Graduation Time

It's been a little quiet on this blog recently- but that's because life has been anything but quiet here in Kampala, since our children broke up for their long "summer" holidays on the amazingly early date of June 1st! Now the house is filled with the zipping energy and explosive sound of children from dawn until dusk! Finding time to do a blog post has been more challenging!!

Before the end of term I had a taste of American school culture as I attended three different graduation ceremonies: an event which we usually only mark in England at the end of University. In contrast, the American school system marks the moving of pupils between grades with more regularity.
It was fun to participate in the graduation ceremonies!

Joel's Graduation

First of all, I enjoyed every minute of Joel's Graduation from Kindergarten, prior to his move up to Grade 1 in August. The mini-graduates were the cutest graduates I have ever seen, complete with their gowns and mortar boards!

They sang a few songs for us. The "aahhh" factor among the many parents in attendance was strongly felt!

After a creative role-play performed by the Heritage School Kindergarten Class of 2016/17, each child received a certificate to celebrate their achievements this academic year. Then it was time for cake- and what a cake!!!

I made sure I snapped the side which had Joel's name emblazoned on one of the decorative pencils!

Along with this spectacular cake, there were speeches to thank the Kindergarten teacher, displays of dancing from the pupils and the charismatic Master of Ceremonies, thanksgiving prayers and then snacks for all under the shade of a large, white and beautifully decorated marquee, where we sat at chairs adorned with ribbons. 

Finally, parents and teachers were invited to join in with the music, so we joined the graduates for a fun dance around the school field to the rhythm of "Waka Waka, Africa"- the children's dance speciality! I tried my best to get the moves right, but maybe my age was showing, because I was not as flexible as our 6 year old counterparts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwdUgAKXVF4

Esther's Graduation

One week later, I was back at school to mark the significant occasion of Esther completing Primary School (or "elementary" school as they call it here!) and moving to Secondary School.

This was a lower-key affair, but it was great to have it marked in her class-room with her teacher and class-mates. Since several of her class-mates are moving on to Secondary School elsewhere, it was a special time for the class to all be together and celebrate their time as Grade 5 (equivalent of UK Year 6). 

Each student received a certificate for their hard work. Esther received the "Best Artist" award, presented by her class-teacher:

Some of the children read out work they had completed during their last term. Esther was invited to stand and read a poem she had written entitled, "Where I'm From" - always an interesting topic for a child like Esther who has grown up living her 11 years of life in six different countries...

Esther reads out her poem:

Where I'm From

I am from toys, from Playmobile

and lego. I am from the tin

slide in the hot sun and the

warm solarium at the end of

the garden.

I am from the climbing tree

that wilted in the heat, 

 the cool green grass

that sparkled in the summer sun.

I am from family devotions every night,

and teachers, from Elizabeth and Andrew,

and Parker.

I am from the Stunning Singers

and the Adventure Climbers. 

From "Finish your food!" 

and "Close your mouth when you eat!"

I am from

Jesus loves me,

And he saved my life on the cross.

I'm from England, warm fresh bread

and hot, soothing tea.

From the arm my brother broke

when he fell off the swing,

the knee my cousin skinned running

to the ice-ream van.

I am from the wall of family

photos, beginning before I was

born. Capturing wonderful moments.

Of my family.

by Esther Parker

Esther's Grade 5 class- final celebration of Primary School!

High School Graduation

A week after this, I had the honour of attending a High School Graduation for the daughter of a lovely friend here in Kampala. This was a wonderfully formal affair (as a true Brit, I love these kind of occasions!!) with inspiring speeches and the presentation of end of school certificates. I really enjoyed being part of such a special celebration, marking the new start which these high school graduates are about to embark on.

I also felt that I had been given a chance to gain insight into what will be just a few short years away for Esther... since I find that time flies and our children grow up so quickly!

Flags were flown in recognition of the different countries represented by the students who were graduating. Among those giving speeches were the Headteacher:

And a very confident speaker, the Head Girl:

The head of the school board also spoke, with the graduates seated on the right of the photo:

After all the fun and grandeur, after all of the proud and poignant moments of graduation, it was time for the school holidays to begin... and there is plenty to blog about, but these postings will have to wait until another lull in the manic activity of school holidays!

Run for Life!

Last weekend, Esther, Ben and I took part in a 7 km obstacle race to help raise money for a centre in Kampala which supports refugees in Uganda.

Background Information

Uganda is one of the world's most welcoming nations for refugees. It hosts the 8th largest refugee population worldwide with over 800,000 registered refugees or asylum seekers.

In northern Uganda, refugee camps have been praised for their innovative and welcoming nature. Dispersed peoples fleeing conflict and persecution from neighbouring African countries, including South Sudan, may even be allotted a piece of land to help them become self-reliant as they work to produce food. However, with the recent conflict in South Sudan, resources are under strain as the flood of refugees coming into Uganda has swelled. Many refugees migrate to the city to look for work and livelihood.

Refugees who are no longer living in designated refugee camps are expected to be self-reliant. They do not generally receive any assistance or accommodation from the government nor from UNHCR. In Kampala alone, it is estimated that there are over 200,000 refugees- all of whom need to find a way to live and eat and support their families.

This is where the centre of Refuge and Hope provides a lifeline. The centre aims to empower refugees, enabling them to reach a point where they can be self-reliant. Refugees in Kampala can register at the centre for English classes and to learn vocational skills, such as sewing or cooking, which in turn can help them to reach a point of being independent.

A few weeks ago, Esther and her friend and I attended a cake-tasting event run by the centre, where we could trial the different cakes which students had baked. We had fun tasting the cake samples and learning about the delicious goodies which the students make and sell. Now I have a great place to order and buy tasty cakes from!

Their vision is commendable and their work inspiring. To find out more, take a look at their website:

http://www.refugeandhope.org/

The Race

At the unearthly hour of 6:15am last Saturday, I drove with our two eldest children and with three friends across town to join other keen volunteers for a race which would raise funds for the centre of Refuge and Hope.

There were scores of people at the centre that Saturday morning, all ready for the 7am start, which would see us participating in an obstacle race up and down the hills of Kampala. We ran in teams of up to six individuals. The church we attend here in Kampala had formed three teams in total.

This is the team Esther, Ben and I were in:

We looked energetic and ready as the sun started to rise and the day was still cool!

Four and a half hours later, some of us were feeling a little tired as we neared the finish line...(!!!)

Covered in mud and after a long run, with many obstacles, that energy we had earlier was waning!

Other members of our "Panthers" team came to the finish still feeling strong!

 

As I ran the final few meters, my foot slipped down between the slats of a drain cover on the ground, twisting my ankle and causing me to limp through the gateway of the centre of Refuge and Hope! The following photo was taken seconds before my foot got caught in the metal- you can even see the gap where my foot fell!

However, it was worth every bit of effort and every slip-up! We were jubilant as we posed for our victory photo:

Along the way, we had no camera or phone, so there are no pictures of the actual race.

It was not the kind of race where you take a camera, or in fact anything, along! We faced obstacle after obstacle, since the ultimate aim of the race, aside from raising money which will benefit Kampala's refugees, was to help us all feel a little of the frustration and powerlessness that many refugees face when entering a foreign land and trying to re-establish their lives.

At the start of the race, we received papers which listed the names of our team members. We had to keep this paper safe because we kept coming to "check-points" long the way where "immigration officials" would demand our papers and then decide whether or not we would be allowed to continue on our journey.

Through the course of the race, our papers got muddy, got wet and got ripped and each time it became harder to convince the "authorities" to let us pass.

At the 13 different check-point, these "immigration officials" also delegated tasks to us, which could be as easy as picking up litter or as hard as crawling through a mud-slide on our stomachs in order to reach the next "border", hence all the mud on our clothes!! Ben was DELIGHTED by this particular task and enthusiastically declared at this point in the race that it was the only time in his life where I had actively encouraged him to get muddy!!!

Among other tasks, we also had to stop to build a shelter, with only 2 branches and a large palm leaf. It needed to be big enough to fit us all in- but was actually woefully too small. During the "night" a violent "rainstorm" swept overhead- simulated by a smirking student who energetically threw a bucket of cold water all over us, causing our shelter to collapse and all of us to get soaking wet!

The four children in our team were unsurprisingly indignant- but it gave us a real sense of the frustration a refugee family may feel when there simply is no adequate shelter and when storms and nature simply destroy everything they may work hard for- a sense of hopelessness in the face of great challenges.

We had to cross "rivers" on stepping stones, crawl under supposed fences without touching the wire with any parts of our bodies, climb over walls, run through rain-storms created by blasting water from hose-pipes. We had to fill water bottles using only a sponge squeezed out with dirty water taken from a bucket nearby. That task took us quite a while, only to have an "official" tip all of the water out in front of us, despite our arduous efforts to fill the bottles. The blatant disregard of this official for our hard work upset Esther enormously.
"All that effort for nothing!" she cried. "How could he do that to us?!!"

At this point, Esther was feeling a sense of the helplessness that a refugee may face when they find themselves without dignity or respect, totally at the mercy of officials they may face on their flight from their homes.

Ben summed the whole experience up in a few words- words which spoke volumes and showed that he really understood the point of our participation in last Saturday's "Race for Life".
"They are only treating us like this," stated Ben, "to show us that they have the power over us and we can't do what we want,"

It was an eye-opening experience for us all.
It was an inspiration to view those refugees around us with respect, with compassion and to spur us on to do what we can, where we can, to support and help those who have faced challenges and difficulties, trauma and loss many of us cannot even begin to imagine.
We were so glad we used our Saturday morning to be part of Kampala's wonderfully revealing "Race for Life".