"JAMBO"
We arrived safely in Uganda on June 2, kind of a
scary ride though through the capital city of Kampala!! It took 3 hours
to drive 80km because of all the traffic and people!! Maddy was an excellent driver although I
found myself praying the entire trip. We spotted many motorcycles carrying not
one, not two but sometimes three passengers.
Whole families on a bike with no helmuts, are Canadians over cautious or
are they just crazy here? Tianna wasn’t
feeling well today and did not eat anything, we met a couple on the plane who
were flying to Kenya so she could get
treatment at the hospital for malaria. 
Of course we worried about what Tianna might have so medical staff
checked her out in the Kenya airport but he concluded that it was likely
de-hydration and gave us some bad tasting electrolytes for her to drink. We think what made her sick initially was the
juice she drank on the bus (food poisoning?) from Blantyre to Lilongwe the
night before. So very happy she was back
to her normal healthy self the next day.
The first morning we attended another African
church service, Protestant this time, but no translation so we’re not sure what
we learned:-). The most rustic church
we’ve been in thus far, very simple but lovely just the same. It was funny to hear a cell phone ring and see an African woman with a baby feeding from her breast jump up and run out to answer it. As primitive it is here there are still some modern day conveniences. The remainder of Sunday was spent getting to know the family and we even played a bit of soccer at the school with two of the local boys teams, JC was the ref because the kids wouldn't let him play, and I attempted to show my soccer skills for a while before realizing how so far out of my league I was. They of course are in bare feet and can kick the ball harder and further than I ever could in runners! Tianna & I played with a bunch of kids on the sidelines instead. They especially liked “go, go, stop”. The kids here are so resourceful as we noticed them taking turns and having so much fun being pulled in a hollowed out plastic water container with a string attached. It looked like a mini-toboggan. Living with Moses is his family, wife Florence, kids Issac, David, Lydia, John, Winnifred(Winnie), and Daniel. It feels like camping for us but is a typical African way of life.
Father's & Son's
Moses showing us his Jackfruit tree
Our rooms are nice, built of cement with a tin roof and we have mosquito nets over the beds.
Tianna learned how to crochet (the first stitch) from Maria who is a lady from the Czech Republic in Jinja as a volunteer teaching a bunch of local girls & moms how to crochet hats, cell phone bags, and school bags, to sell in order to earn some money and help support their families.
The bird sounds, especially in the morning, are amazing. Although one bird definitely sounds like it is laughing at us!
The soil is a rich red color and is very fertile, surrounding us are mango, jackfruit, passion fruit, maize, beans, and potatoes. We think they could grow anything here. The scenery is stunning with its lush green vegetation next to the colourful soil and blue skies. There are lot’s of mosquitoes, mostly next to the flush toilets and shower stalls but they are tiny by Canadian standards and do not make a sound which is strange. What we find very interesting is how late the family eats and goes to bed, even the kids. They will typically have their dinner at about 10:00pm and then go to bed at midnight, get up before 6:00 am the next morning to do chores before going to school!!!! Although they have been very accommodating for our lazy family who eats at 6 or 7 and is in bed by 9:00pm at the latest.
Moses’ wife Florence is a gourmet cook creating meals in her small round thatched roof hut with a fire inside. I seriously do not know how she does it, feeding this many people, with a smile on her face.
Her flexibility is unbelievable as she can stand with her legs straight, bent at the waist and will do all sorts of chores on the ground in front of her. My back hurts just watching her! Winnie can do this as well, like mother like daughter.
Of course Florence has help, all 6 kids do their jobs, it appears, without being told and with no whining, complaining or fighting…..how can it be?
The two older boys especially are always working…either doing dishes, thrashing or picking beans, chopping food, washing clothes, pretty much anything that needs to be done. I hope my kids are taking notice!!
Mose's children John, Winnie and Daniel. John is the Headboy of the school.
First day of school on Monday…..an assembly with all the kids, we’ve never had so many pairs of dark eyes staring at us. I attended P4 class with Tianna where we learned about nutrition and math. It was interesting though that when the teacher taught the class about the food groups dairy was not mentioned as one of the recommended. I am guessing that this is likely because there is little to no electricity here which means no refrigeration, therefore not a lot of dairy is consumed. Even where we are staying they do not have or use dairy but we purchased yogurt and milk for our cereal in the morning.
Pouring from cup to cup is how you cool boiling hot porridge!
Other snacks enjoyed in the staff room are samosa’s filled with beans, pancakes (not our favourite as they are quite different from home), and flat bread…yummy! Oh and tea of course!
Winnie and Tianna working together
This is the world's biggest avocado!
Daily gifts to our family from the students are mangoes, avocados, & passion fruit. Teaching english has been so rewarding as the students are so eager to learn and appreciative of us being here. We LOVE the African people, so loving and kind, hard-working, never complain about anything even though the living conditions are quite harsh. It is peaceful though and in the 12 days I can count on one hand the number of cars we saw in the village.
On the way back we stopped by a Resort to go swimming and have a hot shower! JC taught an impromptu swimming lesson class for all the kids in the pool that couldn’t swim including Winnie & Daniel.
On Monday I helped the Head Mistress Robina create her very first excel spreadsheet.
It was a staff list and I showed her all the benefits of using excel for compiling data. She seemed pleased and excited. Our last day of teaching classes was so sad, we had all these kids give us letters they had written asking us to stay, thanking us for teaching them, sad that we are leaving but blessing our journey and saying good-bye and wishing we didn't have to leave. 
We really bonded with some of the students and leaving will be hard. All week long we had students sneak into our class even though we covered the same words with them already. I loved hearing that some of the girls want to be doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers and even one said a pilot!! We encouraged them to work hard in school so all their dreams will come true. I will pray for each and every one of them and will cherish our letters forever.
Every school yard should have cow's grazing outside the classrooms!!
Every day these students would rush to the 'window' to shake our hands and say hello as we walked by!!!
Learning the local way.....it's a lot harder than they make it look!
Just a small sample of some of the messages the students wrote to us on our last day of teaching......
We visited the school one last time for a final good-bye to all our P6 phonic students presenting each one of them and all the teachers with a Salvation Bracelet to remember us by and more importantly to always rely on Jesus.
THANK YOU Moses & Florence for teaching us so much.
Maddy allowed JC to drive us to the airport from Jinja to Kampala and he was doing really well even with all the traffic and crazy drivers when all of a sudden heading straight for us were several vehicles driving in the middle of the road. JC quickly swerved out of the way but almost hit a parked car on the side of the road to avoid a head on with………The Uganda President and his convoy!! This is how the big wigs are driven around with no regard to other vehicles on the road.
During the time we spent with Maddy we got to know him very well and he now has a goal to come to Canada by 2015 to see us!! We will pray his dream becomes a reality as we look forward to teaching him how to drive in the snow!!
Of course we worried about what Tianna might have so medical staff
checked her out in the Kenya airport but he concluded that it was likely
de-hydration and gave us some bad tasting electrolytes for her to drink. We think what made her sick initially was the
juice she drank on the bus (food poisoning?) from Blantyre to Lilongwe the
night before. So very happy she was back
to her normal healthy self the next day. 
We are staying in a remote village with Moses
Owino, the assistant head master/math teacher of Kyabirwa Primary School which
his home is next to. The school has 1200
students, 17 teachers and up to 100 kids per class in very small class rooms!!!!
There are 3 languages spoken in this area, Lougander, Lusoga, and Swahili.
The first morning we attended another African
church service, Protestant this time, but no translation so we’re not sure what
we learned:-). The most rustic church
we’ve been in thus far, very simple but lovely just the same. It was funny to hear a cell phone ring and see an African woman with a baby feeding from her breast jump up and run out to answer it. As primitive it is here there are still some modern day conveniences. The remainder of Sunday was spent getting to know the family and we even played a bit of soccer at the school with two of the local boys teams, JC was the ref because the kids wouldn't let him play, and I attempted to show my soccer skills for a while before realizing how so far out of my league I was. They of course are in bare feet and can kick the ball harder and further than I ever could in runners! Tianna & I played with a bunch of kids on the sidelines instead. They especially liked “go, go, stop”. The kids here are so resourceful as we noticed them taking turns and having so much fun being pulled in a hollowed out plastic water container with a string attached. It looked like a mini-toboggan. Living with Moses is his family, wife Florence, kids Issac, David, Lydia, John, Winnifred(Winnie), and Daniel. It feels like camping for us but is a typical African way of life. 
Father's & Son's
our neighbours 
Moses showing us his Jackfruit tree
JC & I harvesting Beans!
and washing dishes
The cooking is(not by us) done over a fire in a mud hut with a grass-thatch roof, dishes washed outside in a bucket, there are animals running around everywhere, oh and cold showers! At least there are showers and flush toilets and most of the time we have electricity. 
Our rooms are nice, built of cement with a tin roof and we have mosquito nets over the beds.
Tianna learned how to crochet (the first stitch) from Maria who is a lady from the Czech Republic in Jinja as a volunteer teaching a bunch of local girls & moms how to crochet hats, cell phone bags, and school bags, to sell in order to earn some money and help support their families.
The bird sounds, especially in the morning, are amazing. Although one bird definitely sounds like it is laughing at us!
The soil is a rich red color and is very fertile, surrounding us are mango, jackfruit, passion fruit, maize, beans, and potatoes. We think they could grow anything here. The scenery is stunning with its lush green vegetation next to the colourful soil and blue skies. There are lot’s of mosquitoes, mostly next to the flush toilets and shower stalls but they are tiny by Canadian standards and do not make a sound which is strange. What we find very interesting is how late the family eats and goes to bed, even the kids. They will typically have their dinner at about 10:00pm and then go to bed at midnight, get up before 6:00 am the next morning to do chores before going to school!!!! Although they have been very accommodating for our lazy family who eats at 6 or 7 and is in bed by 9:00pm at the latest.
Moses’ wife Florence is a gourmet cook creating meals in her small round thatched roof hut with a fire inside. I seriously do not know how she does it, feeding this many people, with a smile on her face.
Her flexibility is unbelievable as she can stand with her legs straight, bent at the waist and will do all sorts of chores on the ground in front of her. My back hurts just watching her! Winnie can do this as well, like mother like daughter.
Of course Florence has help, all 6 kids do their jobs, it appears, without being told and with no whining, complaining or fighting…..how can it be?
The two older boys especially are always working…either doing dishes, thrashing or picking beans, chopping food, washing clothes, pretty much anything that needs to be done. I hope my kids are taking notice!!
Lydia helps her mother with the cooking
First day of school on Monday…..an assembly with all the kids, we’ve never had so many pairs of dark eyes staring at us. I attended P4 class with Tianna where we learned about nutrition and math. It was interesting though that when the teacher taught the class about the food groups dairy was not mentioned as one of the recommended. I am guessing that this is likely because there is little to no electricity here which means no refrigeration, therefore not a lot of dairy is consumed. Even where we are staying they do not have or use dairy but we purchased yogurt and milk for our cereal in the morning.
JC receives his 3rd haircut from Maddy
(on average JC has paid $1.50/cut)
Music lessons with Landon
This is the School Library for 1000+ students!
The rest of the week JC taught PE and math class and I was in charge of teaching phonics to the P6’s (grade 6). There are over 100 in a class so we took them 20-30 at a time repeating the lesson for each group. We taught th,sh,oo,ch,ir,ea,ay,ow,er,ay, ee, 88 words in total. 
Sometimes I would teach alone, or Landon & I, and lot’s of classes with Tianna & I together. 
Landon also taught classes with 100 students by himself to kids his own age. Teaching them grammar, verbs, nouns, & adjectives.
He and Tianna make great teachers and even the students would show their appreciation by writing on the black board “Tianna is a good teacher” or “I wish Landon a nice day”. We also marked homework to help out Moses. Every day at the school I saw something I’ve never seen before, 
imagine coming to school with sticks in hand, firewood for the fire that cooks the porridge in these HUGE pots!
Another day students brought hand-made brooms constructed from tree branches with lot’s of leaves and once at school these students would sweep the ground, walkway around the school, in the classrooms, everywhere. In fact everyday you see the students cleaning, sweeping, or picking up garbage before the school day begins. No janitors here. The other noticeable difference is the respect they show for their teachers. If a student approaches a teacher with something in his/her hand they will drop to their knees before giving it to them. 
Everyday at 10:30 the whole school takes a break and has porridge, which is compliments of one of the previous volunteers who continues to support the school's feeding project.
Sometimes I would teach alone, or Landon & I, and lot’s of classes with Tianna & I together. 
Landon also taught classes with 100 students by himself to kids his own age. Teaching them grammar, verbs, nouns, & adjectives.
He and Tianna make great teachers and even the students would show their appreciation by writing on the black board “Tianna is a good teacher” or “I wish Landon a nice day”. We also marked homework to help out Moses. Every day at the school I saw something I’ve never seen before, 
imagine coming to school with sticks in hand, firewood for the fire that cooks the porridge in these HUGE pots!
Another day students brought hand-made brooms constructed from tree branches with lot’s of leaves and once at school these students would sweep the ground, walkway around the school, in the classrooms, everywhere. In fact everyday you see the students cleaning, sweeping, or picking up garbage before the school day begins. No janitors here. The other noticeable difference is the respect they show for their teachers. If a student approaches a teacher with something in his/her hand they will drop to their knees before giving it to them. 
Everyday at 10:30 the whole school takes a break and has porridge, which is compliments of one of the previous volunteers who continues to support the school's feeding project.
Pouring from cup to cup is how you cool boiling hot porridge!
When it rains it pours, turning the red dirt into a slippery clay. The first time we attempted to walk with our shoes on but quickly learnt that there is a reason everyone walks around barefooted!!
After school fun and just trying to fit in with the locals!!
Winnie and Tianna working together
Daily gifts to our family from the students are mangoes, avocados, & passion fruit. Teaching english has been so rewarding as the students are so eager to learn and appreciative of us being here. We LOVE the African people, so loving and kind, hard-working, never complain about anything even though the living conditions are quite harsh. It is peaceful though and in the 12 days I can count on one hand the number of cars we saw in the village.
Each day after school we shared the Salvation Story and made bracelets with a classroom of kids except for Friday since we got rain delayed at home after lunch! Landon went to teach the afternoon phonics class and waited out the storm at school.
Not far from the school and our residence is the Nile River. 
Led by Daniel, 7 years old, and Winnie we made our way through fields on paths and past mud hut homes, greeting local people along the way until we reached the bank of the river.
This is where the Nile River begins and flows all the way to Egypt!! Very cool.
Led by Daniel, 7 years old, and Winnie we made our way through fields on paths and past mud hut homes, greeting local people along the way until we reached the bank of the river. 
This is where the Nile River begins and flows all the way to Egypt!! Very cool.
On Saturday Maddy picked up our family for an outing. There was an intense storm the night before with thunder, lightning and hard rain which left the ground a giant mudbath. It took a bit of time getting out of the village though as Maddy’s car got stuck in mud, just like snow except worse since the mud builds up on the tires several inches thick. After some pushing by several people including our kids, and my driving, we got out but then ran out of gas!! All part of the adventure of being in Africa. Soon we were on our way and drove to the Nile River for White Water Rafting however, when we got there realized I had read their sign incorrectly and the cost was way out of our budget. 
But, thankfully we were able to go quading instead which was so fun, even though it rained really hard which made the ground super slick, and Tianna & I crashed. I just finished telling her how great she was doing (driving) when suddenly she lost control and we hit a tree and the quad rolled with us underneath it. Remarkably we were unhurt other than a big bruise on my butt and shoulder!! It could have been so much worse and we thank God for protecting us. The rest of our group were thrilled especially Landon who lives for quadding and Maddy, our driver, who had never been before. It felt strange though riding on the paths in front of people’s huts/homes and farms, like we were intruding but all the locals were so friendly waving and running to greet us. I enquired about the disturbance of all the quads and the noise they create but apparently it’s okay and the villagers are being compensated in some way. Even though, I still felt guilty about being a Muzungu riding a quad while they were working hard in their fields or carrying water, wood, food etc. on top of their heads.
But, thankfully we were able to go quading instead which was so fun, even though it rained really hard which made the ground super slick, and Tianna & I crashed. I just finished telling her how great she was doing (driving) when suddenly she lost control and we hit a tree and the quad rolled with us underneath it. Remarkably we were unhurt other than a big bruise on my butt and shoulder!! It could have been so much worse and we thank God for protecting us. The rest of our group were thrilled especially Landon who lives for quadding and Maddy, our driver, who had never been before. It felt strange though riding on the paths in front of people’s huts/homes and farms, like we were intruding but all the locals were so friendly waving and running to greet us. I enquired about the disturbance of all the quads and the noise they create but apparently it’s okay and the villagers are being compensated in some way. Even though, I still felt guilty about being a Muzungu riding a quad while they were working hard in their fields or carrying water, wood, food etc. on top of their heads.
This is the reason everyone walks around barefooted!!!
Shopping in town of Jinja to buy feminine products for girls at the school
A Soccer Ball some boys made with plastic bags!!
Sunday was another day of fun. Landon decided to take John, Moses’s son, quading. He had never been before and Landon exercising his independence paid for both of them. The rest of my family, Maria, Winnie and Daniel rode with Maddy to Jinja and to the Source of the Nile. 
Maddy & Tianna and Maria with the kids at the Gandhi Memorial site
We bought lunch to take on the boat and had a guided cruise on River Nile
where it meets Lake Victoria. 
where it meets Lake Victoria. 
JC pointing to Mile Zero
Daniel and Tianna had written notes and placed them in two plastic water bottles which were then thrown into the River Nile hoping it will make it all the way to Egypt!!
On the way back we stopped by a Resort to go swimming and have a hot shower! JC taught an impromptu swimming lesson class for all the kids in the pool that couldn’t swim including Winnie & Daniel.
On Monday I helped the Head Mistress Robina create her very first excel spreadsheet.
It was a staff list and I showed her all the benefits of using excel for compiling data. She seemed pleased and excited. Our last day of teaching classes was so sad, we had all these kids give us letters they had written asking us to stay, thanking us for teaching them, sad that we are leaving but blessing our journey and saying good-bye and wishing we didn't have to leave. 
We really bonded with some of the students and leaving will be hard. All week long we had students sneak into our class even though we covered the same words with them already. I loved hearing that some of the girls want to be doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers and even one said a pilot!! We encouraged them to work hard in school so all their dreams will come true. I will pray for each and every one of them and will cherish our letters forever.
Every school yard should have cow's grazing outside the classrooms!!
JC interested in becoming a Boda Boda driver
Every day these students would rush to the 'window' to shake our hands and say hello as we walked by!!!
Learning the local way.....it's a lot harder than they make it look!
As hard as our Canadian Teachers work, which is extremely hard and my hat goes off to each and every one, I don't think any of them would trade places with the teachers at this school. Class size back home is an issue but here there are 100 students per class! And these are the teachers deluxe toilet facilities...
Just a small sample of some of the messages the students wrote to us on our last day of teaching......
P6 CLASS WE LOVE YOU TOO!!!
Farewell Maria and 'your girls', we'll see you in the Czech
SAYIN GOOD-BYE..........
Daniel & Winnie...in our hearts forever!!!!
THANK YOU Moses & Florence for teaching us so much.Maddy allowed JC to drive us to the airport from Jinja to Kampala and he was doing really well even with all the traffic and crazy drivers when all of a sudden heading straight for us were several vehicles driving in the middle of the road. JC quickly swerved out of the way but almost hit a parked car on the side of the road to avoid a head on with………The Uganda President and his convoy!! This is how the big wigs are driven around with no regard to other vehicles on the road.
During the time we spent with Maddy we got to know him very well and he now has a goal to come to Canada by 2015 to see us!! We will pray his dream becomes a reality as we look forward to teaching him how to drive in the snow!!
