Today we continued our journey north-east of Kampala. As we left the city life behind us, we enjoyed seeing less traffic, lush gardens and the beautiful smiles and waves along the way.
We distributed another 550 bedkits to very deserving children. As the children left the distribution site balancing their mattress on their heads and holding their other bedkit items in their arms, the parents cheered! We especially loved hearing the beautiful sounds of the mothers ululating, showing us their happiness and gratitude.
Our visit today was to Nalugalu Public School which had no glass in the windows, no water and no electricity but it did have 550 adorable children ready to receive bedkits. We enjoyed lunch after with all the volunteers in one of the classrooms.
We were fortunate to visit the happy and loving home of a single mother and her 4 youngest children. They all live in a 10' x 10' tin shack with one small bed. We brought them a gift of flour, salt, beans and soap.
When we arrived in Nairobi our gracious hosts met us at the airport.
Our first distribution was at a school in Talek. This school is a 6-hour drive from Nairobi. We had a beautiful drive through savannahs and passed by the Great Rift Valley that stretches 9,300 miles from Syria to Mozambique. There are many trucks on the road as it is the main highway to transport goods across land- locked countries in Africa.
Our first overnight stay was in a tent camp overlooking the savannah.
The school where our first distribution was held is on the edge of the Masai Mara game reserve. Children in their new outfits greeted us. The outfits this year are red, green, blue and yellow t-shirts and shorts. The smiles on the children's faces were precious as they greeted us. Even the youngest of the children were able to balance the bedkit on their heads.
During our forays out in the game reserve we were fortunate to see lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, hyenas and water buffalo.
We travelled back to Nairobi and the next day headed to Isolo. The drive is straight north through beautiful lush forests and rows of greenhouses where roses are grown for export.
We distributed another 1000 bedkits to the children who greeted us with song on our arrival.
The distribution and organization by the Rotary is commendable. The bedkits are all securely stored and they were ready to distribute on our arrival. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, another 1000 children will get a good night's sleep.
Back in Nairobi
After our two rural distributions with many miles travelled, the SCAW team is grateful to be back in our “home” guesthouse in Nairobi. Our first distribution in the city was at Riruta Satellite Primary School.
It was a short ride on this clear, warm day through the city to a quieter, poorer area of the Nairobi.
The gated school had a muddy area where bedkits had been securely stored and from which their noon meal was served.
All the children greeted us warmly with an opening programme in the open, cement quad.
Much fun was had by engaging a teacher to teach the eager crowd a raucous chant of “Go Leafs Go! Go Leafs Go!!!”
1000 bedkits were distributed in 3 hours with the help of teachers and Rotarians. Rotarian Winston was the point person for this school’s successful distribution.
Today we travelled over three hours outside of Kampala and found ourselves in the beautiful countryside village of Bulawula. We received a very warm welcome from the children and their parents as we exited the bus. We then explored the property and all agreed that the cow field next to the school would be the perfect back drop for the photo area! We quickly set up and the distribution got underway. Thanks to our wonderful Inner Wheel teammates, we were able to give 550 children the gift of sleep today!
DESTINATION SEGALYE
A 3 hour bumpy drive on the red dirt roads of Uganda brought us to today’s destination, Segalye. The distribution site was full of very excited children and parents awaiting their gift from SCAW.
The Inner Wheel ladies could not be more dedicated to serving the needy children of Uganda. They are amazing partners; kind, compassionate, hard working, organized and so very welcoming.
Another very successful (and long) 13 hour day in the books!
Our first distribution day began with a rainy drive to Kibuye, a suburb outside of Kampala. As soon as our bus pulled into our location, we saw the excited smiles from the children. We all agreed that this was a sight we have missed very much over the past couple of years. After setting up our photo area, and determining where the children would receive their bedkits, we welcomed our first group for their photo. Even better, the sun came came out! The groups moved through the distribution smoothly until the last child received their bedkit. Along with our wonderful partners, The Inner Wheel, another great group of children received the gift of sleep today!
- Team Uganda 2023
Today we visited the factories Unique Uniforms and Crest Foam. Unique Uniforms provides the dresses, shorts sets, and backpacks. Crest Foam produces the mattresses. The facilities were modern and well ventilated. The clothing company was established by a gentleman who started as a child on the street, was supported by a visionary, kind woman, acquired a manual sewing machine and was requested to make 25 school uniforms. He now provides hundreds of jobs and is training entrepreneurs. Thank you to the mattress company for also storing and delivering the bed kits to the distribution sites.
We concluded our very successful day and then gathered with our overseas volunteers, the women of the Inner Wheel.
Team Uganda
It is with mixed emotions that today we conclude our SCAW bedkit distribution of 1000 kits. In total 6000 children will be sleeping much better thanks to SCAWs’ most generous donors. As Sue said “it is surreal”.
Some children were very excited while others were apprehensive and shy but overall all were overjoyed as were their families.
Our first site was in a community centre while the second one was at a secondary school.
At the first site we had a significant number of mountain kids , Aeta, who are significantly smaller in stature.
At the second site many of the children were engaged in a special reading program.
As always our local partners , the Kiwanis members plus others readily and happily stepped up to get the job done and resolve any and all challenges we faced; such as when the truck carrying 500 bedkits was too high and would hit the electrical lines necessitating unloading and the relocation of the 500 kits, as anxious children and families waited.
All stepped up to help: some on foot, others by a small vehicles and to our amazement even the local ambulance and its people helped out.
These pictures say what words can not.
We had a lovely distribution near our hotel with a successful count of 500 children.
There was extra security provided as we gave the kits straight out the truck. You can
always feel the excitement in the air … followed by some desperation by those who did not
receive a kit. The need for bedkits is great here.
The children were chosen thru Kiwanis and a church organization but
some were brought in on school buses. The temperature is 33 degrees and
the sun can be overwhelming at times.
As we headed out of town to the rural areas we were greeted by the views of crops in the fields and the smells of chicken and pork farms at the distribution site.
The children were over-joyed when we arrived and we all sung both our national anthems with pride.
After 2 distributions of 500 children each we took a quick moment to view the caretaker’s home. It was a room that was smaller than a regular bedroom. The family with 5 kids lives there with 2 parents and a grandmother. No stove or kitchen. They are allowed to stay on the gym site as long as they take care of the gym.
Many parents on the outside were begging for their children. I had the privilege of giving out bedkits. It can sometimes feel chaotic with the noise and bustle all around. We hope these children sleep with a little more joy tonight.
Sue Orr
This being the first in person SCAW distribution since the start of the pandemic, there were many issues and concerns, one of which was the determination of the need for masking.
It was decided that the travelling team would take its lead from the country of distribution and the local distribution centres.
Prior to boarding the aircraft we were advised to wear a mask at all times except when eating.
Arriving in the Philippines at the Manila airport we were required to register on line all our vaccine history, including dates and which vaccine we received.
Within the airport masks were prevalent on most, if not all, of the people. This was also the case with ground transportation and at the hotel and adjacent mall.
We were advised that daily reporting of active cases was occurring and that the numbers in Manila were much higher than the outlying provinces which explained the stricter adherence to masking in the densely populated areas.
We, especially the photographers, think that the smile, always sought for in picture taking, would be missed since many of us consider the mouth turned up to illicit a smile which we believe signals joy, happiness, appreciation etc . A mask covering the mouth reminds us that these emotions are also expressed in other ways such as twinkling eyes, touch, laughing, giggles, body movements and, with these children, remarkable hand gestures indicating love, appreciation and joy.
Joy is clearly evident in these photos!
We anticipate that those receiving pictures of children who have chosen to keep their masks on will be understanding and supportive of their choices for safety of self and others.
Today's distribution was in the home city of our host Dr. Ito Torres.
The morning distribution we gave out 350 bedkits and again after lunch we gave out another 350.
Beside the Kiwanis group we also had the Boy and Girl Scouts as our volunteers to help with unloading the bedkits and assisting the children when needed.
After the distribution we were shown the Kiwanis building and the library which they have set up on the main floor.
Tomorrow is a day of rest.
Fran
Today the distribution occurred at two quite different sites within the Manila area.
The first location was a church and 350 bedkits were distributed with the assistance, as always, of a fantastic team of over 40 Kiwanis members. The second site was an athletic facility and again 350 children were present, showing obvious gratification when they received their bedkits that included a mattress, sheet, pillow and pillow case, mosquito net, 2 pairs of shorts, 4 tee shirts, a raincoat, 3 notebooks, pencils and pens along with a back pack.
At each location we start the distribution with the two countries’ anthems and a prayer. Both of these sites surprised us with a performance. There was a cultural dance at the church and an amazing song in English plus a different cultural dance at the second location.
There was no doubt about the joy the children and their families felt in receiving the bedkits from the generous donors to SCAW, often adding hand gestures of appreciation which seems to be a common additional way of expressing oneself here in the Philippines.
Today was a mixed day of distributing 350 bedkits combined with travelling back to Manila from a few hours south of Manila. We had stayed overnight in a town close to the volcano that had a high risk of a massive eruption in 2020. The volcano risk and emergence of COVID in 2020 cancelled our 2020 distribution. Everybody including us and especially the kids welcomed our return.
The trip back to Manila had a bit of fun when we visited the oldest church in Asia, period costume dress up and a treat of Halo Halo.
There were some very happy kids.
Thank-you for the moments!!
The day began earlier than the others as we had a 2 hour drive ahead
of us. We arrived safely and were greeted by a gym full of 350 children
patiently waiting for us and the bedkits.
We usually begin by singing our national anthems and showing the
children the items in the bedkit. You can always feel the excitement in
the room.
We then took the local transportation to our new hotel and had a
lovely lunch overlooking a volcano.
In the afternoon we again held a distribution for 350 children and
were done in record time. We had the opportunity to meet the local mayor
and he thanked us all for bringing hope to the children.
Sue Orr
We were very excited to do our first SCAW in-person distribution since 2020 when the world shut down. The bedkits had been purchased, labels printed, and children chosen so everything had been on hold since then.
We started with a small distribution of 200 in the morning to get a feel for the routine, which worked out quite well , then drove to another location about an hour away for the second distribution of 350 bedkits.
COVID has changed a few of the normal routines for picture taking, such as : not having the children change into the SCAW outfits, and the children were wearing masks so getting them to smile for their picture was not necessary.
Fran Wilson
Today was scheduled as a day of rest with tomorrow being the first day of the distribution.
Despite the long journey to arrive here we all agreed we were somewhat disappointed that we were not starting the distribution today and meeting the wonderful Philippine children and our host Kiwanis Club partners.
Our car was not available to us as the vehicle designated to us was not permitted on the road. This is a measure government is using to assist in controlling traffic in this densely populated city.
Kindness was offered to us by coordinator Millette whose vehicle was allowed on the road after 10 am.
She chauffeured us to the Greenhills Market Place where we enjoyed a delightful morning of browsing, and for some of us shopping, followed by a delicious lunch and time to socialize and learn more about the Philippine culture and the products the Philippines are known for. The market had many many kiosks selling their renowned pearls.
Our afternoon was spent organizing for our first distribution tomorrow. As you can appreciate, review was essential in light of the Covid hiatus. We are fortunate to have Sue and Jim’s past experience here as well as their expertise in leadership.
We anticipate a day tomorrow of many smiles on faces as the children receive their bedkits which we will see despite the precaution of masking.
After arriving midday yesterday, today was our first full day to settle in. It was a “free day” but totally filled in quickly. It started out with our driver taking us to a US War Memorial for the Pacific Second World War relative to the Philippines. There were a few miscues before finding the right one but it was worth the effort and almost overwhelming - the size with the number of crosses of fallen soldiers. It is a touching circular structure with all the names included, rooms with geographic illustrations highlighting the activity around the Philippines.
Dr. Ito then took us, his personal attendant and driver out to lunch. As expected, he nailed it with a great place just next door to the hotel. After that, he kindly took us on a great tour of the highlights of the city. I think we all really appreciated his kindness and giving us so much of his time.
One more day to settle in and then I sense all of us are excited to start the bedkit distribution process again after a three year hiatus. A few pictures of lunch and the Memorial.
Cheers,
Jim
