Seeing Each Other As Equals

Today started later than the past few days. I got up around 7:00 this morning, and we left for MUBS and breakfast around 7:45. Breakfast this morning consisted of the usual toast and a donut. It was a plain donut, but the donuts here are more like a mix between donuts and croissants. It was actually pretty good, and it was nice to mix it up a little bit ;)

After a different breakfast, we went to a grocery store to pick up snacks for lunch today because we were suppose to meet the Chairman of the Board of MUBS for a late lunch early dinner. The grocery store was 2 stories and had an escalator that was just a moving ramp to the 2^nd floor, which was very convenient for shopping carts and people with strollers.

(The escalator and some of the grocery store.)

We quickly got our groceries, and we left for SURE, a school for disadvantaged children. This school has 302 students, and 100 of the students have some kind of special need or disability. They are working hard to make the community more aware of disabilities and that they are not bad. This organization works hard to give these kids a place to live and a primary education. They receive funds by having an inclusion program. There are 3 “normal” kids to every 1 “disabled” child. The 3 “normal” students pay, and the disabled children attend the school for free. This is because the students with disabilities are usually from poor areas and are unable to afford the tuition. The children there were absolutely precious, and it was extremely touching to see that the kids that were “normal” were able to see past all of the disabilities.

(This picture was drawn by a partially blind girl. It was absolutely phenomenal!)

SURE is working hard to inform Uganda that disabilities are not contagious because it is a common misconception in this area. They are also trying to inform the citizens of the advantages of employing people with disabilities. In Uganda, your company can receive a tax cut for employing a certain amount of disabled people. The school not only provides a nursery level education, similar to a preschool education, but also a primary level education. Like at City Secondary School, the kids are also taught numerous different skills that can help them in the future such as cooking and tailoring. This way if they are unable to continue through all of their secondary education or do not make it to university they still have skills that they can use the rest of life and make money from.

(She was one of the students, and she was absolutely adorable :)

The children there were absolutely ecstatic to see us, and they loved the candy we had to offer them. They also adored having their picture taken and then getting to see the picture afterwards. We realized today, they especially like seeing the picture after because many of them do not have mirrors to look into, so they don’t really know exactly what they look like. It’s amazing what we take for granted back in the United States. There are numerous ways for us to be able to check and see what we look like everyday.

(Gathering around Dr. Bishop for candy)

After SURE, we headed to the shores of Lake Victoria, where we enjoyed the snacks we had purchased at the grocery store earlier. We also took numerous pictures of ourselves in front of the largest lake in the world. It was absolutely beautiful, and it expanded for what felt like forever. It’s really hard to say exactly how far it went on for since we couldn’t see the other side of the lake.

(The girls I'm rooming with here)

Next it was off to the Chairman’s country home. In order to get there, we had to take what we later learned was called Drake Boulevard. Sadly, Drake Boulevard is in BAD shape. If you think some of the potholes in the states are bad, they are no where near the condition of some of the roads we have driven on. It was all clay, and of course the day had started out in rain, which definitely didn’t help the road conditions. We got stuck at one point, so a lot of us got off the bus and walked to the house to make it easier for the bus to travel up the road.

(Drake Boulevard, and the hole we attempted to pass through.)

The Chairman’s house was absolutely gorgeous. He had the biggest lawn I have seen yet, and he said he owned 5 acres. However, a majority of his 5 aces was farmland, which seems to be really typical in Uganda. They are trying to be self-sufficient by growing a lot of the food they use in day-to-day life. He said if he wanted to he could easily live off of his crops for a month without having to go into town. How many of you can say that? I know I can’t. His 2-story house had an amazing view of Lake Victoria, and I had to seriously consider if I actually wanted to go back to the US. (Mom, you said you’d be willing to travel to wherever I am, so I hope you mean it ;) The view from his 2nd story balcony was even better though. Once again, I wish my pictures captured the true beauty of seeing it in person. It was absolutely breath taking.

(Breath taking view of Lake Victoria. Not even close to the true beauty.)

(Definitely took advantage of the swings for a little relaxation.)

We had what ended up being a fairly normal supper (by eating at what would be considered a ‘normal’ supper time). Tonight supper consisted of rice, potatoes and chicken for me. I was extremely disappointed to discover they were out of chapatti by the time I got to the serving area. Chapatti is quickly becoming one of my favorite foods here, so I’m really excited that some of the MUBS students are coming to Red Chili tomorrow to teach us how to make it. They are also providing us with the recipe, so I plan on making it at home sometime too.

(Supper tonight)

After supper, we just spent the next few hours just enjoying the view and each other’s company. Toward the end of the visit, we played some childhood Ugandan games that the MUBS students taught us. They were a lot of fun.

The ride back down Drake Boulevard was definitely an interesting one. There was one point the bus was so far into a crevice in the road we all seriously questioned whether the bus was going to roll over. This all made us think back to a comment the Chairman had made earlier in the night. He told us that if he wanted to donate the money to fix the road he wouldn’t be allowed to because it’s the government that is in charge of infrastructure, and they fix roads when they have the time, also known as when they feel like it. Otherwise, the ride wasn’t real eventful. Now it’s back at Red Chili for the night and writing in journals.

We are down to one Internet modem (stick) for 4 cabins, so our cabin, which usually shares a Wi-Fi connection with another cabin, didn’t get Internet tonight. We have to write a blog daily, and one of the other cabins needed the Internet so one of their members could write their blog entry for the class. So once again, I apologize for the lateness of this. I promise I’m writing these daily, I just don’t get to post daily anymore.

Tomorrow we are going to a talk about Human Rights and then it’s off to visit the Buganda Parliament. Buganda is one of the districts in Uganda, so it is similar to a state in the United States.

So until I am able to get another post up, I leave you with this…

(I definitely look like a muzungu (white person), but they loved having their picture taken, and I couldn't say no.)