Final Week

Phew!
After last week, I almost don't know where to begin writing. What can top that!?! Wednesday and Thursday seemed to be the apex of my trip, and although I re-visited MOHM out in Iganga on Friday and will return there again Monday and Tuesday, my heart keeps pulling back to HODASSU's school for the hearing impaired. I felt like I struck a nerve- both in those children and in myself.
When I met with the deaf group again on Thursday, it was phenomenal. The kids were so happy and excited to see our team coming, and we laughed and played the whole day. For the 'music' portion of the day, I revisited the lesson of making sound, and they were not only making sounds, but actually excited to do so! I then spent about an hour and a half teaching the word 'music'. All together, we learned the sounds of the word: 'mm' - 'uuuu' - 'ssss' - 'eehhh' - 'kkkk' ! It was incredible. I ran to grab the Head Teacher, Flavia, who was originally supposed to be translating for us the first day, to share with her what the kids were doing. I found her sitting in a circle of other women outside the classroom, and upon my approach, the conversation immediately halted. I asked her if she had a few minutes to speak with me, and we made our way into the deaf classroom to sit. Flavia originated the deaf program at Walakubu West Primary School in 2006, so she does support the class, probably more than most teachers would, but still not as much as she supports the other Primary classes. When I ask her about what topics and subjects she began teaching her four deaf students in 2006, she responds with a complex combination of acceptance, nostalgia, and apprehension. I tell her about the work I have been doing with the kids for the past two days, and her curiosity is peeked. She says she wishes that she could have seen the teachings, and I quickly jump on the opportunity to take her back outside with the group and show her. The whole group makes sound for her, then we sign the letters of the word 'music' together as we make each sound together. She watches as I work on the letter 'i' with the kids showing the difference in sound possibilities with this letter. When one child doesn't make the correct sound, Flavia walks over and stands behind him making stern gestures with both her hand and her face. She slaps the back of his head when he does the vowel incorrectly again, and rather than trying to explain the placement of his tongue in relation to his teeth, she taps the bottom of her chin saying something in the local language, which he obviously cannot hear. I think to myself- 'Good Flavia, instill a fear of making sound in these kids by smackin' em- that's exactly what they need.' Out-loud I say "Perhaps gently is the best way?", but she either does not hear me or does not acknowledge me. She stays with our group for another five minutes before heading back to the school.
This would be discouraging if the kids weren't SO excited to be making sounds like this. At least Ustis and I are on the same page; he feels that the kids learning sounds can only help them in their job training, which for deaf children in Uganda, is their lives. I gave Ustis an outline of possible lessons with the kids in the order I thought might work best, with some lesson-plan suggestions included, and he was very excited about it. So while I am feeling discouraged by the amount of time I was able to spend with them, I also have hope that Ustis wont let the idea fall by the wayside.

Friday, when Julius and I ride up to the MOHM school on a bodda-bodda, the kids immediately begin to sing "Do, Re, Mi..." which warmed my heart to tears and filled me with such happy pride!! The Head Madame of the school, Sarah, came out to see who rode up on the bodda, and with her arms outstretched and her head leaning to the side, she swooped me up in a hug saying "Oh! You love us so much to come back!" I do love them. I love how respectful the kids are to their teachers and to each other. I love that they seem to love every second of life, even with life handing them minimal back. Most of these children have backgrounds of horror but they can only see the future; they have been treated poorly but chose to treat each other better. Their smiles are inspiring in so many ways and to be able to spend my final days with them is the best treat!
I was originally supposed to be with Fount's final organization, Care&Share, but Michelle, the leader of the educational team, thought it best for me to go back and reinforce MOHM's teachings because Care&Share is very young, (both in age and organization) and would best be served in the future. I am SO happy that this was the case! I love being at MOHM, but I also realized when I arrived on Friday that while the children remember my teachings very well, the teachers are still totally in the dark about what and how to teach music! So my final days will be split in two between furthering the kids' grasp on music, and solidifying the teacher's comprehension and curriculum plan.

As we wind down toward the end of the trip, (two more days in Jinja and then back to Kampala for a Safari) a good many people in our Fount group are getting sick- little things like the common cold or cough, upset stomachs- nothing to worry about. Plus...I have the immune system of a New Yorker- so I'm safe! ( : HA! (Chris would say I just jinxed it...but I'm sure he's wrong). I will however be taking all my medication with me on our Safari just to be safe!
Just as a head's up, I may not be able to blog on the Safari as the internet connection will be even less than it is here. We leave for Kampala Tuesday after teaching, and early Wednesday morning we leave for the Safari. My Grandma gave me an early Christmas gift of a Safari Trip with White Water Rafting! The rafting was last weekend and was amazing (thank you Grandma!!!) I swam....in the NILE!?! We only fell out of our raft once, which may have been the most terrifying and the most accomplished moment of the day. We rode all the way out to a strip of land that had the feel of a Tropical Island. It was called the Lousy Lemon? the Luscious Lemon? Juicy? I can never remember but it was something out of the Swiss Family Robinson! Big palm trees towering down over other farce African trees blooming deep red flowers from each branch. The butterfly population here is insane; with thirty thousand species in Africa, I truly believe that half of them inhabit Uganda, and nearly all of them at the Legendary? Lemon. Beautiful birds swoop and glide about as we ate a BBQ dinner by a little swimming hole. The feathers appear ordinary when they are perched on a tree, but when they take flight the shimmer of turquoise and yellow fades up to the stark black and white beaks, making it impossible not to watch them play. I have never seen anything like it! If the Safari is half as entrancing as our rafting trip, then I have to say ... I am SO excited!

It's difficult to think of the work coming to an end; all the undone, unseen, and unfinished things that I'll be essentially leaving behind, not to mention the people. Ugandan people, in my thus-far experience, take everything very personally. Each statement is a promise, whether you've said the word or not. Every visit is only the first of many to them, regardless of whether you've had conversations about the future or not. It is extremely hard to hear (each and every) teacher and organizer based in Uganda ask me when I will be back. At first I tripped all over myself, trying to put a sentence together while trying even harder not to make anything unclear or misleading. I have learned to say "I don't know" along with the word "No", which never used to present itself in my vocabulary, especially not in this very stern way. And as I begin to seriously contemplate what I think about a second trip, how I feel about another journey to Africa, I can only learn also the lesson of self-preservation: I made a promise to myself today, while walking in the sunshine, not to put too much pressure on myself for the future. I haven't even checked in to my flight home and I'm already getting knots in my shoulders at the thought of planning my next trip here, because honestly, I do feel like I belong here- not always, not forever, but definitely in some way. I think that's a gift Africa gives you- once you've placed your eyes on what can be done, it's impossible to turn your heart away.

More soon
Love,
Carly