Makerere Art Exchange

Hey all, Betsy here--I'm sitting in a hotel (WITH WI-FI!!) in Jinja, Uganda, with a view of the Nile River and Lake Victoria. The team has reached our debriefing/chillin' time, complete with swimming pool, Internet, and (eventual) white water rafting on the Nile River. Right now Dr. Bleattler is outside playing with the local dogs (yes, I'm serious) and most of the team is getting ready for a well-deserved sleep.

Our van broke down literally five times on the way to Jinja (which is about three hours from Kampala), and once it even broke down in the rainforest. How cool is that. Seriously, the team took it in stride and we actually had fun singing and looking for monkeys out the window. We all made it in one piece, and our driver, Fred, deserves a lifetime supply of pineapples or something. Note: total monkey count was sadly 0.00.

Wow. Our exchange this week with the students of the School of Industrial and Fine Arts at Makerere University totally exceeded our expectations! We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with 20 of the top art students in east Africa painting, singing, dancing, and talking. They are even cooler than I expected, and everyone wants to hopefully reunite next year.

Day one (Monday) was a lot of introductions and cultural exchange. Dr. Bleattler lectured on how African Art has influenced the West and Prof. Kynyene of MU lectured on 20th century Ugandan art. We talked with the students about our impressions of Uganda and America, and it was so cool to hear their reactions. One of my favorite quotes was by one of the students, who described America as "money-rich and time-poor." Too true.

Elvina introducing her neighbors to the group

Day two (Tuesday) got exciting as we collaborated with the students on art projects that reflected our discussions on how culture and art influence one another in our respective nations. The students at Makerere are so talented--we worked together on making beautiful jewelry, painting with watercolors, mixing media such as traditional Ugandan dried banana leaves and bark cloth, and even a little acting. The atmosphere was relaxed and slow-paced, with a lot of tea and chipate (traditional African flatbread) to go around. MU was so gracious and even provided lunch for us. We worked in the MU art studio building--tomorrow Elvina will post some of the amazing photos Elijah took. :)

Elijah, Ali, and Katelyn's group brainstorming ideas for their art project

Ali working on her group's painting

Elvina and Karla's group's final project

By day three (Wednesday) none of us wanted to leave. We presented our numerous projects to the group (one of my new friends, a jewelry making/museum curating major named Violet, made earrings and necklaces for almost everyone!). In the evening we had an open mic talent show.

Rehearsing for the talent show

The talent show included everything from original songs to crazy African dances to poetry.

The art students at Makerere are all such natural performers--many of the guys can do backflips and dance as well as Usher, and the girls have beautiful singing voices. Their passion was such an inspiration for us. Many staff and faculty members were in the audience and by the end it broke into a huge dance party. I loved playing music (lots of guitar, and even a little African drum/American harmonica fusion!) and just getting to know and love the students. I think we all learned so much about each others' cultures and personal lives as well.

Joe reads a poem at the talent show

Well, all for now. You may be hearing more than usual from us because we have our first consistent Internet connection in 2.5 weeks! Also, we've recently discovered that our flight has been canceled due to British Airways strikes, so please pray that we find a flight around the same time frame ASAP. I'm sure it'll all work out--we're all getting used to this polychronic time thing, which means we're a whole lot more patient than we were when we left the states. All in good time, we'll work it out. (All the flights we're looking at are around the same time, so we won't be a month late or anything.) ;)

Love,
Betsy

...and more photos to come!

Hi from Elvina (and the rest of the team)!

It's been a busy (and amazingly rewarding) few days. After our last update we headed to the Sanyo Home for Abandoned Babies. We spent three hours taking down the children's laundry, and of course, playing with the kids, all of whom were between the ages of zero and three years old. We had the chance to attend a party for Jovian, a wide-eyed one year-old girl in pink who had just been adopted. She sat in her overjoyed mother's arms as the entire orphanage sang farewell to her. All of us made a friend (or two)--a one year-old named Frank clung to Katelyn, and a curly haired infant named Gladys sat on my lap.

The orginization was run efficiantly, and the women who worked their truly cared for the children. We said our bittersweet goodbyes and headed back to greet the two missing members of our team, Elijah and Dr. Bleattler. They arrived all in one piece and full of stories from their journeys in Dubai, Amsterdam, Bulgaria, Germany, and Turkey.

The next day (Friday the 28th), the team spent some time outlining the strategic plan we will be presenting to King's College staff members next year. The plan will orginize our trip and state why we think a team should return next year. In the afternoon we shared sodas and stories with several Makerere students who are involved in Life Ministries, the Ugandan branch of Campus Crusade for Christ. We enjoyed discussing everything from business to elections to weather to Disney.

That night we got to see the Nderi dance show, a classic African performance that included musicians (with traditional tribal instuments!), singers, and dancers. All of our jaws dropped to the floor at the talent of the dancers--in the grand finale the female dancers balanced six pots (each!) on their heads!

A dancer at Ndere balances five pots while dancing

Saturday we had the opportunity to explore the economics of Uganda. Ted Pantone, an alum of the King's College who is living in Kenya, led a tour through the local businesses that have benefited from loans by microfinance companies. We visited a local paint shop, whose owner claimed that his business had neraly tripled since a low interested loan allowed him to buy better equiptment. We also drove to the outskirts of Kampala to visit a catfish farm. After discussing how low-interest loans had benefited the business, we watched some of the locals feed the fish a bucket of chicken intestines...perhaps the most gross thing any of us had ever seen. :) Finally we visted a small preschool for orphans. The owner was a wonderful Muslim woman who had appealed to an orginization to help her run her project. It was amazing to tour the school, which was comprised of three classrooms, a small garden and a front porch

At the paint shop

Where the chickens are bred

Children at the Orphange

A classroom at the orphanage

That night we drove outside of the city to visit Henry (our contact from Campus Crusade for Christ) and his family. It was incredible to spent time in the home of a welcoming Ugandan family. On Sunday we rested, studied the book of Hebrews, sang some songs, and prepared for our art exchange with Makerere University. That evening we went back to the Bavabuka youth center for the Sunday meeting. It was like nothing we'd ever experienced--the members, a group of young poets, painters, rappers, and designers, spent about three hours just going around in a circle and talking about the things they loved about one another...including us! It was one of the most relaxed, humorous, and community-oriented experiences we have ever had as a team.

More to come! We still have a lot of updates about our art exchange with Makerere University, and a good number of photos that we want to share. Please pray that eventually we'll find a computer capable of uploading them. :)

Elvina

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

Muzungu Mayhem

Hello from the muzungus (foreigners)!

The last two days have been our most intense and exciting yet. Here's an overview of our adventures...

May 24^nd, 2010:

The team attended at prayer time at Life Ministries’ headquarters. The three hour-long meeting included testimonies, concerns, queries as well as prayer and worship. A small congregation of about twenty people spoke about current issues such as homosexuality, political corruption and the evolution of Ugandan values (modesty, family, etc). The team participated, but mostly listened and learned from the natives about their high esteem for traditional ideals. They shared a strong faith that was evident in their moving testimonies. Several members of the congregation shared stories about healing and success while others mourned a death or illness in their family. Each praise report was celebrated with singing, clapping and prayer, while each news of tragedy received empathy and prayer as well. The interactive session of prayer allowed the team to observe Uganda’s strong Christian core, cultural standards and tight community.

Later that evening the team took a 40-minute bumpy ride to the outskirts of the city. We visited the Mercy Junior School - a small Christian primary school in a slum area between Kampala and Entebbe. The school consisted of three classrooms – Nursery (Kindergarten), P1 (first grade) and P2 (second grade). Following a tour of the school, the team was taken on a walk around the community. Despite the meager living conditions, we saw crowds of smiling faces and received a warm greeting from each family we met. After the walk, the headmistress of the school handed us textbooks. That evening we made a list of songs, games and subjects we would teach the following day. The activities were divided according to class and each team member picked a role.

Our team with Pastor Joseph at the Mercy Junior School

The kids chased our van as we drove off :)

A view of the slums near the school

May 25^th, 2010:

The next morning we relived the bumpy ride back to Mercy Junior School – this time as guest teachers. Our collective talents combined to create three hours of creative lessons (math, science and English), song/dance and, of course, play time. The team split up to work with different classes, and soon the entire building was filled with children’s voices screaming the answers to an animated question and singing songs like “Father Abraham” and “Jesus Loves Me." During their breakfast break at 10 A.M. some of the children performed a dance for us. After the first song, we were invited to join them on stage. For the next four songs we danced along with the children. Although, the youngest ones spoke very little English they were eager to learn and extremely loving. We made a lot of friends, very quickly.

Serving the kids lunch :)

Joe, Betsy, and Jennifer taught Bible, English, and Science to the P1ers (5 and 6 year-olds)

The children love to play!

The team was invited to teach again tomorrow. We’re all looking forward to another day with the children!

Keep us in your prayers!

Love,

Elvina

The Sweet Sounds of Uganda

Hello friends and family!

If there’s one thing we’ve learned so far in Uganda, it’s that Internet is far more difficult to find that anticipated. :/ We’re sorry we can’t post more often than we have, but we’ll continue to trek into the city to find usable Internet cafés!

A view of downtown Kampala

The weekend has been full of adventures with children, adults, Ugandans, and Americans alike...and we're learning how musical a place Uganda really is! Choirs, rappers, even country music at our guest house...we've heard it all. :)

On Friday we visited the Chapmans, an American couple with Campus Crusade for Christ who have been living in Uganda since the 1980s—it’s amazing to hear an American speak Lugandan (the native language here) so fluently! Ken and Lynne were very welcoming, and took us to a service at a Ugandan Ministry service. I’d love it if American churches picked up a few tips from a Ugandan church service—it proved to be such a warm and sincere environment. Whenever the congregation was especially happy about something a member was sharing, the whole church burst into song. Many members of the congregation shared stories and there was a lot of laughter. Each of us got the chance to share our testimonies, and the service was in both Lugandan and English.

Yes, that is a real African sunset behind us. Stunning!

Afterward we walked to the nearby Mengo Hospital (one of the oldest in that part of Africa!) to visit patients and pray with them. I personally got to meet some one, two and three-year-olds with malaria—the most common disease among children in Uganda. The families of the sick children were so happy to have visitors, and some even wanted photographs with us and exchanged email addresses. It was incredibly humbling to see families so willing to speak with us as they were going through a rough time.

Kate with baby Josiah at Mengo Hospital

Yesterday our team traveled to Bavabuka Youth Arts Center for an art gala that promoted peace and human rights in Uganda. The younger children there were immediately hugging us and asking to take photos with our cameras—one of the eleven-year-old boys got some awesome video footage with mine. :) It was great to be surrounded by Ugandans who were as passionate about the arts as we are. Drawings and poetry hung all over the walls and the artists were playing pool and break dancing to hip-hop music (Karla learned some new moves!). Outside, artists were silk screening t-shirts and selling homemade paintings and jewelry. Everyone was thrilled to have so many muzungas at their party. Many of the artists were MCs (improv rappers), and they were so talented, especially the cute little ten and eleven-year-old boys! We engaged in conversation with some artists and land developers who are interested in how economics, religion, and media are affecting Uganda. We’re very interested in finding long-term opportunities with the organization because of its dedication to human rights and art philosophy.

Apparently the peace sign is big around here. :)

One of the young MCs at the Bavabuka Youth Center gets down with it

What can I say? Joe is a popular guy.

Well, it’s my birthday so I think I’m going to go eat some pineapples and hang out with the team (we’re taking it easy today)…there’s nowhere else in the world where I’d rather turn twenty-one! Also, Jennifer Tharp joins our team tonight as she flies in form South Africa! Pray that her travel will be safe…bye for now!

Betsy