Hey Everybody!
We can't believe it is already almost June! Where has the time gone!
Things are continuing on here in Uganda. I feel like we aren't posting
as much recently, although I'm sure that's really common for PCVs in
their second year. Life goes on, day to day, and not as much seems as
noteworthy. But, at the same time, we are always trying to live in the
moment here, enjoy the little things, and try to really "suck the
marrow" out of our life here in Uganda. (Anyone love Thorough as much as
I do?!) Time is flying and we know before long we will wonder where
our two years spent in Uganda have gone!
A few updates - today starts the second term here at BPTC. If you
remember last year, around this time, we were forced to send our
students away after receiving only about 66% of the budget needed to run
the college. Well, this year we only received 33% from the Ministry,
so the principals got together and decided to postpone the beginning of
term until more funds came. We thought it would be two weeks or more,
but after only a week delay, the students *should* arrive today! So far
we've only seen two, but we'll remain optimistic until at least
lunchtime :-)
We are excited to get going on another new term! Term 2 at the PTC is
the heavy teaching/extracurricular term. Since there is no school
practice with child study and student teaching, the students are
physically here at the college the entire time. So, it should be a
great term for getting teaching done, having lots of great club
activities, and helping out with other extracurricular (sports and
games, music dance and drama maybe?) like last year.
I'm also very excited to begin/expand a girls empowerment project that
began on a small scale in the girls club I was working with last term.
The project involves teaching about women's health and the creation of
reusable menstrual pads. Since pads are very expensive here, many young
women resort to using uncomfortable, unhygienic options (feathers,
rags, leaves, etc.) rather that purchasing them. Others skip school for
the entire duration of their periods, and still others resort to
selling sex to get money for pads and other necessary items. It's a
little thing that can make a big difference for the girls. So, I'm
using a model a PCV created a couple of years ago to use local materials
to make washable, hygienic and very inexpensive pads. The other
component of the program is education related - teaching about the
menstrual cycle, female anatomy, family planning, and offering a
question and answer session. The idea is that I will lead an example
workshop for the girls at the college, then support them to lead
similar, age appropriate workshops for the upper primary girls they work
with during third term school practice. I'm currently working on the
printing of 280 manuals providing information for leading the
workshops. Next up - buying and cutting materials for 280 reusable pad
"kits." I am very, very excited about the scope and significance of
this project, and will definitely update as the work progresses!
Another neat event we are looking forward to this term is
a collaboration with Silent Voices, a local NGO working with the
parents of deaf children. Ryan and I will be working with them on their
(somehow) annual activity day - a day to bring deaf children from all
over the region of Bushenyi together for a day of fun and games at the
college. I'll be recruiting students to help run games and "make the
day colorful" as they say here, as well as practice what I've been
teaching them the last year in my Special Education classes. Since
students with special needs are often stigmatized and isolated, the day
is a neat chance to bring together children with similar special needs -
to realize that they are not alone, and just have fun! We're hoping to
bring back some of the successful games from the CarniBull we did last
fall, and are really looking forward to it!
And...of course other things will come up, others will delay, and
others won't happen at all! But we're excited for a new term to
start. It's crazy to think that a year ago we were beginning our first
term here at the college. And next year at this time we'll be on the
job hunt back in America! I am thankful every day for this crazy ride
that is the Peace Corps, the adventure of a lifetime with my best
friend. Here goes another term!
Love and miss you all,
~emily~
No comments:
Post a Comment