Hey Everyone!
“Oliyo Otya!!” (Hello)
I know I just wrote a couple days ago, but I had a few free minutes this afternoon, so I thought I would put up a quick update. Hopefully the power stays up long enough…The thunder is getting louder and I’m sure we’re going to get a downpour of rain here pretty soon…
Today was the first day of school for me. Considering I don’t speak Luganda, and the Kids don’t speak English, I think it went pretty good. The school has come such a long way from when they started it 2 years ago. It started with only poles for the structure. Then plastic bags and tarps were put up for walls. Over the course of some time, families within the village saved up and donated Metal/Tin Sheets for the Roof and boards to replace the plastic bags on the walls.

The teachers have had small handheld chalkboards to write lessons and teach the kids with, but yesterday we were able to make BIG Chalkboards made from Plywood and blackboard paint. Now all of the kids can see the board even when it is at the front of the classroom. We still need  Chalkboard erasers, but for now we are using rags and toilet paper.  :o)

The kids now have benches to sit on, and hopefully one day maybe we will save up to make some desks. I’m hoping to pick up some pencils in the morning on my way to school. There are 8 pencils in my class, but 5 of them are broken, so they are stubs and the pencil sharpener is broken so the kids are trying to push the wood of the pencil down far enough that the lead will be able to write. Only one of the pencils has an eraser, so they have to pass that pencil around and share the eraser between them. When it gets too hard to write in their book using their lap as a desk, they kneel on the floor and use the bench as a desk.

Only about 1/3 of the kids have shoes to wear, and many of their clothes are torn. Most of them have hard home lives, and “caining/beating” is a common occurrence in many homes. Those kids seem very nervous to make mistakes on their work because they are used to getting punished at home for mistakes that are made. Despite this, they are eager to learn and they love to laugh, sing and have fun. They are very smart and catch on to things quickly. Some of the kids yesterday were repeating every word that I said including my laugh! :o)

At the end of the school day, each group has to clean up their classroom and get it organized for the next day.

The village has no running water and no electricity. Global Hands of Hope raised enough money last year to drill a well down the hill from the school. It goes 80 meters down to ensure that the water is clear and safe to drink. It is such a blessing to this community to know that they won’t get sick from the drinking water. The only downfall is that because of finances, they have only been able to drill one well. Many of the kids live between ¼ of a mile – 2 miles away. After school, the kids go home, have lunch if food is available at home, they do their chores and then make the long journey back to fill up their jerrycans with water.

Ronnie and I went down to the well yesterday while 15 kids were there filling up their jerrycans. The small cans are 10 liters and the big jerrycans are 20 liters. The kids carry the 10 liter ones, and adults carry the 20 liter ones. The kids enjoyed watching the “Muzungu” pump the water…. Muzungu means white person. I was barely able to pump the water long enough to fill ONE can…The kids took pity on me and would not let me do the second one. Well, it was either pity, or I was slowing them down… maybe it was both :o) It is a lot of work, but if there are many kids at the same time, they take turns pumping the water to help even out the work load. Once the cans are filled, they have to carry them all the way home again. Ronnie carried mine up the hill, but I thought I would try to see if I could do it... I thought I would do really good and impress them by carrying it a long way… yeah, no… Those things are sooooooo heavy!!!!! I made it about 20 feet. Very humbling to say the least…  :o)

Global Hands of Hope is trying to stand up on behalf of the children to help them have a better and healthier childhood. For a child walking alone to the well, there are many things that could possibly happen during the 2 mile walk that noone would even be aware of. Global Hands of Hope is looking to get a project started that will help make the water more accesible to the community so that the kids are not spending so much time fetching water and being away from home.
Prayer requests:
Pray for continued safety for teachers, staff and children of Suubi Childrens Center. That God’s love will show through each teacher and pour onto the kids. That the kids can go home each night and their parents will see the change, love and happiness in their children enough that they become interested in finding out more about God.
Please continue praying for the language barrier that we have. The teachers are very friendly and I think we communicate pretty well so far. The kids are so ready and eager to learn, and I am trying to learn Luganda, but we would all really appreciate your prayers.
Well, Sorry this blog entry turned out a lot longer than planned, but hopefully it helps give you a little bit of an idea of life in Bukeka Village.

I hope and pray that you all have a very Wonderful Week! God Bless!!
Love, Alicia