So sorry it took so long to start blogging again! Steph and I have been back for awhile and transitioning back into real life. I am going to continue to finish out our trip over the next few days, as well as review the equipment we used and show what our final route ended up being.
So here is where we left off:
We took a small motor boat across the lake to go to the Bunioni Village Orphans. We carried with us two large bags of clothing so that they could sell it at the local market to earn an extra income. Once in the village we went into the classes. The kids sang to us as we stood in front of them. But they sang it wrong and the teacher stopped them (they welcomed us from Canada, the teacher was trying to get them to say UK instead of Canada, which didn't flow as well). So about 5 times later, they succeeded. It was super cute. We then walked to the next class of older kids. Same deal. After that we made a huge dance circle. One kid would play the drum (like a boss, holy moly they were talented) and the other would lead a song. In her songs she would call people out from around the circle to dance. We did this for 3 hours straight. It was amazing. The kids were like energizer bunnies, they just never seemed tired. They would fight over holding our hands and dancing with us. At one point one of us had 3 kids on each side, each with their own finger to hold onto. I never managed more than 3 at a time. Their smiles are to die for, and the reason it was hard to say no to the hand hold wrangling that was going on.
The singing was followed up by a soccer match. Except for the pesky hand-ball rule, they were really good. I think it was a tie. While the boys played soccer, the girls all sat on the hill and sang and played drums some more.
Then, we walked up the hill a bit to get some food, made by the villagers It was amazing (and gave me severe food poisoning, but it was worth it).
This place is amazing. It is set up entirely organically, and they do not except government money or NGO money, instead relying only on private donations. The treasury is completely transparent, all receipts and use of the moneys are available upon request. The book keeping is impecable. The one college grad started this about 10 years ago. He came back from university and the village leaders said he was the one to fix the problem of the street children. Due to the AIDs pandemic many children are left without parents, and live on the streets. He started by enticing them to go to school by bribing them with candy. He worked at a lodge and saved money and cooked for people while telling them his plight to raise money for them. Eddy became dissatisfied with the public school, because they didn't teach english, and built his own school. Right now they are working on getting water tanks and building a place for english teachers to stay.
I really want to figure out an anual way to raise money for them. Right now we are trying to get the info we need from them to make this all happen, but it is moving on african time.
I don't think my writing can do that day justice, so I've included lots of pictures. I will be maintaining this blog, and trying to make it a good source to find out what is going on in the village or how you can help. Stay tuned!
Then, we walked up the hill a bit to get some food, made by the villagers It was amazing (and gave me severe food poisoning, but it was worth it).
This place is amazing. It is set up entirely organically, and they do not except government money or NGO money, instead relying only on private donations. The treasury is completely transparent, all receipts and use of the moneys are available upon request. The book keeping is impecable. The one college grad started this about 10 years ago. He came back from university and the village leaders said he was the one to fix the problem of the street children. Due to the AIDs pandemic many children are left without parents, and live on the streets. He started by enticing them to go to school by bribing them with candy. He worked at a lodge and saved money and cooked for people while telling them his plight to raise money for them. Eddy became dissatisfied with the public school, because they didn't teach english, and built his own school. Right now they are working on getting water tanks and building a place for english teachers to stay.
I really want to figure out an anual way to raise money for them. Right now we are trying to get the info we need from them to make this all happen, but it is moving on african time.
I don't think my writing can do that day justice, so I've included lots of pictures. I will be maintaining this blog, and trying to make it a good source to find out what is going on in the village or how you can help. Stay tuned!
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| Lake Bunioni |
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| Ishi, our scottish travel "guide" |
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