Dull Knives...

This morning we headed to the school to follow up on the tippy tap hand-washing project. Last time, the other Kasambiika team visited the school and found that all the soap had been stolen. The teachers said the issue was that the soap was scented. That was pretty disappointing, but this time we brought unscented soap so we're hoping that they won't get stolen. Yet, our team is trying to think of a better way to have the students wash their hands. One major problem with soap (besides the stealing) is that it's not a sustainable chain. We don't think the school will be able to maintain a feasible method for obtaining soap for the students to use. We are working on different methods, but we are leaning towards switching from soap to ash. Supposedly, ash is a very good disinfectant and since the school has a kitchen, ash is almost always available. But we are waiting to see how the school manages with the soap batch we gave today before making the switch.

After planning for our HIV sensitization next Tuesday and lunch, some of the kids stopped by. We didn't have the football today, but Kenzie brought out the volleyball. The kids held it out as long as they could, but after awhile, their forearms hurt too much. So we just circled up and tossed each other the ball. After some time, it turned into a giant game of keep away with 2 teams. With all the screaming, more kids arrived. It was definitely fun, but tiring! They have so much energy. I met up with Batale after some time and peeled some more cassava. I had a knife today! Woo! And of course, I cut myself... on a dull knife. They invited me to their rice fields tomorrow. I'm excited to see them. If I'm cutting rice at the same rate it takes me to peel cassava though, I'll be at it all night.

I did have another Kasambiika Surprise today. I learned that Ugandans have a different way to tell time. The clock runs from 7-1. So the first hour of the day is at 7AM and they call that sawa mundala (1st hour). 8AM is then sawa babiri (2nd hour) and so on. Then at 7PM, the clock switches back to sawa mundala (the first hour of the night). It's some crazy schtuff. It took me at least 20 minutes to wrap my head around, but I think I finally got it.

String is a Best Friend in Kasambiika

Today, we woke up and relaxed for a bit before heading out to do work. Kenzie and I fetched some water at the borehole. Isaac worked on a poster to hang up for our malaria sensitization tomorrow. Then, we tried taking the bikes to the school to drop off some jerrycans for the tippy taps. I took Kenzie while Andrew had Isaac. Yet, we had an epic fail. The back seat where Kenzie was sitting started to break. With a quick fix-it, Kenzie and I switched seats and we headed out again. But then another epic fail. The pedal on the bike broke. So Papa Isaac made a makeshift pedal using string again and we conceded to having only Kenzie and Andrew ride the bikes to the school. 

As Isaac and I walked back to the house to get ready to mobilize people for the malaria sensitization tomorrow, we passed by some of the favorites - Batale and Said. They were sitting outside their hut peeling cassava. We stopped to greet, yet we ended up sitting and peeling with them. Batale and Isaac had knives, but I just used my fingers. I had cassava up in my fingernails for the rest of the day. After some time, Kenzie and Andrew met us and we all headed back to the house for lunch. As we started to head out to mobilize, Batale came by with cassava and corn. It still amazes me that people here can give so much when they have so little. 

After our hour of walking around and telling people about our "omusumo ku musuuda gw'ensiri" (malaria sensitization), we hung up some posters at the boreholes and the health center. By the time we got back, Juliana and Trisa had come back from Iganga with all the groceries and items for the week. After unloading, Isaac and I headed to Nabitende to buy some luxury items (i.e. sodas). On our way there, our boda man had to stop on the side of the road because there was a giant, black cobra in the road. It was at least 2 feet long and slithering its way into the potato fields. 

When we got back, it was only football, dinner, and setting the rat traps.