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Week 3 - Rain is coming!
When you are first dropped in an entirely black African community, the first thing that stands out is the sheer white full sets of teeth everyone has. The sole reason for everyone's considerable dental hygiene is sugar cane. It's everywhere. And it's delicious! I tried it for the first time whilst on outreach earlier this week, and from then on I haven't looked back. I have now completely submitted to the very realistic notion of eventually living here, simply because sugar cane has become the icing on the cake, that is my perfectly tranquil and fulfilling lifestyle here! Not necessarily a foodstuff, sugar cane is stripped, chewed, then spat out. It's as much of a social past time here as an evening smoke after work. Men come back from their farms to their local stall every evening at sun set. They pick a branch and begin the amusing process of stripping the cane with their teeth, biting off and chewing on the deliciously rich and naturally sweet juice inside, then finally spitting out the remains. The volunteers acknowledged my transition from Western traveler to fully Africanised Muzungu, by the sheer ease I had in demolishing a whole strip of the stuff with only my gnashers as tools. I was left nourished, sticky and surrounded by spent mouthfuls lying in an almost perfect circle around me! It's a bizarre sensation chomping into something that appears to be solid dry bamboo, only to discover that not only is it full of liquid, but the nectar tastes like a refreshingly clean sugary drink. Hence forth I am a sugar cane addict, and if this will be my only means of argument for permanently stay here for the rest of my days, then it will be a bloody difficult case to challenge!
Another aspect of Uganda I have only just begun to notice is the variety in ethnicities that are present in the community. At first glance everyone looks African; black. But as you become acclimatised you become aware of the differences not only in colour, but also body shapes, height and facial features. Uganda is, as African countries go, very multi cultural and racially diverse. Religion is big here too. We have a Muslim school near our house and if any of us volunteers are unlucky enough to wake up in the early hours, we will almost certainly be unable to go back to sleep on account of the morning prayers boomed through the loud but terribly tinny loud speakers. The religious community is split 90/10 with Christianity being by far the dominant and most influential domain. However religious stigmas are non-existent here and people freely express their beliefs; be it Christianity, Islam, Hindu or simply atheist. All beliefs are expressed with simple gratitude for the capacity to express them. This is a rare and refreshing aspect of society which I have come to admire.
However not all things are great here by a long shot. We are currently in the middle of the planting season, but the lands have yet to receive adequate rains to sustain them through the net year comfortably. Parts of Uganda are suffering severe droughts, while other areas have experienced such appalling floods that large quantities of homes and crops have been wiped out. This is particularly distressing as this could be the second drought in a row, and could prove devastating. Luckily we have been blessed with rains over Kampala; full on spectacles of nature. The thunder storms that have bulldozed their way through our neighbourhood are always incredible light shows. And the immediate greening of the land is shocking; we can quite literally watch the environment become rejuvenated and flourish after a fresh storm. The local prayers are being answered it seems.
I am gob smacked and utterly humbled by the huge volume of financial support me and the rest of toilet campaign volunteers have received. At this point in time we are nigh on a grand! This is the equivalent to 3.5 million USh. This means that not only can we build a long-lasting, high quality latrine for our family in Kira, but we can also distribute emergency aid and support in the severely impoverished areas of Rakkai district. We are in talks of taking a few days out to travel to the other CALM centre in this district and allocating aid to families in need. So once again a huge huge thank you to everyone who has donated! Di especially as well as 'Who knows' you have made a serious impact on this country and it has brought us to tears numerable times. As a result CALM are in discussions with the charity just-giving to see how this concept can be expanded to provide sustainable means of charitable support. We have literally created a legacy and inspired CALM in a palpable way. We only have you to thank for this and can't wait to start work on it tomorrow. We guarantee ample photos and articles on every component of this operation so you know that every penny you have given is making real difference to real people living in real poverty.
That was my quick but packed week up to date. I wanted to right about my teaching and how much fun it is, but I will leave that for another time! I have gathered that some were confused by my last entry. It was simply a story I found hilarious by a particularly creepy pupil of mine. But in case you didn't know I regularly go back to old entries and edit them and change them round a bit. Sometimes because I have to correct information as my experiences become more in depth and rounded. But most of the time it is because the computer keyboards are appalling and I am left with blogs full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. And that is simply not how I roll!
Please leave me any messages or comments. Please check out the donating website and have a look at the people who have currently donated. If you haven't donated yet please consider it, any amount is greatly appreciated and going to a great cause to a stunningly beautiful country who urgently need the love of human support.
Thank you all and have a great week!
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