Monday morning traffic in Kampala is insane. It simply does not move…..well, it moves, but super slow. From several miles outside the center of town, cars and trucks inch there way along. Riding with Bacali and Lynn to our respective destinations, it was clear that I was going to be late to my 8:30 meeting time, if I stayed in the car much longer. So out I hopped and onto the back of a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) to zip into the Sheraton to join up with the ladies from Off the Mat Into the World.
20 women, from all over the United States and Canada are in Uganda for 2-weeks as part of their Seva (sanskrit for service) Challenge through the Los Angeles based organization Off the Mat, Into the World. (www.offthematintotheworld.org) It was my pleasure to be able to join them on their first day on-location helping to build a school with their partner organization Building Tomorrow (www.buildingtomorrow.org)
We took an hour bus ride out of town and into a rural area on the out-skirts of Kampala. Veering off the main thoroughfare, we drove along a long dirt road to a site about a mile into the farmlands to an open plot of land, the foundation of a building being laid, and a community of people gathered round to watch as this group of Westerners arrived to help build this school.
Off the Mat’s Seva Challenge required participants to raise $20,000 to enable them to join this trip. 20 women from 12 states and two Canadian provinces achieved that goal….collectively raising more than $500,000… and were here to continue their work in service of the two causes they were providing for in Uganda. Having spend last week with a Birthing Center north of Kampala, this was their second cause for which their money was being donated.
The ladies will spend three days on site, working with the local community and the team from Building Tomorrow to help get this school on it’s way to being built. From our opening meeting yesterday, it looks like there will be a new school for the several hundred students they aim to serve in the next 4 months.
We spent the day hauling bricks, shoveling dirt, leveling ground, and helping to get this school’s construction ramped up. The highlights included seeing all of the kids get involved and helping out. A long assembly line passing bricks from the stacks near the brick making machine, around the corner of the foundation and into the furthest place they needed to go was a remarkable sight to see.
The kids loved working with us Westerners and for a long while I had a crew of boys working by my side. For every move I would make, they would be right there next to me.A beautiful day and a wonderful way to be in partnership with two amazing organizations, of service to the benefit of this community and the students who will attend this school.
After a hard days work, elders provided Sugar Cane for all the youngsters on site. It was a real privilege to watch as they waited patiently in line, and then bent knees slightly in gratitude for their sweet treat.
I am finding the cultural differences between American students and the Kids I have encountered in Uganda stifling. I think America students have a lot to learn from the behavior and respect of these young people. And….I could see these Ugandan kids learning a ton from students in the states as well.
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