Our second wave of volunteers has arrived, which puts us at a total of 18 people in the house. It's a bit tight, but luckily we all get along. Our volunteers are good hearted and hard working, so we've been able to get a lot of work done.
The Orphanage
Towards the end of May, our team visited Dan Wagidoso at the orphanage he founded, Community Child Development Orphanage. He explained a number of challenges they face at the orphanage, largely due to a lack of funding. He asked if there was some way we could help him to start an income generating activity that would help him fund the orphanage, even after we left.
After a lot of discussion and asking Dan what he felt would be most beneficial for his orphanage, we decided to help him to expand his garden. Dan already has a garden which he uses to produce income for the orphanage, as well as to feed the kids. But he expressed a desire to expand it so that he'd have more food for the kids, and even more income. He just didn't have the manpower to plant a new garden with 25 banana trees, 25 matoke trees, 500 coffee plants, and several rows of maize and beans. We loved this project idea because it tackled two issues in one project; it would provide more food for the kids, and more income for the orphanage. We got to work planting the garden, and now we're almost finished.
I gained a new respect for Ugandan farmers. Digging holes in the clay is hard work!
Dan also told us that the orphans learn about geography in school, but most of them had never seen a map of the world. When the teachers teach about different countries, they often have to try sketching the countries on a blackboard.
We solved this problem by painting a world map on one of the walls on the school. Since Dan is an artist, he drew the map himself, and we painted it.
The teachers and kids were stoked to have this new tool to learn about world geography!
Blood Drive
One thing I've never realized is how vital blood is for doctors to do their work. Women in labor lose a great deal of blood during child birth. Kids suffering from malaria often need blood transfusions. For doctors, blood is like a medication, and currently Ugandan doctors are facing a blood shortage.
We decided to partner with the local blood bank to put together a blood drive to help with this issue. It was a lot of work to organize this event, but we ended up having 101 donors come and donate a total of over 36 liters of blood. It's said that the blood from one donor can save three lives. Dr. Benjamin, the manager of the Blood Bank, told us that they have never seen that kind of turnout at the location where we held the drive.
We loved working with the staff at the Mbale Blood Bank to carry out this life saving event.
Immunizations
Immunizations are critical because they protect children from contracting horrible diseases like Polio, Hepatitis, and many others. The Ugandan government has recognized the importance of immunizations, and they have mandated that all children receive their immunizations before age five. If parents don't get this done, they can be taken to jail.
The problem is many parents live in remote areas and they have to travel great distances to the nearest health center to get the immunizations. This is very expensive for the parents, many can't afford it.
We decided to partner with a local clinic, Joy Hospice, to do immunization outreaches. So far, we've given over 100 immunizations, and we're just getting started.
Nutrition Outreach in Kyemula
After meeting with one of our partners, the Foundation for Development of Needy Communities, we identified a rural village, Kyemula, that was in great need. This village had a variety of health issues. We decided to do an outreach, but first we wanted to understand what would be most helpful for the people. So we created a health survey and went home to home, asking a variety of health-related questions, trying to pinpoint the biggest health challenges the people face. This is Amber Davis, one of our volunteers, asking questions to one of the locals.
After compiling our results, we realized that basic nutrition was a huge issue in this village. The people ate the same foods each day, foods that were carb heavy, but their meals were lacking in fruits and vegetables. We decided to do a multi-phase project where we would first give a workshop about nutrition, then we would return and help the people plant new crops into their gardens to help them diversify their diets.
The workshop went very well! We asked Milton the village leader to invite 40 people, and we had 39 in attendance. Mobilizing a community is very challenging, and we were very impressed with Milton's leadership and with his ability to gather his people. We went back the following week and planted four new crops, onions, cabbages, eggplants, and tomatoes into nursery beds. The villagers loved watching us dig and get dirty with them.
The people were very grateful for our visit, and even more grateful to add new crops to their gardens.
Village Savings and Loans in Kyemula
We were so impressed with Milton, and with the people in Kyemula, that we decided to start a Village and Savings and Loans groups there. The problem with people that live in these rural villages is they often don't have access to a bank. They struggle to save their money, and to take out loans to start businesses. We partnered with Pathways Development Initiative, a local Community Based Organization that helps villages, to set up the VSLA.
We had 30 people show up to our first meeting, the exact number that we wanted for the group.
They were anxious to start this new group. We purchased a large metal box, which would act as their mobile bank. The people meet each week, and bring 1000 Ugandan Shillings (about 40 cents) to deposit into the box. As the amount of money within the box begins to grow, the people can start taking out loans from the VSLA to start businesses. They pay the loan back with a certain interest level, and over time the value of the money within the box begins to grow.
The people will be meeting each Thursday to deposit money and take out loans. We will be meeting with them to make sure everything goes smoothly, and to teach them basic business and financial principles. We helped them to democratically choose a Chairperson, a Box Keeper, two Money Counters, and three Key Holders.
We are working on a number of other projects; girls empowerment, latrines, income generating activities, and many more!
Play Hard...
Rafting
We've been extremely busy, but we have tried to find time for fun. A few weeks ago we went as a team to the Nile River and went white water rafting. Class five rapids! Some of the biggest I've seen. We flipped a few times.
I learned quickly that the river was in charge. I tried swimming, but the Nile took me where it wanted. Luckily we had pro's that were able to gather us up and get us back into the raft.
Bungee Jumping
Bungee jumping has been on my bucket list for a long time, but it's always been too expensive for me to do in the U.S. We found a place to do it here for fairly cheap. Free falling 140 feet was an incredible experience.
Jumprope
While we were visiting a medical clinic, we had some extra time to wait for the taxi. So we pulled out the jump rope and played with the locals.
The people here get joy out of the most simple things. They have so little, yet they're so kind and fun. They're humble. I learn so much from them. Love them so much!
