THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007: A NEW MEMBER FOR THE TEAM

We started at 9:00 once again, and the van was on time as promised. We made our way to a very large public school where Jaden, Dick and Cheryl’s sponsored child, attends. We had a bit of trouble with the head master not wanting to let us in, but he sent a teacher with Grace and told him we could see the boy if the boy wanted to see us. He took one look at Grace and wouldn’t say a word! She had to get Vincent to go in. The boy came out with him, but he was absolutely petrified! He didn’t want to look at us or talk to us. He would have run away if he could!

While we were waiting, the head master called me in, which gave me a chance to ask a burning question. Uganda has two public school programs: UPE (Universal Primary Education) and USE (Universal Secondary Education) which is a brand new program. The press here says that these programs guarantee that every student in Uganda can go to school free from kindergarten through S6. This school is a UPE school, yet we are sponsoring a child there. And the headmistress at another UPE school told me that any student in the area could sign up for school free.

So my question: if students can come to UPE free, why should we sponsor them?

“In theory, UPE and USE allow all students to go to school free,” said the distinguished, middle-aged head master. “The problem is that the government doesn’t fund it well. Right now, I receive 3,500 shillings (about $2.25) per child per term from UPE. I can’t run a school on that, so I have to be creative. I rent out school facilities for weddings. I make the children keep up the grounds so that I don’t have to pay for this. And I charge an administrative fee.”

“And the government allows that?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. They understand that we can’t maintain the academic standards they demand on the fees they pay us. They give us freedom to charge our students administrative fees, which are mandatory. And we are allowed to require lunch and uniform fees. So we use these things to supplement UPE.”

“Another UPE school told me that any child could come to her school for free,” I said.

The head master laughed. “That is because he does not know you! He does not know who you know!! He must give you the party line. And it is true that any student can enroll without charge. But they cannot continue to the end of term without paying these other fees. If they try it, they will be chased home.”

While we were in Uganda, we learned that USE payments had been delayed by the government, so the tiny sum promised for each child wasn’t being paid. I don’t know what a USE school could do! In any event, it appears that UPE and USE, while great in principal, are not working as well as expected!

From the school, we went to Joseph’s newly rented home. He and Lydia had moved a week before our arrival. They had been living in a new apartment and had really enjoyed living there, but the complex was having major crime issues. Their home had been attacked twice during the early morning hours in a one-month period. They had succeeded in turning the vandals away, but several of his neighbors hadn’t. They were living in fear every night, so I was very glad that they had moved!

Vincent stopped out front to wait for Joseph to open the gate. He started through the gates. There was less than three inches clearance on either side but he eased through. He pulled forward as far as possible, which meant the gate barely closed.

Baby Lisa was waiting at the glass front door. For some reason, she was licking the glass! She seemed to really enjoy it. Lydia came to the door when she heard us and unlocked it. She welcomed us in, and we all found seats in the relatively large living room. Lydia had pawpaw and pineapple for us as well as sodas. We visited for a while and Lisa entertained everyone with her toys. Then it was time to go.

We visited a few more children, then it was time to visit Nicholas, Joe’s sponsored child. He was a boarding student at large school in a very nice rural community on the outskirts of Kampala. Nicholas will finish high school next year. He is a very bright boy and a very hard worker at the church. He was so excited to see us! He had been told his mother was waiting for him, so he couldn’t stop laughing when he saw us. His English is excellent and he is a great example of what our program can do for a boy.

His school was far out of town, and it was late afternoon when we got back. Lisa was scheduled to speak to the women at 5:00 and I was to speak to the men. Apparently, our team thought that the fruit we ate at Joseph’s house was enough for lunch, but I told them I couldn’t possibly speak without a little more on my stomach. So we stopped at the Hot Loaf once again. Lisa and I ate samosas while everyone else at meat pies. It was a great snack, and we were ready to talk!

Vincent drove us to the church. There were very few people waiting, but it was still early: only 4:45. There was major news, however. Robinah, Daniel Kato’s wife had been getting ready to come to church when she went into labor. She and Dan now had a brand new baby boy!

It appeared that I would have a tiny group, so Joseph moved us into a tiny room in a building that is still under construction. Lisa got the church! We started with 10 people, and the room was fine, but the number grew and before I finished, we had 23 people. The walls were lined with chairs and the center of the room was full. There were even people around the corner on a tiny porch.

We talked about wives and we talked about money, the two things that seemed most on their minds. At first, I couldn’t imagine why they would want to talk with me about wives, but I suddenly realized that at 26 years of marriage, I was far ahead of every other man in the room. The questions were tough and we talked a lot about cultural differences. I really enjoyed my time. I hope they did, too.

Lisa took a different approach. She brought M&M’s for everyone as well as gifts. Her presentation ran several minutes longer than mine, and I stopped at 7:00! She had a great time talking with the ladies.

Daniel came into my meeting late. When we were finished, he asked if we wanted to go and visit Robinah. We all climbed into the van and drove a few blocks to a series of small brick buildings. We all climbed out and started towards what must be the main building, but we turned and went into a building at the back instead. A woman in street clothes met us and followed Dan to a small room. The paint in the room was stained and peeling. Robinah lay on a tiny cot with a clean sheet. She sat up when we came in. The newborn was buried under the covers. He was incredibly small. He was sleeping so he didn’t have a lot to say.

Robinah’s room had two windows and no screens. And there was no mosquito net to be seen anywhere. But she was glowing, so proud of her new soon. And the only thing she wanted to talk about was missing Lisa’s presentation.

We all road back to the hotel. I asked them if they would join us for a meal at Indian Summer as a celebration of Elijah, Dan and Robinah’s new son. I ordered a wide assortment of Indian entrees and everyone seemed to have a great time.