you are welcome our visitors
i visited an orphanage just outside kampala today that serves children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. the public health term for AIDS orphans is "orphans and vulnerable children" (OVC). OVC encompasses children orphaned by other causes, too - famine, conflict, accident/injury - but in its most common application it refers to children who lost one or both of their parents to AIDS.
101paige 101africa 101iph
the orphanage is run by new hope for africa, a local community-based organization. it serves over 300 children in the community feeding them breakfast (porridge made from maize flour and water) and lunch (dried porridge from breakfast + potatoes and meat), teaching them for free (a big deal since it costs money to go to school here, even public school), taking them to the hospital when they are sick and paying for their medical bills, and giving those without a home a place to live.
i visited the site because i am considering partnering with new hope for africa on an OVC project funded by PEPFAR (the president's emergency plan for AIDS relief), which is a huge pot of money set aside by president bush to fight AIDS worldwide. this is me admitting that bush has done at least 1 thing right over the last 6 years.
anyway, the field visit. i was impressed from the word go. annet (the director of new hope for africa) is a real go-getter. she has single-handedly built this orphanage from the ground up, almost all with her own money. the site now includes bamboo classrooms for grades pre-school through 6th, a soon-to-be-finished medical center that currently doubles as rudimentary dorms for the homeless kids, latrines, electricity, a small soccer pitch, chicken coops, and pig pens.
i met all of the children, from the little little ones (3-4 years old) to the big'uns (early teens), as i went from classroom to classroom. (classroom is used here to refer to a group of children in school, don't let it be confused with a physical structure. in fact, the physical classrooms were simple temporary structures made from bamboo and corrugated tin, each grade level only separated by a woven stand of bamboo.) the school is divided according to grade level rather than age since a direct course of education is often broken up in uganda by poverty, illness, the death of a parent. it's not uncommon to find a 10-year-old in 2nd grade because he missed several years of schooling somewhere along the line. every class i met today greeted me by standing up and reciting "you are welcome our visitors." i responded in my broken luganda, which got many laughs, then quizzed them on what they were learning that day by peeking at the chalkboard. mathematics for money, multiplication of reciprocals, roles of mothers and fathers in the family, influence of arabs on east africa. not surprisingly, they all scrambled to show off their new knowledge to the visiting mzungu. i taught them a new congratulatory clap i learned from one of the frisbee guys, and soon i was greeted by the same clapping pattern in each new classroom i entered.
annet and i brainstormed all the ways to join forces between new hope for africa and "minnesota" (the colloquial name for MIHV). finish construction of the medical center, drill a borehole for water, supply the clinic with medical supplies and equipment (xray, ultrasound), build dormitories and permanent classrooms, get school supplies (textbooks, desks, notebooks, pens...computers). on the public health side, provide immunizations, voluntary counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS, vocational training, education on prevention of HIV and healthy living for those living with HIV/AIDS, nutrition retreats for caretakers, training for AIDS counselors. plus, we had grand plans of creating a long-term voluntary medical service that included a clinic manager, physicians, nurses, dentists. our dream list just kept going and going. there is something very rejuvenating about dreaming.
it was inspiring to see what annet was able to accomplish when she believed in something, and today gave me a much needed reminder of why i am where i am doing what i do.
101paige 101africa 101iph
the orphanage is run by new hope for africa, a local community-based organization. it serves over 300 children in the community feeding them breakfast (porridge made from maize flour and water) and lunch (dried porridge from breakfast + potatoes and meat), teaching them for free (a big deal since it costs money to go to school here, even public school), taking them to the hospital when they are sick and paying for their medical bills, and giving those without a home a place to live.
i visited the site because i am considering partnering with new hope for africa on an OVC project funded by PEPFAR (the president's emergency plan for AIDS relief), which is a huge pot of money set aside by president bush to fight AIDS worldwide. this is me admitting that bush has done at least 1 thing right over the last 6 years.
anyway, the field visit. i was impressed from the word go. annet (the director of new hope for africa) is a real go-getter. she has single-handedly built this orphanage from the ground up, almost all with her own money. the site now includes bamboo classrooms for grades pre-school through 6th, a soon-to-be-finished medical center that currently doubles as rudimentary dorms for the homeless kids, latrines, electricity, a small soccer pitch, chicken coops, and pig pens.
i met all of the children, from the little little ones (3-4 years old) to the big'uns (early teens), as i went from classroom to classroom. (classroom is used here to refer to a group of children in school, don't let it be confused with a physical structure. in fact, the physical classrooms were simple temporary structures made from bamboo and corrugated tin, each grade level only separated by a woven stand of bamboo.) the school is divided according to grade level rather than age since a direct course of education is often broken up in uganda by poverty, illness, the death of a parent. it's not uncommon to find a 10-year-old in 2nd grade because he missed several years of schooling somewhere along the line. every class i met today greeted me by standing up and reciting "you are welcome our visitors." i responded in my broken luganda, which got many laughs, then quizzed them on what they were learning that day by peeking at the chalkboard. mathematics for money, multiplication of reciprocals, roles of mothers and fathers in the family, influence of arabs on east africa. not surprisingly, they all scrambled to show off their new knowledge to the visiting mzungu. i taught them a new congratulatory clap i learned from one of the frisbee guys, and soon i was greeted by the same clapping pattern in each new classroom i entered.
annet and i brainstormed all the ways to join forces between new hope for africa and "minnesota" (the colloquial name for MIHV). finish construction of the medical center, drill a borehole for water, supply the clinic with medical supplies and equipment (xray, ultrasound), build dormitories and permanent classrooms, get school supplies (textbooks, desks, notebooks, pens...computers). on the public health side, provide immunizations, voluntary counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS, vocational training, education on prevention of HIV and healthy living for those living with HIV/AIDS, nutrition retreats for caretakers, training for AIDS counselors. plus, we had grand plans of creating a long-term voluntary medical service that included a clinic manager, physicians, nurses, dentists. our dream list just kept going and going. there is something very rejuvenating about dreaming.
it was inspiring to see what annet was able to accomplish when she believed in something, and today gave me a much needed reminder of why i am where i am doing what i do.
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