Greetings and Appreciation

Greetings and Appreciation

From the day of arrival to the departure phone calls received at the airport, all speeches and messages contain a multitude of thanks and words of appreciation to the US Board members, to ATS families and all of the sponsors, donors and friends who have made all of AAH possible for Bumwalukani village residents. Words of thanks and appreciation are given to me by individual students from P1 through the most inspired S3 students, AAH teachers and staff, AAH parents, PTA board members, all kinds of folks in all different capacities at the Bududa District level, Members of Parliament and Ministers, families I know from the school, village folks that I don’t know, church people and even people I interacted with in Mbale knew of Arlington way out in rural Bududa. All say that Arlington has put Bududa on the map (and lifted it out of the cellar for PLE results and the number of Division 1 scorers.)

Ugandans in general are incredibly polite and formal in their speaking at meetings, in other official functions and gatherings and even some of their conversations. There are always several moments of introductions at an event (even if we already know everyone) and then there are the words of appreciation. If I were to stand and begin with thanking them for coming to a meeting or mentioning a particularly well done task, the next and all subsequent speakers would respond in their remarks by thanking me for appreciating (their effort)! Even if I tell a teacher, well done for the lesson, they would begin to thank me for appreciating. It seems to go back and forth with thank you for appreciating a few more times than necessary….

The 2008 PLE class had a small graduation ceremony on February 7. It was fun to see them out of uniform and in all stages of Ugandan dress- some modern and some traditional. We had a procession of students carrying a candle symbolizing their light of hope.


When I spoke to the assembled parents and students, and announced the conditions and requirements for receiving and continuing scholarship aid to most students in varying amounts, I am sure that you could hear the shrill cries and screams of joy along with the ululating songs and clapping. Please know that all students are extremely happy to be able to continue their quest for knowledge. James Nabitawo, the director reminded them of their responsibility to work hard and take advantage of this incredible gift of hope which they have received. (A generous gift for each new S1 student from the director and his wife was a pair of roundtrip tickets to Kampala on the Elgon Flyer.) This is truly a wonderful gift which enables some of the students to travel more easily to their secondary schools. In between the speeches, we had numerous selections of welcome and classic songs, while the final musical number of the afternoon was a traditional costumed dance of Uganda. Our students are natural musicians and actors- give them a stage and they will produce entertainment for all.

Again, I can not emphasize enough the number of parents and students who asked me to convey their thanks and appreciation back to you. Students have now been away at secondary school for more than a month. Catherine and I visited 9 secondary schools and more than 75 of our secondary students and found every single student adjusting to the rigors of being away from the village. They miss home, especially AAH, were thrilled with the small amount of pocket money we gave them, but they are indeed concentrating on one thing- study and the next hope in their young lives. They are without a doubt the shining stars and hope for Uganda’s future.




In leaving the village, I have received greetings for almost everyone in the United States it seems, for that is the way they talk. Greet for me everyone in Arlington. Greet for me everyone in Maine. Greet for me my sponsor. Greet for me Uncle John. So to feel that I have conveyed these greetings to the intended, please know that if you are reading this, you too have been greeted and your contributions large or small have been appreciated. Mulembe and wanyale nabi nabi!

School Day at Arlington Academy of Hope

Arlington Academy of Hope
Bumwalukani, Uganda

The progress at the school which I have been able to observe over my five visits is phenomenal. There are some very confident boys and girls at AAH. They are all speaking in English with much greater confidence. Our students speak only English throughout the day and chastise each other if they slip into Lugisu. AAH students present themselves as clean and smartly dressed students who are still respectful of adults and authority. Their curiosity about the world beyond Bududa is ever increasing. Their love and enjoyment from books is evident. I wish all of you who are sponsors could meet face to face with your child. You truly are giving these children a chance and hope for their future. You can not imagine how grateful those families are.

The first lessons begin at 7:30. On Monday and Friday, that means the start of the marching and drilling at the assembly in the school compound. Tr. Godfrey is in charge of this and gets the children going in great form. He is a highly energetic teacher who treats the children with respect and they enjoy his fun approach to everything. Assemblies usually consist of announcements, praising songs, and a skit or the morning news. Each week a different class is in charge of the program. It’s my favorite part of the day.


Back in the classes by 8:30, the students work with teachers until the morning break time at 10:30. For classes from P3-P7, the classes are in 40 minute blocks and are taught by different teachers who move about to each class. The walls are covered with educational charts and information. Some of these are teacher made and some have been purchased in Uganda or sent from the U.S. Most teaching is done in a lecture form where the teacher talks for a while and then either puts a practice exercise on the board or passes out textbooks for copying information or an exercise. They write in exercise books which are somewhat like the blue books I used in college. They have 48 or 96 pages and whatever is copied becomes the student’s resource to learn the information. While studying they say they are “revising their books.” For the most part, texts are not taken home. These books are usually blue-gray and were covered with tan book covers. An exciting development this year is that the largest supplier of these has put a photo of the U.S. President on the cover. Another edition has the whole Obama family. Now on the back of each cover are the words, YES WE CAN!!! Pretty motivating stuff.

At 10:30 all students file towards the kitchen and receive a plastic cup of hot porridge (drinkable) and a mondazi, chapatti, banana or other small food snack. When they are finished, children return and wash their cups and then are free to play. Teachers go for tea and visit and talk among themselves until the bell rings at 11. The bell ringer is always a student who keeps very close track of the time. There’s a warning bell 5 minutes before they need to be back seated in the class. All students do this without teacher guidance.

Classes continue from 11 until 1pm. At this time the P1 and P2 students are dismissed to go home. They usually walk in groups until children veer off at the path which leads to their home. Some students have an hour of walking with or without company before reaching home.
The upper classes are dismissed and again go to the kitchen, this time for a wide plastic bowl of posho and beans (rice on Friday). It is the unofficial lunch/food for all Ugandan schools. The posho is made of maize which is cooked to the consistency of Cream of Wheat. Students use their hands to dip the posho into the beans and sauce. No food is wasted and once again the students return to the kitchen to wash the bowl. The rest of the hour is for resting, running, revising, reading or playing. Classes resume at 2 and continue until 4:40. Special classes for music, PE and library are an included part of a student’s week. When the final bell rings, classes are dismissed as the teacher excuses them (not necessarily the moment the bell rings). Students often linger about the school compound visiting with friends or playing a bit. They absolutely love being at school.

I think there is also something about the fact that once they get home, they will be enlisted to assist with the family chores! These chores might include, grazing their animals, fetching water, sweeping the compound, washing their uniform, collecting firewood, collecting grass for the animals, digging, or washing plates. It seems that there are always many things to do and there is a limited time of daylight to accomplish all. Most houses do not have electricity so students do their studying by candle or lantern light.

Through out the day, I do not hear complaining or whining. I do not hear attitudes of indifference or noncompliance. I have seen very few children cry. I have seen many children comfort and come to the support of another child-whatever the age. The school is like their home and they are part of a group. In Uganda, rather than being an alum, you are an OB or an OG, Old Boy or Old Girl if you have attended the same school. In visiting each secondary school during this trip, there is a noticeable bond between the S1, S2 and S3 students who are in each school. They are OBs and OGs of Arlington. Upon arrival at each school which we visited, we identified ourselves and most administrators immediately knew who our students were and simply said they would get the Arlington students for us. They complimented them for their seriousness of purpose, their study habits and for their preparation. Administrators asked us what our secret was to have produced such outstanding students from such a rural area.

AAH has been a unique development in this region of Uganda. Some of the keys to our success have to be: (1)hard working and dedicated teachers and staff, a visionary headmaster all of whom are at school and working from 7:30 until 5:00 every day, (2) feeding our students twice a day, (3) giving our students the uniforms and scholastic materials they need, (4) introducing our school to the culture of reading. On the North American side, we have been fortunate to have a very close relationship and the huge support of the Arlington Traditional School in Arlington, Virginia. We have a tireless group of workers on the US Board. We have received financial support from many hundreds of child sponsors and donors. We have had opportunities for many Americans to visit the village and they come back to enthusiastically spread the word about the program. It seems to all be working and one by one there has been and continues to be a transformation through education in a small, very remote part of eastern Uganda.

Walking to School

Walking to School

Morning arrives quickly in the village. I have mentioned the noises (taxis and poultry cries) but darkness to light also happens in less than 30 minutes. On my walk out to the latrine about 6:40 am (conserving water during the dry season-each flush takes 10 liters and we are paying 200 shillings for each 40 liter jerry can), I can already see students briskly walking to school. Students at our school walk from 5 minutes to 1 hour in order to get to school in time for the 7:30 am lesson. They are not however, the only ones on the road- there are other primary and secondary students, a few “commuters to Mbale” waiting for the next matatu, and people on their way to the water hole or to the market in the next town or to their own plots for digging. Students usually look towards our house and wave if they see us.

For us, we begin our hilly climb between 7:15 and 8:00, depending on the schedule for the day. The trading center of Kikholo is coming to life at that hour and there are many villagers with their wares (including sides of meat, fresh chapatti, bunches of matooke, 50 kg bags of charcoal, etc) for sale. The taxi vans are rumbling along, racing to the next possible passenger only to come to a screeching, dusty stop.

Once we leave Kikholo (where the passable road ends), we are greeted by various choruses of children along the roadside, hidden behind matooke plantations and from fields afar. The voices are at first quiet, and then more confident and then some even become desperate for us to answer their, how are yous? I am fine. Morning and evening we hear: Good morning teacher or Good morning Sir (a telling sign of the level of education). The first groups are milling about the grounds of the local UPE school; they are standing, sitting, chewing on sugar cane or grazing their cows. The next group of 4-5 little ones are out of their house usually engaged in some little activity. All are in various stages of dress and undress depending on their stage of toilet training or the availability of clothing. They are always enthusiastic and organized in their Good mornings and their how are yous and they keep up the chorus until they feel we have answered their individual call. The mother encourages them to greet us. Nearing school we watch the progress of a mother and a few assorted children throughout the month of February as they dig and weed and dig some more to ready their field for sowing as soon as the rains arrive (due any day now). One of her youngest children lingers near the family structure. He usually sees us first, yells a Hiyee and then runs to the other side of the structure and will not stop his frantic waving until we respond or have passed. These greetings keep us moving up the hill, as well as every passing pedestrian wanting to greet us with their spoken English, some Lumasaba and some Swahili. The Ugandans are indeed a friendly people!! After 20 minutes we reach the school and cool down for about 10 minutes before we are ready to greet students in classrooms.

The afternoon walk home is frequently accompanied by some of our students who are happy to tell us about their day or explain certain things along the way. It can be our favorite time of the day, for two reasons. The children are practicing their English and…it’s downhill all the way to the Guest House!

To market, to market...

To market, to market through Bushika we go

Monday is the day for one of the largest markets around here. Other villages have smaller markets through out the week, but Monday is the big day for Bushika. Going through the area is like going to a mall in the Christmas rush. The road is lined with groups of pedestrians on either side transporting items to and from the market.

Catherine and I had agreed to do a teacher training workshop at a local Bududu vocational school. We left the guest house at 8:30 am on a motor bike boda. The boda bodas here used to be all bicycles and the travel was slow and steady. In the past two years, the motorbikes have taken over and so that change has advanced the speed of travel. And now, every village has at least a dozen motor boda bodas waiting to take you wherever you want. We have one driver, Rashid boda that we usually use for short trips. (Another driver we use when we go in a car is also named Rashid, so we must distinguish between the two when speaking of one or the other,) I had forgotten that it was market day and our program was on the other side of this market. Now remember, Catherine and I are both retired teachers and we do stick out here, no matter what we do. So picture these two older women on the back of one motorbike.
There were many people who noticed us after we passed, and we would hear calls of recognition. Much more interesting to us though was the steady parade of people carrying items of all shapes and sizes in hopes of a sale at the market. Most were walking, a few were also traveling by boda and masses of people were riding packed into a truck trying to save some travel time to the market. The scene was like a multi colored ribbon of traffic with so many bright colored fabrics on some as well as the clean, but well worn clothes of mud brown, torn or cut off shirts or pants.

So what did we see along this road?

Cows and goats being led to market,
Bicycles laden with matooke,
Chickens being gripped in one hand and flung back and forth in stride,
Cabbages in plastic bags that used to hold 50 kgs of rice
School Children carrying loads of vegetables to market before they report to school,
Baskets of chickens balanced on the back of the bicycle

Balanced on their heads, we saw
Baskets of tomatoes,
Planks of lumber
Men and women carrying 1-2 bunches of matooke (20-25 kg each)

The main part of a hand sewing machine
(Her friend was carrying the frame with the treadle pedal)
4-5 clay bricks stacked up
Jerry cans filled with 20L of water
Firewood collected and bundled


Elephant grass so thick and long that the carrier’s face and chest were not visible,
Large white bags of onions or other produce,
There were literally hundreds of people on both sides of the road.


Now many of these people were already carrying a child on their back in addition to their marketable goods. Once you get to the market, you will find that although it is overflowing into the road, it is actually very well organized into sections so whatever you are looking for can be found pretty easily.

Such departments include: nails and other hardware, kerosene and other fuels, washing materials-soaps, school uniforms, used clothing, new clothing, freshly butchered meat neatly arranged on large banana leaves, fabrics, sugar cane, basins, school supplies, shoes, kitchen supplies likes pans, plates or silverware, cabbages, greens, tomatoes, more matooke than all of Uganda could use in a year, animals (each kind has its own section where one can look over the potential sale-cows, calves, goats, chickens), Huge trucks are stopped in the middle of the road to load the matooke- they say it’s going to Mbale and or Kenya. We got into one head on situation where we had to back up and reroute ourselves-no use arguing with these big, matooke laden dump truck size trucks.



Rashid did very well to keep us balanced even when he had to walk the boda a bit. We arrived to our destination in plenty of time, did our workshop and then rode the whole route in reverse so we got yet another chance to be the spectacle of the muzungu ladies on the motorcycle. Upon reaching home, we gingerly dismounted, and decided that we had done pretty well on our ride, and that we actually preferred the motor boda to the matatu which holds from 14-26 people. It was certainly more comfortable and we had the fresh air going for us. An hour later, we walked back up the hill to our school. The watchman greeted us at the gate and said, welcome back, I hear you were on a motor boda going through the Bushika market. That’s how fast the news travels!

How Was the Night?

HOW WAS THE NIGHT?

February 19, 2009

The night here is long and dark. The sun sets below our horizon about 710pm and by 730pm we are ensconced in total darkness. By 6am the darkness slowly begins to recede and although by 7am it is light, the sun remains obscured behind the mountain. First greetings from Ugandans in the morning are usually, how was the night? Initially my thoughts have been I think the night was fine, but I now realize that the question is really how did I sleep, did I survive the darkness and the chill of the night air and am I feeling well today?

The night wonders of nature and its beauty are exaggerated in the crispness of the air and sky here in eastern Uganda. The billions of stars are visible in incredible clarity. The Milky Way is prominent. Some familiar constellations are visible such as Orion and the Big Dipper. Venus has been glowing brightly in the eastern sky in early evening. The Southern Cross and the false Southern Cross are seen later in the evening. Our latitude here is about 2 degrees north.

As a month passes, you can really watch the phases of the moon, not only by looking at them in the sky, but by the brightness of the moonlight on the lawn and road. The banana leaves turn a silvery glow as do the roofs which are made from iron sheets. As you can imagine, the full moon light is stunning. One night we watched the moon rise from behind one of the highest mountains here, Nusu. We watched as the glow brightened behind the mountain top, and then as if pushed from below, a white crescent emerged only to be followed by a spectacular full moon. The noises of buzzing or singing insects is everywhere and I think I have heard some spring peeper like sounds. A beautiful background chorus to hear on my way to a pit stop-literally! So what can you say about the wonders of the night sky when asked, how was the night? Quite amazing…

As for the wonders of human nature, there are many answers to, ‘how was the night?’ The guest house where we are staying is situated just off the main street of the village, so without choice we see and hear a steady stream of pedestrian, animal and vehicular traffic. In addition to people of all ages this line of traffic may at any time of day or night include cows, goats, an occasional bull, bicycle bodas, motorcycle bodas, matatus, a rare private car or the giant of all, a blue construction truck barreling to its next delivery of rocks, stones, and almost anything that will fit in the truck and all its accompanying sounds. Our front veranda makes the ideal vantage point to observe this slice of life and part of day passing. Early morning (and at any time of day) there is a parade of jerry cans swinging lightly on the way to the water hole and then slower, a bit steadier and balanced on the way back. The jerry cans come in all sizes, depending on the carrier, but they start with the very young children carrying even the smallest container.

‘How were the noises of the night’? Saturday night produced a rumbling truck load of loud, singing and shouting party goers. Dogs start barking and somehow send a message in domino effect down the road until all dogs are joining in the alarm or answer- the dog chorus goes on for minutes. Every night there is the metallic echo of bolting or unbolting the door to go outside-perhaps for a short call in the middle of the night. One Friday we were in the unfortunate location to be right next door to an all night church meeting with singing and music ALL through the night. Another all night occasion was the neighbor who was chopping wood and playing a static-y radio through the night. We discovered the next morning that he had built a kiln of bricks to be dried by the heat of the firewood he had been chopping. We sort of wished we had a brick to throw at him! By 4 am the roosters are beginning their own chorus of sounds up, down and across the valley. Our local cock is as annoying as any snooze alarm which just will not quit. The cock-a-doodle-doos usually come at 20 minute intervals, just about when you might be dozing off again. This seeming echo effect goes on through the morning hours. By 5 am someone on either side of us rises to cut wood to burn or chop banana plants for their animals. In case we have slept through the roosters crowing, the first taxi comes down the road honking his horn at 6 am, alerting those who might be interested in taking the first matatu into Mbale that it is time for departing. Voices begin getting louder and louder from homes, radios and the road. There is no volume control here in Uganda, only loud! We know that there will soon be hints of color. The air is crisp and cool with the oranges and pinks of sunrise, quickly followed by the white clouds and blue sky. The sun appears about 710am, having scaled a fairly high mountain before becoming visible. So how was the night? Restful

The best sight and sounds of the morning? Seeing the eager students of Arlington Academy of Hope rushing, walking and running to school in their school uniforms of red and gray. Classes start at 730 am and we are a twenty minute walk (for me) up the hill to school. So now that we are fully awake and preparing for the day, really, how was the night? It was great!

Students, Well Done!

The Hope is Working

To all those of you who support AAH, the past two weeks have been an overwhelming display to me, that the dreams are working. Catherine and I had very busy days with our secondary students, and there is no where in the world that you could find a more enthusiastic and dedicated group of young adults than those we have at Arlington. We have known some of these students for more than 5 years and the changes we have observed are heartwarming. These are students who come from very modest and humble huts, and yet they arrive at school clean, looking smart and showing respect for their teachers, adults and each other. They are fully fluent in English with only some few misunderstandings related to accents. They are delightful to speak with and many have visited us at the guest house to bid their farewells. Returning secondary students travel back to their schools on Feb 1. Primary students begin on Feb.2 and the new class of secondary students will report in the middle of February. Most ask if we know their sponsors and when we do they beam a bit brighter.

We had the opportunity to conference with each one of the S3 students. They glow with pride as they tell us of their school. They inevitably tell us that they promise to work harder in the coming term. Math and Science for most are the subjects which bring down their averages. At the initiation of the secondary parents, they collected ten thousand shillings from each to pay for 3 science and math teachers to come in during their holiday work period to do some extra lessons. Students were seriously there with almost perfect attendance. It was a very good use of their volunteer time.

Catherine and I did two sessions on careers, trying to impress upon them that there is a world of choices other than doctor, lawyer and engineers! We explained also that there are steps to every goal, and that a job may begin at an entry level, but that loyal and dependable work ethics and a good work performance may be what gets one to the next step. The world and its opportunity is especially apparent to the S3s. They are entering a most important time of their school career where they will narrow down the number of subjects to include areas of interest and strength.

The last two days were spent working on school cleanup, fetching water as the dry season had left water tanks empty. (Curiously, this past week of the dry season has resulted in torrential rains for 5 out of the 7 days). Local word is that the clouds are gathering for the rainy season but right now they are deceiving us that is time for the rainy season and planting. The spirit day was on Friday when our AAH kids played a village football team. Ours looked better, but perhaps lacked the teamwork as there had been no practices. They held their own until the last 10 minutes when the village team scored, resulting in the final score of 1-0. Our students have incredible natural ability, but have not had the opportunity of coaching and refining some of their talent. Ah well- if academics were the game, we would win hands down.

All S2 and S3 students have returned to school by Feb 3. We are celebrating a graduation party of sorts with the next S1 class on Saturday to send them off to their newly chosen schools. They are ready, excited and well prepared to face the larger world. Well done! (another frequent phrase we hear here.)