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Published: August 25th 2006
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The room
My humble abode. Actually it's bigger than my room back home...and it is all mine...first time in a while. Well it's been another two weeks in the village and not a whole lot has changed. Since the kids are out of school I mostly pass my time playing football with the boys, going to the well (it has not rained in some time), napping, working out using the jerrycans of sweety water, and finally, helping out with some of the construction that needs to be done. There is a lot that needs to be built and I would like to leave something solid and useful behind before I leave. Our first project is building a platform for one of the water containers using bricks and concrete. With any luck it should be done sometime before 2007. While I have noticed travelling through Africa and other parts of the world how much workers rest and how little gets done in a day, or a week, or a month, I am still in shock now that I am actually part of the process. Everything takes time, especially getting the materials and the equipment to do the work. Then when you actually have everything you need (or almost), you have to take time to play tetris, drink tea, walk around or do anything
Fr om the office
Looking out from the office. It is extremely dusty here so nothing is ever clean... but work. I just really need to rant about it because this platform should, or could be done in a day, maybe two. Or so I thought. Maybe that is why Uncle Ben laughed at me when I said we would have it done in a day. Furthermore, despite the fact that they seem to pay little regard to their health when it comes to drinking water and getting more than 5 hours of sleep each night, if you look like you are doing even a little bit too much work they will warn you to slow down, lest you get sick. To get used to it I have decided that it will be best if I do multiple projects at the same time: play football with the kids, help lay bricks and mix concrete, help in the kitchen, and read my book.
I also feel like we have almost got things back to the way they were. The kids are brushing their teeth again and are now wearing shoes or sandals all the time, thanks in part to a little competition between the girls and guys to see who could be healthiest. The girls thoroughly wooped the boys'
Lunch and Dinner
Lunch and Dinner...rice and cabbage and if you are lucky, a rock or two. If I never see rice again after this I will be a happy man. asses, and even after a pep talk (kind of like a father to son talk where the kid only understands about 1/4 of what you are saying), the boys, while doing better, are still losing horribly...even with cheating. Finally, the new volunteer Julie, has began to teach the kids Capoeira; my limited attempt at learning it was met with utter failure when I almost snapped my wrist. The one good thing though is that I think she can teach me how to walk on my hands and maybe how to do a back flip. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
I guess the other big thing (Jas mentioned in his blog about taking things for granted) is that we had a lot of firsts for the kids in the last two weeks. One of the girls came with me to the airport to pickup Julie and it was the first time she had seen an airplane, or a helicopter or many of the other various gimmics in the airport (e.g. elevator). I am also pretty sure it was one of the few times she has used a fork and knife to eat. She was very polite of course,
The project
A week later it is still not done. Maybe by the end of the weekend, but who knows. too much so, seeing as how for some reason I could not get her to stop walking behind me. Apparently kids can't walk beside adults or white people? Not sure but no matter what I tried she always ended up behind me somehow.
Lastly, after we took the kids to Mengo to get them tested for HIV ,we brought them to the grocery store (a first for many), and finally, and possibly a highlight for me of the trip, was introducing the kids to pizza! I don't know what kind of cruel world does not allow for some kids to have tried pizza before but I am pretty sure the UN or some NGO should make it one of their mandates to make sure that it does not happen. The good news is that a lot of the kids liked it...the bad news is that many did not. It was also pretty neat because we gave them all a slice and tehy just sat there unsure as to how to eat such a crazy looking food. In the end they ate all the toppings and then the crust...weird but I guess it worked.
P.S. there is some kind
On the road
Julie and I on our field trip with the kids... of flu going around the house now so all the kids are getting sick, Julie is sick, and I am patiently waiting my turn to get sick. It sucks....
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Tracy
non-member comment
hey Ryan
Hey there cuz, I was kind of laughing when you commented on how the kids ate their pizza cause it reminded me of the way Kevin eats his. People wonder what he means when he wants to take the "skin" off. He doesn't like cheese so you have to peel it off and then he'll eat it ( he'll try to search for any traces of vegetables and take them off too). It ends up looking like its undergone some sort of dissection when he's through. I'm sure kids never seeing let alone eating a pizza is just one of the amazing things you are finding out about them and their circumstances. I can't wait til your back home so you can tell us all about everything in person!! Take care of yourself! Trace