We Built a School!!

Oh it has been an incredible week! I have spent the last four days in the village of Bubita just building my school. You know, nothing major. That's a lie. It's sooo major! This week has been full of the hardest but most fulfilling work I have done all summer.

As you know, we fundraised the money to help build the school for David Zaale and PDI, and the skeleton and half of the iron sheets were already up. Last week we bought the rest of the iron sheets, but I hadn't been up to see the school since before then. When I did get up to the school on Tuesday, I was blown away by the progress that had been made. It looked sooo good! And I was too excited, and maybe a little teary for a second.

The type of building that we are making is a mud building, which is a popular building technique in Uganda. Ugandans are so cool because they just use absolutely everything that the land gives them, and don't waste anything. I love this school because so few elements of it are actually man-made. The skeleton of the school was built using wood 2x4's (which aren't actually 2x4's but just logs that have been split a couple of times). Once the vertical beams are up, they then nail smaller sticks/twigs horizontally across the beams all the way from the roof to the floor, about a foot apart. They also nail the horizontal sticks to both sides of the vertical beams, so when it's finished it's like a giant connect 4 board. Okay, that was probably a bad explanation....just look at the pictures.

So when we got to the school on Tuesday, the iron sheet roof had been finished and all of the sticks were up. Hannah and I went up on Tuesday night to check things out and make a plan with David, and on Wednesday morning the rest of the construction team came up. We had about 12 people from our HELP team come to the school ready to work...and we definitely worked! Our job was to put mud into the little grid that had been made with the sticks, that would become the walls. We had so much fun digging our fingers into the red Ugandan mud and turning it into a wall. We developed a pretty good system, and I was so impressed with how fast we worked. I was blown away by the team's energy and enthusiasm. We just worked and worked. And it was hard work! The mud was really heavy and our school is huge!! It was definitely a good workout. It combined cardio with strength training of probably every muscle in my body. But it was so great.

With how impressed I was with our team and the work that we did, David was ten times as impressed. He came by after we had been working for about an hour and had a whole wall done, and looked at me with big eyes and said, "Wow! You are serious!" He continued to make comments like this the whole time we were working. He definitely didn't expect us to do too much. Ugandans have this idea of mzungus that we are fragile and pampered and not capable of working or getting dirty. Compared to what hard workers Ugandans are, this is semi true. But we aren't completely helpless. And we certainly proved that this week. David planned for the mudding to take us 4 or 5 days. It took us 2 and a half. We are too good.

In addition to getting to build my school, this week was great because I got to spend it at the Zaale's house. Which means when we weren't working, we were waiting to eat, eating, or having a dance party. I've decided I want to have a house like theirs where every night after dinner, we just have a crazy dance party. I have to learn how to dance before that happens though. The Ugandans show me up every time. They are waaaaay good dancers! Also the Zaales are the best hosts in the world. Like really. We get room service at their house. It's a little ridiculous. And wonderful. They take such good care of us.

The Friday Team

Wednesday night was extra special because it was also David's 69th birthday. All day when we were building we were asking him what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he told us he was already doing it. That night, he gave a little speech and told us that this was his most memorable birthday ever because of the help that HELP has given him, and the fact that we were working so hard on making his school a reality all day. He also gave a special shout-out to Hannah and I for making it all happen. It was really sweet. Earlier in the day, he compared us to manna from Heaven that came just when Moses' people were getting desperate. Is it possible to express gratitude more fully than telling someone they are like a miracle sent from Heaven ? I don't think so. I definitely don't feel worthy of all the thanks and praise that he gives us, but I am so happy that we have been able to make him so happy. It makes everything worth it.

The elders from the village stopped by to see how things were going

By the time we were wrapping things up at the school yesterday, I was exhausted and really ready to be done hauling mud. But I was so happy at the same time. It was seriously such a great feeling to look at that cute school and know that I had helped make that happen. I'm so excited that I have something so tangible to leave behind with these people that I love so much.

The finished product

Oh! Also! The kids! The first day we were working, all of the PDI Nursery School kids came over after school got over to see their new school. Seriously so cute. They ran into the first room that was finished and started jumping up and down and singing and dancing. It was so great. Seeing them so excited really solidified for me why we are doing this. It's all about the kids. The second day we were working, some of the kids came over after school and actually helped us with putting up the mud. I was sooo impressed with how helpful they were! A lot times when little kids want to help, it's cute but you end up having to go back and fix everything they did. That was not the case with these kids. They worked so hard and were so helpful! It was really cool to get to build this school alongside the kids that will be learning there.

Just dancing in their new school

All in all it has been a very fulfilling week. And exhausting. I spent today laying by the pool recuperating. We still have lots of work to be done before the school is actually finished, but with the roof and the walls up, we have finished the most critical parts. David plans to have the kids learning in their new school by the end of next week. So great! I will keep you updated.

The brains of the operation.....minus Hannah who went home sick :(

 Also, I got my hair braided

And then I took them out...