Mutungo

On Thursday, I went to the Mutungo village for the first time.  It is about 20 miles from where I am living, so the pastor and I rode in his car there. Cars are not common; very few people have them because they are too expensive.  There is pretty much one paved road that goes from Entebbe to Kampala, the capital city.  So we start out on that, and then it gets fun.  We turn onto a dirt road and it gets bumpy. REALLY bumpy.  I have never been on a road quite like it…there are not little repetitive bumps, but big bumps and potholes all over the road.  It kinda feels like how an amusement park ride does, where you get thrown all over the place.  Eventually we get to the village.  It is so sad, and so different.  I can see poverty all over the place. Children play in the dirt with clothes that are torn; people live in dirty small brick structures, have little to no electricity and no cars.  As we get to Morning Star Christian School and the church, I feel relieved that I am finally here.  I am finally to the place that my heart has yearned to be for so long. 

As we get out, the children who are not in class giggle and run to me and touch whatever part of my arm is showing.  Syliva, the head teacher of the school, greeted me and showed me around.  The school is not like ours by ANY means.  The floors are dirt; the students have no desks, just plastic chairs.  They have chalkboards and a sponge to erase.  Some of the classrooms have no doors. The students have no textbooks, just books of paper with newspaper folded to make a cover and one pen.   

As Sylvia brought me to each class, the all stood up and said “You are most welcome” then sang me a welcome song.  Class upon class had a different song-they love to sing.  After going to each class, they were dismissed to go to the church and put on a small performance for me.  Some students went on stage and sang for me- complete with choreography!  I loved it!

Afterwards we had lunch- teachers ate beans, rice, and chicken, and the children each got a cup of porridge, which they do every day.  Porridge is a mixture of flour and ground up corn mixed with water to make a watery white paste.  After lunch Sylvia asked me to teach. Haha she really wanted me to start right away!  She gave me a book of their curriculum and gave me a lesson to teach, so I went to 2 different classes and gave them an English lesson.  They are all excellent students (at least so far haha), and VERY respectful to their teachers. 

I am trying to learn their names, but it is hard! Their accent combined with some names that I have never heard before made it difficult.  Ha, many times I have to ask them at least 3 times, where eventually we just laugh because we are not getting anywhere.  I am praying that I can learn every name as quickly as I can.  As my dad said, “One of the sweetest sounds is the sound of your own name.” 

After school was over, Sylvia brought me to their other garden to dig up some sweet potatoes, or “Lumonde” …I think.  It was about half a mile uphill and around corners of houses (if you can even call them that).  They do not have a basket to carry them down in, so they have to use a sack.  I am amazed at how they make things happen with having next to nothing. 

As it was getting dark, Sylvia decided that I should join the church worship team, so she took me to practice at church. Oh. My. Goodness.  They are SO joyful, and it shows through their singing.  We learned a few songs, and after that we added “creative dance”.  By the end of the night, we were singing so loud and dancing so hard! We laughed a lot and had so much fun.  I guess have become that one white girl in the gospel choir…