The days start to blur together

One of the strange things about being here for one month, is that now so many things that I’m sure would have thrown me for a loop before I came here, or would seem interesting to all of you back in the States just seems to be part of the daily routine. So, I’m going to work hard on continuing to update, but you’ll have to let me know if it starts to sound tedious or monotonous! (I don’t want to bore you all!)

I’m being a little lazy today… so instead of writing something new, I’m posting something I wrote last weekend, about my trip to Sir Samuel Baker with Okidi Richard.

Turning up the tree lined road to Sir Samuel Baker, I am immediately struck by the many differences from my own high school. The rush of cars driving by, the harsh light of the sun bouncing off the pavement is absent, in its place is a sense of tranquility, as though this land knows it is meant for study and quiet meditation. All around is green, green, green, surrounded by a sky so blue, I feel as though I have found myself in a piece of art. Someone once told me that Uganda is the most beautiful country in Africa, and I am inclined to believe them.

Arriving at the front gate, you can almost feel the history of the school; the leaders that have passed through, the futures of great men that have been shaped here. The buildings themselves shout of their former glory, and it only takes the squinting of my eye and an imagined coat of paint to restore them to what they must have been. Young men in crisp white shirts litter the ground, reading, talking, dreaming.

Speaking to the headmaster, my original characterizations of the school are confirmed. They have suffered much, but overcome. Political coups and changing policies, LRA occupation and military sentries, burning buildings and insufficient funds, the administration and the students preserved. The headmaster recounts the current obstacles facing the school; inadequate teaching staff, dilapidated dorm rooms, classrooms that are crumbling around students. However, the present struggles don’t dissuade the inhabitants of the school. I can sense it in the air; their will, their desire to restore Sir Samuel Baker to all it once was, is palpable. And I, for one, have faith they will…