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!