Madi Kiloc

We spent most of the day traveling again, making sure that the water filtration systems were working properly, as well as made a few stops at some schools.  We ended the day with a ceremony to deliver the medical supplies and funds from PHS to the medical clinic as well.  I will very directly summarize the aforementioned topics below.

Madi Kiloc

The town we visited today, from my experience, was much different from the others – seemingly smaller and more rural which is all based on my narrow perspective.  It took forever to get out to some of the huts – long drives on dirt roads full of potholes through fields and fields of brush and agriculture.  It is quite difficult to imagine what people do when they need to get to town with goods on their heads and babies on their backs, or if they are in need of medical aide in an emergency.  It is quite ironic, however, to see solar panels installed outside of the huts in order to charge the cells phones or charge one light bulb for the evening – did I mention that there is no electricity here?  We must walk around with “torches” as they say in order to see in the dark.

Formal Acoli Meeting

The wonderful women of Madi Kiloc and I.

After our visits, we had a very formal lunch with the catechists and elders of the community in order to discuss the future plans of our sister parish relationship.  I am always amazed by the women and how much work they have – all the time.  It’s crazy to think that most all of them harvest the crops, wash clothes by hand, care for the children, cook the food, clean the dishes in a basin of water, walk to town, prepare meals for all of us, wash our hands for us before and after each meal, bring us the food, remove the plates and bring them all the way back home.  The meetings, I should add, are all very prescribed and rhetoric is important to the people.  Each one will begin with a greeting from every person present, then the visitors (Shawn and I) may say something to the group (the whole time this is translated back and forth between English and Acoli).  To be honest, it feels like we are at a school board meeting everywhere we go. 🙂 Anyway, it takes a good amount of time to hear from all the people (mostly men, not surprisingly) but the people have good insights to offer us that will hopefully lead to the next tree that will bear fruit, so to speak.  The whole time I am sitting in the “guest of honor chair” I cannot help but notice the women who have served us who remain on the ground and slyly chat with one another.  My heart is truly down there with them and this proved to be true when after the meeting they grabbed me, hugged me, taught me some Acoli words, decidedly called me their American daughter in broken English, and asked for picture after picture.  These women are loving and open, they work hard at home and yet are interested in doing what is right for the community; they are composed and elegant; and while I know they too are also human, I want to be just like them.

School Visits

Shawn and I - the only muzungus in a sea of Ugandans!

So I decided today that I need to start getting involved with the schools here so that I can see what sort of projects we may be able to start here.  The plan for today was to stop in a few schools and set up some dates and times that I can come next week so that I can get a feel for the role that either PHS or Three Holy Women can play here (Shawn and I are also kicking around the idea of coming for the full summer next year and if that is the case I will more than likely teach in one of the schools).  So first we stopped at the Primary School in Madi Kiloc and headed straight to the head master’s office to introduce ourselves.  Unfortunately we walked right into a student disciplinary meeting with the parents, and the looks on their faces were truly no different than those of Pewaukee students facing a similar fate.  I was astounded at the hand written butcher paper of the school’s vision and mission, as well as the school enrollment.  Also, there were what we would call “public service announcement” posters about teen pregnancy, school drop-outs, and the danger of keeping students home to work instead of sending them to school.  These “normalcies” are fascinating to me because they seem to close to home and yet so different.

It is clear, however, that these children are dirt poor and we shortly learned this as we toured the schools.  The children are dirty, shoe-less, and yet so full of life.  Some of the challenges, according to the headmasters, include having enough text books, keeping students engaged in a science based class because there are no materials available for hands-on demonstrations, students not showing up, teachers not showing up, running out of monies, not having any English teachers available to even hire (so basically, they have gaps in the content areas and not a single person in what we would call the “application pool”), not having access to water, the cafeteria workers having to walk too far to get water to make the lunch thus causing the whole schedule to run late, not having materials for when the girls’ menstruate, not being able to discipline students and – literally – one head master’s solution, what they are funding next, is to put up a fence.  I was in complete shock.  Next week will be eye opening for me, but I am seeing that when the basics, in accordance with Maslow’s Triangle – shelter, food, water – are not met, it is nearly impossible to talk about real-world application of curriculum or setting high standards.  After a summer knee-deep in curriculum work and six years at Pewaukee School District, I am in utter disbelief at the despair of these school conditions.  But, I think I’m in Padibe for some odd reason, so we’ll see what becomes of my time with them next week.

Medical Clinic Ceremony

After the visits, Shawn and I delivered over $1,000 worth of medicine donated from a parish doctor at Three Holy Women and the monies from the PHS Coffee House for anti-malarial medicine for the children.  There was a wonderful reception that included a tour of the medical clinic (where the newest member of Padibe was named Alexander Shawn – the second in the village – at the maternity ward), but, again, the facilities are nothing like that of any American hospital or facility.  The Padibe parishioners were so grateful and even sang us a song of thanks and gratitude that they wrote themselves for all of the help that we are supplying.  They continually send love and thanks back to the people of America.  We got most of the ceremony on video so that we can show all of the people back home how much love and thanks lies within the people here.

That pretty much sums up the day today.  We will be experiencing the beginning of the long-awaited district music festival tomorrow and Saturday.  We cannot wait!