I dont know whether I have a tan or if Im just covered in dust. I feel so dirty the little trickle of a cold shower does not fully clean me or my clothes... can I have a nice warm bath please..
I have been used as a climbing frame all day by the kids at the Good Will School. All the children which go there are poor and exploited, orphans and/or slum children.. all dusty faced with multiple cuts, sores and scars on their bodies.. dressed in rags. John, the head
teacher, found inspiration to start the school when he found a young boy walking the streets on his own. The only relative the young boy had left was his brother who was heavily into drugs and who beat him on a regular basis. John let the boy into his home and gradually began welcoming other orphans who had no where to go. This poor boy was too traumatized by his past though and ran away from Johns house several times, each time getting into more and more trouble on the streets. It was then when John realised there were so many children roaming the streets who are either being beaten at home, used for transporting drugs and/or prostitution or they have been ditched by their own family... normally because the dad moves on to the next woman and leaves the mum unable to cater for all the children... So John set up Good Will School as a place where these children could go to stay out of trouble, develop a faith, interact with others their age, have a healthier role model and learn skills for life.
However, as great as the principles and the people behind this school are, there is definately not enough teachers, classrooms, resources or money. The schools only income is from selling bead necklaces, which they make by rolling up paper into balls and varnishing them. I wanted to do some colouring with them today but they didnt have any paper or colouring pens AT ALL... all they had to entertain them was a deflated ball. Seriously I cant stress enough how little they had.
Not only do they have little resources but their structure, organisation and discipline was so poor. They are just coming to the end of exam period so instead of having structured lessons it was
just free time... aaaaaaaaaaaaall day! They were just left to make dens out of their benches and fight with eachother! We tried bringing in some fun and pulled out all the old playground games and songs.. luckily Dimi had brought a pad of paper so we showed them how to make paper spring cards which they loved.. although we were full on badgered by the crowd of kids wanting help. Sooo exhausting! Plus all the kids here are absolutely fascinated by white skin.. they come up to me and stroke my arms and my hair, pull the blonde hairs on my arms, flick my nails and rub my vainy hands haha! I noticed one girl, who was about 10, standing on the outskirts of the playground carrying a baby on her back...so I told her to go play and took baby from her and rocked her to sleep. Sitting back watching the children gave me a lot of time to think...
One thing which I have noticed not only about this school but also about Ugandan culture in general is that they are just soooooo laid back! Everything is done in their own time.. they have no urgency about them at all.. which I guess isnt always a bad thing but when there is so much which needs sorting in a school and the teachers are just sitting back reading the paper or when your well hungry and have to wait on average an hour and a half EVERY TIME you order food it gets pretty frustrating.
The problem is alot of the people have lost hope or belief in their own ability or potential. I think as great as charity work is, what they really need is for people to teach them a trade, organisation and time keeping skills which they can use when all the charity workers go back to our cushty lives. The amount of children I have seen walking the roads trying to sell random things.. like deck chairs!!.. which they have stolen.. or children with really good english who come out with a big story about how they have no family and have been raised by animals and beg for money... they need to learn a trade so they can earn their own money and grow in self confidence.
Im so physically and emotionally exhausted today.. I slept through last night but it didnt seem to be enough.. I think its all catching up with me.. when I took time out of the busyness it suddenly hit me how little these people have and how much I have... and just how much needs to be done here and what a huge project it is.. which needs so many more people, time and money.
Guess all we can do is take a step at a time...
Love to you all xxxx
I have been used as a climbing frame all day by the kids at the Good Will School. All the children which go there are poor and exploited, orphans and/or slum children.. all dusty faced with multiple cuts, sores and scars on their bodies.. dressed in rags. John, the head
teacher, found inspiration to start the school when he found a young boy walking the streets on his own. The only relative the young boy had left was his brother who was heavily into drugs and who beat him on a regular basis. John let the boy into his home and gradually began welcoming other orphans who had no where to go. This poor boy was too traumatized by his past though and ran away from Johns house several times, each time getting into more and more trouble on the streets. It was then when John realised there were so many children roaming the streets who are either being beaten at home, used for transporting drugs and/or prostitution or they have been ditched by their own family... normally because the dad moves on to the next woman and leaves the mum unable to cater for all the children... So John set up Good Will School as a place where these children could go to stay out of trouble, develop a faith, interact with others their age, have a healthier role model and learn skills for life.
However, as great as the principles and the people behind this school are, there is definately not enough teachers, classrooms, resources or money. The schools only income is from selling bead necklaces, which they make by rolling up paper into balls and varnishing them. I wanted to do some colouring with them today but they didnt have any paper or colouring pens AT ALL... all they had to entertain them was a deflated ball. Seriously I cant stress enough how little they had.Not only do they have little resources but their structure, organisation and discipline was so poor. They are just coming to the end of exam period so instead of having structured lessons it was
just free time... aaaaaaaaaaaaall day! They were just left to make dens out of their benches and fight with eachother! We tried bringing in some fun and pulled out all the old playground games and songs.. luckily Dimi had brought a pad of paper so we showed them how to make paper spring cards which they loved.. although we were full on badgered by the crowd of kids wanting help. Sooo exhausting! Plus all the kids here are absolutely fascinated by white skin.. they come up to me and stroke my arms and my hair, pull the blonde hairs on my arms, flick my nails and rub my vainy hands haha! I noticed one girl, who was about 10, standing on the outskirts of the playground carrying a baby on her back...so I told her to go play and took baby from her and rocked her to sleep. Sitting back watching the children gave me a lot of time to think...
One thing which I have noticed not only about this school but also about Ugandan culture in general is that they are just soooooo laid back! Everything is done in their own time.. they have no urgency about them at all.. which I guess isnt always a bad thing but when there is so much which needs sorting in a school and the teachers are just sitting back reading the paper or when your well hungry and have to wait on average an hour and a half EVERY TIME you order food it gets pretty frustrating.The problem is alot of the people have lost hope or belief in their own ability or potential. I think as great as charity work is, what they really need is for people to teach them a trade, organisation and time keeping skills which they can use when all the charity workers go back to our cushty lives. The amount of children I have seen walking the roads trying to sell random things.. like deck chairs!!.. which they have stolen.. or children with really good english who come out with a big story about how they have no family and have been raised by animals and beg for money... they need to learn a trade so they can earn their own money and grow in self confidence.
Im so physically and emotionally exhausted today.. I slept through last night but it didnt seem to be enough.. I think its all catching up with me.. when I took time out of the busyness it suddenly hit me how little these people have and how much I have... and just how much needs to be done here and what a huge project it is.. which needs so many more people, time and money.
Guess all we can do is take a step at a time...
Love to you all xxxx
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