My final week in Uganda was full of tying up the loose ends of various projects that were underway. I am proud and relieved to be able to say that everything I had wanted to accomplish I was able to achieve with the help and hard work of Namatovu Catherine, the headmistress at Mwebaza Primary School.
My last day at St. Paul I was pleased to see that the walls on the outside of the building had been plastered and the construction workers were now working on plastering the walls inside the building. This will take four more weeks to complete, then the glass for the windows and the switches to the lights can installed.
Also at St. Paul, we have installed five Enviroloo toilet systems that use zero water and turn all the solid waste into pathogen free compost that can sagely be used in the school gardens. By the time I left, everything for the bathroom system had been completed, the teachers had been trained on the maintenance of the system, and the bathrooms were ready to use!
Back at Mwebaza School, we spent two days writing pen pal letters for their friends at Niwot Elementary. The children light up when they receive their letters and recognize the familiar faces in the pictures that are stapled to the front of their of their letter. The school is split into two groups for letter writing. The older students write their letters first, then when they finish their letter, they partner with a younger student to help them write their personalized pen pal letter. It's a great way for everyone, even the nursery age students, to feel involved.
My very last day in Uganda I spent in Kampala at a lawyers office, purchasing a neighboring plot of land to our middle school site. That morning we had gone to the village of Nkungulutale where the new middle school building is being constructed. Upon my arrival, the roofing men were nailing on the last of the ridges for the roof. I was very happy to know that the roof would be complete by the time I left! In Nkungulutale, we gathered the "land dealer" (real estate agent) and the land owner of the plot we wanted to buy and headed to Kampala. It took us five hours to complete the land purchase, but in the end we were able to buy the land for 17 million shillings, or 6,000 USD. I had a whole backpack full of money that I passed along to the land owner after the purchase. I was quite surprised when he rolled up his pant legs and tried to fit all these bundles of cash in his socks. However, it couldn't all fit so he put the remaining 4 wads of cash into his pant pockets. I was told, "this is how Ugandan men carry their money." I'm just relieved the land owner returned from the village in time for us to make this land purchase official.
This has been a challenging yet very rewarding trip. I look forward to returning with a group of supporters and volunteers this summer to celebrate our accomplishments! Stay tuned :)
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| Outside plaster complete at St. Paul School |
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| Plastering in progress inside St. Paul School |
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| Enviroloo toilets complete! |
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| Nkungulutale roof complete! |
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| Nkungulutale roof complete! |
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| Pen pal letter delivery |
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| Students with their pen pal letters |
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| Pen pal letter delivery |
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| Pen pal letter delivery |
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| Students writing their pen pal letters |
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| Students writing their pen pal letters |
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| Students writing their pen pal letters |
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| Students writing their pen pal letters |
