students studying hard
The RTV operations got another dose of what “hard-to-reach” and “remote” really meant when we visited Kisoro, Uganda in December 2011. For two weeks the RTV team was constantly on the move. Living out of our packs, sleeping in the van, getting home late, leaving early and pushing hard all day long was our reality. It was this back-to-back intense experience that help Canadian visitors to really understand what type of context we work in.
On December 5th the RTV team got up at 4AM for our drive to the community of Murole in Southwestern Uganda. The road (while improved from the last time that Shawn and the team had visited) was a mud slick and littered with craters and pot holes that could easily swallow your axel whole. Our heads bobbed from side-to-side in a violent thrashing motion making it extremely difficult to catch up on some much needed sleep.
two hours later at a fork in the road, we gathered our packs, our tent and food and started to walk to the final destination: Murole.
Now, Shawn had told us that this community was “hard-to-reach” but we had no idea what was coming. The path to Murole is a small footpath that at certain points may widen to about 4 feet across but is mostly only wide enough to fit both feet. The mud slick path, tree roots and rocks challenge your footing as you walk 6KM through the Virunga Mountains – Up, down and around as the climb gets steeper and steeper.
Going into the village everyone had a spring in their step – we were eager to visit the community and for the whole experience.
We started to set up camp just before nightfall. We built a fire, got supper going and then as the altitude and the day’s activities got to everyone we realized we had forgotten one of the most important things: water. Well, not really forgotten, water was given insufficient consideration when we decided to bring only 5 liters for the four of us staying overnight. After a 6 km hike through the jungle, a full day’s work at 1900 meters above sea level – we started to realize what the 10KM to a contaminated water source really means for people.
In the morning we decided to ration the 1.5 liters of water we had remaining and start our long and arduous journey back to the main road. The trek might have been challenging going to visit Murole but coming back dehydrated, exhausted from sleeping on the ground, and overwhelmed by the level of intensity made the trip going back to the main road seem nearly impossible. Despite the fact that women with babies and water jugs, and children half our age were running by us, the RTV team finally made it back to the car in just under two hours from start to finish with no water.
This is the nature of hard-to-reach. This is what remote really looks like. No viable water source, clinics that are over 15KM away with the only viable transportation being on foot, markets that are a full day’s walk away, and insufficient natural resources to meaningfully sustain yourself. This is why we do what we do.
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BFF - 2 little girls enjoying each others company in the schoolyard of Ssanga Primary School.
Right outside the classroom in the village of Kanyamehene sits this sign. A valuable lesson for all.
Winter is not my thing. It never has been. Even when I was little my mom used to have to wrap me up
like the abdominal snowman and I would still come home with blood red cheeks and shake for hours.
This winter (so far) seems particularly hateful because I missed the transition from fall to winter while
traveling to Uganda. Now, I begrudgingly put on all the layers and bike to work every day, thinking about
how less than two months ago I was reveling in 30 degree weather.
As I try to re-integrate and find the silver lining to this bitter season, I can’t help but reminisce about the
stories, experiences and people I met while I was away and the glorious warm temperatures.
Yesterday I kept thinking about how Madam Liz, the headmaster of Grace Primary, is one of the most
impressive women I have ever met. She really has a heart as big as Texas and a determination to see
each one of her students and Grace Primary succeed. Madam Liz remembers small details about you as
an individual and is upfront about how she is willing to invest in a relationship with anyone who comes
to visit Grace Primary School. Her investment in the kids of Grace Primary is apparent from the first grin
you get from any of the students.
When I first visited Grace Primary, Richard and I were trying to collect some information about student
and school performance. As we sat looking over Madam Liz’s records a little girl who was about four
years old and part of the pre-kindergarten class started peering in through the office door. She wouldn’t
take her big brown eyes off of me. After about five minutes under this little one’s gaze I gave her a small
wave as I tried to pay attention to the meeting between Madam Liz, Richard and I. The little girl came
in through the door with a brazen boldness and leaned over my lap as I continued to participate in the
meeting. After fifteen minutes of having this little one lean and play on my lap she slowly but surely
crawled up on my knees and continued to sit there for the remainder of the 45 minute meeting. The
little girl and I didn’t talk, and even if I tried she wouldn’t have understood me, but we created a bond
that has made a lasting impression on me.
It is memories like these that will help to get me through the below freezing temperatures.
- Krystal
I’m back! After a month in Uganda and three weeks working from Halifax (to spend some time with my family over the holidays), I am back in Toronto and settling back into the routine of packed lunches, (semi) regular office hours and scheduled meetings that people show up on time for.
It is mildly strange to embrace the routine of life and re-assimilate into Canadian culture. The hardest part of the whole process is answering the question “Welcome back! How was your trip?” Don’t get me wrong I love that people are interested, and that they genuinely want to know more about what we do and how we do it. I am touched by the warm response I have received from staff, volunteers, and other people at CSI yet I find it hard to articulate my answer. Yet, I want to do the sights, sounds and experience justice. I want people to feel connected to the journey I went on but I find that my vocabulary is not expansive enough to really paint the picture of what it is like to work in the remote hard to reach regions of Uganda. In a feeble attempt to describe our trip I try to explain what it was like to walk two hours in the jungle along a slippery washed out footpath to Murole, and the joy I felt when I listened to women in Kanyamahene explaining their challenges and brainstorming solutions to overcome poverty in their village. I can only hope that through it all people get an even slightly clearer picture of what living in Uganda is really like. I am glad I can be part of building the network of Raising The Village and help to build a bridge between Canada and Uganda together with the help of everyone.
That’s all for now,
Krystal
Recess at Grace.
Students from Kanga.
