i.HUG

Overstaffed?

2008-04-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Our school is small by anyone's standards. Only 42 children are enrolled yet we employ 8 full time staff and 3 part-time. Our paid staff include day-time and night-time guards, teachers, cooks, cleaners and a home-school liaison officer. We also have a robust volunteer program in which locals and people from the UK and USA offer their time to improve the school and the childrenâ€™s learning experiences.

You could be excused for thinking we are over-staffed. However, as always, even this is a question of relativity. One factor that I had not taken into account when we employed our staff was the issue of health. Whilst typing this I am aware that today I need to teach a full-time table. Why? The reason is because our head cook is off suffering with malaria and an infection in her finger, one of our teachers is also off with malaria. In addition 7 of our 42 children were absent from school yesterday because of malaria. This is not all. Nearly all of our staff and about 80% of our children suffer from serious tooth problems â€“ decay, cavities, infected gums.

Today the bursar was supposed to meet with the cook to discuss ways to reduce our spending on food. Food prices have shot up and so the task of reducing expenses whilst ensuring we do not reduce on portion sizes (some of our children eat only one meal a day â€“ at school). The bursar/head cook meeting has been postponed twice and today looks like it will be the third time. The first time because the bursarâ€™s mother was in a coma, the second time because the bursar was admitted into hospital and put on IV treatment for a throat problem (the doctors did not give him a diagnosis and simply give him 5 injections and 2 drips as well as a course of anti-biotics â€“ this â€˜wrongâ€™ treatment cost him more than his months wages).

So we who are holding the fort make up a bizarre looking band of not so merry men and women. There is the guard who has a terrible tooth-ache; the teaching assistant who has malaria but cannot afford to go to the doctors; the other qualified teacher is 7 months pregnant and getting heavier, bigger and more tired with every day that passes. I am suffering from itchy eyes and a snotty nose due to dust allergy â€“ not such a problem in the face of malaria. This leaves us with the cleaner, the part-time kitchen assistant and Tom, the volunteer from England who can say they are physically at their best. Overstaffed? It doesnâ€™t feel like it today.

I hope the pregnant teacher does not catch malaria because if she does that would be a casualty of two.

So today, despite the fact that my time here in Uganda is indefinite due to my husbandâ€™s employment there is no time for administration duties, detailed lesson planning, policy-making, responding to emails, report writing, managing the staff in a meaningful way or making resources for the students.

The sad fact is today there is no time for the children.

No time to talk to them about their lives. No time to laugh and play with them and marvel that children all over the world have a magical capacity to find joy and awe in the small things. No time to talk about their very real and often deep hurts â€“ both physical and emotional.

No.

Today is about basic needs. Today is about hoping that everyone survives so that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will all be fit and healthy and strong. And when we are, maybe then we can move a rung up Maslowâ€™s hierarchy of needs.

The problem is hope is an inexact science.

For real development â€“ development of the school, development of the staff, development of the children we need to move towards better probabilities of good health and away from the hope of a possibility that we will survive this malaria season. None of us at this school forget the day that one of our studentâ€™s sister died of malaria. Malaria is as common as a common cold but can be as deadly as death.

Todayâ€™s pressing question is not one concerning being over-staffed or understaffed it is a question health. It is a question of survival.

Holiday Party

2007-12-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

Each year, Pastor Paddy holds a party in Kabalagala for all the children--i.HUG's kids, older kids, any of the kids, in fact, in need. This year, we donated toward the small children's party. And the results speak for themselves.

UCC Rocks!

2007-12-14T05:07:00.001-08:00

A shout out to the Union County College of New Jersey for their generous donation. Coming after a talk at the school, the student and teachers group raised $300 to benefit the children of i.HUG

Lobbying for i.HUG

2007-11-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

i.HUGgers working hard to help the community in Kabalagala, Uganda. Check out Jessica, an employee of Lyon-Heart advertising agency, volunteering to sell i.HUG's greeting cards at the News Building on 42nd Street. To purchase these cards, click here: www.ihugfoundation.org.

the hard lesson

2007-10-04T20:32:00.001-07:00

I am here in Uganda. I am with children who are happy - so happy, at
least some of the time. But life here is unmistakably tragic. Tragic
and beautiful. Beautiful and devastating. It seems that life is
beyond our control - out of our control. Like the floods that ravaged
the harvest in Eastern Uganda last week. We wait and see what destiny
has in store for us - whether it will save us or spoil us.

One of the street children I teach ran away last week. We scoured the
streets. Instead of finding him I found over 400 other street people -
newly born babies, toddlers, retired men in search of the government
pension they had been promised, refugees, people in exile, mothers
with daughters, abandoned children, orphans.

After some days we found him in a disused house that was home to drug
addicts, drug dealers and street children. A pit. He was out of his
head. How old is he? His height tells me he is 10 but his hands tell
me he is a very old man. I don't know his age - neither does he. He
is the child of parents who fled the genocide in Rwanda. Uganda was a
safe haven. Except it wasn't. AIDS kills without borders. They died
in a foreign country leaving behind two children with no extended
family to take these children on.

The boy was so small when he became an orphan. His sister was forced
into a marriage with a man many years her senior - she was around 13
when she married - a child bride. Her husband, an alcoholic beat her
senseless on a daily basis. She finally left, taking her two small
babies and became a prostitute.

Meanwhile the boy was given to an old Rwandese lady who had no family
or children - she had been a coffee farmer in her youth and was
relatively wealthy. But with no pension, her wealth ran out and she
was left in the hands of poverty. A good woman but old. So old. The
boy was her carer - collecting water from the stream, cooking,
cleaning. At the same time he got sexually and physically abused by
the neighbour. It was then that he began running away. The old woman
died. He had nowhere to run from and nowhere to run to.

After some running he came and lived with me. He didn't run away
until the day I had to say goodbye and had to leave. Then he ran.
And he has kept on running since. What was an act of courage and
survival became a destructive habit. Living on the streets makes the
young die when they are old. A 10 year old, old man dying on the
streets. The streets make men out of boys. It robs children of their
childhood. It happens every day, every second. All over the world.

So when we found him he was out of his head. Not on drugs, just from
sheer exhaustion of fighting and picking through the scrap on the
streets and having no food and being dehydrated. He is with me now.
He sleeps in the classroom at the school until his new room is fixed
up. He will be staying with 5 other ex-street children. Will it last?
Can he break the habit of running to the dangerous yet familiar
streets? I don't know. I can't think anymore.

I love him.

I want his life to be restored but I know it can't be what it should
be. The hand he was dealt is really too much to bear, For him and for
those around him.

And I have learnt. He is my teacher and he has taught me that I need
to engage with pain. It is a principle that threads and weaves itself
through my life. When I attempt to ignore pain and suffering then I
help no one. If I turn my face away from pain I will also limit what
I see of joy. I don't know why or how but they are inextricably
linked. He has taught me that too.

from jane: first day, third term

2007-09-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

There is a verse in the bible which talks about
> 'mourning with those who mourn' and 'weeping with
> those who weep' and 'dancing with those who dance.'
> In essence that is what I feel my job involves. My
> job at its best that is. Today, the children who
> came back to school had lost weight, were sick and
> were so so so sad. It was totally depressing to be
> around them. They were dejected. So, we talked
> about it. What made them sad - some were sick,
> Promise's sister had been badly burnt in the
> holidays, Pingu had been burnt. We talked and
> talked and then after acknowledging and allowing
> them to feel the way they felt we could make room
> for other feelings. Some were still sad the whole
> day but some of them had some space to feel
> something else. So, we all hugged. Stupid isn't
> it. But we hugged
> each other and said 'I am so glad to see
> you.' And then there were a few smiles. They
> knew. They knew that I really am glad to see them.
> And that their friends are really glad to see them.
> No matter how sad they are, no matter how sick they
> are, there is a place which has people in it who
> want to hug them, who want to hear about their pain,
> who want to share their joy and who are glad to see
> them.

Galleria de la Kabalagala

2007-09-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

Bidders please stand in line.

Jacky and her Mango tree clinics

2007-09-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

This photo is from the village in Mbarara where I do ‘under the Mango tree’ type clinics when I am up-country. This wee child had a colostomy made when he was born which should have been corrected when he was one year old. He is now three, nothing has been done, the mum has no idea of how to look after him and just ties a filthy rag around it. Weird looking colostomy.

I have managed to get a company in NZ to supply some colostomy bags and am giving the mum some education on how to care for the child while I investigate the possibility of corrective surgery.

Well I could go on, but there are just so many cases everywhere that need attention often through mismanagement by the medical profession. When and if you get a community clinic started it will be inundated with all kinds of people who desperately need help. I think there will be need for paying clients to cover the costs of the poor and still be able to make a profit.

Nurse Jacky, and the KCA Clinic

2007-09-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

You just have to meet Nurse Jacky.

I first met her when I went to Uganda, back in June. Jacky has single-handedly changed the healthcare of our kids at the school. Her recent donation of an exam table, cabinet, etc., turned our spare room into a clinic. The work of one person...that is how our clinic was born! These photos show you how all this work is starting...

Jackie has also taken to giving home visits. "This has helped the parents have more confidence in what is being done for the kids at school in the clinic and they are grateful for the medication and the treatment for their wounds etc.," says Jacky "Often other neighbours come with their own little problems too. Sometimes over the weekends I have done dressings sitting outside their homes on the dirt! Very sterile I must say."

On clinic days, the children line up to see Nurse Jacky. And since she is a wound specialist, she is able to prevent infections before they start.

thank you, Jacky, for the work that you do. I hope you are sleeping soundly somewhere tonight.

Open Day 2007

2007-07-07T05:38:00.001-07:00

The day before I left Uganda, Kabalagala Community Academy had its first Open Day. (What's Open Day?, you may ask. Well, it's like a Speech Day, only less boring.) All the i.HUG kids—even the ones that attend other schools—as well as parents and guardians and the local counselman and village elders came out for the event. We consider Open Day a way to officially invite the community in, and show them what we do.

The kids had been practicing so hard all week for the big event: there were five or six songs to be sung, to be danced to, and skills like spelling and match to be showed off. I had butterflies in my stomach for them (although grateful for the water in the jerry can at home—the water had been cut and I really wanted to be showered for the event!)

The chairs arrived in the nick of time, and the seats began to fill. Showtime!!!!

As most events do, it began with the Ugandan national anthem, and then our KCA visitors song. As the day wore on, I realized I hadn’t stopped smiling in hours—the kids were so adorable, so earnest and excited. And when the power cut on and off, on and off due to problems with the equipment, Ronald and Dennis jumped in like a comedy act and kept everyone entertained.

There were also several speeches throughout the day—from myself, from Jane, Pastor Paddy, and a representative from the parents. I was particularly touched by that last one, when a parent spoke to me directly and thanked me for my efforts. And then I was showered with presents like beautiful hand woven mats banana fiber bags (jealous?) The parents and guardians are so grateful for the school, and for the help they receive with the children. So, if you’re reading this, please feel it…I’m passing it all along to you.

--joanna

HIV Care for Kids

2007-06-17T03:45:00.000-07:00

There’s a doctor in Kampala named Dr. Peter Mugyenyi. His story is so interesting, I could listen to him for hours: Some years back, before many HIV drugs were registered in this country, he began illegally importing them and treating patients. He would drive to the airport at night and load up his car, and when beaurocrats would tell him that Uganda didn’t have enough “infrastructure” to treat AIDS patients, he sent up tents outside his office where this treatment could take place. In my eyes, that’s what it means to be a hero.

I met with Dr. Mugyenyi this past week, and he said that his clinic would begin free HIV testing and treatment for our students under the PEPFAR grant. This would most likely take place in a satellite hospital that Dr. Mugyenyi has partnered with, called Nsambya Hospital, which is close to the place where we work. This was such good news—HIV care is out of the realm of our students, and even most of the community we serve. I am now moving this forward slowly with paperwork, so please keep your fingers crossed that it comes to fruition.

Of course, free HIV/AIDS care is only half the battle. We have to learn how to educate and sensitize the parents, the students, and the rest of the community to this issue, as well as set policies and procedures regarding privacy, among other issues. Not to mention raising the money for the transport costs—if everything does work out—to Nsambya. But we are moving ahead with this big dream, and I’ll have a chance to at least meet with some HIV counselors and others to begin outlining a plan.

Mazlo’s hierarchy of needs

2007-06-13T05:15:00.000-07:00

When you’re concerned with basic needs, it’s hard to think beyond that. And for the last few days in our house, we’ve been almost entirely consumed of thinking of our basic needs. With frequent water and power outages, we’re had to really worry about whether we’ll have enough water to drink and how we’re going to cook our meal—and even if we’ll even be able to see what we’re eating.

Yet, we are amongst the most fortunate ones in Kampala. Most of our students don’t have access to running water, which means that much of their day revolves around the process of ensuring their basic needs of food and water are met. (Indeed, few things are child sized here, but you can always find child sized jerry cans to carry water.)

For us, it means that, in Uganda, even when you have money, sometimes you still lack. We have the money to pay for electricity, but we don’t have electricity all the time. But for the children in our project who don’t have access to money, they are doubly disadvantaged.

Joanna's first day of school

2007-06-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

President Joanna...that's what the kids call me here. I stood outside the school yesterday morning to greet them, alongside Teacher Jane, Teacher Simon, and Teacher Joel (our stellar volunteer).

I've been in Uganda for two days now, and slowly, slowly...the benefit of our work is starting to seep in.

As for Kabalagala Community Academy, it is more full of love, of learning, and of progress than I could have ever imagined. The kids start their day by pitching in with the chores: this morning I arrived to find them sweeping the walkway, picking up rocks, and walking the biodegradable trash--like banana peels--over to the compost heap. Everything is used and recycled and nothing is to be wasted ever.

Yesterday, I sat in on Teacher Jane's class, where the P1 kids were learning about sentence structure like subjects and verbs. Joel pitched in, translating into Luganda for the kids who were a bit behind. I saw with several other children, talking to them about what they like about school (football games, getting fed, and no beatings like in other schools).

Teacher Simon and I sat and talked a lot over lunch, and I am quite impressed with him. He helps make our strategy real: of immediate care, like the food, as well as education to learn. It is a problem because, for many of our students, the only time they ever eat is at school, making weekends extremely difficult. The students were so good at lunch, sitting fairly quietly and eating...what they didn't finish, they passed along to other students to eat.

But by far, the best time of day is the last period, which includes singing, dancing, and storytime. The older kids beat African drums while Ronald led the kids in many many songs! They are so adorable, and so sweet....and really, so worth it.

It's true what jane says about KCA being somewhat of a fairy tale.

For me, personally, I was quite moved to see how much community participation is evident there. When we were first designing our project proposal, people told us that no one would volunteer--that people are too poor and taken with their own lives. That has not been the case and in fact, we have quite a robust volunteer program. One benefit is a free meal at lunchtime, but even with that, the volunteers are quite engaged and very helpful. KCA just started a parents club as well, and we will see how that goes.

After school it was off with Ronald and Jeani, our fabulous volunteer from California, to visit the i.HUG kids who attend other schools. We spent much time in the slum--which had grown to a whopping 28,000 people since I was last here in 2004--and had a chance to visit the children in their homes.

I pause and stop, because there really are no words. The living conditions are so poor, the water so dirty, the children in many cases left on their own...It is very hard to bear. I gave out many toothbrushes and toothpaste to children we saw there, who were very grateful--bowing and kissing hands and things like that. Truly, the need was so vast.

For the kids in our program, you can see what an opportunity it is to go to school, and escape their lives which are mostly filled with work. I was quite impressed with the network Ronald had set up--things like parent advocates at one school to ensure the i.HUG kids were getting fed (what sponsors pay for) and to protect them from caning.

I am back to school shortly--if I can find my way through the twisty dirt roads back from the Internet cafe. Tonight, Jane is having a staff party at her house, and looking forward to spending more time with them.

over and out for now!

Week 3 in Uganda

2007-06-01T02:24:00.000-07:00

The children continue to amaze me. I am slowly learning about their stories – their backgrounds, family life, personalities, hobbies, struggles etc. I will soon be visiting some of the children’s home so I am sure I will have many stories to share.

In my blog entry this week I would like to tell you about one of our wonderful volunteers. His name is Joel. He’s a 20 year old young man whose parents both died when he was very young and was raised by an aunt in Entebbe, Uganda. After living with her for several years he moved to the Kabalagala area to live with his cousin and her three children. Throughout his growing up years his cousin struggled and worked extremely hard to pay for all the children’s school fees, put food on the table, and pay rent. Joel worked extremely hard throughout school and he finally just finished high school a few months ago. Attending a university is a huge goal of his but currently the expenses are too great for his family. So Joel graces us with his presence five days a week for the entire school day and he does this all for free. His dedication to these children and passion for teaching is amazing. A good portion of his day is in the classroom translating Jane’s teaching as most of the children are just starting to learn English.

A few evenings ago, Joel invited Jane and me into his home he shares with his cousin and her family. They prepared a wonderful traditional Ugandan meal for us to thank Jane profusely for everything she has done for Joel. While volunteering at the school has provided Joel with excellent teaching experience, I also think the ‘thank you’ needs to be extended the other way because Joel has demonstrated day-after-day that he is dedicated to teaching children, enriching their lives, and providing them with someone they can all strive to be someday.

One day Joel hopes he will have the opportunity to attend a university and become a teacher!!

Jeani sets out for her volunteer trip in Uganda

2007-05-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

My journey to Uganda began two weeks ago and the time is already flying by. I spent the first week acclimating to my new surroundings, meeting so many people, adjusting to the interesting bugs, power cuts, and being called a â€˜Muzunguâ€™(a white person), visiting a nearby village, and what I surprisingly found most challenging was learning how to sleep under a mosquito net. Jane did an excellent job of showing me around Kabalagala and the Kampala area. I sometimes feel as though Jane is the town major. Everywhere we go people want to speak with and embrace her. Everyone that she has introduced me to, whether they are involved in the school, church, internet cafÃ©, or just someone she passes by every day on her way to school, has been so welcoming and friendly.

After a week of adjusting to life in this beautiful country it is finally time for the second term of school to begin. The twenty-seven children that make up Kabalagala Community Academy and I have something in common. We are all eager and enthusiastic to begin this journey of learning together. While they will be learning subjects like math and reading they will be teaching me so much about themselves and myself, about life in Uganda, and the hardships they all face. As I sit in the school office writing this all I can hear are the sounds of happy children playing and singing outside during their lunch break. I have already discovered that these children are so grateful for the little they have and the opportunity they have been given to receive an excellent education.

2007-05-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is the type of kids I want to see: healthy, happy, confident, dressed for school. That is the difference i.HUG is making on the ground in Uganda.

Jane settles in

All in a row...

Everybody pitches in to help.

2007-05-10T19:08:00.001-07:00

been in hospital all of yesterday evening and all of today with Eric, the youngest who has severe malaria and has been on 4 drips throughout the course of today and yesterday. Feeling very protective of his tiny body.

Smile, please!

2007-05-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

On my recent trip to Uganda I went to Kabalagala Community Academy. Whilst I was there, so many things about the children struck me—one of them were their smiles.

Many of these children were under the age of seven, and had a mouth full of brown and rotting teeth. The ones that I noticed were the ones whose teeth were missing, discoloured or damaged. But as far as I know, the children who were fortunate enough to still have a bright white smile may have been having rotten teeth at the back.

Most of the children had very little sugar in their diet, and most of them did not have toothbrushes and toothpaste at home. One child whose parents tried to encourage him to brush his teeth was given soap to put on his toothbrush! The issue seemed to be both a financial and an educational one.

I mentioned my concerns in an I-HUG committee meeting and within a week I-HUG have been inundated with excellent quality children’s toothbrushes (which are hard to find in Uganda) and, toothpaste. With these supplies and the commitment from the school to teach and promote oral hygiene within the school day much will be achieved to helping prevent further decay.

I am wondering now if someone knows a dentist who would like to take a trip to Uganda……….
-ruth

Ruth's first trip to Africa...

2007-04-18T19:13:00.001-07:00

My Impressions of Uganda.

I had never been to Africa before- the only one in my family that had resisted.
I, of course, had seen lots of photographs and heard stories about my family’s visits there. Of course these different perspectives and my own pre-conceived notions were different from the reality of Uganda.

I arrived late in the evening to Entebbe airport to be met by my sister Jane, Pastor Paddy and the little girl my sister has been taking care of- Jane. The drive back to Kabalagala in Kampala gave me time to reassess my expectations of the roads in Uganda- I had expected them to be similar to the roads in India with lots of rickshaws and animals mingled in with the traffic- but, in fact, there were only automated vehicles. This is going to be easy I thought, then we took a right turn down to Jane’s house and suddenly the fun began, we were on a dirt road which seemed to last and last!

Mostly the impressions I made of Uganda were made up of the people I met. I had heard about how well behaved children would, but I was overwhelmed when I arrived at the school and every child greeted me and shook my hand. The importance of introductions and greetings became clear to me when whoever I met shook hands with me and inquired how I was and often how were my parents. I soon found out that the inquiries into how I was not restricted to people I was introduced to but were also called out to me by passers by, hawkers, children and shop owners.

I felt that people in Uganda made time for each other. There was not the culture of needing to make appointments to catch up with friends. Sharing each others lives is by no means a superficial act. A great number of the people that I met had fostered or taken in children who would have otherwise been homeless. None of these people with these extended families had huge houses or superfluous money and neither did they boast about their good deeds, it was accepted and understood as a way of life.

The warmth and friendliness of the Ugandan people I met was incredible. After having stayed in Uganda for just under two weeks a number of people came to wave me off to the airport. Whilst the wildlife and scenery that I saw were spectacular the most impressive thing in Uganda that I saw were the people.

2007-04-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this photo of Paddy and his new friend, en route back from Congo, where he works with children of a country ravaged by war.

The next wave of letters arrive...

2007-03-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

This one is one of my favorite! Turning drops of blood into drops of love.

They are visible...just look

2007-03-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

I was speaking with our newest Board Member today, Rwebiita Atucungwiire, who talked a lot about how so many of the poorest people are invisible. And when it comes to children, it is even a bigger problem.

It made me think of our project and what it takes to make children "visible." To make them students. To make them happy.

The only thought that keeps occuring in my mind is, at the very least, we know where to see these children during school hours.

Who Is That Man?

2007-03-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Who is that man you ask?

Why, that's Bill Dicker (aka Jane's dad)!

Bill is planning to cycle the length of Britain to raise money for i.HUG and Fegans Children's Charity. He rides from Lands End in England to John 'O Groats at the tip of Scotland. (My legs are hurting just thinking of it.) The ride is scheduled for late May and he is busy collecting sponsorships.

So what are you waiting for? You couldn't get a more inspiring or scenic ride.

If you're interested in sponsoring a portion of Bill's ride, please send an e-mail to ihug@ihugfoundation.org. Go, Bill Go!

Our goal...

2007-03-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

Our goal: to offer a way for children to be just children. We're already achieving that in some small ways.

Culturally Relevant Tools

2007-02-25T20:32:00.000-08:00

I remember the time Paddy e-mailed me some good news: an organization had donated dolls to children in Kabalagala and outlying villages. But the pictures of the distribution of these dolls told another story--the dolls were white. And to me, looking at those white dolls in a sea of black faces just felt violently wrong.

I know a few of our volunteers felt the same way. So although black dolls are hard to find (donated black dolls, I should say), Jane did a great job of doing so. And when I saw this photo of our project, I felt a little surge of pride. We may be grassroots, but we can provide the toys and tools to our children to make them proud of their heritage.