Today was our first volunteer day. We went to a school in the morning where we worked with kids around our age. We went to one of their classrooms where we arranged the desks into a circle and then discussed our ages, hobbies, likes, dislikes, countries, and what football team we supported for the world cup. We then got to meet one of the youth leaders who gave us a tutorial on how to make the paper bags that each student made in order to sell and further their knowledge of entrepreneurship. I have to say, I think I did the best out of our group at learning this new skill. However, none of our bags were even close to the precise craftsmanship of those of the students. The most amazing part for me was as soon as it was time to leave, all the kids wanted to get our emails to stay in touch. I have yet to check my email to see if any of them have followed through, but i am hoping that i will receive a few emails from the kids at some point.
We proceeded to go to work with smaller kids later in the afternoon. My group had planned the previous evening a plan for the afternoon. We would start with learning the kids names, age, and favorite football team. This was in order to build a quick closeness with the kids before any group activities. The kids were hesitant to talk at first, most likely due to their young age, but quickly brightened up after we mentioned the game of football. I was able to coordinate my kids into a formidable offense and defense which i was quite proud of. Of course, as soon as i threw up the ball, our set up diminished quickly into a giant mob following the ball. It really brings a smile to your face seeing these kids with scraps for clothing, playing in a field overgrown with weeds and stray animals (such as goats) grazing through the ruff.
It was sad to leave, but we had the amazing opportunity to meet one of the successful kids of the young entrepreneurs program. this young scholar was named Steven. By age nineteen, he had established a company that was net worth of about 3 million Ugandan shillings (close to $1500). This may not seem like a lot, but that money would be equivalent to earning 20-25 thousand dollars back in the states. This sum of money is very very impressive for a nineteen year old Ugandan who is very limited with the opportunities presented to him in his life. His business was selling the paper bags that the kids made in the schools, he also recycled plastic cups, and made an assortment of other items like clothing.
As our day was coming to a close, we stopped at a temple which hosted a religion that I am unable to recall at the moment. But i can tell you that their ideals encompass that all people and religions are one. And that we all belong to one God no matter our background. It was a very interesting religion to hear about. Even more fastinating was to learn that the temple that we were so lucky to tour, was one of only six in the whole world! They have one per continent. The one in North America is located in one of our volunteer's (Jessica Steinberg) hometown of Chicago.
It has been a wonderful day and i am looking forward to a relaxing evening watching the world cup.
-Ben
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