Juxtaposition...

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Juxtaposition...

Yesterday was a hard day. We started off at Krupa, a local store owned by an East Indian family - the Patels. The team has been doing busniness with them for years and years and they stock all the supplies and texts the school needs. We ended the transaction (which was in excess of 2 million Ugandan shillings - about $8,000) with a cup of their famous chai tea....worth the wait let me tell you!

When we got to the school we were able to catch the tail end of chapel. We pulled up to the sounds of the most beautiful singing and saw the kids dancing all together in the grass. Serious chills.... It was there that we learned that Margret (our P2 or grade two) teacher's eldest son has come down with Malaria. It seems 40-50% of the children at the school have contracted it...thank goodness there is a medical facility on site. Of course I use that term loosely...

After lunch we discovered that over 30 of the students, and all the staff, did not recieve any lunch. The school has run out of food and so no one, including the children who board there will eat. We were, of course, incensed and made a quick call to Canada pleading with our contact there to rectify the situation...all the while a few of teh teachers grabbed machetes and headed to the fields to dig and cut of Casava root.

We make a call all in a flap, they go dig up roots...who is teaching whom?

After school Meag and I did some PD in math and the team made peanut butter and banana sandwiches. To be honest, I'm not sure which was a greater hot...and I really don't care. They got fed, learned something new, and showed me what it really means to say "Teaching is not a job...it is a calling".

Today we visited the Congo market. It is set up right at the border between Uganda and the Congo. Our driver, who has been with us the whole time, made sure we were safe and not being charged too much as we bought are treasures. The locals don't see many "muzungus" and I got the feeling that a blonde one is QUITE the rarity. We drew a crowd to be sure, but everyone was so kind and sweet, it was a delightful morning.

Meag and I are now side by side in the business center within the hotel at Mweya, in Queen Elizabeth National park. We have just returned from a 2 hour water safari where were able to see elephants, crocodiles, hippos, water buffalo, lizards, a warthog, and a whole bunch of birds. To say it was breathtaking and amazing and consuming would be an understatement. It didn't hurt that we got (bites" (cookies and nibbly bits) and a beer too! :O)

We are heading home in a bit and my time is almost out. I promise to write more soon and post pictures once I get home. It is hard to write daily as internet is spotty but I will write in my journal and fill in the blanks when I can.

Love and miss you all....

A

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