My Trip Thus Far
The Uganda part of my journey began in Entebbe (read more about how we get to Bududa here). Where, as usual, I'm collected by two of my favorite people, Robert, our COO, and Rashid, our masterful driver. What a pleasure to see their smiling faces.
We did the errands: phone-sim card, money exchange, groceries, and fabric purchases in Kampala. Then, we got back in the car and on our way east to Bududa, on the main highway from Kampala to Kenya. It is two lanes, and for two hours, we are stuck in what they call "jams." I find
it fascinating to see the vibrancy of Africa on the move: hundreds of motorcycles (pici-picis) weaving in the traffic or columns of uniformed school children walking home from school on the side of the road.
We arrived at the Guest House. Justine, our guest house director, was here to meet me, as well as the neighbors, to help carry the bags up the hill to the house. There is no road to the house. There was lots of excitement, and once all was settled, our night watchman arrived to watch over the house for the night. Imagine arriving in Bududa on the night of the full moon. It is as if the stars have aligned. I could hardly believe the beauty the moonlight cast on the valley below.
My first day at Bududa Learning Center is Saturday, the day that Saturday School meets for our Children of Bududa program. It is a joy to see their smiling faces. All warmly greeted me, particularly our joyous, effervescing cook, Lois.
In the car, sitting next to our COO, Robert, I hear the stories related to BLC, the Vocational Training Center, students, COB participants, and the property. The best news was that a student in the bricklaying program has taken one of his exams, for which we trained him, and his results have come in; on the theory paper, he got top marks.
How about that! Imagine our mighty little school in remote rural Uganda, which has just exceeded its expectations by enrolling more students (200) than expected in 2023, has one of the best-performing students in the country in bricklaying!!!
All of us here are proud of his accomplishment - and, of course, it is rewarding for our teachers to know the work they do is having such a significant impact on the lives of our students.
I can't wait to update you on the remainder of the trip - we're holding a Zoom-style update meeting on December 7th at 7:00 PM EST. Let us know you're coming so we can send you the link.