What a place! The last week has been nothing short of
outstanding. Each child and person I have met has amazed me and stolen my
heart. I am having trouble even deciding what event to write about, because
every interaction I have had is one that I want to share and remember forever.
These children are remarkable. I have been so lucky to spend most of my time
here with the senior girls and more recently the senior boys. With these kids
as my travel partners and tour guides – from the first day I loved Uganda, and
I loved them. #ugandaloveit has become the title of my trip.
Scoiva and Alpha as my guides from the airport and through
the school the first couple of days was perfect – it felt like a first day or
school for me – I was so excited and a little nervous that the girls would not
like me. But Scovia and Alpha changed that in less than a minute. Grabbing my
hands and introducing me to everyone – I had two new best friends that were
going to be my security blankets for the entire trip. Through these two beautiful
girls, I met the senior girl class, and felt like a part of the clique. Over
the next few days we shared so much – and what I wanted most was to learn about
their plans for the future. And each girl has a plan and a dream. With their
determination and the support of Change the Truth, I can see each of them
reaching their goals.
Having a few days here with some extra time, I wanted to see
Uganda and I wanted to see it while getting to know the kids of SMK better. With
a trip to the beach with Rose, Claire, Evalyn and Rebecca - just a few hours splashing and a soda
or two later, we had plans to teach me a dance, a debate over David Blaine’s ability to breathe underwater,
and a mad dash back to school for a performance.
Scovia and Alpha also were so gracious to accompany me to
Mbale, a 4 hour drive away (which turned into 5), where we visited a Jewish
village, met with the Rabbi and were shown the community. While this was
something special for me, the girls were interested at every minute. We turned
the 7 hours drive home into an excursion of its own – with a stop by the Nile
in Jinja, a couple of tire changes with the awesome Ambrose (driver of the
year) and a late night dinner and photoshoot. The girls heard Rabbi Enosh
showing me his welcome sign, reading
“Shalom” – saying he wishes people to come in peace and leave in peace.
Later in the car the girls asked me about this word – and by the end of the
conversation I had sung them a little song that is a part of my Jewish life called
“Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu” – a song about peace around the world. And today – the
girls had taught ten of the young ones the song and made a dance. The
performance had me in tears. Hearing these girls sing something that meant so
much to me and having them work to teach it to the other children – made my
heart beat so hard that the people sitting next to me could feel it.
#ugandaloveit.
In the past, I
have traveled with the mission of providing health education abroad, most
commonly HIV education. So with the relationship built, and with the
encouragement of Melissa, I gave a few sessions on HIV and health. Each session
was mind blowing – the amount of knowledge and inquisitiveness coming from both the
girls’ sessions and the boys’ sessions were higher than I have ever
experienced. But even though these
conversations are hugely important to have – they served another purpose for me
as well. I got to know the kids even better. After my session with the boys, we
decided to take a trip together like I had been doing with the girls – hang out
and maybe visit a clinic and teach them even more about healthcare and HIV. I
could feel my face light up when they asked me. It gave me the courage to
approach some of them one on one to talk like I have been with the girls,
asking about their future and talking about what they can do to help themselves
reach their goals. And let me just say – this place might be producing some of
the worlds future artists, music producers, journalists and so many more. With
the impact each of these kids had on me – I can imagine the impact they might
have on the world’s stage!
More than one individual has found me on their own to take
me aside and thanked me for talking to them about HIV, or thanked me for just
being here and listening to them – showing me that SMK and CTT have raised
children that are intelligent and grateful.
I have three more days here at SMK, and I can’t believe the
time has gone as fast as it has. I find myself thinking about my next trip
already – hoping to come and see these seniors take the next steps in their
lives and #ugandaloveit.
- Rebecca
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