CLD=Fun

3/3/16 After spending a long night at the Nairobi airport we arrived in Uganda.  We tried to get into many lounges to sleep in but every one we tried they did not accept us.  Instead of getting to stay in a nice luxury lounge we slept in the kids area, which luckily for my family I qualified for the magical age of 10 and under.  When we arrived in Uganda we  started our first activity instantly. We visited a community service program called Come Let’s Dance (CLD).  Come Let’s Dance helps families that don’t have a lot of money.  We went to a smaller program that CLD has called Thread of Life.  Thread of Life teaches women from the slums how to sew.  Thread of Life also helps the women to save the money they earn from the clothes they make.  I got a shirt and ordered pants custom made for me.

3/4/16. Today we went to the farm which was a great experience.  We got to harvest maize (corn).  I was also allowed to take the kernels off the cob.  I finally got to see what my grandpa’s childhood was like.  I got big blisters on the side of my thumbs from scraping the corn off the cob.  That night we watched Drumline, which was a really great movie. To watch the movie all the staff had to find a projector and get it all set up at the school.  The power kept flashing on and off, so it was not the best quality movie, but it was still fun.

3/5/16. When we got to the school today it put the biggest smile on my face to see how excited they were to have a chance to play with all the games we brought.  We were at the school almost all day. It was awesome to see all of that energy around me, the kids never got tired.  It was an amazing feeling to be in the spotlight and all the kids dragging you into the field.

3/6/16. Apparently they had another school that I didn’t know about and the kids were super nice.  The second we walked in everybody was hugging us and asking to play.  But the thing I loved most about the kids is how happy they were to be at school and just getting to learn.  The school building made me kind of sad because the rooms didn’t have doors, it was completely made out of cement except for the roof.  But it just makes me that much more grateful for what we have at home.  When I started teaching math with my dad everyone was completely focused on their work. I didn’t hear them talk about one thing unrelated to school, and I never had to tell them twice to do something.  After the school we went back to Thread of Life and I finally got my pants. My sister also got shorts, pants, and a backpack.  

3/8/16. Today we went back to the school for the last time and to say our goodbyes to the kids.  Since it was our last time everybody was kind of run down because they knew they wouldn’t see us again.  I absolutely treasured this experience and I wish I could do it for longer.  The thing I was most excited for on this trip was getting to spend a lot of time with one group of people for long periods of time.  But we haven’t been doing that much this trip.  But during this experience we got to stay with the same group of people.