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Ugandaaaaaaaa
So as of tomorrow work on the 3rd latrine will begin. It will be 10 feet deeper than the last 2, due to the size of the family. It will also come close to 400 pound, leaving us with another million Ugandan Shillings to play with. Really excited about starting this last project of the fund. Another massive thank you to everyone who donated. I will at some point publish a thorough breakdown of everything we have purchased and made using your money.
So...Me and Phil are going safari on 21st July. Big deal for me! I am very very very excited about it!
What's happened so far?...
We returned to Nabawess (1st toilet lady) and her children, which was such a happy moment. They are living in much better conditions, but the children still aren't going to the virtually free government school down the road. Nabawess can't afford the 4 pound term fee, which covers food and salaries for the watchman and cook. Consequently me and Phil have been thinking about funding them ourselves. We will confer with Hannah, as this project was also hers. But we feel like we need to tie off all the loose ends; it seems fairy futile making their house finally comfortable to live in, for them all to still have no choice of living in even better conditions. However Nabawess seems like a very poor and inexperienced mother. When we came her youngest was suffering from malnutrition and all of the children were just recovering from bouts of malaria, despte the new nets they all have. (It's malaria season; rain + maize crops = mosquito party!). We took the youngest to the local surgery to buy medecine to treat him. 6000. She can't afford a bottle of medecine worth 6000 shillings to treat her son's potentially fatal manlnutrition. No wonder they don't go to school; any term fee she does save up for is intantly needed for malaria or malnutrition or worms or disentry etc.
But they are our family; we will help them out as much as we can. We are determined to make their lives stable.
What else has been happening?
The school is enjoying this year's harvest of our beans. The ones we planted months before. Still not my idea of an ideal lunch but the kids seem to like them enough. Steve; the headteacher who we got on with so well, has been sacked. Turns out that for quite a while he had been taking money off parents assuring them he will hand it in to the school as term fees, then pocketting a sizeable percentage of it. It was such a shock to hear of this, because me and Phil took a particular shine to him and thought he was a brilliant man. He was the school pastor as well as their headteacher. Just goes to show how innate the problem of corruption is among the people of Uganda and many regions of Africa. Rest assured everyone else is perfectly trust worthy and dignified; Steve simply had too many chances and is now no longer part of the school.
It is hard listing everything that has happened because it is all so second nature now; it's just the natural routine of things. But I will publish everything I hae done:
I promise I will fill you in on the witch doctor antics that occur down the road to the school.
The infamous 'opposition leader' that triggered the 'walk to work' protest that ended in dire consequences.
Syrus' outing which took us to his rich and bizarre family - a very strange day
and
Our scheduled weekend trip to visit Rakkai with James and Joseph.
Till then know that I miss home and the family and all my mates. I am green with jelous rage about Jake, Ian's and Sarah's trip to Egypt. But I am sure you will have a great time. Wierd to think you'll be on same continent as me for a week.
Lots of love guys
Josh
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