Email 9/18/08

We arrived in Uganda while school was on break - we are nowexperiencing our first full week of "school in session" - my firstreactions...remember I'm a MOM!

NOW THAT SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION…

Now that school is back in session, lunchtime traffic on the road toKicuna has taken on a totally different personality. No longer am Iworried about our car getting hit by one of the large trucks careeningdown the dirt road, a road mounded so high in the middle for drainagethat no two cars of any size can properly pass each other – no, now Iam worried that our car, or a racing boda boda, or a bike loaded withcargo of all sorts will hit one of the school children walking homefor lunch! Pupils of every age casually stroll along the side of theroad, balancing themselves so they don't tilt too much on the angle tothe ditch, P3 and older heading home for lunch and P1 and P2 headedhome for the day. They are tall, they are short, in skirts and inpants, walking quietly alone or in chatty clusters, all shiny in theirblue or green or red uniforms and prime targets for a driver thatlooks away from the road for just a moment. I am horrified each timeI make the drive at this time of day. I carry enough fear for all ofthem – they are oblivious to the threat.

Add to this concern another one for the students – many don't headhome until 6:00 or 6:30 from school and arrive home barely by dark.They thankfully move in packs of 3 or more, rarely alone at this timeof day, and I take comfort in the fact that together they present atleast an appearance of safety. But then we wonder…how do they dotheir homework if they get home after dark? Do they huddle in thechill of the night by a lantern or a candle and try to read theirbooks and write their papers? Or do they go home and do daily chores,trading precious study time for necessary work of fetching water ordigging in the garden? Without light, without a desk and chair,without a room where they can quietly sit and concentrate…how do theybecome a student?

Now let's add to that the fact that many of them must leave theirhomes by 6:00 AM to arrive at their schools, a mere 5 kilometers fromhome, for a 7:30 class. This time of day we have not experienced yet,as it is not light until around 6:45 and we do not go outside our gatewithout the safety of daylight– which points directly to the fact thatthese young students are finding their way in the dark down dirtroads, over narrow paths through banana plantations, down steep hillsand around sharp corners. There are no "yellow dogs" to transportthem and very few cars at home to car pool with the neighbors…I jest.Bob and I constantly find ourselves confronted with daily routines andactivities which defy logic – sending an 8 year old off into the darkhours of the morning – how did he even find his clothes to put them onwhen he had no light at home? And another question we have…when theywalk home in the rain, how do they get their school uniforms dry forthe next day? Do they stop on the side of the road under a tree or averanda, delayed even more by the rain, and arrive home dry, but at8:00PM? There is no washing machine and dryer in the laundry room…andno money to buy two uniforms, only one. We have lots to learn abouttheir ingenuity…or possibly the quiet acceptance of pulling on a wetsweater at 5:45 AM and hoping it is not raining again on the way toschool.

We hear that students do get hit, that accidents do happen, thatsometimes the headlines describe untimely deaths. We read articlesfrequently in the newspaper which bemoan the fact that Ugandansfrequently face death on their precarious highways. If adult driverswho have been trained to look both ways before moving are taking eachother out, how much more are innocent and unprotected students goinghome for lunch at risk?

At risk or not on the busy roads of Uganda, most students of all agesfind school a haven. We are beginning to think that they truly haveit all figured out…what is a little danger on the road when the wholeworld lies ahead of you if you find your way to the university…andsurvive long enough to leave your poverty behind?