominic.
Then we were left all alone.
We started watching a film on a laptop as it was only ten o’clock, and pretty swiftly little Joseph started making a fuss and crying – the beginning of a very loooong night. Big Dom took charge and we all helped in successfully changing little Joseph’s nappy. Then was little Dominic’s turn to cry so I sorted him out with some grub. Big Joe had in the meantime fallen asleep. After an hour with the little ones big Dom and I went to bed. About ten minutes later, little Dominic started crying again but it was big Joe’s turn to look after him. I learned that both big Joe and Dom sleep like logs. For the rest of the night I had a system going. When it was Dom’s turn to look after the twins I’d kick him from the bottom bunk (he was on the top bunk) until he got up, and when it was Joe’s turn I’d pick up the baby then poke Joe in the face til he woke up and shoved a baby in his arms. I think I had a grand total of two hours sleep the twins woke up so much. Neither of the Joes and Doms were not my favourite people the next day!
THEN everyone arrived!
Will and Sophia (Will’s girlfriend) were in Uganda for two weeks; my parents were in Uganda for three weeks.
The first week was absolutely exhausting! For the first time ever, I was the one in the know on most things, I was organising where they were going, deciding where to eat, being the tour guide essentially! The first few days were spent visiting the projects. First off – ASCO.
So we trotted up to ASCO, and everyone was introduced to the kids – Will was known as the dancing man! They spent an hour or so getting to know the kids – playing with them, looking at their exercise books and pictures – and getting the ‘low down’ on ASCO from Sarah and Moses.
Next, Will got down to business with the break dancing workshops! During that week, the kids couldn’t have been happier: there was constantly music playing, kids dancing or practicing their exercises like cartwheels etc! As it’s the holidays, Paul and Thomas who’re sponsored into Lords Meade (secondary school) are back at ASCO, so our lesson timetable’s more flexible so that the kids can have a break too. They were all amazing by Will’s demonstrations of break dancing; they won’t have ever seen a music video to know what it is! It was also great for someone to do something active with them, Moses, Amos and Dan are all painters and not exactly sporty! At the end of each session we’d make a circle and everyone would have to dance in the circle
The second project for the week at ASCO was to teach them all how to make Devil Sticks. Some of the kids have devil complexes as that’s what witchdoctors or parents have told them so that’s why some are on the streets so we had to rename them Rhythm or Magic Sticks. Will went out with Moses to get all the wood, tape and inner tubing and all the kids made their own set although at the time they were using them more like tools to hit each other… Most of them used them properly though! So all in all, that week, Will and Sophia won the hearts of all the kids as the ‘cool’ uncle and auntie!
We also made a trip to Sonrise to visit all the babies. We spent an hour or so playing with the younger ones at first - everyone was a bit hit to be honest! We took the older toddlers for a walk, two little people for every big person, one in each hand, negotiating the pot holes and eroded mud tracks. Will and Sophia made the mistake of playing a game of lifting them up with their little ones right at the beginning so then when they stopped for a break they’d have three kids throwing tantrums! AMATEURS.
Last project we visited was Valley View. Hope, the Head teacher, showed us round the unfinished brick building and wooden shack classrooms, I think the parents were shocked, especially by the jagged rock covered floor in the classrooms in the brick building. But generally, they agreed with me about the atmosphere of the school after having met some kids in P5 – P7 doing extra catch up lessons. After a chat with Hope, the parents offered to concrete the two floors in the brick building with the money they’d previously fundraised which made Hope absolutely ecstatic!
But first of all, a few days before everyone arrived, Joe, Dom and I offered to do a night shift at Sonrise. In the meantime, Sonrise had acquired tiny little boy twins only days old, and for some reason they put us in charge of them for a night! WHY?!? Neither of the boys had ever changed a nappy, and the last time I had was on Alice, my little cousin, years ago! I was terrified. We sneakily watched the other staff mamas change nappies, and then we let go of all pride and just told Richard we had no idea what we were doing. He didn’t seem too phased and quickly explained how much to feed them and where to find everything. However he didn’t know which twin was which so we renamed them little Joseph and Dominic.
Then we were left all alone.
We started watching a film on a laptop as it was only ten o’clock, and pretty swiftly little Joseph started making a fuss and crying – the beginning of a very loooong night. Big Dom took charge and we all helped in successfully changing little Joseph’s nappy. Then was little Dominic’s turn to cry so I sorted him out with some grub. Big Joe had in the meantime fallen asleep. After an hour with the little ones big Dom and I went to bed. About ten minutes later, little Dominic started crying again but it was big Joe’s turn to look after him. I learned that both big Joe and Dom sleep like logs. For the rest of the night I had a system going. When it was Dom’s turn to look after the twins I’d kick him from the bottom bunk (he was on the top bunk) until he got up, and when it was Joe’s turn I’d pick up the baby then poke Joe in the face til he woke up and shoved a baby in his arms. I think I had a grand total of two hours sleep the twins woke up so much. Neither of the Joes and Doms were not my favourite people the next day!
THEN everyone arrived!
Will and Sophia (Will’s girlfriend) were in Uganda for two weeks; my parents were in Uganda for three weeks.
The first week was absolutely exhausting! For the first time ever, I was the one in the know on most things, I was organising where they were going, deciding where to eat, being the tour guide essentially! The first few days were spent visiting the projects. First off – ASCO.
So we trotted up to ASCO, and everyone was introduced to the kids – Will was known as the dancing man! They spent an hour or so getting to know the kids – playing with them, looking at their exercise books and pictures – and getting the ‘low down’ on ASCO from Sarah and Moses.
Next, Will got down to business with the break dancing workshops! During that week, the kids couldn’t have been happier: there was constantly music playing, kids dancing or practicing their exercises like cartwheels etc! As it’s the holidays, Paul and Thomas who’re sponsored into Lords Meade (secondary school) are back at ASCO, so our lesson timetable’s more flexible so that the kids can have a break too. They were all amazing by Will’s demonstrations of break dancing; they won’t have ever seen a music video to know what it is! It was also great for someone to do something active with them, Moses, Amos and Dan are all painters and not exactly sporty! At the end of each session we’d make a circle and everyone would have to dance in the circle
The second project for the week at ASCO was to teach them all how to make Devil Sticks. Some of the kids have devil complexes as that’s what witchdoctors or parents have told them so that’s why some are on the streets so we had to rename them Rhythm or Magic Sticks. Will went out with Moses to get all the wood, tape and inner tubing and all the kids made their own set although at the time they were using them more like tools to hit each other… Most of them used them properly though! So all in all, that week, Will and Sophia won the hearts of all the kids as the ‘cool’ uncle and auntie!
We also made a trip to Sonrise to visit all the babies. We spent an hour or so playing with the younger ones at first - everyone was a bit hit to be honest! We took the older toddlers for a walk, two little people for every big person, one in each hand, negotiating the pot holes and eroded mud tracks. Will and Sophia made the mistake of playing a game of lifting them up with their little ones right at the beginning so then when they stopped for a break they’d have three kids throwing tantrums! AMATEURS.
Last project we visited was Valley View. Hope, the Head teacher, showed us round the unfinished brick building and wooden shack classrooms, I think the parents were shocked, especially by the jagged rock covered floor in the classrooms in the brick building. But generally, they agreed with me about the atmosphere of the school after having met some kids in P5 – P7 doing extra catch up lessons. After a chat with Hope, the parents offered to concrete the two floors in the brick building with the money they’d previously fundraised which made Hope absolutely ecstatic!
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