What Am I Doing Here? - Literally/Figuratively...You Take Your Pick :P

*Happy Halloween yesterday to everyone! Please only tell me about your costume if it was incredibly scary or evil because those are the only two options you should have picked from in the first place (favorite holiday so I mean business). *
Solar power is an incredible invention except during the rainy season in Uganda. No sun = No power. Therefore this time of the year, starting from August until October/November is usually quite dreary/wet. Still, the southwest usually gets much less rain than the northern part of the country. This can be good and bad at the same time. Yes – we do get power, but on the downside we have no water for drinking, bathing (not that this happens often), cleaning, etc. It is a tough choice between a basic necessity versus internet/movie watching. Mpola mpola (slowly, slowly) I am integrating into the community. I slept on a hill/mountain called Katanjovu (named after some cows who apparently died from falling off) near Sabina two nights ago with S, Ssh, and M (nice names I know). It would have been an amazing night except for the fact that it was freezing! In total I probably go about 49.7549432 minutes of sleep the whole night because my skirt, which I used as a blanket (I was wearing pants also…sickos…) was about as thin as a piece of paper. Smooth move on my part. Then yesterday, when I was at the peek of my game due to my lack of sleep, we had parents/family members visiting day at Sabina. After S, with great ease and grace said her goodbyes in Luganda, I fumbled through an introduction as to who I am and what I would be doing. This speech happened about 45 minutes after one of the Fathers from the parish preached to all of the parents about not using family planning because these methods can cause cancer (check – another issue to tackle). Additionally, since CoU works with orphans and vulnerable children, there were some children who did not have family at the school. Teachers, staff, and myself, tried to stay with these children throughout the afternoon when the families all brought there own lunches and sat together. As of now, I am teaching life skills to the P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6 students on Tuesdays. During some of these life skills lessons, I am incorporating a Saturday project along with it. As discussed in a previous blog of its rarity, there is no piped water here. No piped water means…no sinks…which means…no places to wash hands after pit latrine use. Therefore, two weekends ago on a lovely Saturday, a few kids and myself built tippy taps or hand washing stations, after our Tuesday germ and the importance of hand washing session. In addition to Tuesday teachings and Saturday projects, through suggestions, we have decided to start a girl empowerment club called Club GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), which is being modified from a previous peace corps curriculum. There are a lot of issues here in Ssanje, as well as all over Uganda related to young girls getting pregnant or have sex with sugar daddies (cross-generational sex) for monetary/material wealth. D and I had an incredible meeting with some of the teachers and staff at Sabina on Monday, where the club was surprisingly very much supported. Actually it was so well supported that J, one of the head teachers, gave me, the following day, the day we should meet (Thursdays) and a list of all of the girls who should be in the club (78). I am incredibly excited about this club but am a bit nervous about the size because I was definitely not expecting such a large group. Hey - when there’s a will, there’s a way. Currently there are three other coordinators, along with myself who are in charge of the club. I am in the process of contacting partner organizations for ideas, funding opportunities, and supplies. While girls are at great risk here, boys are not completely self-sufficient/perfect (by no means), especially OVCs who have often had particularly hard lives in the first place. While I myself am not going to start a boys empowerment club, I am going to highly encourage the male staff members to take charge and think about branching off of our girl empowerment club. Maybe they will call it Club BLOW (or not). One project at a time…
P.S. Sorry about the sporadic spurts of writing in this blog. I have been meaning to write for about 3 weeks now, but life got in the way. Also, those who have been leaving comments (Uwem – awesome and I hope to see you soon too) I love them and I love you and I love you even more for writing them, so keep it up.