Money, money, money

Sorry I didn't post this past weekend, I was in Kampala!


Thoughts from last week:

Last week we learned a lesson on miscommunication with the community. As a group, we only have limited funds, and we are not here to give donations. We are here to work with the community to develop a sanitation curriculum and improve upon their sanitation. But, because of our mzungu status, when the teachers see us, they see dollar signs. We explained to them that we only have limited funds, and we are going to need them to provide supplies and labor as well. They agreed and said that they would provide bricks, sand, lumber, and labor to build the bath shelter. But, when our engineer went back to the school the next day to get exact numbers, the teachers told them that we were paying for lumber, sand, bricks, and labor. They also claimed they needed much more sheet iron, ventilation, and other supplies that were not only not in our budget, but they are not necessary. They also told the engineer that they didn’t believe that we had limited funds. Which leads to our current issue: How can we get the community to understand that we actually do have limited funds, and we need them to contribute as much as possible?

Events from last week:

My group had a great week overall. On Monday, we continued research on sanitation and worked on forming the curriculum. On Tuesday, we were able to visit the school and interview the teachers. We also sat in on a hygiene class. The hygiene class was extremely interesting because it seemed very rehearsed. Marta, Rida, and I were talking about it on the ride home, and there was a general consensus that we thought they had rehearsed the class before we arrived to sit in on it. Wednesday through Friday consisted of the three of us finishing up the curriculum, printing it out, and putting it all together. Tomorrow, we are going back to the school to deliver the curriculum so that the teachers can look over it and give us feedback and any advice they have on ways to change it. We're also going to discuss the misunderstanding with funds and community contribution. 

One of the classrooms at Ravo Primary School, the school we are working in

On Saturday the whole group of GESI students (all 17 of us) went to Entebbe with the staff members from the Foundation for Sustainable Development for a little midterm "retreat." I had a great time; we played volleyball and soccer with some of the locals, and the water was really nice. On Saturday night, we stayed in a hostel in Kampala. We had a lot of fun hanging out and seeing Kampala. We came back to Jinja yesterday evening, and I took a much needed nap.   

Marta, me, and Rida at the beach in Entebbe

Old taxi park in Kampala

On Monday, we started working on another aspect of our project. We have been researching economically friendly ways that girls in the village can obtain sanitary pads. Feminine hygiene is a huge problem in the villages because many of the girls are not educated on the matter, and do not have the money or access to buy sanitary pads. Many of the girls become extremely embarrassed, and many drop out of school. We decided to research homemade ways to make sanitary pads. We found a website that had directions, so we bought materials, and made the samples today. We are going to bring the samples to the female teachers, and show them how they are made so they can teach the students. They are reusable and can be made with almost any materials. Our organization is very excited about our idea. 

The sanitary pads that are samples for the school