The sunsets here are to die for |
I have been at Hope North
for almost three weeks now, and I am pretty accustomed to my life here. It is
somewhat isolated, but if I am looking for noise all I have to do is look
outside the curtain of our hut. The first morning after we arrived, I was sitting
in our common area and all the sudden I could hear something banging, rather
loudly I might add, on our door. I was terrified. Come to find out the three
goats that roam around campus (including a baby goat, or kid to be more
appropriately correct, which is the cutest thing you've ever seen) were
responsible. Apparently this activity of banging against doors is one of their
favorite past times. Around five o'clock in the afternoon you can hear the
students of Hope North playing futbol or dancing and singing in Acholi (the
main language spoken at Hope North and in the surrounding community). I have
been told that Acholi is the easiest language to learn and that if I try hard
enough I could learn it in two months. I was not so convinced seeing as it has taken
me about ten years to become somewhat proficient in Spanish. Also, let me
tell you that the dancing and music here is pretty legit and very beautiful.
The girls have tried to get me to learn, but I am willing to let them look good
doing it without me (HA).
The front gate which has since been repainted |
The hand washing stations are a very important piece
of this project for a number of reasons. I am about to get pretty real with y’all
so if you are not in the mood to hear about the conditions at Hope North, I
suggest you skip over this paragraph. There are six latrines here for 300
students; three for the girls and three for the boys. When I say latrines I
mean a hut with two partitions between three holes in the ground. No toilet paper,
no satisfying flushing sound at the end of doing your business. Moreover, there
is no medium for the students to clean themselves with after using the restroom
so they use their hands. There have been several cases of typhoid here and
this is most likely the main reason and why it is so important that hand
washing stations be installed. Two of my travel companions and me have been working
on developing a hands free system in order to prevent more germs from
spreading. I am rather excited and hopeful about this project.
Apart from that, the students of Hope North are
incredibly happy individuals. About two weeks ago we were able to sit in on the
prefect campaigns. This is kind of the equivalent to student council in
American high schools or if you have ever read Harry Potter you have some idea.
After witnessing the elected students come up and give their speeches with an entourage
that was putting glasses on them and wiping the sweat off their brows, I knew
that high school is pretty much the same around the world. It reminded me of
being at a Hot Springs High School pep rally.
We have managed to travel off campus and explore
the surrounding area. About two weekends ago we walked nearly two hours to the
nearby town of Bweyale to see what it was all about. Somehow though, we ended
up pushing the Hope North tricycle down the main street in Bweyale so that a
different mechanic could repair it. If Bweyale has a newspaper I am sure that
the next day’s headlines would read “Muzngus Push Bike through Main Street”
(Muzungu is the word for white person in case you were curious). We were quite the spectacle, and even though
it was strange to be laughed at by a bunch of people, I am glad that I could
put a smile on their faces. Okello Sam was also nice enough to take us on a
trip to Gulu which is about two and a half hours away from here. We had the
best time and are very excited to return.
Dani and Bolton modeling our mouse traps |
I hope to be posting more often now that we have
wifi. Previously I was using a thing that I like to call an internet stick. It
is very slow so I could really only check my email while I was using it. Ericsson,
a Swedish technology company, came last week and fixed the wifi and installed a
number of new systems in preparation for the arrival of Forest Whitaker. Forest
travels to different organizations to manage workshops that encourage peace
building. Ericsson works in conjunction with his foundation, the Whitaker Peace
and Development Foundation. It was an awesome experience to meet Forest
Whitaker. He is very tall and has the most joyful smile you have ever seen.
I have about five weeks left in Uganda which is
insane to me. Time has flown by since I’ve been here. Hopefully I will be able
to post more about my experience. Thanks for reading, friends!
Thank you so much for having time to share. Sounds awesome experience.
ReplyDeleteBarbara Spindler
I very much like Your Favorite Tree in All the Land. It reminds me of where Rafiki lived. LOVE YOU.
ReplyDelete