Back to school time-Feb 1st

Back to school time just happened here almost two weeks ago now.   In America our lists consist of the necessary pens, pencils, colored pencils, paper, binders, and a box of tissues to contribuite to the class.   In Uganda the list looks quite different: broom, knife, razor blades, toilet paper, a ream of paper, bathing soap, washing soap, bucket, jerrican, 1 kilo of sugar, gray socks with blue and white stripes, a cup and a plate, and 4 pairs of knickers.  Some of them are really ridiculous (what school needs 1,000 brooms when they can't even afford text books?) As we went shopping with some of the kids on a hot afternoon I found myself saying I wish there was a walmart around here somewhere!  The children here who attend boarding school gather up their few items and put them into a metal suitcase secured with padlocks. They keep the suitcases on their self-provided mattresses and sleep alongside them, hoping not to kick too hard in the night, leaving a bruise. Children of Grace provides each boarding student one mattress in their education career. Upon sponsorship each student also receives a backpack, mosquito net, school shoes, scholastics, pens, and school uniforms. When these items run out or become unusable, they are able to bring them back to the office and trade them in for new ones. Thus, as you can imagine, the beginning of a school term for the office is BUSY!! The new year started on February 1st. Getting 700 kids ready for school is quite an undertaking.

I had so much fun helping out with this undertaking!!   I got into my place of the assembly line that I love to be in-the picture taker (we want to be able to send new pictures to their sponsors).  Here I am again saying seeca (smile) or fine (jackfruit), I had some students give me some really good smiles! J  And as hard as it was for me I even said no to a guardain who wanted new shoes but instead of new new shoes I gave her child some other child's shoes that I had just taken (which by the way were in really good condition).  (We took the old shoes from the kids and Sam had such a great idea to get them fixed so we can reuse them-he saved COG SO much money!!!)  We don't provide them with each of the things on the lists they receive from their schools, but we do provide them with the things they can not attend school without. The other items, such as soap, flatware, etc., we leave for the children to provide. This enables them the sense of accomplishment in providing sometime for themselves.  What a blessing it was for me to see all of our students come by the office with big smiles on their faces :)