Two UMU Christmas Parties

Yesterday was the UMU staff Christmas party. We went to a farm west of Kampala for a meal and tour. The food was good, as usual. The tour of the farm was interesting.

The place is a combination of a working farm and a recreation area. The farm hires 70 local adults and children. The children are school drop-outs, or as they're called here, early school leavers. The adults are mostly women who have no way to earn a living.

In Uganda only 48% of the children finish primary school--that's 7th grade here. Even with Universal Primary Education, many children can't afford to attend school. Families need them to work. Sometimes parents can't afford uniforms or notebooks. Some areas don't have government-supported (not operated, just minimally supported) schools. Even though school fees are low compared to American tuition, still parents can't afford to pay. Several of the children working on the farm have returned to school. This is a big deal since drop-outs seldom go back.

The farm is former swampland. The local environmental officials permitted the farm because it has water-ways that allow the swamp water to continue to flow. The farm has three fish ponds where they are hoping to raise Tilapia, a favorite fish in the area, although not unique to the region. They have hogs, goats and cattle. With the cattle they have a bio-gas operation that is just beginning where they produce methane to fuel the cooking on the premises.

They have a field--really just a large garden--where they grow cabbage, carrots and other stuff.

There is a lot of work in progress. It has an unfinished look about it, but there's much activity.

The recreation area includes tables and tents on a field. There's a playground for the children. Playgrounds are rare in Uganda and a real treat for kids. Unfortunately, Bry'Chell was a bit too old for this playground. It was geared more for pre-school and primary.

There was a game that provided gifts for all in attendance. You pulled a number from a jar and you received the gift associated with the number. I received a little knick-knack of a dolphin. Bry'Chell received a half-pint of local gin. Neither of us was particularly excited with our gift, but it was pretty funny.

The other party, the one the students sponsored was last week. This was more of a show where students performed Christmas carrols and Christmas skits. The orphans from Kankobe were there. They sang and danced. The Kankobe orphanage has the school-age children--from about five to thirteen. They are considered too old to be adopted, although they're available for adoption (anyone interested?). The babies are at another orphanage and the high school kids at still another.

Sister Beatrice is in charge of the orphanage. She has 70 kids. She struggles to provide for them as there is no government support. This country has lots of orphans and those at the orphanage are among the luckier.

Sr. Beatrice told me that she doesn't want the kids to be sorry they came to Kankobe. She manages to provide one teaspoon of sugar for their porridge every other day. Sometimes she can't even to that. This woman hustles to care for those kids. She brings them to the university because the students provide some support for the orphans. When they come they also get a snack and a bottle of pop, a big deal for these kids. They drained that pop like they thought somebody was going to take it away from them.