Outdoor Education Week!

Yes, friends, you read the title right. As part of the curriculum at KISU, students have an outdoor component of their education. For one week, Monday-Friday, students, separated by grades, take a trip to some location in Uganda to complete the outdoor component of their education.

I accompanied the Year 11 students on their trip – Camping and Hiking/Walking in Fort Portal. [If you’re wondering, the Fort Portal trip in my last blog post happened the weekend before Outdoor Education Week.] The educational portion of this trip requires the students to use a compass and a map to hike/walk 40-45kms over the course of the week, all the while carrying all clothes, food, food prep supplies, and any tents/sleeping bags they would need. To make this easier for the students, they were placed into groups for sleeping and cooking, so not 1 student had to carry ALL of their food for the week or a tent, sleeping bag, and pillow. A few weeks before the trip, the students mapped out their route so they would know where to go and know that they met the length requirement.

Personally, I was very excited for the trip. We had been walking to and from everywhere in Kampala for the last month and a half, so I was accustomed to walking a lot in the hot sun, carrying different things. Not too bad. I was also excited to get to actually camp out in Uganda. Plus, I was told by the trip leader that the teachers (there were 5 of us on the trip) did not have to carry anything during the day if we did not want to, and we would not have to prepare any of our meals, the campsites we stayed at each night would do that for us, dinner, and breakfast and lunch for the next day. All I had to do was chaperone and make sure the students were safe and protected. Easy enough, right?

I learned day 1 that I was not the best at setting up a tent. Two of the students walked by my tent and laughed, so there’s that. However, they also helped me fix it, and they also taught me how to best set up the tent, so I was good for the rest of the week.

As far as the walking was concerned, it really was not bad. Sure, it was very hot, but I had plenty of water. I had also loaded up on energizing snacks to keep me going throughout the day.

We left each campsite around 8am, and walked until about 2:30-3:00, depending on when we reached the next campsite. Along the way, we saw so many gorgeous views of the countryside as well as some smaller towns and villages. It was such a great experience to see parts of Uganda that I know I would have never seen otherwise.

The trip also gave me the opportunity to bond with some of the students in a different way. From the time we reached each campsite, until about 9:00pm, the students had free time. We spent much of that free time playing Mafia, which the students loved…for a while. On the last night, when the kids were all tired of Mafia, I introduced Signs, a game I learned a few years back on an RA retreat. The students LOVED it. We ended up staying up about an hour after they were supposed to be in bed because we were having such a great time playing it. I loved playing Signs with my fellow RAs years ago, so it was so cool to introduce it to a new group of people who really enjoyed it. The students picked up the game really quickly, too!

All in all, despite being tired all week, I think that everyone had a great time and really enjoyed the trip. One of the students asked me if schools in the States had OEW. Sadly, I had to tell them that no, this did not exist in the States. I hate that, and I so badly wish I would have had the opportunity to do something like this when I was in school. I think it would have greatly enhanced my already awesome high school experience.

The map. Pink was Day 1, Yellow Day 2, and Blue Day 3.

I am just about caught up on my posts, but be checking back in a few days for more!

Cam

Connect with me through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Skype! Links provided!

- Facebook is more for general updates on how things are going (Cameron Yarbrough)

- Twitter is more thoughts about things I am experiencing (@TheGrandCameron)

- Instagram is for cool pictures and things! I am using the hashtag #CAMpala2014 on all of my pictures during this experience, so you can find my pictures that way as well! (@TheGrandCameron)

- Skype me! cameron_yarbrough

Weekend Adventures: Fort Portal

After a few weeks of full-time teaching, we all decided that it was time for some fun! We have an incredible friend here in Uganda who plans trips for groups like us, so we contacted her and asked her to plan an adventure to Fort Portal for us (we had all been told by several people that Fort Portal was a city we HAD to visit while we were in Uganda). She quickly put together a trip that we all found very rewarding and adventurous.

Our trip began early Friday evening. The two KSU students on the other side of the city picked us up in a Matatu [LINK HERE] around 6pm and we were off! Fort Portal is about a 4-hour drive from Kampala, so we arrived in Fort Portal a little after 10pm. I was really excited when we arrived to our lodging for the weekend. We stayed at Y.E.S. Hostel, and the acronym stands for Youth Encouragement Services. We had the opportunity to meet with the ‘Youth,’ but more on that a little later on. Because we got to Fort Portal so late, we did not do any sightseeing or exploring of the city. We stayed at the hostel, took advantage of the wifi, and went to sleep.

Saturday started super early. However, after getting up before 6 every weekday for the past month, we were all used to it. I took a quick shower (yes, hot water does exist in Africa) and we were on the Matatu by 7:00, ready for the day’s adventure. Before heading to our first stop, we stopped in the city for breakfast. When we pulled up to a row of several shops as well as people manning roadside stands, we were confused. Where was the breakfast restaurant we were supposed to eat at? Silly Americans! As it turns out, the roadside stands were the “restaurants” we were going to eat at! Now, I know what you’re thinking! “How unsanitary!” Trust me; I had always had the same reservations about eating food from a roadside stand. However, the food was amazing! We had rolexes, which are rolled chapati (a form of tortilla) with eggs and onions inside. SO GOOD. [Now, we look for rolex stations all over town and stop whenever we find one.] We ate on the road so we would not lose too much time in our day.

Our first stop was to a Pigmy village, home to the Batwa Pigmy’s. These people had previously lived in the forest that is now part of the Semuliki National Park, surviving off of plants and animals. However, when the government came in and declared the forest a national park, they forced the Batwa’s off of the land and into a village of sorts (sound familiar to anything in American history?). Not used to this lifestyle, the Batwa people suffered greatly. It has only been recently that they have been able to successfully live the “civilized” lifestyle. In addition, they have started to marry people outside of their village, so their heritage is being lost through this blending of cultures. While we were visiting this village, we had the cool opportunity to meet the King and Queen of the Batwa people. They were both SO nice to us and even showed us around their mud home. They have 4 kids, three girls and one boy. As normal royal tradition would have it, the boy, who also happens to be the youngest, will be the next Batwa king. [I can just imagine him singing “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” as he runs through the village.] The Batwa people then performed their traditional dance for us, and some of us jumped in once we got the moves down!

After leaving the village, it was time to go to the park! We were set to go to the two hot springs in the park, which we were told would take us about an hour and a half to visit both and get back to the entrance. I wore my Chaco’s, and the tour guide told me that I needed close-toed shoes, so I had to rent shin-high rain boots from them. As stylish as you may think those sound (picture below), they were more uncomfortable than anything, and actually gave me a blister. They worked, though, because the paths were VERY muddy, and several of the girls now have shoes so muddy they are almost unwearable again. Lucky me! After a short hike through the forest, we arrived at the Male Hot Spring. [The difference in the male and female hot springs has to do with the celebratory rituals the people used to do – males and females did not celebrate together.] I feel as if this is completely unnecessary to say, but it was hot. [Thank you, Captain Obvious!] After taking all kinds of pictures, we cleared out and headed towards the female hot spring. The hot springs were very similar, but the female hot spring was in a clearer, more open area. By this time, it was time for lunch! We actually cooked our lunch – matoke (banana-shaped potatoes), Irish potatoes (the potatoes you’re used to), eggs, and veggies – in the hot spring! It was a really cool experience!

After our lunch, we headed back towards the city for our next stop. Here is where the “Youth” come in! We learned that all of the proceeds from the hostel go to fund an orphanage for kids who are HIV positive and have been abandoned by their families, so we visited the orphanage! Visiting was terribly bittersweet, as orphanages often can be. Knowing the kids are not only HIV positive but also were abandoned by their families was so heartbreaking, but it was so refreshing to see them all so full of joy. The lady who runs both the hostel and orphanage is a Christian, so the children are taught the Bible, which I loved. We stayed at the orphanage for about 2 hours, and during that time, the kids all played several songs for us on various musical instruments – they are all so musically talented – and even invited us to play with them! We had such a great time with the kids and were sad to leave.

Sunday also began early. Another quick breakfast of rolexes from the road and we were off to the Ambere Caves and Crater Lakes. The hike to the caves was a short one, and it ended with a waterfall! We saw so many cool features of caves and got to get into the water. It. Was. SO. COLD! However, it was so refreshing. After the caves and waterfall, we headed to the Crater Lakes. The hike was gruesome, but we made it, and the views from the top of the craters made the hike worth it! Uganda is home to some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

We ended our Fort Portal adventures by doing some souvenir shopping. Wanting to save money, I had not bought any souvenirs for family and friends yet. However, these prices were too good to pass up. Things were much cheaper here than in Kampala (although they are still cheap in there), so I had to buy whatever I thought people would like. I hope I did a good job!

I have done SO much since this weekend adventure (which was back in September), so be looking back often for more posts!

Cam

Connect with me through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Skype! Links provided!

- Facebook is more for general updates on how things are going (Cameron Yarbrough)

- Twitter is more thoughts about things I am experiencing (@TheGrandCameron)

- Instagram is for cool pictures and things! I am using the hashtag #CAMpala2014 on all of my pictures during this experience, so you can find my pictures that way as well! (@TheGrandCameron)

- Skype me! cameron_yarbrough