Last Friday, I visited with two new organizations. Nicholas who I have written about in previous posts joined me, which made the day much more fun as I had someone to talk to in between meeting. First, I met with Educate!, an organization that goes to schools to teach about social enterprise. The purpose of the meeting was to learn more about how they teach rather than find volunteer opportunities. After this meeting, we went to meet with someone from the organization - In Movement. In Movement teaches arts classes to children after school and on the weekends. There are classes in circus arts, drama, visual arts, and others. I am going to attend the classes one day this week or next, which I am excited for.
After this, Nicholas and I went back to the EAC home for lunch and a break before our next appointment. I fell asleep as I had woken up at 4 am for the Mavericks game. When I woke up, a delicious plate of beans, rice, avocado, and tomato were waiting for me. Aunt Sarah who works with EAC is an amazing chef. After lunch, we went to the nutrition clinic at Mulago where we were going to participate in the weekly dance breakout with the children; however, due to overcrowding, the dance party was canceled. the space was being usesd for hospital beds.
On Saturday, as Will wrote about, we visited the "beach," which is really just a small piece of land on the lake. We ate whole fish and watched storks - the ugliest creatures I have ever seen. When they ate, their throats expanded and almost looked like frozen slime. They had feathers that looked like small grey hairs. it was really appalling. We through the remainder of our whole fishes, including the heads, at them to eat. The ceased the moment. I felt bad for one of them because it could not beat the other to the fish. The area around the beach was very cool. It was lined with shops, rolex (chipatti, which are like tortillas, with tomato and onion omelettes inside) stands, and places to get fresh fish.
Sunday was relaxing and fun. I took Will to the EAC house where they were training for the Spirit of Uganda tour. It was great to see the children dancing again. Their spirit really is infectious. I am really excited for the tour in the spring and to see some more of the training.
Yesterday, I went to the The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) to learn about their educational drama troupe. It was an amazing and powerful experience. All the members are HIV positive. When they introduced themselves to me, they told me this as well as saying the year that they were diagnosed, and how they are being treated. We then had an hour conversation about what EAC does and what they do. I wanted to meet with them because I am interested in skill-based volunteering. This means using talents to serve. The had some terrific insight. After our discussion, the members of the group sang a few songs for me. They were all written by the group's instructor using the stories of the participants. The songs messages included the participants struggles with the stigmas of being HIV positive and the need to educate chidlren to prevent the spread of the disease. Next week, i am going to go to one of the group's community performances.
Finally, on a lighter note, I want to address my Kampala Maverick's watching experience. It almost did not happen. When I arrived at the place to watch the game at 3 am on Monday, the security guard told me they would not permit me to enter. This was not the thing I was hoping to hear. I had gone earlier that night to ask and they said I could come in. After about 20 minutes of persistence, I was finally let it. There was something so strange about watching it by myself. I wanted my brothers to be there with me. When they won it was so exciting, but I couldn't yell or cheer because there were people sleeping upstairs. I look forward to talking about it with everybody when I get home and listening to archives of Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket.
- Feldman
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