Friday, September 21, 2007

Bye Namata!

Today Kelley and I are going to the schools that have kids that are sponsored by Volset. So many kids recently have had their sponsors in the US or the UK just randomly drop them, or be really lazy about when they get their money in. We think that if they understood that their money is actually going towards a child’s education, and that when they stop paying without letting us know, it means that the child cannot attend school until we find them a new sponsor.

So, we are going to these schools and I am taking photos of the children and Kelley is helping them write thank you letters to let the sponsors know that they really are making such a difference.

It goes quicker and easier than we expected, and hopefully we’ll have this whole project finished in two months. We walked to a school that was about three or four miles down this road. The same road that leads to the orphanage I visited in my first week. The sun is hot. Today it is easy to remember that we are right on the equator. We walk for miles, sit down for ten minutes, and then walk for miles again.

Erin’s Buganda name is Namata and the small children around the village sometimes substitute this name for Muzungo. We are miles from Ntenjeru and some little girl says, “Bye Namata!”

What is even stranger is when we are a mile from town and some kid says, “Bye Adam!” People are constantly saying my name and I have no idea who they are. But I like it so much better than being called muzungo.



We meet Jeff and Ronnie in town and go to the restaurant that is becoming our little hangout. We say goodbye to Ronnie after lunch and go home, visiting John on the way. We sit on teh front porch and relax. I peel the rest of my sugarcane (which apparently doesn't become sweeter as you let it sit, but dries out..)

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