On being home

It's great to be home!  It really is.  As I was doing the traditional washing after a long trip, I couldn't fail but to remember the children at Providence Home doing their washing.  On the floor outside in buckets with water fetched from the nearby water pump.  Cold water, bars of soap and smiling all the while.  It's interesting how such a short experience in terms of time,  can have such a huge impact on one's outlook.  Your whole perspective on life changes when you see first hand what real hardship is; to not have the use of your limbs.  To be abandoned by your parents because you are disabled and it is condidered that you will bring a curse to your family.  To always have to rely on others to do even the most basic things like washing, eating, going to the toilet.  Amongs other things, it got me thinking about the riots - and young people - and how maybe we need to force some of the big issues in life - I'm thinking compulsory volunteering for youngsters 16-18 as a requirement to benefits, higher education or employment therafter - surely it would cost less than the impact of disengagement?  It's certainly something I would like us to achieve at The Academy.  I'd be interested to hear what youngsters think ?

Going back to where I came from!

The last few days of my journey are to my birthplace, Nairobi in Kenya.  It's the place my parents loved, lived and worked and which they eventually had to flee with literally the clothes on their backs.  As I landed at Jomo Kenyatta airport yesterday it was impossible not to be overcome with emotion.  I remembered a phrase that I heard a lot as a 6 year old in those early days in England -  " Go back to where you came from!" And here I was - finally.  My initial thoughts were about how it must have felt for a young couple with three small children to leave their home and livelihoods destined for a place 4000 miles away with no home, very little money and no jobs to go to? And then to be faced with such hostility as was becoming the case in the Britain that they had loved from afar for so many years.  At a time when they should have been enjoying raising a young family they were thrown by circumstance into a life they never really recovered from.  I met a family, similar to mine who were making the journey back after 40 years.  The daughter a similar age to me and born in the same hospital as me, with her mother.  As we reminisced together, we shared similar experiences of childhood as a foreigner, about growing up without any real sense of where we belonged and about how our lives had turned out "back home".  It was interesting how we were both very clear about where home is now! 
I had a few memories of the country but it has changed beyond recognition.  38 years on it could be any major city in the world.  All the major companies are here with a road network that has encouraged car ownership so that traffic jams are reminiscent of the M62 at commuter time!  The big difference here is the level of security that this apparent wealth has necessitated.  I'm told this is because of the vast unequal distribution of wealth.  Gated estates back onto slums and children beg on the roads as you drive your 4 by 4 into the local air conditioned shopping mall for your KFC.
It's not all consumerism and greed though.  What's good to see is that for some this wealth has meant that Kenyans are able to respond to the cry for help from their own and neighboring people - "Kenyans for Kenya" have raised to date 5 million dollars and are working tirelessly to supply aid to the regions suffering from famine.  It is heartening to see that their recently acquired wealth has not erased from their memories the feeling of hunger that no doubt they have experienced nor their sense of duty to their fellow man. On the contrary - the ordinary people of Kenya, who have "made it" are determined that they should manage without the aid that politicians are arguing, politicking and scoring points over.  They are an organisation that just wants to feed - and they are succeeding.

Education Education Education!

I've spent the last few days seeing quite a few schools across Uganda - It's difficult to find any road without a signpost to a school, Academy or Vocational Training Centre - Education must be thriving you may think? In some schools - yes but in many it's a place to go for security and a meal. What I saw in the schools where formal teaching was taking place reminded me of the stories my mother used to tell me about her experiences of teaching in Nairobi in the 1950's and '60's.  Blackboard and chalk, posters if you are lucky and books gone out of print everywhere else in the world.  It's not surprising that time feels like it has stood still as Uganda was ravaged by the Amin regime in the mid 1970's and is only just beginning to see recovery. When you talk to Ugandans it's evident how young the democracy is. My friend here tells me it's a country that is about 20 years old.  Can you imagine that?  Can you imagine how it must be to start a country from scratch?  And one in which the people have seen the kind of devastation that destroys the soul.  In the 70's when thousands of us (Asians, Expats - a term used for white skinned people living abroad - it's nicer than foreigner - has a better ring to it) were expelled or fled to safety, buildings and businesses were destroyed, land confiscated and much of the development that had taken place in terms of structures and systems just evaporated overnight.  What followed was killings and destruction on a scale that people here just don't want to talk about.  When you try and talk to them about it they become visibly uncomfortable and you know you have wandered into territory best left alone. So,  education is rightly the light at the end of the tunnel for many - it certainly was for me and my generation,  and we were lucky to escape to somewhere that offered sanctuary- no matter how harsh it felt at the time, it provided us with futures for ourselves and our children. 

Back to schools here - and in particular the one we are supporting through our work with the Mikwano Trust.  On arriving at the school there was very little evidence of teaching, never mind learning.  I was there for hours and it seemed that lunchtime extended into break-time which in turn extended into home time. I have to say this irritated me greatly!  I went into monitoring review and evaluation mode and decided there and then this was hopeless and how could anyone expect that we would pour money into something where clearly people could not be bothered and didn't really care about standards etc.  I know - I'm a muppet - why would you care about teaching or learning anything if your belly was empty, your feet bare, there was no floor in your classroom, no light to see inside an already grey building and there are a100 of you crammed into a space designed to accommodate 50. I'd challenge any one of us to get motivated to teach when faced with such basic challenges.  To top it all, the day I visited it was raining so hard that everyone was covered in a layer of red mud.  On reflection what I had imagined I could achieve was unrealistic from the start.  The support we are able to provide will need to be carefully thought through and remain for the forseeable future.  This is not something we can embark upon that will yield change overnight - but - little by little we will ba able to make a huge difference to the quality of the lives of the children in the Mpigi district.  Once that has happened, we can begin to look at teaching and learning and what is going on in classrooms.  Sound like a  familiar challenge?

Sisters with attitude!

I have to admit, I had some pretty streotypical views of how it would be to stay with catholic nuns - I had imagined conversations around the table based on chapters from the Bible and perhaps a lecture on the fires of hell and eternal damnation - what I got was dancing to African drum beats till way past bedtime, dressing up in my clothes (including items of underclothing from M and S worn over a habit!!), photographs in various poses at every opportunity and attitude like the best of the best.  It got me thinking - about women - and their capacity to achieve absolutely anything - by sticking together, more giving than taking, listening and appreciating.  The sisters have created an oasis of hope for those who society and even parents have rejected. They are truley something else.

Providence Home - a place where love really does conquer

I had been prepared to be moved by my visit to Providence home Nkokonjeru, but as I arrived and was greeted by the children singing songs of welcome, I was not prepared for the sheer happiness and love each child was able to share with me.  In circumstances that should make you weep, the children were the happiest children I have ever seen in my 15 year career. As they did their chores before going to school at 6.30 this morning, many of them were singing and smiling - even Simon who has no legs and cleans the floor by shuffling on his bottom.  On leaving the home they sang me a blessing - that I would be safe wherever I went, that my heart's desires would be fulfilled and that one day,  I would come back and see them again.  The first two maybe, the last definately! On my drive back to Kampala tonight I remembered something my parents always said to me and that I used to think would never be true of me - " the more you have, the less you are thankful for "

In the case of the children and adults at Providence - they have so little, face such adversity and yet are able to warm your heart with their open smiles.

One God?

I woke today to the sound of the Adhan - it was a beautiful sound and one very familiar to me, but today it held particular significance - the month of Ramadhan, the end of a long night , a welcome reprieve from the emotions that had been churning inside me since I arrived here.  After saying my prayers Muslim style,  I walked with Sister Juliet, one of the sisters at Providence Home, to the local village Parish church for morning mass.  It was still only 7.00am!  As I observed the mass which was attended voluntarily by about 200 locals, most of which were pupils attending before going to school, the similarities in both rituals and in the sermon were a stark reminder of how very little divides the two major religions practiced in Africa and across the globe.  Watching CNN news tonight however, you would be forgiven for thinking that differences were irreconcilable.  As my bag was searched on the way into and out of my hotel this evening (Uganda is on high terrorist alert with an imminent threat from Al- Shabaa) I pondered on how complicated the most simplest of things has become. Is it really so difficult to accept one God and to respect another's perspective on the matter?

I have arrived!!

Hi Folks - I am here!  After a long flight and a rather scary taxi ride to my hotel I am exploring the city of Kampala today.  First impressions? Very busy and industrious - it appears that Uganda is about to take off - they have struck oil and there is a visible American presence in the oil companies that are just beginning to invest in the area.  Had a very interesting 8 hours on my flight sitting next to one such American on his way back from the UK training Ugandan staff on office management skills!  Education is going to be the key for young Ugandans and just on my walk into the town center,  I counted numerous schools advertising places for students.  They are starting a degree course at the University in Petroleum Engineering - the lecturers are being flown in from the United States and China.