Joanna's first day of school

President Joanna...that's what the kids call me here. I stood outside the school yesterday morning to greet them, alongside Teacher Jane, Teacher Simon, and Teacher Joel (our stellar volunteer).

I've been in Uganda for two days now, and slowly, slowly...the benefit of our work is starting to seep in.

As for Kabalagala Community Academy, it is more full of love, of learning, and of progress than I could have ever imagined. The kids start their day by pitching in with the chores: this morning I arrived to find them sweeping the walkway, picking up rocks, and walking the biodegradable trash--like banana peels--over to the compost heap. Everything is used and recycled and nothing is to be wasted ever.

Yesterday, I sat in on Teacher Jane's class, where the P1 kids were learning about sentence structure like subjects and verbs. Joel pitched in, translating into Luganda for the kids who were a bit behind. I saw with several other children, talking to them about what they like about school (football games, getting fed, and no beatings like in other schools).

Teacher Simon and I sat and talked a lot over lunch, and I am quite impressed with him. He helps make our strategy real: of immediate care, like the food, as well as education to learn. It is a problem because, for many of our students, the only time they ever eat is at school, making weekends extremely difficult. The students were so good at lunch, sitting fairly quietly and eating...what they didn't finish, they passed along to other students to eat.

But by far, the best time of day is the last period, which includes singing, dancing, and storytime. The older kids beat African drums while Ronald led the kids in many many songs! They are so adorable, and so sweet....and really, so worth it.

It's true what jane says about KCA being somewhat of a fairy tale.

For me, personally, I was quite moved to see how much community participation is evident there. When we were first designing our project proposal, people told us that no one would volunteer--that people are too poor and taken with their own lives. That has not been the case and in fact, we have quite a robust volunteer program. One benefit is a free meal at lunchtime, but even with that, the volunteers are quite engaged and very helpful. KCA just started a parents club as well, and we will see how that goes.

After school it was off with Ronald and Jeani, our fabulous volunteer from California, to visit the i.HUG kids who attend other schools. We spent much time in the slum--which had grown to a whopping 28,000 people since I was last here in 2004--and had a chance to visit the children in their homes.

I pause and stop, because there really are no words. The living conditions are so poor, the water so dirty, the children in many cases left on their own...It is very hard to bear. I gave out many toothbrushes and toothpaste to children we saw there, who were very grateful--bowing and kissing hands and things like that. Truly, the need was so vast.

For the kids in our program, you can see what an opportunity it is to go to school, and escape their lives which are mostly filled with work. I was quite impressed with the network Ronald had set up--things like parent advocates at one school to ensure the i.HUG kids were getting fed (what sponsors pay for) and to protect them from caning.

I am back to school shortly--if I can find my way through the twisty dirt roads back from the Internet cafe. Tonight, Jane is having a staff party at her house, and looking forward to spending more time with them.

over and out for now!