Yesterday the UG30 team walked to the village of hope for the first time this trip. Most of the children were at school but we were welcomed by the mothers, Robert and Ivan who gave the group an overview of Uganda, and the social context of organisations like HopeBuilders. The team heard about the AIDS crisis and political conflict that shaped the lives of many Ugandans from a valuable local perspective.
The team was then shown around the village by Rhoda, the social worker who does the cases for the village children. Personally, I was very intrigued to hear that the HopeBuilders organisation signed custody of the children, and the difficulties and government compliances that sometimes make it difficult for the uptake of more children.
Next, we went to main street of Jinja Town for lunch. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, a child came and sat with us. His name was Emmanuel and he said he was a street kid. It was many of our first time encountering begging and need first hand like this and we were unsure of what to do. We knew not to give him anything but we lacked the conviction to tell him to go away. It was a difficult truth to face that many of these children or beggars could be in affiliation with another person that takes most of the money they receive, and that giving them things might be more harmful than helpful.
For dinner we had posho and beans, then to keep entertained the group played a brilliant (exhilarating) round of spoons. On the roof, the moon was almost full, and you could see the the stars, and almost the milky way. Overall, it was a day of first encounters and new lessons to learn.
-Amelia R
P,S Sorry for the delay in getting this post up as we have been without power for a day and a half - from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon.
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