Building Tomorrow

"Wasuzoti" (Pronounced, "Wa-su-zoh-tea-ah") means "Good Morning."

"O-lay-oh-cha" - "How are you?"

"Jen-Dee" - "I'm fine!"

"Webalee" - "Thank you."

This is the extent of my Lugandan. Thank you, Joseph the driver.

Today, we went to Building Tomorrow's newest site-- land for a seven-room school house funded by your donations! We were able to give $135,000 to this project, and it's really cool! The new school will provide education to 400 kids from 7 villages around the area. The teachers will have housing on site, which will make them more available to the children. Uganda has the largest percentage of people under 18 years of age, so it's very crucial that children are getting into schools. This is Building Tomorrow's ninth school.

Building Tomorrow has a great system in place. We fund the school and provide a place for teachers to live, the community helps build it, and the government pays the teachers' salaries. We found out that it's difficult to keep steady teachers at places like the New Hope Orphanage because teachers' pay is not gaurenteed. Here, the teachers and their families are supported both physically and financially.

It was another day of hot, hard labor! The brick making contraption that I spoke about in an earlier blog at the birth center is also being used at the school's site. Ugandan's consider this contraption "New Technology" and were very thankful to us, as your donations bought 2 brick maker's for them. After the school is built, the community will continue to make bricks to sell for profit.

Many of us made bricks and transported the bricks either through an assembly line or on our heads. Others stacked the bricks to build walls, and used a hoe to level out the land. Hoeing is hard! The locals are so strong. A woman in a beautiful dress and flip flops had to show me how to hoe effectively. A little embarrassing, but now I know!

For those of us that wanted to carry bricks on our heads, a little girl made head cushions for us out of the leaves of a banana tree so that the bricks wouldn't hurt our soft American scalps. I thought this offering was very sweet, and it actually allowed me to carry 2 bricks on my head at once (headstands, here I come!).

As I was making my way back and forth to place the bricks closer to the builders, a man from the local community, probably around my age, asked me if I would have babies with him. I must tell you, this isn't the first time I've been here and men have inquired either about my relationship status or my desire to have children with them. My body type is very attractive to the average African male... I'm just not sure how I feel about it. In fact, in all honesty, I'm having a hard time with it. There are very few men here that I feel comfortable around, one on one, and that's not something I'm used to at all back in the states. I realize that some of my concerns stem from my own issues and insecurities. It's something I need to examen a little more closely on my own. Though, let me take a moment to thank the Universe for our Joseph's (Joseph the tour guide and Joseph the driver), so that I may always carry with me a clear picture of exceptional Ugandan males.

At the end of the day, the locals had sugar cane for the children as a reward for all their hard work. The children were so excited! It was really beautiful to see such a simple pleasure become the highlight of the day.

On our way home, we opened our windows for air while we were stuck in a traffic jam. Joseph, our guide, told us that at night there is a risk that a passerby will reach into your vehicle and grab your belongings out of your hands. If a man steals here, civilians will overtake him and beat him to death. If a woman steals, they'll strip her of her clothes and tell her to walk home. The presence of the police is so scarce, the people band together to claim justice. Sometimes I don't immediately believe what Joseph tell us because it seems so far-fetched. But it's the truth, and I think it's important that we know.

It's hard to remember what life was like before Uganda. What do neat little neighborhoods look like? How will I adjust to my packed schedule full of teaching, meetings and conversations about careers? I find myself afraid to return to my previous life. If only I could transport my family and yoga community to wherever I want to be. I suppose the real challenge will be just that. Our work here in Uganda is not selfless service. I am gaining a sense of myself made possible only by this trip. And soon I'll need to take myself back.