Greetings from the beautiful West Nile region of Uganda, 2/7/22
We are here!
It has been quite the journey. The process started in early 2021 with the decision to start the school in July. In June, the president closed the borders between the districts (somewhat like counties in the US) which meant that none of the staff or outside Arua district students could be there. We delayed till February, but honestly have held it very loosely expecting to be blocked from coming at any time up until we landed at Entebbe airport.
We had been warned it would take up to 3 hours to go through the mandatory testing lines but were amazed that they were a pretty well oiled machine and we made it through in 2 hours. We met a student from the US at the airport to help her navigate the journey to the far NW point of Uganda to the town of Arua.
The lockdown has been very difficult for the Ugandans. School was out for almost 2 years, the longest school shutdown in the world, with no internet or home schooling during the 2 years off. The kids came back to school in January and were promoted two years. Can you imagine being a teacher with 5th graders who have 3rd grade education and trying to bring them up to level, or 3rd graders who still have yet to learn to read? There is also a teacher shortage and we have heard of up to 120 kids in one classroom. Around 30% of the kids have not returned. The older ones are scrambling to make money to survive. The younger ones are either working for family or the parents don’t have the money for the school fees that have risen dramatically with inflation plaguing the nation. For a country already struggling with their education system, this has been devastating.
School was out for almost 2 years, the longest school shutdown in the world, with no internet or home schooling during the 2 years off.
Our first shopping trip in Arua to set up our apartment was its usual chaos. The new market opened just last week which is quite nice being new and clean! Some of the vendors didn’t want to move from the old outside market so the city brought in bulldozers…. they moved. I sort of miss the craziness of the old market with the crowded stalls and narrow dirt paths, but I will really appreciate not having to slog through the mud and muck to do my vegetable shopping in the rainy season. We found the ‘muzungu’ alley in the new market and got a variety of veggies that Ugandans don’t usually eat. Surprisingly, prices in the market were about the same as we had paid two years ago. Our favorite South Sudanese bread maker is still in business! Yay! Shopped in the small supermarkets for other goods, and prices have jumped by 10-20%. Ugh.
The reunion with our friends here has filled a hole in our soul that we didn’t realize was so empty. We have 5 guys returning to help us with this school as staff and several others will join us for specific weeks of teaching. Three of the full time staff have married since the last school and two have babies. To share meals with them, hear their stories, share in the laughter and teasing, and see their dedication and passion to impact more students to see generational transformation happen has been so satisfying to hear and share in. They are amazing and inspiring and are sacrificing much to be here. We are honored and grateful that we have these young men to work with.
Our school starts this week. This school has been a very different journey for us. We had over 20 coming in July, but for one reason or another they have dropped away or have disappeared. Now more are contacting us but commitment and applications have been hard to obtain. It has been a battle for our staff to communicate with potential students, get applications filled and have details set. We have met and prayed and worked and strategized and prayed more. Gene had a picture of a banquet table set and ready and we are ready to feast, just waiting for the guests. Orientation begins tomorrow, but we expect we really won’t know how many students we will have until the following week. It makes things hard to plan, but the staff is flexible and working with it well. A bit more challenging for Gene and I.
Please pray:
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For the right students to come, commit and fully engage in the school and for Gene and I to be patient in the process that, to us, makes little sense.
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For us to sleep. A challenging bed, disco that goes till 2-3am, the roosters that start at 4:30, the Muslims that start their prayers at 5 all make for very interrupted sleep! We will adjust, just need the grace to get through the adjustment period!
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For our staff and their families. Buroha – newly married to Angel who is just learning English. Charles- married with 5 kids, Julius- married with a new baby and wife Franca being a student in the school, Martin – married to Nora with 1 child but Nora is in University in the central part of Uganda so is not with us, and Steven who is our bachelor.
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Health for us all.
Gretchen and Gene