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Tuesday - Day 15
Tuesday was by far the busiest day we've had yet and one of the most interesting. We got to Moses' project around half nine in the morning after Livy had her daily faff. Because there was so many of us we did loads of different activities and games such as heads shoulders knees and toes, some of the older boys did reading and we discovered a couple of the older boys are actually really clever.Joe and I had a breakthrough aswell teaching George Olluko to write his name. Sarah and I took John with the bad food to the hospital to get his bandage on his foot changed and to persuade him to spend the night there as sleeping on the streets and walking back to Massesse on a regular basis was not doing his foot any good. Luckily for John a friend of Sarah's has agreed to sponsor him through his treatment so we don't have to worry about getting his bandaged changed every day and his expensive medication. John wouldn't agree to stay at the hospital even though Peter would be allowed to stay with him, as many of the boys are scared to get separated from the group as the smaller number there are of them in their group on the streets the more vulnerable they are. When we got back the boys had porridge and oranges and we gave them their meds.There is a little boy there Luka who mustn't be more than 7 and is possibly one of the most adorable children I've ever met. When they all finished their porridge he is the first to start to clean up and is always well behaved, he knows just how to get to you as well if he's upset about something. When you praise him he literally couldn't be prouder. After their porridge and fruit we took the boys to shower and wash their clothes. All the boys get so excited at the prospect of being clean, washing themselves and their clothes vigorously. The dirt that comes out of their clothes even after washing a day previously is unbelievable, but they boys are determined to get every scrap of dirt out, literally scrubbing their clothes. Ugandans have a great sense of pride about the way they dress and they always look immaculate. Obviously for the street kids it is impossible for them to keep clean but they always jump at the chance at making themselves look more presentable. We had to dismiss the boys early as on Tuesdays Moses teaches art at local schools and we had arranged to go and visit various TAORP projects.We went for lunch at a traditional African restaurant, which basically consisted of a kitchen and some chairs and tables in someone's back yard. Traditional food consists of lots of starchy carbs such as posha (ground maize a bit like solid mash potato), matoke (savoury banana), rice and potatoes and then various proteins, usually beans but also chicken, beef and fish. There is also usually cabbage and G-nut sauce. At this restaurant which is just down the road for the supermarket a plate of everything plus a meat is 2,500Ush, about 80p and it's really tasty. After lunch we all squished into a people carrier which also acted as a sauna and headed to Nakabango to first of all visit the widow's project. TAORP has set up various widows' project to help various mothers and grandmothers to look after their families because they don't have the support of their husbands for whatever reason. Pigs farms have been built to provide an income and wells have been dug to provide safe drinking water, locals have been employed to help keep the projects sustainable and everyone we met was very enthusiastic about the success and longevity of the projects. After we'd met some of the widows and chatted to them through a translator we headed to Valley View primary school again to show the boys the desperate need they are in. On our way back from Nakabango we went to Massesse again which was no less shocking the second time I went. We saw Rita again, this time her Mother was there. Her Mother literally wanted us to take her straight away, but Sarah reasoned that we can't just take a child away from her mother without the proper system in place. It had rained in Massesse that day so the mud was literally unbelievable and the children were even dirtier than usual, my flips flops were literally swimming in mud.Massesse at the minute seems like Mount Everest I don't even know where to start . Dom provided a bit of light relief as he was walking back to the van with five kids clinging to each hand he slipped in the mud and literally was covered. I'm trying to focus on ASCO as it's the project I think I can make the most difference with as it's got so much to give but only in the really early stages of being set up. We all piled pack in the van and dropped the boys off for rugby training on the way back to ASCO. We went to see al the boys and they all found it hilarious how dirty our feet were and literally stole our shoes and started scrubbing them clean, Sarah and I treated them to chipaati for their sterling efforts. Ivan, Sarah's Boyfriend, found it hilarious how Livy and I had never had a rolex (a veggie omelette wrapped inside a chipaati) so he took us to a little stall just near the project. I'd never noticed them before but now I see them everywhere, they just consist of a table of ingredients and a charcoal stove where the rolex is cooked fresh in front of you. I can honestly say that there is nothing quite like a rolex when you're hungry, they are so delicious and at 800Ush (25p) very cheap! I think i've found the perfect lunch option. After our rolex's we said goodbye to the boys and have them their chipaati and meds, I nipped to the supermarket to get some of the ingredients for my Curry which I'm cooking tomorrow night. The chicken and curry paste in the supermarket was reasonably expensive and the meal wasn't as cheap I thought it might be. Got back to the guest house pretty shattered but felt much better after I had a long shower and got changed. Jen and Marianne cooked baked potatoes for dinner with various fillings and everyone agreed it was really tasty. After dinner a few of us decided to go for a drink at Spot 6 but when we got there the mood was drastically brought down when we saw Kanichi high in the street he was very friendly and affectionate but you could smell the paraffin on his breath. He is really sick as well and because his moods are so erratic he doesn't regularly come to the project which is dangerous to his health as he isn't getting properly fed and taking his medication. He is so adorable and when he's been fed and taken his meds he changes dramatically to the happy, carefree little boy he should be. It's so hard seeing the street kids at night, because when you've spent all the day with them you forget what they have to face when they leave the project. In the future when the project is up and running and has enough funds, the plan is to rent out one of the adjoining rooms as well so we could have a place for the boys to stay, kind of like a hostel with a youth project attached. This would aid us in being able to send the boys to school as well as it is more expensive to send the boys to boarding school and many of the boys wouldn't be comfortable but if we could get sponsors for them to go to day school then they could get fed, bathe, do their homework and have somewhere to sleep at night. After a couple of drinks we were all pretty shattered and disheartened so we headed home.
- comments
Robin Keep going libs it will make a difference x
mum liberty can you let us know how much it would cost to sponsor a childs medicine and schooling costs ??? x
Pauline Thomas I found your blog really informative and interesting, well done liberty Im sure you are making a difference. Charlotte has got offers at Kings and Bristol x x