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Monday - Day 14
I'd arranged to meet Sarah and Laura at the Guest house at 11 so luckily I got to have a lie in. They turned up with two bodas one driven by Santos the TAORP co-ordinator and another boda driver for Livy and I. They told us we were heading to Nakabango to first of all visit Valley View primary school that TAORP sponsors some kids at. After a swift repair of a flat tyre we arrived at the very poor school, which literally had wooden sheds for classrooms. Laura and Sarah also did some volunteer work here when they came out last and ran like a summer school for all the kids. Many of the children at Valley View are orphans and so in the summer holidays they don't have anything to occupy them. Sarah also sponsors a boy there after she discovered that he was going to have to leave primary school because his parents died in a car crash and his grandfather got sick so couldn't afford to send him money anymore. He lives with two other orphaned boys in Nakabango village. Sarah because she sponsors him through TAORP gets all his reports and updates on his progress. To sponsor a child through primary school it costs a £150 per year and that includes school fees, two sets of uniforms and all his school books etc. We all met him and he seemed very humble and polite. One of the teachers showed us around and all the kids were really excited to see us. Unfortunately the school inspectors came in August and have said that unless the shed type classrooms get turned into proper brick buildings in a years time then the school will have to be shut down. This is going to cost about £25,000 and it just doesn't look feasible as TAORP just doesn't have the funds, so the school will have to be shut down and 250 kids will be displaced. After Valley View we drove through very rural communities to go and see Guardian primary School which is a lot better equipped. It's hard to describe the reaction you get from the children out here, especially in the village. They literally scream "Mzungu" at you (white person) and wave in sheer bewilderment. It literally feels like you're the most famous person on the planet, although slightly weird to get your head around. We headed back to Jinja around lunch time and dined at a local buffet, which was really cheap and tasty. After lunch we went to meet Moses and the boys at the project. Sarah and Moses had been to Massesse village where some of the boys have brothers and sisters and even the odd parent and wanted to go again to check on some of the boys brothers and sisters and show me the village and also take some pictures to go on ASCO'S website to show the boys . Livy was going to meet Ollie at the Market to get ingredients for his famous fish pie so Santos said he'd go with them so they'd get charged local price. Sarah, Moses, Benjii and I all piled in a taxi with the kids and the boys directed us into the village.I don't think I can even describe the feeling I experienced when I went to the village. It was the poorest place I've ever been to. The level of poverty was so high and the kids were literally covered in dirt from head to foot. They have nothing as most of them have been displaced from the North because of the ongoing civil war. Women kept coming to us bringing their sick children and asking us if they could bring them some food. It was heartbreaking and I was literally silent in shock for most of the time. It just doesn't seem possible that a place like this could exist but for many people it's all they've ever known.I spoke to Benji about what we could do in the village and every possibility just seems to turn to a dead end. It's also strange to think that some of the boys from the project travel back here every night which is a good 2km walk and walk back in the morning. That morning Moses told us that someone had come to the project and brought some second hand clothes and the boys had been told they could have one top and one pair of shorts each. Little Peter(not the one with the rotten toe) asked if he could have a pair of shorts and instead of a top a dress for his sister. Watching him look on with pride as his sister got a new dress was such a beautiful moment juxtaposed against the harshness of the surroundings. We also found a little girl called Rita who had severe malnutrition. Her body had little scars all over it where her family had tried to put herbal remedies in her As sickness out here is seen as some kind of curse rather than a biological problem.After the emotionally draining time in the village it was very welcome that Ollie and Livy's fish pie was absolutely mouth watering. Everything about it was so good and Ollie was very pleased to have pulled it off. After dinner we arranged to meet Sarah and Laura and all their friends at Why Not bar. We had a really chilled night and arranged to meet Sarah and Laura in the morning with the Hampton Boys and Connor as they definitely wanted to get involved.
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Great Nanna Florence Hello Liberty, who thought that at 93 I'd be surfing the interweb? Hope you are keeping well. I am really proud of what you are doing and I am telling everyone what you are up to. Take care of yourself. Love Nanna xxx.