One Week of School!

     I can't believe it has been a week already. I teach Middle class which is about 30 4 and 5 year olds. The more time I spend at school the more I recognize how little they have to work with. There are two red pens that the teachers share to grade work and erasers can never be found. Lessons  and homework are written on the board and copied by the student before they complete them. 

     This week I taught the letters M and B along with accompanying words. We had English lessons on dangerous objects, farming, the classroom, and body parts. We also covered numbers 1-20 and some simple addition and subtraction. 

     The kids were hesitant at first but now respond loudly when I ask them to. It is great to walk into class and have them all rise and shout Hello Teacher. I have also taught them songs like One, Two Buckle my Schoe; There was a Great Big Moose; Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Grow Grow Banana; and the Hokie Pokie. 

     The kids love the camera and rush to me whenever I have it out. It has been so great getting to know their personalities and teaching them in class. I will try and post again soon! Enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend. 

Some of my students during break. From left: Nakitto, Natasha, Namegere, and Yiga. 

This is Makintu. He is in P2 and loves to dance.  

Jenna doing the Hokie Pokie with her class. 

Tisha and Gilbert. Tisha teaches me Luganda during break. 

After a morning math lesson we played Bingo and the kids loved it! Tumwebaze won the first round. 

This is Teacher Sarah and her daughter Abanyo (Cindy). She was teaching both Top
 and Middle class and I will be teaching Middle class while I am here. 

The kids love the camera.

Some of the teachers during break. 

My kids hamming it up for the camera. Yiga is the first one in the photo.
He is a big goofball and makes silly faces at me  constantly while I teach. 

This is Josephine. She is in baby class and loves being
 picked up and twirled around. 

This is Reianna from baby class. She is always full of energy and
 will grab your hands to dance and sing and won't let go. 

We played Hello Mr. Fox today and the kids had a lot of fun. 

Hello From Uganda!

These past two days have been amazing. After almost two days of traveling I arrived in Uganda! After coming to the volunteer house I met Tyler and Jenna, two volunteers my age from the US and Prossy our house mother.

Prossy on the right and her friend Lydia

 On Sunday, Derrick, the director of KACCAD, took my on a mini orientation and I saw Faith Orphange, Good Hope School, the health clinic, the pig and chicken farm and some of the water sanitation projects. It was amazing to see all thet KACCAD is doing in the community. Derrick seemed to know everyone and would stop the car to chat with many people.

There has been a slight change of plans and I will be teaching at Good Hope School and not working at the orphanage. Today was my first day at the school and it was a blast! I will be teaching middle class which consists of about 35 4 and 5 year olds. Jenna teaches the baby class of 45 3 and 4 year olds!

Jenna singing and dancing with the baby class 

The school is rudimentary and is basically one large room split into four sections. One for the baby class, one for middle and top class, one for P1 (8-9) and another for P2 (9-10). The school lacks many material things but the teachers are wonderful and work with what little they have. The children are so much fun and absolutely loved being photographed. I spent a half day at school today but will be working full days for the rest of my time here. I will also be spending some time teaching educational puclic health courses to the local women.

Some of the kids at school

Jenna and I went to market today to pick up some more drinking water. The market setting is always bustling and there is so much energy

This precious girl and her mother at the banana stand on the road to our house.

There are many little food stores on the road leading to our house.

 This afternoon some of Derrick and Prossy's friends came by to play soccer on the pitch across from the house. A crowd of school children gathered to watch and it was a blast. There is a computer in the house with internet so I will be able to post more often.

The view from our front porch and the soccer pitch.

Have an amazing day,

Rachael

Almost There!

It is still hard to believe that I will land in Uganda tomorrow! I could not be more excited or feel more blessed to have this wonderful opportunity.

I will be volunteering through A Broader View Volunteers with the Kyosiga Community Christian Association for Development (KACCAD) in Bulenga, Uganda. The KACCAD mission is to “To raise the standard of living of underprivileged people in Wakiso District through the provision of HIV/AIDS health and education support; vocational skills development; resources for income generation” and to empower vulnerable communities to become self sufficient by meeting the health, education and income needs of the community.

KACCAD operates a school and orphanage, a medical clinic, a water sanitation program, and pig and poultry farms. I will be volunteering at Faith Children’s home during my stay and I am looking forward to working a little bit in all aspects of KACCAD. For more information please read the attached file which explains all of the different avenues of outreach.

Thank you to everyone who generously donated supplies and money. I am bringing everything with me and I am sure it will make in impact.

So I invite you to join me on this journey! I will be living in a rural area and do not know yet how often I will have access to the Internet. I hope to update this blog about once a week and will update with more stories and experiences when I return home.

Children at the school in Bulenga. WACCAD currently sponsors 130 children. 

The children who live at Faith Children's Orphanage. The Faith Children's home and school serves 187 children.  

A Year With KACCAD