The special joy that comes from giving

Kiswa primary school is one of those you walk right by, see kids trudge in and out, their uniforms perhaps worse off than the building they call class. I say building because until recently, the school was housed in the church in the image below. All the classes. (take a moment to picture that, various classes, various subjects, various teachers, all in the same room)

I choose to dwell on the sad nature of the situation, perhaps to point out the need for more to follow in the footsteps of Rotary club of Bukoto who in in conjunction with DHL decided to help out where they could. For why should be blessed with a lot and not be willing to share with the less fortunate.
I love my Sundays, more so the afternoons and I'm yet to forgive MAT Uganda for the classes they schedule in my precious time (it's okay, I'm not crying). So when mother club requested we join them on 14th to give back, i have to confess their was some serious deliberation. But pull on jeans i did and an appearance did i make.
Kiswa is somewhere in the area where lots of MUBs hostels are located (more familiar to some than others. You know yourselves) and out reception, for lack of a better word, was musical. It is always overwhelming when the things you take for granted, have another break into song. These children and their teachers were elated. Growing up, the schools i went to, a stranger bringing new desks would only be exciting because new to kids, is always better. its always about the aesthetics for them. This time though, i will presume it was a combination of the new desks, coupled with the actual need for them.

There were a number of inspired performances by the school choir. Photographic evidence may be hard to come by due to the nature of smart phone batteries. (So you just have to trust that i'm telling the truth).
I will skip through the speeches and give you a quick glimpse of what was said. A speech from the head teacher welcoming the Rotarians, Rotaractors and the DHL staff, another from the director who gave us an insight as to the origin of the school, one form Rotarian Hellen introducing the basis for the project, one from President Yohannes thanking DHL mainly for teaming up with mother club to help put their plans into action, and finally from the DHL MD, thanking mother club for reaching out to them and assisting them fulfill their Corporate Social Responsibility.
Then of course came the reason we were there in the first place. (Look at the photo below for clarification if you weren't sure yet)

Scholastic materials were another item handed out to students, ranging from back packs and rain coats from DHL, right down to exercise books. (Surely you trust me enough by now to not require photographic evidence)
We wrapped up our visit at Kiswa and moved on to Kireka for the next planned visit. Luigi Guissani High School.
At first glance, the perimeter wall in itself is intimidating. That is until you go through the gate and see the structure itself. A lovely building I tell you. Brian is the Architect and he too was left in awe.

Yes, that's the class building. Believe me. (Whispers like, "are we in the right place, are you sure they need help, don't you think they'll expect us to dance for them" were evident all around)
In we went, and the history of Luigi Guissani was laid bare to us. The efforts that had been put into building the school. The women who lived in the slums of Acholi quarters and Naguru had the dream to see their children in a good school so together with AVSI Uganda, and meeting point international, they came up with a project where they made jewellery from multi-colored beads, which was sold in Europe for about 15-20 Euros a piece and all that revenue was channelled into the project. That together from money from other donors who came on board wen they heard about the project gave birth to Luigi Guissani High school.

To keep the school running costs low, the women from the same slums volunteer to carry out various jobs in the school ranging from preparing meals in the kitchen, to cleaning the school.
At the end of the speeches, and a testimony from one of the students, President Yohannes, asked whether we were convinced that we indeed were in the right place, a question later echoed by the DHL MD. People all around nodded to themselves, agreeing that we indeed were in the right place. They really did need the help.
One of the oldest idioms sprung to mind while all this went on, "Never Judge a book by its cover."
A picture of the events at Luigi Guissani High school is in order, no?

By the way, these Luigi guys could sing. Real talent there. Real talent i tell you.

Great thanks goes to the Rotary club of Bukoto, their partners in this venture DHL Uganda, and of course the Rotaract club of Bukoto. Let me leave you a collage to wrap up the days events.

I'm glad i traded my Sunday afternoon at home for this. Keep them coming.