Most Ugandans don't know how to swim...

The last week in Masindi….

This week I spent a day in the field by myself while Jessica stayed at the school because she wasn’t really feeling that well and walking around in the scorching heat for sure can take a lot out of you. We started the day on Thursday by having about 14 families come and meet us at the school first because we didn’t have enough time to go to all of their houses and interview them there. Its harder to get an idea of what their situations really are like, though, when they come in a large group and we interview them. Firstly, we can’t see their living conditions-house, fields, etc., and secondly they are much less likely to answer any questions you have for them when there are 13 other families sitting there listening. It is already very difficult to persuade the families to be open and honest-not the culture here- about what their situations are really like. For example, the hardest question for them to answer is “how many meals a day are you able to provide these children with?”, however if we don’t know how many times a day and how much the children are eating, its hard to assess their needs and their health.

Then I left with the director from the school and went and visited about 17 homes from 11 to 5. This particular day I saw some of the most needy homes and families I have seen yet. Another one of the questions I ask is what their orphan status is- 1 or 0 parents- and the amount of times I heard either 0 parents or abandoned by one or both parents was heartbreaking. These children’s eyes just loose their joy when their guardians answer that question. There were several families that stood out to me that day as well, including one boy who’s father left when his mother was pregnant, and then his mother ‘got tired’ and dropped him off at his aunt’s house and left. Another family was a man who had 4 children and his wife abandoned them, but he’s partially blind and has no job, so he’s struggling to feed the children and pay for their school fees.

After the field, ending with lunch at someone’s house, naturally, I went back to the school to collect Jessica and go to town. We were supposed to be meeting another friend there- Vickie- and she was going to show us around some other parts of Masindi. This, however did not end up happening. Unfortunately, Vickie was in an accident on her motorcycle and was hurt fairly badly. Thankfully both her and her colleague are doing better now, but the injuries are pretty bad. Jessica and I ended up spending the evening in town running some errands, having dinner and visiting momma Christine.

On Friday we got to spend the day at school with our kids. J They are officially done classes and spent the day at the school playing with us and waiting for their reports. Jessica and I were able to bring 2 soccer balls to school with us that were sent to us from my parents, and the kids burst out into celebration. We got a massive game going and played for hours, until the rain made us stop and then picked it up again after the rain had stopped. They were so excited to finally have some ‘footballs’ to play with, and they are so good at it. Jessica and I played, but we were defiantly not the stars of the game.

Friday was also our goodbye/thank you celebration dinner with the people who have been very influential in making our stay here wonderful. We had some trouble getting the tax that we had rented to come on time, but we’re getting very used to that. After we finally got everyone picked up and were on our way, we went to Kinyara Compound-where Vickie lives- and where we had reservations for our party. There we enjoyed spending some time together, playing pool, swimming (well; the boys attempting to swim, like i said, most Ugandans don't know how to swim), dancing and eating and taking ‘snaps’ of course. It was so nice to be able to spend some time altogether and to be able to thank our friends for all they have done for us in the last 2 months.

Today- Saturday- has been our down day; the first one in a very long time, and it was very much needed. We got home very late last night and crashed, but were awake at 7 in the morning to say goodbye to Brian, who left for Kampala today to start school on Monday.