Kazo Community Choir

Kazo Community Choir was officially started yesterday. We had also a successful practice. With around 12 members at the time, we rehearsed the song Dona Nobis Pachem in parts and rounds. Choir members seemed to enjoy it so much, even after the two-hour rehearsal, individual singings can still be heard in the room. Next practice will take place next Tuesday, from half past eight in the evening to half past eight. We are expecting more members to join next time.

All choir members have been conveyed of the goal of giving Christmas carol services by December in, possibly, several churches. What this means for all the members is-hard working, hard working and hard working!

I will post some photos of the choir next time!

An Unexpected Phone Call from Mrs King

As I was frustraing with the unstable internet. my phone rang. It was a familiar number from the UK, but I just could not figure out who would that be. With in a second after picking up the call, I got to know it was Mrs King, a long-time friend, teacher and mentor. My first response to her greating was, 'Mrs King, This is an international phone call, it is going to cost you a fortune!!,' she replied instantly, 'I want to hear your voice and make sure that you are ok'

She then started asking me all sorts of question relating to my staying in Kazo and even offered me to meet her niece living in Kampala. I was too grateful to accept any of her offers, but as always, she insists and I draw back in the end.

She promised to call me back very soon though I promised her to write her emails.

I was left wondering the whole evening if I would ever meet such a friend, a teacher and a mentor again.

Landon

Just Another Thought

Yesterday night, as Andrew and I walked through some short cuts in Kazo, we had some meaningful talks. The way Andrew responded to any of mine questions was to first of all repeat my questions in my original words and then try to answer in his own words.

I started by asking him what do people here, in Kazo, expect from life. Of course, before getting any useful responses from him, I rephrased my question several times to let him understand. he answered me with 'nothing'. and he was deadly serious. It is true that people here cannot expect much from life. The heavily corrupted political system greatly limits any school gratuates. 5 out of 10 children could make to the end of the primary. Out of those, 3 would probably go to secondary. In the end, we could hope one would make it to the uni. The tragedy does not stop here. among those who finally gratuade from the uni, very few of them could actually get a job which could fulfill their potential. The problem is at the root of the foundation of the government. If the government lacks transparency and the economy is under-developed, no matter how foreign countries try to help, the money for development will not actually reach the community. I was right in saying so months ago, and now I am going to confirm it. It was wonderful to see Timothy being saved from a remote villige, but is also sad to see that such bright kid is left with no future no matter how hard he works, how good he will be. Of course, some may say that if one is good enough, he or she will make the change. However, a change in the government now would benifit millions. It is just despairing to see even the local government has the funds NGOs needed, but not giving any of them. Has it to be a revolutionary change one day that changes everything? Why can't the country learn from the history? are we only learning from repeating what we went wrong and making up new explanations and more complex theories?

Those questions make me recall the past few days, or even few months reading academic papers and conference reports. Every year, the topic is different, but the essence is the same-solving the problem which has not been solved for decades. Each time, professors from the west are invited to Uganda, to other African countries where they have conferences in luxurious hotels, enjoying top-end services. Down to the communities, people are waiting each day for the promises which have never been materialised.

I believe in science, but the reality is that science, most of the time, is better at solving problems of the future, not the problems people all over the world face each day. I wanted to dedicate myself on the pursuit of academic knowledge, but now,I have another equally-important duty-to discover and help the life of the unknown.

Afternoon Visit

Just came back from Timothy's school visiting. Mac always says we are not supposed to work during the weekend, but in fact we worked both this saturday and sunday. Sometimes he told me off when I was working and ignoring everything else around me, and sometimes I told him off by saying, 'there is always tomorrow, Mac' Then we both start laughing.

This afternoon, we went to visit Timothy, a 13-year-old kid, good-looking, clear-eyed, has always a big smile on his face. He gave us a big but shy smile the first time we met him. I knew instantly he was a bright kid. And I was right. He gained all As in his mid-term exams. Although he was only in Class 5(the fifth year in primary school), he acted already as a good-natured adult. I was impressed and utterly amazed by his personality, a kind of modesty shown from the possesion of real intelligence. We had lunch with him as his legal parents and clear up his school fees provided by a sponsor in Isreal. I was even more attracted to this boy after I got to know his life story.

Before moving to Kazo, which was 5 or 6 years ago, he lived with his parents in a villige more than 200 miles from Kampala. He lost his mother in 2000 and his father in 2003 due to HIV. Villigers regarded him HIV-positive and treated him like a dog. When Timothy's sister went to fetch him out of the villige, he was living alone in a seperated tiny place in an isolated farm. Bugs and dusts were all over him. When people tried to talk to him, what came back from him was only fear in his eyes. His sister took him to Kazo, where KICVOP was and is still located. She found Mac after her husband started to treat the whole family badly because sending Timothy back to where he came from would mean a death sentence on his future. KICVOP at the time already had many orphans on register, but Timothy was still accepted. Mac went to the local council saying he was willing to take care of the boy on a personal level. KICVOP then started to look for sponsorship all over the world and finally settled on a lady from Isreal who treated Timothy as an essential part of the family. She came to visit him once and is coming back again by the end of this year. She wants to take the boy to travel around the country and bring him back from the fear he had possessed all through his life. Fortunately, Timothy is HIV-negetive, which means he could have a bright future if we work harder on his future. And luckily, he had met such a brilliant sponsor. However, there are more tragic stories. we have currently 24 HIV-affected children on register, but only 2 are properly sponsored and 2 are partly sponsored. Next Tuesday, I am asked by the local school where Timothy was sent, to evaluate another child who, for all sorts of reasons, has stopped receiving education and been left idle. I know that the child would be then put on register and waiting for sponsorship which would take sometimes too long to keep any hope alive. I know we cannot help the child instantly, but we have to start somewhere. And it is the start which makes all the difference.

On our way back, we went to meet a member of local council. He is also a very prominent man regionally. He has done many constructive things in his life such as promoting health care, education and improving infrastracture of the community. The important part of the story is that was diagnosed with HIV thirty years ago and there was no sign of unhealthiness due to the consistency of taking medication which is subsidised by the government. He understands the HIV, he lives with it. And because of this, he understands life more than others. He has a successful family, cherishing everything that is good for the society. He has a successful career. Even at his age, he is still wanting to start an opposition party locally to fight for free education and healthcare. When we shook hands for the first time we met each other, he did not let go of my hand until I was led into his house and properly seated. In the end, I wanted a photo with him and did not let go of his hands. I cherished that moment; a moment I will remember for life. Of course, I will go back to visit him regularly as I have to work with him to improve the community.

In the late afternoon, we finally made our way back to the centre. Mac said to me when we were in the centre, 'Landon, just to remind you, we are not supposed to work on Sunday' I smiled back. What else could I say?

The Very First Encounter with Kazo

The only way you could encounter Kazo is by car or Bota Bota (The local name for Motorbike).

I arrived in Entebbe three days ago, a place where all international flights coming into Uganda have to land. Although it is more than 50km away from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, and even farther away from Kazo, where I'm going to work, there was just no other ways I could make it without breaching the law. Therefore, I told my colleagues in KICVOP(Kazo International Community Volunteer Programme) to pick me up there.

Before I start talking about the country, there was something interesting occured on the plane before landing in Uganda. As everyone who has ever travelled between countries may recall, an immigration card is to be filled before landing and presented to the immigration officer. Whether holding the visa to destination country prior to travel, the card is required. And the information written upon has to be true, otherwise one would have great chance of being refused to enter the country. I was told to get the visa at Entebbe airport, so I did not prepare any relevent information such as hotel name and address. I was also told not to get visa on volunteering purpose as the fee would go up three or fourfold(Crazy, but don't know why). However, after I was given the card on the plane, I noticed that hotel address is required since I was supposed to be a tourist and, of course, I could not say that I did not know where my hotel was. You could say that I must be sweating a lot at the time. Well, I was in fact too busy to sweat(and that's probably why people sweat unconsciously). I was looking around the plane for help! Cabin crews were first excluded as I would then be arrested on plane rather than at the airport. I then considered the option of asking passengers sat besides me, but the warning 'DON'T TRUST STRANGERS' poped up in my head. Therefore, I had to turn on my phone to send messages to Mac, the executive director pf KICVOP and Michal, the one who masterminded my arrival. Michal responded in less than 3 minutes. Without even looking into the message, I wrote the hotel name she provided on my card. After scribbling down the name, I soon found out that the hotel name came without an address in the message. I replied to Micahl at once with my concern. Without waiting too long for a reply, Mac send me a message with an address. I desperately wrote it down and then realised that it might be a different hotel from what Michal gave me. So I checked the message from the beginning and the name turned out to be different. At the same time, Michal's reply came and saying the address is not necessarily needed and I could tell the officer that the taxi driver would know the location. I replied to both with Thank Yous and sat in my seat with despair. For the sake of man's vanity, I did not ask for a new card and determined to push my luck a little bit further.

While the plane landed at the airport, I was still wondering if that was an emergency landing as I could not see any buildings and any other planes. After taxing for quite a while, three more planes emerged at the terminal, I was partly reliefed. Very soon after the plane stopped, we were allowed to get off. I felt like a VIP as I could move to the terminal on foot with ground staff pointing out directions, 'That way, that way!'

Well, it was the time to meet the immigration officer. I did not think about the possiblity of being arrested very much as I was busy looking for ways to go around the counter. I noticed that there was basically no one to stop people from walking away. However, fear dominated me this time. I quitely stood in the queue, waiting for my turn. Meanwhile, I was thinking about all my past experience of hiding anxiety. I possibly did my part too well. when it was my turn, the officer did not even look at my card under my big, innocent smile. He sticked the visa on my passport and wrote down my name and duration of stay very roughly on the visa. While he handed back my passport, I was totally reliefed.

I went straight to collect my baggage and out to meet my colleagues whom I had never met. Mac received me with 'You are most welcomed here!' I was too reliefed to even reply with Thank You. Mac and two local volunteers accompnied me to the car in the parking lot and we started to move our way back to Kampala. Well, It was their way back to Kampala. Only after settling down in the car for around twenty minutes, I fought back my normal sensors. The place smelled differently and so much fimiliar. I was the smell I encountered 10 years ago in Sudan. A smell without too many trees and an advanced economy; a smell where nature is more than just a part of people's lives.

On the way back, Mac told me in a very mischievous tone, 'you know, Landon, we only parked there for 9 minutes. 9 minutes!'

'9 minutes? why so precise?'

'Well, they charge us according to minutes.'

'That's crazy indeed!'

It was crazy. It was even more astonishing when proper roads started to diminish and were replaced by dusts. 'We are home now,' Mac announced. And I believed him. I saw Bota Bota anxiously passed by and even more Bota Bota anxiously waiting for customers. I saw people cooking outside with burning woods and unidentified cookers. I saw people's houses can no longer be called houses in terms of the privacy they create. I saw life here as a total integration of the nature of nature and the nature of human beings.

After made the first step getting out of the car, I firmly believed that a new world had been delicately discovered.