This morning we went to visit several students homes.
First we went to Andrew’s home where we met his mother and baby sister. We showed Andrew and his family the video from my student, Aaron, and we filmed his video reply. He gave me a photo of him with his sister to give to Aaron. His mother brought out some of the largest avocados I have ever seen! I had no idea they could get that big! I explained that the ones we have are very tiny. I think it would take 3-4 of the avocados from home to equal the size of just one from Uganda. She wanted us to take some home, but we can’t take them through customs. She also sent a very large bag back to the school and I saw that everyone had a chunk of avocado with their lunch today.
We also visited 5 other student’s homes: Shakira, Elijah & Elena, Hajara & Allan, Ivan, Chris, & Victor, and Trevor & Travis. Out of all these homes, only one family had a father. All others were single mothers or grands (grandmothers). The fathers or both parents have abandoned the family. In the one family with both parents, the children were having their porridge for breakfast; the parents were not. They were saving what food they had for their kids. Each family invited us into their home, and the women would sometimes kneel in front of us to thank us for being there and supporting their children.
I visited 3 different villages and see many homes. Each was a one room home that they rent. At night they lay down a blanket or mat for each to sleep on. Some homes had what looked like it was a second room, but it was actually a storage area, not really big enough for a person to lie down in. There were many styles of roofs and outside walls, but each seemed the same size.
I also toured what is called The Landing. It is a large fishing and shipping port; the biggest in Uganda. Many student’s parents work there, either fishing or selling items like food. You could see butcher shops and places cleaning the fish. There were plenty of places that were cooking the whole tilapia to sell. It was very interesting to see, but also very different. There were many different smells, many wandering dogs, and a whole lot of people everywhere. And this was not their busiest day!
