Agandi!
Greetings from Uganda. Home stays ended this morning (a day earlier than originally planned), and we all made it, in peace, but not in pieces as our Ugandan friends would say. We were all very sad to leave our families, all of whom have been extremely kind and inviting, but we have left with great memories to bring home with us.
Additionally, the Rukungiri Village Fete, the main theme of our journey, took place today; it was a tremendous success. Hundreds of villagers and students filled the Bishop's HS Compound and playing field, and for 4 hours watched our sports, played American games, and enjoyed music and dance performances from both Groton and Bishop's High School groups. The Ugandans competed ferociously in Sack Races, Polish Horseshoes, Volleyball, Speedball, Ultimate Frisbee, Sharks and Minnows, Roofball, and Whooshers; they ate carrot cake, banana bread, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and "Chapatle," our Tex-Mex inspired combination of Ugandan Chapati and Guacamole; and they eagerly watched Mr. Reed's science demos throughout the afternoon.
Around 5:00, we all gathered in the main compound for a closing ceremony, which begun with the national anthems of both our countries, and continued with performances from the Bishop's-Groton Music Dance & Drama club, interspersed with speeches from our trip leaders and Bishop's School officials. Mr. Reed officially presented our gift of textbooks to the headmaster of Bishop's, and Randi presented our collection of athletic equipment to one of the Bishop's faculty members. In closing, the chairman of the Bishops' School board of directors gave his remarks, thanking us for our contribution of time and effort to the village and the school.
Then, after all the speeches were through, we were once more surrounded by our new friends, posing for more photographs and hugging our homestay parents one last time. Finally, a little after 6, we climbed into our taxis and returned at long last to Jim's House, were we eagerly made use of the Western amenities (I never thought I'd get so excited to see a mirror!).
Tomorrow, we will spend our last day at the local Primary School, then formally thank our homestay families at a Fourth of July Barbecue in their honor. Then, on Saturday morning, we begin our 4-day journey home, by way of Kampala and Lake Victoria.
Love from all of us, Angus.

July 2, Wednesday Photos

Greetings from Uganda!!!

Today was the last preparation day before the festival.  We spent the morning with Mbaho and the rest of the Music, Dance, Drama gang.  We started by practicing singing Mbaho’s “Tuna” (true love) song.  He wrote it out for us confirming that “dark nodar” was actually “dark nonald.”  It all makes sense now!  We then had our final rehearsal of the Cotton Eyed Joe and Hannah’s (aka Miley’s) Hoedown Throwdown.  We also practiced the Bishop’s student’s traditional dance.  After MDD we did crafts.  Christina and Randi had cut out a G for Groton and a B for Bishop’s.  While some of us decorated the letters to hang up, everyone else drew the Groton and the Bishop’s campuses with the Bishop’s students.  It was fun to explain to the Bishop’s students what our circle looks like and see how their interpretation came out on paper.  They were all great artists and there was a super cool pic of me doing a bicycle kick on the soccer field!

During the lunch period Amani, Kei, Tyler, and I played “I Win”.  I Win is a game we created similar to dodgeball.  After the Bishop’s students watched us playing they picked up on it and started playing too.  They were a lot better than we were at dodging the ball though.  After lunch Grace, Diva, Caitlyn, and I went back to Jim’s House to cook for the festival.  We baked carrot cake and banana bread with the help of our leader Margaret.  We brought samples back to Bishop’s to share with the other Groton amigos.  It was great to have some food that reminded us of home. 

 

In other news, sports today were the playoffs for the final speedball and Frisbee games.  Amani and I were feeling general weakness so we participated as spectators.  We hung out with Bishop’s students such as Isaac and KG (Sam aka Kevin Garnett).  Mbaho was leading the playoff games wearing his new Groton basketball uniform.  Swaggy!  After a long and productive day we left school for the final night at our homestays.  It was very sad to spend one last night with my family.  We played volley ball with all the neighborhood kids with a small plastic ball and the clothes line.  After volley ball we paid Sunny a visit and watched her Dougie for all of us at her homestay.  My family gave me pictures and a letter to remember them by.  I was very grateful for their generosity.  We are all very excited for the festival tomorrow!

Yours Truly,

Mujungu Marie

Tuesday, July 1

Agandi!

Yesterday and today we followed our regular schedule at the Bishop’s High School preparing for Thursday’s festival through four two-hour long sessions of MDD (Music, Dance, Drama) with Ronald, arts and crafts with Margaret and Christina, games and sports with Randi, and science with Mr. Reed. In addition, we also started painting a classroom along with some of the Bishop’s students. For MDD, we practiced a traditional Ugandan wedding dance, two Ugandan songs (“True Love” and “Jungle”), and some of our own dances. For arts and crafts, we made posters and drawings advertising the festival. For example, yesterday we drew our own houses while the Bishop’s students drew theirs, here in Rukungiri. We also made paper snowflakes which were new to the students here because most of them had never seen snow before. For the next session, we introduced various little games to them such as Duck Duck Goose, Push Catch, and roofball. It was interesting to see how even though there was a language barrier, most kids enjoyed running around and playing competitive games. For sports yesterday, Ronald taught our group netball, which is a combination of basketball and handball. Because netball is a girls-only sport, I stayed back with Mr. Reed to help out with the science club. We constructed batteries out of aluminum foil and charcoal. The S4 students were amazed when we finally got the battery to work which spun a motor.

            After school, we each went back with our homestay buddies to their homes. I decided to play soccer with some of the local kids and my homestay buddy, Levi, and his brother, Nicholas. Every afternoon, there are pickup soccer games at the field where anyone is welcome to join. When it got dark at around 7, Levi, Nicholas, and I went to a local bar where there was a TV to watch the France vs. Nigeria World Cup game. All the benches were packed with people, and they were all cheering for Nigeria, while I had my Paris Saint Germain jacket on (not a good idea!). After the game ended, we went back to Levi’s house where his uncle was making us dinner. Levi’s uncle is a chef at a local restaurant so his food was not much different to JB’s dishes back at Jim’s house. We had fresh chicken stew, potatoes, millet bread, matoke (mashed bananas), rice, and fruits. After dinner, I requested for a bath so they gave me a bucket of warm water. The “bathroom” is a very small room with a drain where you pretty much just bathe by pouring water on yourself from the bucket. It was very strange and awkward for me, and I had difficulties rinsing my hair because of this.

            Since most people don’t have power here, at night it gets very dark. Without a torch, it was hard to tell whether I had my eyes open or closed. I kept waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but they didn’t. But because of this, I could see all the stars and constellations in the night sky which doesn’t usually happen back home.

Orarigye! (Goodnight)

Written by Chris

Some photographs from my 3 day visit

I spent a delightful three days in Rukungiri with team Groton. It was a wonderful experience and both students and faculty are thriving. The place is absolutely stunningly beautiful and it was difficult to leave after such a short time there. I took some photographs with the Global Ed camera and have posted it at the link below. Go into each folder and click  on the first photograph to view as a slide show - navigation at the bottom.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ep7nmps4dkbhhdp/AACNDqN61tagMu4mxjV85Dpma

My first day at Rukungiri was spent at Bishop's school as the two schools prepared for the fete at the end of the trip and then played some sports in the afternoon. While they were playing, I went with the Michael and Lesley - our hosts in Uganda - to visit every homestay as mattresses, pillows and other items were delivered. My second day was at the local primary school, where we played with the kids and our students read to them. At around 5:00 PM on my second day our students departed for their homestays.  My third day was spent mostly in a van as we crossed the border into Congo (see the one group photo that I've taken) saw some wildlife in the southern tip of the rift valley and visited a fishing village on Lake Edward.  If you look carefully the last picture in the fishing village/ rift valley folder has an elephant standing under a tree.

Enjoy!

Nishad

Monday!

Hello all,

Today was another busy day in Rukungiri- we got off to an early start at school with all of the Groton and Bishops students arriving in tandem from different parts of the village after another night of home stays.  We gathered in the staff room for a quick meeting and then got started with the music, dance and drama group after the Bishops students had their weekly announcement period in the school's church.  We learned two Ugandan songs which we will perform the day of the festival which is quickly approaching- our program is leading up to a series of events this Thursday which should be a great time not to mention a fun way to get the entire community involved.  We were initially a little confused when learning the first song because it sounded like the lyrics involved a "tuna" rather than "true love", which was, as it turns out, the song's subject.  It took a few tries before we realized the song wasn't about someone's undying love for a fish but rather their soul-mate.  We got a few good laughs from this!

We had break tea and then from there ran a crafts session which was again in preparation for the fete this week.  During the session we had students pair off and work on both snowflake cutouts which we thought would be a fun activity, as well as representations of home.  Some students portrayed their homes or showed a comparison between school campuses.  Others displayed items that made them think of home or family members.  One boy drew himself singing and playing on the guitar in front of friends.  On the day of the fete we would like to represent the students' interpretations of each others' homes and their respective homes which should be really interesting.

The students also got started on a paint project today.  Mr. Reed got us all going on painting one of the classrooms which was definitely in need of a facelift.  About half of the Groton students got started on it today and so far, progress has been great.  We'll continue rotating people through to get it polished and clean by the end of the week!  Some of the students commented on how many of the Bishops students observed as they painted.  It's something that I have noticed during our time here as well- if there is an activity going on, you will always have someone watching what you are doing.  It's a little strange initially especially when you're not used to an audience!  Over time though you get used to it.  It's nice when those watching can also jump and in and pick up a paint brush or join the game too.

The day wrapped up with lunch followed by a games session that the Groton students planned.  We ran four stations and then rotated through.  Afterwards the girls went up to play net ball which is a popular game here in Rukungiri.  The girls walked over to the primary school pitch up the hill and were immediately followed by a massive cluster of primary school students who came out to watch and cheer them on.  Kei and Tyler also tagged along.  They ended up front and center as the game started with a 5-year-old between them, each holding one of her hands.  As the sports kicked off so did science club with Mr. Reed and three Groton students, Angus, Diva and Sunny, building a battery with the help of a large group of Bishops kids.

A quick update on the home stays: everyone is three nights in and so far so good.  The students are all fairly close to school and some live down the road from each other.  The weekend was a nice time to interact more with the families and get to know some of the extended family members.  In most cases, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the many many cousins live within throwing distance from each other.  Coming from a family spread across North America, I find this so comforting.  I'm jealous!  I love the Ugandan culture of neighbors and family being the same and how people come and go from each others' homes constantly.  I noticed this over the weekend especially.  I went back to stay with my previous host family for a few days.  When I was here two years ago I was matched up with an incredible family who I quickly got attached to (I will always refer to them as my Ugandan family- my home-away-from-home).  It was such a joy for me to see them all again and to have the opportunity to spend time together- something I never thought I would be able to do after my last visit.  It was so special to be there and to adopt the Ugandan way of life for a few days- I love the emphasis on family and community, the willingness to chip in and help with chores and all the singing, dancing and laughter that comes with the onset of every day.  Every night after dinner we would play a couple of pop songs on someone's phone and dance around the living room in the dim light of the torch positioned strategically in the corner of the room.  The home stays are such a unique part of the trip and while everything is so new and different here, I have been so impressed with the students' efforts to jump in and enjoy Ugandan culture.  What better way than to live with a local family?  It has been so exciting to witness each step of the process and I commend everyone for giving it such a concerted effort!  It's not always easy to overcome culture shock and just go for it, but everyone truly has.  We have until the end of the week for home stays and then we'll all be back together again for one last night at Jim's before we move on from Rukungiri.  A few of us were remarking tonight on how fast this week already seems to be moving- it's crazy!  We'll have to make the most of it.

I hope everyone's well at home.  We will keep you updated even throughout this week as the kids finish up their home stays.  Stay tuned for more pictures and blog posts.

Bye for now,

Christina

Another take on Saturday...

Hi friends,

The plan for the first day of our weekend was to drive up to a fishing village on Lake Edward, although I wasn’t sure what to expect. Saturday was also our first day waking up at the home stay. My breakfast consisted of tea and a bean stew with meat. As I was eating, I realized that even if we left at that time (8:00) we would still be late to meet the rest of the group (which was at 8:00). I casually brought up the time, but to my surprise my buddy and her sister just smiled and said, “Yep, we are going to be late!” Alright, no big deal, we would be five to ten minutes late, I thought. However, the time ticked closer to 8:15 and the sisters were still piling more food on their plates. At 8:30, everyone was finally finished. Then my buddy announced, “Now we will bathe!” So, after twenty more minutes, we left to go the school. We were a full hour late, and although I was greeted by many sassy comments from my Groton friends, not a single Bishops student or teacher seemed perturbed. Apparently, many people had only arrived ten minutes prior. One thing I still have not grown accustomed to here is the unhurried and go-with-the-flow attitude of the Ugandans. If I were ten or fifteen minutes late to meet a bus at Groton, it would have already left.

            So, after a stressful start to the morning, we all departed for Lake Edward. The two hour drive left many tired and car-sick; which should probably be accredited to the state of the roads. Picture the surface of mars compressed into a seven-foot wide path (two-ways!). Somehow vehicles always manage to squeeze by each other, but a motorcycle did lightly strike our van. At one point, we stopped in a village twenty minutes from our destination and witnessed a truck haul up a relatively steep road, only to be stopped by a man who jumped out of the passenger side and stuck a log under the tire. Needless to say, driving in the U.S. and driving in Uganda are two different things.

            One of the cool parts of the journey was driving through a national park and seeing a variety of Ugandan wildlife: water buffalos, impalas, baboons, and even an elephant. We stopped at the Congo/Uganda border and crossed over by foot, so all of us have officially been in at least two African countries. To any of those who have read Heart of Darkness: we had a quick look into the Congolese jungle and it is extremely foreboding.

            After the border-crossing, we hopped back in our vans and drove to the restaurant in the fishing village and ate a lunch comprised of your typical Ugandan meal plus some type of fish, which according to those who ate it was very good. Kei Nawa grossed everyone out by eating his fish’s eyeball. “It’s pretty good,” he claimed, but I still think/hope he was joking. Soon after lunch we moved outside to watch a singing and dancing performance by a local group of kids. Although us non-Swahili-speaking folk had absolutely no idea what was being said, this is what I gathered: four drunk men stumble around for a while, find four bird-women, gain sobriety, and engage in a very exuberant and exciting dance. Feet were the instruments of choice but drums and maracas were also being played in the background. Second part of the performance: a tyrannosaurus rex, turtle, and lion are hunted by four poachers who are then taken down in a rather aggressive beating dealt by protectors of the wildlife. Although the whole thing was confusing it was definitely entertaining and impressively performed by kids ranging in age from about 6-20.

            The final leg of the trip was a ten minute pit-stop at Lake Edward. One of the fishers briefly explained the lifestyle/work there. We milled around for a bit, saw some hippos, and jumped back in the vans. Mid-way through our return, the radiator in my car gave out and we were forced to ditch on the side of the road while white smoke filled the air. Unfortunately, it was just water vapor and nothing exploded. There was also a cell-tower across the road from where we broke down, so we were saved ten minutes later. Pretty disappointing that nothing more radical happened.

            We got back to Rukungiri around 6:30 PM, and I think I can speak for everyone by saying we were pretty tired. I ate dinner, chatted with the fam, and headed off to bed.

We are missing all of you! Unfortunately we don’t have to opportunity to get in contact with friends/family while we are at the home stays, but on Friday I’m sure everyone will reach out.

Musinbegye (bye)!

Grace Liggett