Smile for the Camera!

Uganda is a tropical paradise in so many ways.  Green is everywhere.  Fruit is plentiful.  Heat is pervasive.  Life is relaxed.

For the Western visitor, it takes awhile to see past the poverty – the ramshackle slums, the trash, the congested roads - and enjoy the beauty that Uganda has to offer.  Each time we return, we find the beauty more quickly.  And the most beautiful thing about Uganda is the people.

Upon arriving in Uganda, we were greeted by Ms. Namatovu Catherine, the headmistress of Mwebaza School in Kyengera.  Her family, the Bukenya family, greeted us in typical African fashion with tea, groundnuts (peanuts), bananas, and hugs and smiles.  We have spent most of the last few days at the school started by Namatovu’s mother and father, the first partner school and namesake of the Mwebaza Foundation.

Our days here have been very busy.  It took much of a morning to distribute pen pal letters from Niwot Elementary students to their Mwebaza friends.  After helping students read and understand their letters, we assisted the students in composing responses.

  

We took photos of every Mwebaza child to attach to his or her pen pal response letter.  It was both a joy and a challenge to coax a smile from each child, many of whom are “culturally shy.”  It is an interesting paradox how the children here are so shy to speak, and yet, have no reservations about breaking into song and dance.  Meanwhile, American children can be reticent to sing or dance, yet are less reserved about talking.

Next, Dale led a lesson on dental hygiene, stressing the importance of visiting a dentist if one has tooth pain.  A student at Mwebaza School recently died of a toothache – an untreated tooth infection that spread to his brain.  Ms. Namatovu asked us to address dental hygiene to try to help prevent such a tragedy from occurring again at the school.  After children were reminded how to properly brush their teeth, each child was given a toothbrush donated by a Colorado dentist.

On Friday, we headed to Jinja to view the school van that was recently burned in a garage fire.  One of our top priorities over the next year will be to replace this van that not only transported Mwebaza students, but brought in income for the school when used as a taxi during off hours.  Losing this van has considerably damaged the school’s ability to be self-sufficient.  A part of our mission as a foundation is to promote self-sufficiency for our partner schools in ways that make sense to those we serve.  The school bus/taxi was the idea of our friends at Mwebaza School, and they have made it work to the benefit of the students and school community.

After viewing the van and eating lunch, we went on a hour-long excursion in a boat to view the source of the Nile and a bit of Lake Victoria.  There seems to be some disagreement whether the springs bubbling up from the edge of Lake Victoria are really the “source” since most of the water coming from the Nile comes from the lake.  But regardless, we loved our time on the water and seeing the fascinating bird life and the life of the local fishermen.

Early Saturday morning, we picked up former Niwot principal, Mike Keppler, former Mwebaza Foundation Board Member, Christa Keppler, and their daughters at the airport. We returned to Mwebaza School to celebrate with students, staff, and parents the graduation of the “top class!”