The hotel we are staying in didn't have internet access last night, January 22nd, so I am a day behind in this posting. Here's the make-up report.
Sherie and I went separate ways yesterday. She went back to Kanya to continue working on documenting the Kyanja program. Jessica and Deo accompanied Sherie to homes where Sherie took pictures of the children with their guardians. These pictures, together with the individual portraits that were previously taken and drawings the children have done will be compiled into a notebook and added to in the future to show each child’s progress over time. Stories the social workers gather will be added to the notebooks to assist in caring for the children’s welfare.
I was introduced to Ttuba where we repeated the class of the Rights and Responsibilities of Children and began photographing each of the children. We will go back later to do the home visits.
Following the visits to Kyanja and Ttuba, we visited a babies home that was founded in 1958 by the Catholic Church. The home serves up to 30 children from birth to age 6. In addition to the orphaned children, the facility has a day care that is open to the larger community. After age 6, children are transferred to a home for children up to the age of 18. This second home serves a maximum of 100 children and provides both a school and a vocational school. Funding for the vocational school recently ended after 7 years and there is a search for finding new funds. Once a child reaches 18, s/he either goes back to an extended family, college or a trade. It is very challenging for children who have been institutionalized to join society as they are not used to the freedoms to which other children have been accustomed.
Getting to the villages surrounding Kampala is always an adventure. Sherie and I have been treated kindly as we get to ride inside vehicles, but many others ride in the open bed of a pickup. The roads in Kampala are paved, but the roads outside Kampala are red dirt that are prone to potholes and dust. The driver (James or Joshua) will raise his hand to the top of the cab and bang the roof so folks in the truck bed know to expect a large pothole or speed bump. There are so many potholes that it seems he could be playing the drums on the roof at any given time.
Sherie and I went separate ways yesterday. She went back to Kanya to continue working on documenting the Kyanja program. Jessica and Deo accompanied Sherie to homes where Sherie took pictures of the children with their guardians. These pictures, together with the individual portraits that were previously taken and drawings the children have done will be compiled into a notebook and added to in the future to show each child’s progress over time. Stories the social workers gather will be added to the notebooks to assist in caring for the children’s welfare.
I was introduced to Ttuba where we repeated the class of the Rights and Responsibilities of Children and began photographing each of the children. We will go back later to do the home visits.
Following the visits to Kyanja and Ttuba, we visited a babies home that was founded in 1958 by the Catholic Church. The home serves up to 30 children from birth to age 6. In addition to the orphaned children, the facility has a day care that is open to the larger community. After age 6, children are transferred to a home for children up to the age of 18. This second home serves a maximum of 100 children and provides both a school and a vocational school. Funding for the vocational school recently ended after 7 years and there is a search for finding new funds. Once a child reaches 18, s/he either goes back to an extended family, college or a trade. It is very challenging for children who have been institutionalized to join society as they are not used to the freedoms to which other children have been accustomed.
Getting to the villages surrounding Kampala is always an adventure. Sherie and I have been treated kindly as we get to ride inside vehicles, but many others ride in the open bed of a pickup. The roads in Kampala are paved, but the roads outside Kampala are red dirt that are prone to potholes and dust. The driver (James or Joshua) will raise his hand to the top of the cab and bang the roof so folks in the truck bed know to expect a large pothole or speed bump. There are so many potholes that it seems he could be playing the drums on the roof at any given time.
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