Another sponsorship success story.....One of our older daughters, Rosemary, graduated with her teaching certificate in Dec and got her first teaching job in Feb (when the new school year starts). {So now we don't have to sponsor her anymore...the whole goal of the program is for them to become self-sufficient and support themselves financially because of the education they recoeved}. Her headmaster (principal) said she is one of his best teachers. We are so proud of her!
She teaches P4 (Primary 4) which is approximately equivalent to our 4th grade. Her students call her teacher Rose.
She was THRILLED to have us come visit her school!
We thought we were going to treat them to an art activity and some games but they treated us to a native Ugandan dance/song show!!
We were soo touched to hear their sweet voices sing our names in a traditional welcome song that Joey & I both were moved to tears!
Rosemary said they worked so hard on our pronunciations and practiced the songs/dances all week!
Sweetest thing ever!
Something as simple as plain white paper and markers was a huge deal to these students! Rosemary had told us they would be thrilled to just color with crayons but we surprised them with markers instead! For most of the students it was their first time ever using them!
They were really into their drawings!
Proud artists:
Some of the kids couldn't quite get the concept of snapping the lids on the end of the markers, so lids were rolling all over the floor. While Joey took the kids out for games, Álea & I spent forever trying to match up all the lids with the markers. We found all but three.
What kid doesn't love to learn a new game?
Of course Jonas had to squeeze in a futball game:
Inside some of the younger classrooms:
Besides the markers & extra paper we left with them, the teachers were so excited about the flash cards and leveled reading books we donated. Rosemary said, "I saw those [flashcards] in teacher's college but I never thought I'd have some of my own. They made them themselves out of paper."
We also got to see where Rosemary lives. It was so nice to see her cozy little room (a cement cube) and how well she has done for herself.
She is so happy to be out on her own, loves her independence and living her dream job! She explained to us how it was rough in the beginning because her mother had nothing to give her to help start up her own home. (If you go to the "Home Visits" blog post she is the one we helped pay for her new brick house). The first thing she had to buy was her stove, pots to cook with and a jerry can for hauling water. Each paycheck she buys one more thing she needs. So then she bought her mattress. Later she bought a bed to put the mattress on. One of the first things she had to buy was an iron (you heat it with charcoal and iron on the flat floor) because the students are supposed to iron their uniforms so how can she show up in wrinkly clothes? I personally NEVER iron, but yet it was one of the very first items she bought. Culturally, ironing is a big deal over here. At New Hope the guesthouse staff irons all our clothes because the heat kills the mango fly larva that the flies lay on your wet clothes while they hang on the line (then the larva burrow in your skin and get really painful). Rose doesn't have the space or time to garden since she teaches full time, so she buys all her food, charcoal, and other
supplies from the local outdoor market. She has a nice church she attends and there are community activities on the weekend. Two of her teacher friends live in the same apt block as her (above photo) so she loves her neighbors and is very content & satisfied with her life! :)
She is able to help her mom and helps pay for her younger sister's school fees:
Her sister, Sylvia, is the same age as Alea and they have a special bond. The day we were doing home visits, Sylvia skipped school so she would be sure to not miss when Alea came to her house. It's neat how we also get close to the siblings and family members of the kids we sponsor.
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