raisingthevillage.org/blog

Since our first post, so much has actually happened with each day being so eventful however due to our hectic schedules this was the only down time we found to be able to update you guys with a little bit of what we’ve been up to since then. After visiting the Ssanga and Kanga projects, Jennifer, Richard, Shawn and I headed off to Kisoro which is a 11 hour drive across the country.  Our day started at 3:30am, loading all of our gear into the SUV then getting the show onto the road. 

One of the new challenges I have faced on this trip is actually the constant re-packing we have to do.  Essentially we’re constantly moving gear/personal stuff from one bag to another according to the style and type of trip we’ll be doing.  For instance, Ssanga requires a bus ride, a good 30 minutes on the back of a motorcycle on open road then another 30 minutes off-road (quite an experience when it’s raining and the African mud is slick as heck).  We spend the day there then hike back down to the main road.  Our trip to Kisoro originally involved a lot of hiking and camping so we had to pack the bare minimum and move our “left over” stuff at Richard’s house.  It’s very different from the usually “living out of a suitcase” type of trip I do.  Each time we un-pack and re-pack, we have to use a lot of brain power just to make sure we sort out what exactly to bring and what to leave behind.  Sometimes at 11pm or past midnight, it can be exhausting.

Here in Kisoro, we can see the mountains that border Rwanda and Congo.  The temperature here is similar to the fall in Toronto hovering around mid-teens during the day (much hotter if the sun comes out) and perhaps around 10C in then evening.  Rain has been a regular part of our day with the excption of today!  During the toughest trek back down the mountain from an extremely hard to reach rural community the team finally experience the power and craziness of Uganada rain and what it’s like to be caught in it. 

Our time in Kisoro has been fruitful and challenging at the same time.  Many of the situations and scenarios require the team to think on our feet and roll with the punches. Some of them are so random and unexpected that you don’t really know what to say or how to react– like, a huge tree falling onto the road meters in front of our SUV as we were driving, or the chair-woman of a rural village helping us carry my pole bag down the mountain.  On her head.  With a baby stapped onto her back.  Yeah…

Hope to update you guys with our day-to-day recaps once we get back to Mukuno.  I can’t wait to share some of the amazing imagery we’ve been able to capture!

Thanks for checking in

Claudia

Richard met us and he couldn’t be a greater guy and representative of RTV here in Uganda. We’re looking forward to spending the next 3 weeks with him.

Tuesday was spent at Grace, moving Wilson in with his 5 chickens (his dinner for the upcoming weeks) and meeting Madame Liz. The children were very excited to see us, very responsive to the photos and delighted to see their faces on the screen.

We’ve left Wilson at Grace until Friday. He’ll be starting work on the roof, installing eaves troughs which will solve the water erosion on the ground around the main classroom block. He comes back into town on Friday (Claudia misses her husband dearly!)

It was great to see an RTV project mature to a self-sustainable reality. Shawn and Richard spent time doing the regular audit and making sure Madame Liz had the support she needed.

We’re off to Ssanga next, the “lost village” at the end of the road. We look forward to the buda buda (motorcycle) ride up the muddy paths.

The first steps of Raising The Village came out of treks into the African bush and long rides on dusty a semblance of roads on the backs of pickup trucks and the like while hitchhiking across Sub-Saharan Africa in 2005. Asking questions and learning from those we work alongside today. Those humbling moments stay with us today, keeping us honest and remind us of our roots.

I was broke, living in my sister’s basement (I paid rent…the family rate) and was just starting to ply my trade in consulting (stapling and photocopying) to pay the bills but I was not short on being inspired by the people and their stories. Propped up by a well worn Ikea folding chair, and working on the rounded lid of a deep freezer chest (I couldn’t afford a desk just yet). The next year, consisted of countless nights and weekends spent researching, drafting out ideas, drawing diagrams, and dreaming more often than not passed out on my laptop. But it was all ideas.

When Richard signed up, it was official. There were two of us. We were going to change the world. Then I realized we might need a little help. So I called Alan. Then Kris. Then  Angela. It didn’t take much convincing, although I’d like to think it was the diagrams… there were five of us. Raising the Village had become very real.

Since that day, Raising The Village has grown with a strong team of committed volunteers and donors, we’ve had the privilege to work alongside our partners, friends, and family, and help hundreds of children receive an education and the chance to live life, and share in the success of true sustainable community development, built by the communities themselves.

We’re still small and there’s much work to do, but we’ve got big dreams. A very big and much deserved thank you to all of our amazing volunteers and supporters who dedicate their time, effort, and resources to help the make the idea of change real through Raising The Village.

But we wanted to take a minute and tell you how amazing you are. Shawn, Claudia, Wilson and myself are completely floored by your generosity. Your support has gotten us to 75% of our goal! Let’s see if we can reach our $8,000 goal together. www.indiegogo.com/rtvuganda2011 –Jennifer

We’re at $6,000! from Raising the Village on Vimeo.

Please continue to help us spread the word and reach our fundraising goal. Let’s see what we can do together: indiegogo.com/rtvuganda2011

I’ve finally completed all my required vaccinations last week (FYI, yellow fever and meningitis hurt). This week I hope to find my mosquito net. From what travelers have told me, Africa mosquitoes are like no other and have no fear. Since I’m a mosquito magnet, I’m looking to put as much barrier between me and those bloodsuckers! Hoping to find some good walking boots too as we’ll be hiking up a mountain to reach one of the rural villages in Kisoro. Shawn tells us it’s more than 4,000ft up so we’ve been trying to prepare for that physically. Leave a comment if you’ve got any tips to help us adjust to altitude! –Jennifer

Help get us to Uganda! from Raising the Village on Vimeo.

Claudia tweeted a video today. Check it out. Check us out!

fruit travels

Where are all these jackfruits going?
Bags and bags of fruit luggage, I wonder how far these guys are going…hmm

Mayende Gideon is an active parent and participates in all school activities – I wish all the Ssanga parents were like him. Gideon is a parent and the chairman of the school management committee. He is among the few community members with a stable family who lives by example, and a good agriculturalist that practices improved methods of farming. For the period of time that I have worked with him, he really impresses me as he does not mind what other people say about him. This man is not so educated but brilliant in all aspects. After the ordinary level of education he acquired, he joined an institution for carpentry but due to financial difficulties, he was unfortunately unable to complete the course. He moved to this community for close to 15 years ago.  

Because of his love of education, he has worked hard to see to it that he educates all his children and his first born was among the pupils that sat for their primary leaving examination this year. Because he wanted to make education accessible by all children in his community, he donated half an acre of his land where the new school premises will be built. He hopes that even his grand children will be able to benefit from the efforts that they as the parents put into their community now.  

He is among Ssanga community’s heroes for what he did. His vision is a school where every pupil in the community would be able to get education regardless of their age, sex, origins or religious affiliations. For the time that I have spent with him, he has been one of the most participative in all RTV introduced school programs.  

He did not give out his piece of land because he had a big chunk of land but rather because of his love of education and because he was not able to finish his education years back while in school some thing he doesn’t wish on any of the village children. He has provided a stepping stone for development in his community which he hopes will help in breaking the cycle of poverty in the community.

Mr. Wamage

If I were asked to describe Mr. Wamage, they would be: warm smile, “ancient” English and devotion to teaching. He is in his late 60s and everytime I see him he is always greets me with warm smile, addresses in his “ancient” but rather interesting English while clad in his always clean “ancient” outfits.

He is the deputy head teacher at Kanga Moslem Orphan Primary School and is Mr.Abbas’ right-hand man but he has his own voice and will not follow ‘blindly’. If there is something that he feels should be done differently he will not hesitate to tell his boss so. He teaches the children in the lower classes and when I asked him, “why the young kids?” He said, “It is the young trees in a forest that ‘makes’ it strong and big, so I want to work with the young trees”.
They say that wisdom comes with old age and that is true in the case of Mr. Wamage but what really impresses me most, despite the fact that he is a grandfather, he still has the energy of a 20 year old! He is also the teacher in charge of Agriculture at the school, a role he has fit into very well. During his free time (outside school hours), you will find him in his garden or building his semi-permanent house from ground-up on his own. That is Mr. Wamage for you, a man that truly believes that he can do everything and anything with the energy and hands that God gave him.

-Richard