Update #6 from Uganda

Hey Everyone,

I am having such a great week! Sunday, I was able to go to church here for the first time. The people here are so wonderful and humble. They love Heavenly Father and they feel so blessed in so many ways. It reminds me of how incredibly blessed I am. The church is run the same was as it is at home. It is neat to see how the church is so well run all over the world.

Monday, I was able to start my first teacher training. I have 10 people attending my class and they seem to be very receptive to my teaching. I have been teaching a lot about classroom management and disicipline strategies. The teachers here beat children when they misbehave and have difficulties regulating their students because there are so many in a classrom. I have spent time observing classrooms and adapting curriculum for them. It has been such a rewarding experience. I hope that it helps in a small way for them to become better teachers.

Tuesday, I had a really interesting day.... I am working with another girl from the U.S. that is also a teacher, but she is a special education teacher that specializes in Autism. We have began Outreaches where we visit schools and assess needs of the students with disabilities. The teachers here do not have a lot of resources therefore, we have began teaching trainings and in class support for students with disabilities. Then we traveled with one teacher to local villages to visit families of children with cerebral palsey... This children were not born with cerebral palsey but got malaria with high fevers and turned into cerebral palsey. These women are trapped in their homes and have no way to get support for their children. It is very sad... The women have multiple children and their husbands have deserted them because they cannot handle the handicap children. Because of this experience we are begining the process of facilitating and outreach clinic where we will bring together all of the parents of parents with severely disabled children to learn hygiene, physical therapy techniques, and to bring in drs for support. We are excited to help these women in any way possible. They feel so alone because they know no one that has children with severe disabilities... We are hoping to give them some strength and support.

Today is Wednesday and I spent the first 3 hours doing laundry.... I will never whine about doing laundry at home ever again. I literally had 3 buckets full of water, soaking, scrubbing, and rinsing. I think I am only doing laundry once. I would rather just be stinky.... But, as I do basic household things here I appreciate the culture here so much more. Cooking on Sunday was overhwelming 4 1/2 hours later we had a very minimal meal. I am off to teach teacher training again in a few minutes.... I am very excited.

Things here continue to be fantastic! I have 3 weeks from today. I can't believe how fast time seems to be going. I have so much I can do here! Thank you Sam for emailing me back. I am glad you are doing well and had fun at camp. I was thinking you didn't like me anymore. I am glad everyone is well and happy. Thank you for the emails, they make me smile!

Love you,

Jen