Productivity for the Win!

What a productive day! While Trisa, Juliana, and Kenzie ventured into Iganga, Isaac, Andrew, and I had the most productive Monday by far. We went to build a tippy tap for the winner at last week's sensitization. To our surprise, she had one already that was fully functional, but really short. So we took it apart and built her a taller one. Since she already had one, we allowed her to refer us to a friend or relative that didn't have one and we would build that person one as well. So bam! Within 2 hours, we built two tippy taps.

(Before)

(After)

(Tippy Tap Winner Juliet)

(Before)

(After)

We then went to Kasambiika Primary School to check in on the hand-washing project. We talked to the Sanitation Teacher, Sanitation Prefects, and the Tippy Tap Prefect about some issues we saw with the project so far. We talked about the problem with the soap chain and the teacher mentioned how they believed that the chain was unsustainable as well. They all agreed that ash would be a good idea. Everything panned out really well. We also talked to the Tippy Tap Prefect separately. In addition to a small checklist of items he should mentally go through each day (i.e. Are the jerrycans full of water? Are the tippy taps in good condition?), we also talked to him about the feasibility and reality of the changes we wanted to make. We were worried that the teachers would pressure the prefects, but he agreed that all of it would work.

After our visit to the school, we checked in with the head midwife of the health center to confirm the HIV Testing Day this Wednesday that we planned with her a few weeks ago. She did not seem to remember, but agreed to the testing day.

Once Trisa, Juliana, and Kenzie came back, we had a meeting with our VHTs. We talked about upcoming sensitization, expectations, and their thoughts and opinions on certain issues in the community. After the meeting, I am certain that our VHTs are by far the best team in UVP. They are so dedicated and engaged and they are constantly present at all of our events. They are definitely a strong advantage we have.

After the meeting, Andrew, Isaac, and I went in search of some of our favorite kids. We ended up having a mini dance party in the moonlight

Flowers

We had our second hand-washing school visit today. We taught and sang the song to the younger kids while the older ones helped build the tippy taps. I noticed when the younger kids were dismissed from us, the teachers were not calling them back to go back to learning new topics. It made me a little sad to see that the teachers were somewhat unmotivated. It's definitely a hard job with little pay, but it's still surprising and frustrating.

After a long day at the school, we came back for a nice lunch and planned for our malaria education session next week! The regular kids came by, but we didn't play football today to respect the wishes of the old grumpkins Kabaale that lives across the street. So today, we just played cards and had a mini dance party. Oh! I almost forgot, the best thing happened today. One of the younger boys, Guster who is 6, came up and gave me a handful of flowers! It was so adorable I almost cried on the spot. Who's kidding? For those of you who know me, I did cry... and I'm proud of it.

Tippy Tapping!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already July! It’s been a full week here in Kasambika 2, Uganda and I’m loving every minute of it. Today was a non-work day since we worked on Saturday. All the girls minus me went into Iganga town while I stayed behind with the boys to relax at home. So we began building the tippy tap! But it was more like watching Papa Issac build the tippy tap. So here are some pictures of it!

The tippy tap is a contraption for washing hands cleanly. You just step on the pedal and water falls out of the jerrycan with no need to touch it! 

(Thank you Kenzie for the modeling!)

Sadly, there was no soccer today. We had to give the grass (more like the giant patch of dirt) a rest. Hopefully there will be a game tomorrow!