I woke up to another freezing cold shower in the Nsoma hotel. Is it possible for a place to get negative stars? J Nsoma definitely isn’t the most luxurious place I’ve ever been.
After we all woke up Emily, Angelica, Rachel Maggie and myself went to this place called Miracle Restaurant (see pictures below) for what was hyped as the best tea place in Hoima. Okay, maybe the best tea place in the WORLD. Seriously it was so delicious. We drank the tea and ate chappati covered in brown sugar for 800 USH (40 cents). Can’t beat that.
We were supposed to leave for Sir Tito Winyi (the school hosting our cluster retreat) at 8:00…but by 9:00 we still hadn’t heard anything. We hung out in front of the Nsoma hotel for an hour just waiting for word to arrive on when we were leaving and (more importantly) how we were getting to the school.
I decided to go back to Miracle Restaurant to get another cup of tea!
Rachel and Angelica came with me. Rachel has only been here a week so we had a lot to talk about. It was nice.
Finally at 10:00 we got word a bus had arrived to bring us to the school. We all boarded a Sir Tito Winyi school bus that was already packed to the brim with eager scholars and DJ equipment and food and bags and anything else you could imagine a retreat would need.
One of the students held my helmet.
Another sscholar, Twisenge (the orphan refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo that I met on my last trip to the COBURWAS refugee camp in Hoima) held my backpack. I sat on a speaker in the aisle.
We shuttled down the dirt road. The students sang African songs and laughed the whole way there.
The retreat was fun. I’de already met all the students during my last trip to Hoima and it was great seeing them again. They were happy to see me and I was happy to see them. Although, they did give me crap because I’d promised to visit them every 2-3 weeks and I hadn’t visited them since September because I’ve been so busy with work.
The retreat went according to plan. Students networked. Did teamwork games. Debated each other.
I participated in most events and also took time to walk around the campus and take pictures of all the lovely foliage and sorrounding areas.
I had lunch with Ishmael, the girl I befriended on my last trip to Hoima. She’s the one that lost both her parents, lived with her aunt and had to commute to boarding school because she was too poor to pay the school fees. She was really excited to spend the whole lunch just her and I – she got to hang out with the only male mzungu! It was nice to catch up. We both have the same favorite current artist – Jay Z. HOVA BABY!!!
The day finished with the "no talent talent show" where we challenge people to come in front of the group and show us a talent they don't have (i.e. someone with a terrible voice will try and sing). It is supposed to remind us that we are all weak in certain areas, but we all also have talents. I was the initial act where I performed my now infamous "squirrel routine." (I eat crackers like a squirrel) Sadly I've had to perform this same act in front of senior Morgan Stanley senior management. Hey it’s an act that transcends boundaries! :)
Afterwards three girls came up to me.
“Joe, we need to speak with you in private.”
“Okay.” I said. “Lets walk outside.”
We walked outside.
“No, we need to go somewhere private.”
“Umm, no. Lets walk over to that field over there.” I said.
We walked to the field.
“Joe, we cannot pay our school fees and we’re hoping you know someone that will be willing to sponsor us.”
“I’d be happy to help you and way I can.” I said. “But that Educate! doesn’t pay for school fees.”
Its VERY important that our students understand Educate! is a teaching organization…NOT an organization that pays for students school fees.
They looked downtrodden.
“Let me take your information and I’ll see what I can do.” I offered. “I’ll be in touch.”
It’s hard to see things like that. Kids that want money just to go to school.
The day wrapped up and we all boarded the school bus for the half hour ride back to Hoima. The students sang and laughed the whole way home. It was definitely a long day, but definitely a successful retreat!
We got to the Hoima taxi park but all the buses had left. We boarded a matatu and waited for a half hour until it was full.
Rachel and I were seated in the second row.
Travelling between cities on a matatu isn’t normally the safest thing in the world so I fished around and found a rusty seat belt wedged in my seat. I brought the two parts of the seat belt together and CLICK – it worked!
“You’re so lucky!” Rachel said. “Matatus never had seat belts. That’s the best seat in the house.”
“Check.” I said. “Maybe you have one.”
She stuck her hanf in between the seats and pulled a seatbelt out.
Then she screamed and wrenched her whole body off the seat.
“Oh my God.” She screamed. “There roaches coming out of the seat!”
I looked over her body and, sure enough, roaches were crawling out of the crevasse between the seat and the seat back. Right from where I’d just stuck my hand to pull my seat belt out.
The roaches were everywhere! Maybe 5 or 6 crawled out. I killed a few but the rest escaped into the cracks in the walls of the matatu or back into the seat.
Back into the seat I had to sit in for the next 3.5 hours.
All you can do is laugh.
Rachel and I kept imagining there were roaches crawling on us the entire way home.
Mind over matter. If you don’t mind it don’t matter. But…GROSS!!!
Halfway home I got a text message from Pam. Pam, if you recall, was a girl I met at another Educate! retreat. She has elephantitis of the leg (I think?) and one of her legs is grossly bigger than than the other. I felt bad for her so I gave her my number and told her to call me if she ever needed anything.
“I am having trouble paying my medical bills and my school fees.” She texted me. Sigh. 4 children in one day struggling to pay their school fees. Sad.
We agreed we’d talk the following day to figure out how to tackle her problem.
The rest of the ride home was uneventful although I did notice teamwork between truck drivers. I always wondered how matatu drivers know when they can dart out into oncoming traffic to accelerate past slow trucks. Now I know. I noticed that when a truck is warning a matatu NOT to pass it will leave its right blinker on. When its safe to pass it turns the right blinker off and the matatu speeds past the truck. Nice to see teamwork.
We got into Kampala and Emily, Angelica and I got a special hire to Ciao Bella’s to get some pizza.
On the way the special hire driver pointed to a spot in the road.
“A boda boda driver was killed there yesterday.”
Lovely.
We ate pizza and relaxed and took a special hire home. Long weekend. Long day.
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