Dancing Queen

[Note from Justin: Sorry for the picture quality. I will try to reupload the pictures when I get home from work to fix this problem.]


View from road near orphanage


View from road near orphanage

Hello everyone! Thankfully I finally figured out a way to send pictures so hopefully you are all enjoying those. I've been doing some teaching and helping out at the orphanage this past week, including a project where I helped all the kids fabric paint t-shirts, which turned out to be pretty adorable. I will be starting some other projects in the community in the near future so I will keep you posted on those.


Bugabwe School


Bugabwe School


Bugabwe School office


T-shirt project

On Friday, a bunch of other volunteers and I went into one of the villages to see a wonderful musical group, which has been in existence in this village since 1930. They played a xylophone that was built into the ground, flutes, drums and other instruments. There were also lots of dancers and even a wrestling match. The whole thing finished off with what they called a unity dance where everyone, ourselves included, danced together in a big circle. It was mildly embarrassing and a lot of fun! I look forward to experiencing other cultural events in the future.


Musicians processing


Men dancing


Women dancing


Group dancing

On Thursday until Sunday I will be leaving with a few other volunteers to climb Mt. Elgon, located a few hours from Iganga in the Eastern part of Uganda, so I will be celebrating the 4th of July from a mountain top, which should be pretty cool. Enjoy the photos and I'll be posting more soon. Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the summer, have a happy 4th of July!

-Hilary

More Pictures!!

Gideon, Ronard & Richard


Ruth & Nassar


My bedroom


My living room


The orphanage


The swing behind the orphanage


The orphanage cooking area


The orphanage garden

Pictures!!

So I finally have pictures to share! I’ve already talked about most of the things I’ve been doing in my first days here so I will pass along pictures of the things I’ve been talking about so you can all get an idea of life in Iganga. A quick note on the orphanage: it is run by Ruth and Richard whose mother started the orphanage in 2003. Gideon, Ronard and Nassar are also around all the time helping out with craft projects and the kids. Enjoy the pictures and I’ll be passing along pictures of the school and much more as soon as possible!
Mwelaba!
Hilary















The kids watching Cinderella
















Kids smiling



Sharon



Priscilla



Chris George and Me
















My house

Settling in (Part 2)

So I have finally started to settle in here in Iganga. The town has a few main roads and is very busy with people selling things on the side of the road and bikes EVERYWHERE. I've almost been hit a few times but I'm learning. My house is wonderful, and they have furnished it with a bed, desk, and table and chairs in my bedroom, a sofa and chairs and table in my sitting room, and a bigger table and fridge. I have a toilet, sink and shower that can get hot water if I turn on the heater a few hours in advance. They have also provided a wonderful bike for me to get to and from the school which is about 15-20 min. away from my house. Overall, I feel quite spoiled compared to the other volunteers I have met who bathe in a basin once a week or less and pee in a hole...basically, I got hooked up!

The school has seven classrooms with around 100 students each! Quite a few more than I'm used to, but it's definitely a learning experience. I will be teaching P3 and P5, ages 9-11, and I will be teaching them English grammar and reading comprehension and composition. They speak a decent amount of English, but have a little trouble understanding my American accent, but I'm sure they will get used to it the more I am around.

When I am not working at the school I will be helping out at the orphanage, doing projects and playing with the kids. I also will be helping another American volunteer with a painting project she will be starting soon. I'm not entirely sure of the details but I think we will be painting various things around the town, so that should be fun. I will also be getting involved with some women's groups they have in the area so that will certainly be interesting.

So as you can see they are keeping me very busy! But things are getting much easier as I settle in more and I look forward to all of the things I will be doing here. I'm even learning some Luganda, which is the language they speak here, NOT Swahili as I originally assumed. Lots of good challenges!

I hope everyone is doing well and as soon as I figure out how I will send along pictures.

Nwelaba! (Goodbye!)

Hilary

Settling in

Hi everyone! This is Hilary's older brother, Justin, in New York City. Due to the fact that Internet access is hard to come by and/or very expensive, I will be helping Hilary post things to her blog. Just wanted to throw up a quick post to let everyone know that Hilary has arrived safely in Uganda and sent me a quick update (I'm sure a more in depth update will follow):

Uganda is great so far, a little overwhelming but very exciting. The house they prepared for me is much larger than I expected with multiple rooms, running water/toilet/shower, and a kitchen area where there will be a fridge once it gets here. Everyone here is incredibly welcoming and nice, and the kids at the orphanage are absolutely adorable and have already taken right to me. I visited the school I'll be teaching at today and got to say hi to all the kids, all 500+ of them! I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm starting Friday, so I'll figure something out. The other teachers are very nice though so I'm sure I can count on them if I need assistance.

If you guys have questions for Hilary, post them in the comments section and she'll answer them in future posts.

A quick note: We've set up the blog so that the timestamps on the posts reflect the time in Uganda (7 hours ahead of EST!) so don't think there's anything wrong with your computer!