More Mercy Junior School Adventures...

Hi all,

Wow! Our third (and final) day at Mercy Junior School was full of dancing, singing, animal noises, spelling, and even a few tears. It’s powerful to see so much joy in children who have so little.

Once again, our team split up into teams to teach different subjects for the nursery, Primary 1 (five and six year-olds) and Primary 2 (seven and eight year-olds). I’m so impressed with everyone’s teaching skills, and with how attentive and well-behaved the children were. I (Betsy) taught P1 English, and the kids already knew how to spell all of their colors and shapes. The students all raise their hands at once and say, “me, teacher!” when they know the answer—which is pretty much every time we ask a question.

During group time the kids performed several songs and dances for us and then asked us to join them on stage (they are all much better dancers than I am, ha!). I got to play my guitar and the Ugandan drum the team gave me for my birthday during worship, and I wish I could clone the instruments and leave the clones with the kids (they think it’s hilarious to bang on the drum!).

Karla teaches in the nursery

This little girl was SO adorable!

We’re so grateful that Mercy Junior School exists to help these bright kids begin their education, even in the midst of the slums of Kampala. Pastor Joseph, the leader of the church affiliated with the school, hopes that we can return in the future to teach again, and we hope we can as well.

The teachers brought the kids to the front to sing with us. So cute!

On Tuesday night we also had the opportunity to dive even deeper into the arts culture of Uganda. We went to dinner with Destreet, a local artist whom we met at the community center last week. He told us about his t-shirt making and college experiences. (At that point we were in an Italian restaurant in Uganda, listening to American country music. It was a pretty weird culture clash, for sure!) Then Destreet led us to a local club to see Maurice Kirya perform. Kirya, one of the most popular performers in the country, is an extremely talented vocalist and guitarist. His blend of Afro-beat, soul, and jazz was so much fun, and it gave us an insider’s look at the music scene of Uganda. The concert will certainly aid us in our conversations about the fusion of art and culture when we meet with Makerere University next week.

Maurice Kirya at Club Rouge--there was a painter working on a canvas during the music. It was awesome.

Today Elijah and Dr. Bleattler will be joining us—pray for their safe travel from Dubai to Entebbe! When they arrive our team will be complete. We can’t wait to introduce them to pineapple soda, chicken and chips, Malibu storks, and, of course, all of the contacts we’ve made so far. Bye for now!

Much love,

Betsy